Reheating Steak: What’s the Best Way to Do it?

Have you ever found that you have a windfall of leftover filet mignon after enjoying a lavish dinner party or maybe you’re taking home a doggie bag after a great dinner at an upscale restaurant? If you’re unsure of how to utilize this great piece of meat the next day, then you’ve come to the right place. Here, we discuss the best way to reheating steak and how you can make it delicious for the second time you want to feast on this great cut of beef.           

How to Store Your Steak Properly

Before you can reheat your meat, you need to think about how to store it the minute you’ve finished eating to ensure that you retain its quality and freshness. This is because the way you store your steak inside the refrigerator can affect its quality; as such, there is a right way and wrong way to do this. The best way to do this is to place it inside a vacuum-sealed bag which will prevent air from getting in. 

If you don’t have a vacuum sealer, you can opt for an airtight storage container as a substitute. But if you don’t have a container either, you can use plastic wrap on your leftover steak which you can then put on a plate. You can take this another step further by brushing your steak with some olive oil before wrapping it up inside plastic wrap to hold in the moisture.  

How to Reheat Your Steak

Before you start reheating your steak, it’s important to take it out of your fridge to let it come to room temperature. According to the director of culinary affairs at the Institute of Culinary Education, Hervé Malivert, you will need to give your meat around 45 minutes before reheating. Doing this will ensure that the inside of the meat won’t stay cold.    

Reheating Steak in the Oven

The first method of reheating your steak is to place it inside your oven and finish it over a stovetop. To get started, preheat your oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit, then place your steak on a wire rack and place it over a baking sheet. Keep it inside for around 20-30 minutes depending on the thickness of the steak, but it should always reach 100 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit. 

You can always use a meat thermometer to make sure that your temperatures are where they need to be. Next, heat up a skillet using some oil or butter and once the pan is warm, take your steak out of the oven and sear each side for 1 minute or until it’s browned. This method will keep the moisture and tenderness inside the meat, making it seem like a freshly-cooked steak! 

Reheating Using the Sous Vide Method

For many people, this is their preferred method because it cooks vacuum-sealed food slowly inside a water bath using a low temperature. This ensures that the food’s flavors and juices are sealed without overcooking — while this will typically require a sous vide machine, there are ways to work without one. When using this method, be sure to reheat your steak so that it reaches an internal temperature of 135 degrees Fahrenheit.

Once it reaches this temperature, open your bag and quickly finish it over your stovetop or grill. For those who don’t have a sous vide or vacuum, a cast iron pan can be a great alternative. 

Reheating Steak on the Stovetop

Having a trusty cast-iron skillet is among the best tools to have in a home cook’s arsenal since it can deliver anything from a pan-seared steak to a delicate soup. Whether you’re simply reheating room-temperature steak or slowly heating your steak as the initial step, here’s how you can reheat your meat with this tool.  

• Get it Smoking Hot: Take a tablespoon of olive oil or grapeseed oil and heat it in the pan for about 2 minutes until it begins to smoke.
• Quickly Sear it: Because cast iron can retain heat longer and better, it can reach a higher temperature. Cook your steak over medium heat to give it a quick sear.
• Make the Crust Count: A stovetop is a much better heat conductor compared to an oven, so it will reheat quicker and produce a better crust without overcooking or drying the steak.   

Using Your Reheated Steak

After reheating your cooked steak, allow it to cool down for a few minutes over a cutting board before you start slicing it. You can then serve your beef in a wide range of meals, including:

• A delicious steak sandwich
• With corn on the cob and chimichurri sauce
• Sliced to make fajitas or tacos
• Partnered with a baked potato

No matter what you choose to do with your reheated steak, you can be sure that it can taste pretty close to the original way it did if you use the right heating techniques. After you try the reheating methods above, you should look for your favorite way and stick with it to ensure that you can enjoy your leftovers again and again. 

Conclusion 

Now that you know the best ways to reheat meat, you never have to throw out food during times when you have too much leftover steak. Even if your beef was left inside the fridge overnight, you can enjoy a juicy steak again a few days after or whenever you want. In just a few minutes, a dry and cold steak can be transformed into a succulent and tender piece of meat that you can serve up for a great meal.

Sources 

• yahoo.com
• marthastewart.com
• mychicagosteak.com