The Only Way You Should Cook Multiple Steaks When You're Short On Time

If you're only preparing a couple of steaks, the cooking process won't take you very long. On the stove, even a well-done steak cooks to completion in about 12 minutes. However, when you have a lot of people to serve, it becomes much more time-consuming because there's only so much room available in a pan. The best course of action in this scenario is to utilize the oven instead. The cooking time per steak technically won't change by much, but since you'll have a larger cooking surface, you'll be able to prepare more at once instead of doing multiple batches. As a result, your time spent in the kitchen will be reduced.

When cooking steak in the oven, it's best to use the broiler setting. This high-temperature cooking method blasts the steaks with direct heat, allowing the exterior of the meat to develop a delicious, caramelized crust very quickly while still keeping the interior juicy and tender. The effect is similar to a grill, except you don't have to babysit your steaks to ensure they're cooking evenly or worry about extra bursts of flames due to dripping fat.

When you put your oven on the broiler setting, the heat comes from the top instead of the bottom of the oven. It's also a much higher temperature, reaching between 500 and 550 degrees Fahrenheit. To use this feature effectively, you should first adjust the oven rack to position it closer to the top heating element. If your broiler has a low, medium, and high setting, opt for high because low and medium only reach 400 to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

If you're in a rush, you may be tempted to stick your steaks in the oven right after turning it on. However, it's best to let the broiler heat up for about five minutes beforehand. For optimal results, place your baking sheet in the oven during this preheating period. When both the oven and the baking sheet are hot, then you can add the steaks. This method ensures the steaks start cooking immediately and evenly and develop the best sear. On the high setting, your steaks will take about 15 minutes max to finish, depending on the steak doneness you like and how thick the meat is.

Broiling multiple steaks might be convenient, but it isn't foolproof. The biggest mishap you want to avoid is overcrowding both the oven and the pan itself. If you try to fit too many steaks onto the pan, sure, they'll all finish cooking at the same time, but they won't develop a nice sear. This is mainly because packing them in too tightly limits heat circulation, leading your steaks to steam instead of broil. For a similar reason, it's best to avoid adding a second baking sheet on the lower oven rack. Since broiling occurs from above, this second baking sheet would be blocked from the direct heat of the broiler, potentially resulting in extended cooking times.

In addition to overcrowding, you also want to be careful of over-oiling your steaks. The combination of any oil you use in the marinade and the fat on the steak can lead to splattering due to the higher temperature setting. This can easily lead to a smoky situation, but if you don't want to trim the fat from your steak or remove the oil from your marinade, you can put the steaks on a wire rack with a bed of salt in a baking tray below to catch any drips. By taking these preventative steps and managing the cooking environment, you can ensure your steaks are broiled to perfection without any unwanted complications.