» Cooking Steak on A Griddle Made Easy

Annabelle – An experienced food writer and editor. She focuses on common sense, easy to replicate recipes formulated to help keep things fresh and exciting while fitting into her day to day life as a wife and mother.

Want a nice, juicy steak for dinner but the weather is nasty, and you loathe pulling out the grill?

Did you know you can sear up a juicy, delightful steak on your griddle? The griddle happens to be one of our favorite ways to cook steak when we cannot get to the big grill. Luckily, cooking up a steak on a griddle is as simple as grilling one on your full-size grill with a few differences.

In this guide, we’ll give you some basic tips on what you’ll need, how to prep and some proper ways of cooking a steak on a griddle.

We all know, nothing quite fills a craving like a perfectly cooked steak so let’s get started.

1. What Do You Need to Cook Steak on a Griddle?

The great thing about cooking a steak on a griddle is it does not require a bunch of new accessories. Here is our list of tools that you will need to cook a perfect steak on your griddle.

A Griddle – The griddle can be electric on the counter or a cast iron type set on the stovetop. Electric griddles have temperature control and heat nice and evenly. Cast iron griddles are perfect for higher heat and searing.

Seasoning – You only really need simple seasonings on your steak like salt and pepper to open up a ton of flavor, but you can season it with any steak seasoning you prefer.

Steaks – We suggest using a steak around 1” thick and boneless. We like top sirloin, tenderloins, ribeye’s or filet mignon.

Tongs – A good set of tongs helps to flip or turn the steaks. Do not use a fork! A fork pierces the meat, allowing all that good juice out, producing a dry, less tender steak than it could have been.

Meat Thermometer – To check the doneness of your steak, use a meat thermometer. This will help make sure you reach the perfect steak temperature for anyone you are cooking for.

2. How to Prepare Griddle for Cooking Steak?

One of the top reasons for using an electric griddle is the simplicity of getting it ready for cooking. You simply turn the dial all the way on to its highest setting. To perfectly cook a steak, you should aim to get the griddle to about 400°F.

Now, if you want to experiment with different methods of cooking you can try adding an oil layer on the griddle surface after it has been preheated. This can be performed in a variety of different ways with a variety of oils. However, our two favorites are butter and beef fat.

Butter is probably the most common oil used for cooking steak on the griddle. It gives a delicious flavor to the meat, is readily available and is easy. To create your oil layer with butter, simply place a few tablespoons of butter on to the griddle. As the butter melts, spread it across the griddle, creating an even “layer” of melted butter.

The other most common way you can form an oil layer is to grab one of your steaks, rub the fatty ends of your steak around, melting the fat off on the griddle to create a nice flavored layer. This works best when your steak has a nice thick layer of fat on an edge.

3. Cooking Steak on a Griddle – How-To

Here is what you have been waiting for, cooking the steak. The wonderful thing about cooking steak on a griddle is just how simple and straightforward it is.

Follow these four steps and you’ll be enjoying a great meal in no time.

Get Prepped –Remove your chosen steak from the refrigerator and let sit until it’s room temperature, around 30 minutes or so before cooking. Then preheat the griddle to the desired temperature, 400 degrees F.

Season – After the steak reaches room temperature, apply salt and pepper and other desired seasonings. This also when you can apply butter to the griddle surface.

Rest – The most often forgotten step. Remove from the griddle and let it sit for 5-10 minutes before slicing. For example, if your steak is 1” thick, we recommend letting it rest about 5 minutes.

Let the griddle work its magic. Resist the urge to constantly mess with the meat. Flip halfway through cooking and finish until your preferred doneness.

4. Tips for Cooking Steak on a Griddle

The most important tip that we can give you is to make sure that you cook your steak to the correct internal temperature. The time necessary for reaching your preferred temperature will vary depending on the thickness of the steak as well as the cut and size you’ve selected.

Below, we’ve provided the temperature ranges for each level of doneness. For a perfectly cooked steak, remove it from the heat when it is 5°F below the desired temperature.

Rare – 125° F or a cool red center

Medium Rare – 135° F or a warm red center

Medium – 145° F or a warm pink center

Medium Well – 150° F or slightly pink center

Well Done – 160° F or little or no pink center

Resting a Steak Explained

Resting your steak is essential for achieving a perfectly cooked steak. Allowing your steak to rest for at least 5 minutes before serving gives time for the residual heat in the steak to finish cooking to the desired temperature. Also, this step locks in the juices in the steak, creating a perfectly tender and juicy result.

Annabelle Watson

FINAL THOUGHTS

We love the griddle and make no apologies for that. There are many reasons why a griddle is an excellent substitute for a grill or a skillet when it comes to cooking steak.

Griddles are simple to use, easy to control temperature and clean-up is uncomplicated. And done right, the results will compete with the steaks cooked out on the big grill.