dakota2112 wrote:
> Ok, so I've been reading for quite a while about how good a steak is
> when it's seared in a hot cast iron skillet. On "Good Eats", Alton
> Brown says to preheat the skillet in a 500 degree oven, then place the
> skillet on the range top and sear the steak for 30 seconds.
>
> I tried this last night. But because of a pie being in the oven, I
> wasn't able to preheat that way, so I turned the electric rangetop
> burner to HIGH and let the skillet preheat for about 20 minutes. It
> got hot to where I couldn't hold my hand above the skillet for more
> than a few seconds, and the skillet took on a gray ash-like
> appearance. I dropped my room-temperature, safflower-oiled steak in
> the skillet, filled my house with smoke, and ended up with only a
> very minimal seared crust - and I seared it for at least 1-2 minutes
> per side.
>
> Am I still not getting the skillet hot enough? (And how do people
> actually do this indoors without getting a housefull of smoke?!)
>
> I've tried various heating methods outdoors to avoid the smoke issue,
> and nothing seems to get it nearly hot enough... I've tried a hot
> plate, my propane grill, the heating element in my electric smoker,
> and even a bed of hot campfire coals, and these methods all required
> several minutes of searing to produce only a barely discernable sear.
> The best skillet sear I've been able to achieve thus far is using my
> electric range top indoors, which obviously is a mistake due to the
> smoke... and yet none of these methods have produced as good of a
> sear/char as what I can accomplish by just throwing the steak directly
> on my propane grill and letting it go hog wild for a few minutes per
> side (flames about 2 feet high will make a nice char crust, although
> it's probably carcinogenic but it sure tastes good)
>
> Any suggestions on what I'm doing wrong with the pan searing? thanks
> in advance......

Hmmm, I pan seared a tenderloin filet in my cast iron skillet last night. I
wrapped bacon around it first, got the pan smoking hot. It seared up very
nicely. I like mine medium-rare (more on the rare side) but I still had to
do it about 5 minutes on each side. Of course, this filet was close to 3
inches thick.

Jill