How To Butter Baste A Steak | Go Bold With Butter (2024)

FAQs

How To Butter Baste A Steak | Go Bold With Butter? ›

Waiting to add the butter until the steak has been seared for about 4 minutes helps prevent it from burning.

Waiting to add the butter until the steak has been seared for about 4 minutes helps prevent it from burning.

Butter brushed onto a thick steak can help boost the heat and give the crust a more intense flavor.

Now, before you accuse restaurants of butter sabotage, let's talk about the "tenderizer" effect. The fat in the butter can help soften the meats' protein fibers, resulting in a more tender steak. It's like giving your steak a spa day, minus the fluffy robes and cucumbers on the eyes.

Butter has a rich, creamy taste that, when melted over the hot surface of a perfectly cooked steak, creates a symphony of flavors. This combination doesn't just add fat; it introduces depth and complexity, enhancing the natural savoriness of the meat.

When steak cooks, the muscle fibers tighten. If you cut into those tight muscle fibers as soon as it's off the heat, all the juices pour out. That's why resting meat for 5-10 minutes is the secret for preparing a juicy and tender steak.

By basting (spooning hot butter) your steak on a hot skillet, you'll get an evenly seared, golden-brown crust. Plus, butter basting helps distribute flavors from aromatics for an even more delicious steak.

An easy and effective trick, adding one teaspoon of flavourless oil, such as vegetable or grapeseed, with the butter at the beginning will prevent the butter from burning.

Flavourless oils like sunflower, vegetable or groundnut work best, and once the steak is searing you can add butter to the pan for flavour.

Season steak with pepper on both sides. When oil is just about to smoke, add steak. Cook 7 minutes, then flip and add butter. Baste with butter and cook another 5 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 140°, for medium.

Is it okay to sear steak with olive oil? ›

Liberally coat both sides of steak with salt and pepper. Heat a cast iron skillet or heavy pan. Add olive oil, and when hot, place steak in the pan. Sear for a few minutes on each side and edges until browned.

Instead, it's a classic pan-searing technique called butter-basting that, for my money, often gives me the kinds of steaks, chops, and fish I crave.

Spoon hot melted butter over them, and they'll quickly color in. The easiest way to baste is to tilt your pan slightly so that hot butter collects near the handle, then use a spoon to pour it over the top of the steak.

Go for oil, it has a higher smoke point. You need a hot skillet to properly sear a steak, hot enough that a pat of butter will begin to burn before it melts completely. You don't want to sear your steak in burnt butter. So reach for some oil when searing steaks.

For a controlled, unhurried baste, unsalted butter's lower smoke point makes it the right tool for the job. Plus, for pan-searing and butter-basting steaks, it's customary to hit the raw steaks with a generous layer of salt around the exterior for the perfect sear.

Butter basting 101

Butter is heated in a slope-sided skillet over medium-high heat until it melts and begins to foam. Once meat or fish is added to the skillet, it's basted continuously with either a large spoon or a basting brush.