For years I’ve been trying to find a steak I like better than Peter Luger’s, and to this day I’m still looking.
That’s probably not the best opening line to a post by someone trying to promote their butcher shop. But in all fairness, my butcher shop is a collection of my favorite steaks that I’ve found along the way.
A huge reason why their steak is so good is because of the method they use to cook it. You see, they don’t just cook it and serve it to you. They sear it in a very hot broiler, slice it while it’s still near raw inside, and then sear it again to finish.
What this does is allow each strip of steak to cook as its own individual mini steak. I’m not sure why, but the flavor it adds to the steak is astounding. And the crust it achieves is the best of the best.
The Peter Luger method only requires a few things... most importantly, a very thick steak. 2 inches minimum.
The following instructions are exact and should be followed to a T. I fell short in the video for two reasons: The first being my ribeye wasn’t dry-aged, and the second, I wasn’t able to use clarified butter.
Lastly, timing will be affected by oven/broiler heat and the type of steak itself. If the steak is aged, it will cook faster. If your broiler isn’t that hot, the crust will develop faster, etc. If you have any specific questions, I’m always happy to help.
General rule of thumb: It’s better to take it out sooner than later. If it’s not cooked enough, you can always put it back in.
Everything else you need is as follows:
- 2+ Inch steak (really should be dry-aged)
- Kosher salt
- Clarified butter
- Heat safe ceramic plate
- Cutting board
- Knife
- Thick towel or heat safe board
- Mini ceramic plate
- 2 spoons or tongs
- Oven with a broiler setting
(If you don’t have a ceramic plate, you can use a very heat-safe pan with a heat-safe handle. Just make sure the walls are relatively low, 1-2 inches.)
- Arrange your top oven rack so it’s about 8 inches from the top of the oven.
- Preheat your oven on your “broil setting” while prepping the plate.
- Place your steak on an oven-safe ceramic plate and heavily salt both sides with kosher salt.
- Place the plate on the top oven rack and let a crust develop. Should take a couple of minutes.
- Carefully remove the plate and place it on top of the stove or on a folded towel. Flip the steak and put it back in the oven until a similar looking crust develops.
- Take the steak out of the oven again and put the steak onto a cutting board.
- Slice the steak off the bone, and then into ¾ inch slices. The interior of the steak SHOULD STILL BE ALMOST RAW.
- Add a few tablespoons of clarified butter to the hot plate, and place the whole steak and bone right back on the plate. It’s very important here that the slices are packed tightly together. It should look as close to how it looked prior to slicing as possible.
- Have a thick, folded towel laid out where you plan on serving the steak. Place the mini plate upside down on the towel.
- Put the steak back in the oven for a couple of minutes until the top crust looks insane and the internal temperature is to your liking.
- Place the steak on the towel so that the back of the steak plate is resting on the mini plate and tilting the steak about 15 degrees.
- Quickly serve the steak with tongs or 2 spoons. Touch the bottom of each piece to the hot plate to hear the sizzle, and then spoon over the butter.
- If you don’t serve all the steak immediately, it will continue to cook on the hot plate. I recommend placing the extra steak on a side plate so it doesn’t overcook.