When it comes to cooking steak, the first detail to figure out is which cut of steak to go with — and, specifically, bone-in or boneless? Either option will make for a delicious meal, so you may want to decide based on the cooking process. Look spoke to an expert, restaurateur and chef Michael Lomonaco of Porter House in New York City, to break down the differences between cooking a bone-in steak and a boneless steak.
“Both bone-in and boneless steaks may be cooked using [the same] methods with slight adjustments to the technique; the bone-in steak takes a minute or two additional cooking time on each side to allow the meat at the bone to cook as thoroughly as the rest of the steak without overcooking the remainder of the steak,” Lomanaco explains. “Constant attention to the steak being prepared will help avoid overcooking a bone-in steak.” Similarly, the bone-in steak requires more resting time than its boneless counterpart.
However, just because both types of steak can be cooked using similar methods, Lomonaco has different preferences for how to cook each type.
Michael Lomonaco recommends grilling a bone-in steak
Chef Michael Lomonaco says grilling should be the way to go with a bone-in steak. Since it’s a high-heat method, the steak will reach its desired temperature quickly. Additionally, grilling allows for plenty of control. “[You can] control the char by movement over the grill (as every grill has hotter and cooler areas which you can learn to identify with experience on that grill),” Lomonaco explains. “[It] adds the smoky character that only grilling can give a steak.”
There are plenty of grilling tips and tricks to keep in mind next time you want to try out your bone-in steak using the grilling method. And if you need a recipe to start with, you can turn to Look’s recipe for a grilled Tomahawk rib-eye steak with fine herbs compound butter.
Break out the cast iron skillet for the boneless steak
Michael Lomonaco opts for a different method with boneless steaks — pan searing in a cast iron skillet. Like with the grill, this method allows for control over the heat, which will help you avoid overcooking it. “As you sear the steak I recommend first adding a tablespoon of olive oil to the pan,” Lomonaco says. “This gives you a way to baste the steak as it cooks, by spooning some of that oil over the steak as it sears. Basting your steak is a great flavor producer when you add a few cloves of garlic and some thyme sprigs to the oil.”
Look opts for the same type of pan in our oven to cast iron reverse sear steak, a recipe that will give you a jumping-off point for this method. Further, using cast iron is one of our tips for getting the perfect sear on your steak, so, clearly, it’s essential in the pan-searing method for steaks.
