For Restaurant-Worthy Steak, Start Cooking It Fat-Side Down

Having a steak dinner on a night out can be a delicious and enjoyable experience. You can go to one of the most popular U.S. steakhouse chains or a really nice restaurant with great service that's known for preparing delicious steaks to the customer's liking. And you can eat that steak in some of your finest clothes with great company in a pleasant atmosphere. But if it isn't in your budget, or you simply don't have the time to go to a restaurant to have a great steak, you don't have to give up on the idea. You can cook a restaurant-quality steak right at home. To achieve a steak like the one from your favorite eatery, just make sure you start cooking it with its fat side pressed to the skillet first.

When you cook your steak on the fat side first, all of that fat will render out into the pan. The fat is full of flavor, and your steak will absorb all of those flavors as it cooks. As a result, when your steak is done, it will taste just as delicious as the steak you like to order at your go-to restaurant. So how exactly should you cook the fat side of your steak to make it restaurant-quality?

Cooking the fat side of your steak effectively requires you to cook it at the ideal temperature, which is a medium-high heat. This will cause the meat's marbling (the white ribbons of fat that run throughout the meat) to heat up and melt into the surrounding areas of the steak. As a result, your steak will get an even distribution of flavor that will make it succulent and flavorful once it's done cooking.

You may also notice that it takes a bit of time for all of the fat in your steak to heat up and melt into the rest of the steak. That's because fat has a high smoke point, which is the temperature at which it will begin to smoke and burn, so it takes a long time and a high temperature for fat to fully render out and cook. Those who have tried cooking steak by rendering the fat first have attested on social media why it is such a satisfying way to cook a steak.

In a Reddit thread titled "Cooking a steak in its own rendered fat, with no added oil?", Redditors confirmed the effects of cooking steak in rendered fat. One user shared how steak cooked in fat ultimately tastes. They commented, "Seared fat is delicious. [...] It adds flavor during the cooking process even if you don't end up eating it." Cooking the steak in its rendered fat doesn't mean just letting it sear in the fat, either. You can also use a spoon to fat-flash your steak while it finishes cooking.

Another Redditor explained the convenience of cooking a steak in its rendered fat versus using other ingredients to give the steak more flavor. They explained, "The fat breaks down the same as bacon grease or butter and begins to melt. It just takes longer. But essentially you don't need oil or butter if you break it down." The next time you want a restaurant-quality steak, skip finding a babysitter, sitting in traffic, fighting for a parking spot, and waiting for your table to be served. Just use the tips for cooking steakhouse-style steaks at home, one of the most important being to cook the steak fat-side down first.