Jeff Mauro's Simple Hack For A Perfectly Seared Steak - Exclusive
There's nothing better than a perfectly cooked steak. It doesn't matter if it's grilled or roasted, as long as it comes out nice and pink in the center with the perfect sear on the outside. Add a pad of your favorite compound butter, and you have a meal fit for a king. While plenty of chefs have their own theories on the perfect way to achieve the best steak, Jeff Mauro has one simple hack he "loves" to use for most of his proteins to get a really nice sear: A basic sheet pan and a wire rack.
Those two kitchen tools may seem like an odd choice for cooking meats, but on an episode of Food Network's "The Kitchen," Mauro and his cohosts made several weeknight recipes using kitchen tools in unusual ways. So, when we sat down with him at the first Los Angeles Wine & Food Festival, we wondered how a tool that we typically use to cool cakes and cookies would lead to an impeccable steak. Mauro says that when used together, they are the perfect way to dehydrate the meat before you cook it.
A wire rack and sheet pan will help you achieve a harder sear on your steak
Even though this hint may add an extra step to the cooking process, Mauro promises it's totally worth the extra effort. Simply put the wire rack on the sheet pan, place the steak on top, and then put the whole thing in the fridge to dry out overnight. This allows "the air to circulate around [the steak] so you get a better, harder sear when it's time to grill it or pan sear it," the chef explains.
It doesn't matter if it's a tomahawk or a ribeye. Mauro uses this trick for them all. He's such a fan, in fact, that when he gets home from his weekly shopping trip, he says he unwraps each protein and lines them up on wire racks and sheet pans in his fridge. That way each piece of meat is primed for when he's ready to cook them.
The best thing about this hack is that you probably already have both of these tools in your kitchen. If you don't, you should definitely invest in a couple. "They're like the cheapest things that last forever," Mauro says. Not only do they last a lifetime (we've had our well-loved sheet pans for at least 20 years), they can be used for many things besides drying out meat and cooling cakes. We've even used them to freeze treats and make delicious sheet pan dinners.