How To Cook Steak On a Griddle

Here’s a simple step-by-step guide on how to cook steak on a griddle. Bring steak to room temperature. Preheat the griddle to 450° Fahrenheit. When the griddle pan starts to smoke, add a few tablespoons of olive oil and place the steak on a griddle. Sear for 2 minutes on each side before turning the heat to medium-high. Continue cooking to your liking.

A griddle pan is excellent for cooking steaks. It’s easy to clean, and it takes no time to cook excellent steaks. I’ve been using griddles in restaurants for many years, and I have to admit they are brilliant.

I’ll show you how to cook the most amazing rib-eye steak on a griddle pan in this article. You’ll learn how to cook a steak to your liking and how to choose a good quality steak.

By the way, here’re a few cuts suitable for cooking on a griddle:

• Ribeye steak.
• T-bone steak.
• New York strip steak.

How To Cook Steak On a Griddle

There’s a grill griddle pan, electric griddle, nonstick griddle, or pre-seasoned cast-iron griddle. As you can see, there’s a lot to choose from. However, these different types of griddles deliver the same result. You can follow the same steps to cook steak on any griddle if you know how to cook steak in a pan.

I’ve been asked if it’s the same as cooking steak on a grill as it’s to cook steak on a grill griddle pan. No, it’s not the same cooking process.

However, cooking steak on a griddle is similar to cooking steak on a cast-iron skillet or any other heavy pan.

For this steak recipe, you’ll need very few ingredients. It doesn’t matter what steak cut you’re using; however, I prefer beef cut with more marbling. That’s why I chose rib-eye steak. Follow the cooking method below, and you’ll have a delicious steak.

Equipment

• Cast Iron Griddle pan;
• Meat thermometer;
• Sharp knife;
• Cutting board;
• Tongs;
• Paper towel.

Ingredients

• Rib-eye steak. Feel free to choose any other steak cut;
• Kosher salt;
• Freshly ground black pepper;
• Butter;
• Fresh thyme;
• Fresh rosemary;
• Garlic;
• Olive oil.

Directions

1. Bring steak to room temperature. Take the steak out of the fridge for at least 30 minutes before cooking. Thicker cuts take longer to get to room temperature than thin steaks. Season steak with a generous amount of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper and leave it to rest;
2. Preheat the griddle. Preheat the griddle over high heat until it starts to smoke. If you’re using an electric griddle then set it to 450° Fahrenheit;
3. Cook steak. Pour a few tablespoons of olive oil into a griddle pan and place the steak. Sear for one and a half minutes on each side. Once both sides developed a nice golden crust, turn the heat down to medium and continue cooking;
4. Check the steak’s internal temperature. About 4 minutes into cooking the steak, check its internal temperature. The steak cooking temperatures are below in the article. Keep in mind that thick steaks cook longer compared to thin ones. When checking the doneness, stick a thermometer into the thickest part of the meat. The steak continues to cook for another few minutes after being removed from the heat source. If you want to have medium-rare steak, which is 135° F – take the meat from the heat source when the internal temperature reaches 130°F;
5. Baste. Halfway through cooking, add a few knobs of butter to the griddle with fresh herbs and garlic. If using a griddle pan, you can tilt the pan to create butter pools and baste the steak with a tablespoon;
6. Rest. Leave the cooked steak to rest for 6-8 minutes, depending on thickness. When steak goes through the cooking process, juices are pushed toward the middle of the meat. The outer edges of the meat become dry. When leaving steak to rest, the juices redistribute throughout the meat’s interior, making it moist and tender throughout.

Note: if you’re using tough steak cuts like rump, skirt, or flank steaks – season them with a generous amount of kosher salt at least 3-4 hours before cooking. Salt will tenderize the meat making it more moist and easy to chew. When I buy tough cuts, I dry-brine them for at least 24 hours.

Here’re some additional resources you may find useful when cooking steak on a griddle:

• Steak seasoning.
• Marinating steak.

Steak Temperature Chart

• Rare steak: 125° F;
• Medium rare steak: 135° F;
• Medium steak: 145° F;
• Medium-well steak: 150° F;
• Well done, steak: 160° F.

Check the steak’s internal temperature with a meat thermometer. Stick a probe into the thickest part of the meat and check the reading. Do not poke the steak every minute or so – it’ll create tiny holes in the steak, which will leak with steak juices.

The finger test method is a reliable way to check the steak’s doneness. Most chefs and some home cooks rely on this method alone without using a meat thermometer. Here’s a video explaining how to use this method:

Steak Buying Guide

Here’s what a good steak should look like:

• Smell. If there’s a hint of ammonia odor smell – stay away from steak like that. Meat should be odorless with a subtle smell of meatiness to it;
• Marbling. Marbling is essential since it provides meat with its flavor and juiciness. Look for a decent amount of marbling in the steak. Grain-fed beef has more marbling than grass-fed beef; however, some find the grain-fed taste too buttery. It’s a personal preference. Nevertheless, look for one with the right amount of marbling for you. Stay away from the meat if the marbling is brown;
• Color. Dark red beef has more complex flavors than light red (pink) meat. It’s mainly because dark red beef is grass-fed, while light red is grain-fed. However, some prefer a juicy and buttery taste of light red grain-fed beef. Avoid buying brown meat;
• Touch. Meat should not be sticky to the touch. It should also be firm.

Nowadays, you can buy a dry-age or wet-aged steak as well as grass-fed or grain-fed beef. What makes steak good is how the meat is raised and stored.

Grass-fed beef has access to the pasture, unlike grain-fed beef, which is grown in a feedlot for most of their lives.

Grass-fed beef develops a rich meaty flavor because it feeds on grass and other plants.

Grain-fed beef has a good taste as well. It’s tender and juicy; however, most steak lovers prefer grass-fed steaks due to the flavor profile.

You can instantly recognize grass-fed from grain-fed by looking at the marbling. Grass-fed has a yellowish marbling because of the pigments in the plants. In contrast, grain-fed beef has white marbling.

Since grain-fed is cheaper and readily available, it’s a popular choice among consumers. Grass-fed (organic beef) is harder to find, and it’s more expensive.

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