Skip to main content
Main

How to Broil a Beefsteak

A method for preparing a 1.5-inch thick beef steak by broiling and seasoning with salt, pepper, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Beef and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

How to Broil a Beefsteak

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the steak

  1. Scrape the surface of the steak with the back of a knife to remove any bits of bone.

  2. Trim off the tough outer skin, gristle, and excess fat, leaving about one-third fat.

  3. Wipe the steak with a damp cloth; do not wash it.

Cook and serve

  1. Place the steak on a grill close to a very hot fire and brown quickly on both sides.

  2. Season with salt and pepper, then cook to your desired doneness.

  3. Cook for about 15 minutes for medium rare or 20-25 minutes for moderately well done.

  4. Transfer to a hot platter, season with salt, pepper, and butter, and serve immediately.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Beef + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,847 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  3. Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beef steak
Provides the main protein; its fat and connective tissue shape texture and flavour as it cooks.
Butter
Adds richness and a rounded flavour when spooned over the hot steak at serving.

The step that matters

Brown quickly over a very hot fire. A very hot surface browns the outside through the Maillard reaction, building flavour before the interior overcooks. A slow start leaves the steak grey and dry.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

More broiled steak recipes

Pan 5 See all 129 →

You might also like

Roast BeefRoast Beef211 recipesBeef LoafBeef Loaf175 recipesCorned BeefCorned Beef87 recipesBeef BrothBeef Broth67 recipes