How To Cook A Well-Done Steak So It's Tender and Juicy (2024)

Need to cook a well-done steak but want to make sure it’s still tender and juicy? Let me share my tips so your steaks don’t end up tough.

I know that a lot of people get angry when they hear that individuals prefer well-done steak. But, well, I have to admit that there are members of my very own household with this preference. I’ve decided to not be angry with them, but to instead make them thebest possiblesteaks I can, even if they’re well-done. I’ve come up with a bunch of little things that really make a big difference.

Scroll down to read more about how it all comes together or click here to jump straight down to the recipe.

Video: How To Cook Well-Done Steaks

What Type Of Steak Can Be Cooked Well-Done?

If you’re cooking steaks to well-done, you want steaks that are medium or thinner thickness. If they’re really thick steaks, it’s hard to get the middle well done without overcooking the outside. It’s possible, if you follow the instructions below, but it’s just easier if the steak isn’t as thick. One inch thick is best, and one inch and a half thick will work.

You also want steaks with good marbling. Now, the family members of mine who like well-done steaks seem to prefer lean steaks also, so they like a good filet mignon. That truly breaks my heart, but to each their own. My advice to you is to not use filet here, but instead choose a cut of steak with more fat like a ribeye,New York strip, orchuck eyefor individual-serving steaks.

If you’re doing a large steak to slice and divide among several people, I’ve had good success withskirt steak. Note though that because it’s thinner, I do the entire cooking of that steak on the grill or in the skillet and I don’t transfer it to the oven as described below. I only do that for steaks that are about 1 inch thick or thicker.

Season The Steak Well

Season the steak well with salt. And actually, consider doing adry brine on the steakfor a good hour but if you can do it for 8 hours, that’s actually the best. Note that leaving them for 8-16 hours is perfectly fine as well, but there’s not much difference after 8 hours.

Getting that salt flavor right into the steak, plus the juiciness and tenderizing that dry-brining does, are really going to help make that steak delicious even if it’s well-cooked.

Start At Room Temperature

Get the steaks to room temperature before cooking them. As I explained in this recipe forcooking filet mignon, you want your steaks to be cold if you want to cook them rare or medium-rare, or even medium. The reason is that it will take them longer to get to the internal temperature that you want. That means they’ll be in contact with the skillet for longer, which means you’ll get a better crust. When a rare steak with a nice crust is the goal, you start with cold steaks.

However, if you want medium-well steak or well-done, you actually want to minimize the time it’s in contact with the skillet because it can start to burn before it gets to the temperature that you want.So, in this case, definitely take the steak out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking it.

My preferred way of doing this is to salt the steaks, put them in the fridge for 7.5-8 hours, then take them out and leave them at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Start In The Skillet, Finish In The Oven

For cooking the steak, you’ll sear the steak in a hot skillet on both sides, and then move the skillet to a low-temperature oven. Often people transfer the steak to a really hot oven, that’s what I do here in myperfectly cooked steak recipe.

So, why transfer to a low oven (275°F)? Because a hot oven would continue to darken the outside of the steak, potentially too much. And also, slower cooking (think low-and-slow) is going to make the steak much juicier. Gentler cooking is going to be best here so that even our well-done steak is moist and tender.

Use A Probe Thermometer

Use a probe meat thermometer so that you can read the internal temperature of the meat from outside of the oven. As soon as that steak hits 145°F for medium-well or 155°F for well-done, you want it out of the skillet and onto a plate. Your final goal for the steak temperature is 150°F for medium-well and 160°F for well-done, and the steak will rise to those temperatures once you take them out. But crucially, you want to get them out of the oven and out of the skillet as soon as they hit 5 degrees below that goal. The thermometer will help you make sure that you don’t overcook these (or not more than what your goal is).

Let The Steak Rest

Immediately take the steak or steaks out of the skillet so that they stop being exposed to heat. Transfer them to a plate or cutting board and let it rest for at least 5 minutes before serving. The resting time stop the juices from simmering in the steak so that they don’t come running out when you cut into it. With well-done meat, a lot of the juices have evaporated out during the cooking time. Now you want to keep as much of them in as possible.

Add Butter

While the steaks rest, put some butter on them. Take about a tablespoon of butter and slice it thinly. Dot it on the steak so that it melts down into it. That replaces some of those juices that evaporated out. For the best flavor, use thissteak butter recipe. It has garlic and fresh herbs like parsley and rosemary mixed in and it’s so delicious.

Serve With A Sauce

Finally, consider serving the steak with a sauce. That will help with any dryness.

A goodhomemade horseradish sauceis perfect,chimichurri sauceis also classic, andgarlic butter sauceis luscious on steak. You could also make a pan-gravy like in thissteak and gravy recipeif you’d like.

So there you have it, follow my advice for delicious, perfect steak even when your family dares to ask for it to be well-done. Then let me know in the comments what you think.