The Easiest, Cleanest Way to Sear Steak

Searing steak on the grill is a pleasure. Outdoors, the smoke serves as ambiance and enticement to my guests, and the grill acts as a giant drip pan, requiring little cleanup beyond a quick postmeal scrub with a stiff brush. But stovetop searing inevitably causes smoke to billow and grease to splatter, so I rarely make a go of it. When I do, I use the reverse-sear method to cook the meat most of the way through in a low oven before pan searing so that the stovetop cooking can be brief. Still, that approach takes the better part of an hour and doesn’t entirely avoid the smoke and splatter.

What I really wanted was the outcome of reverse searing, the speed of stovetop searing, and no mess.

I wanted a fast, mess-free stovetop method for pan-searing strip or rib-eye steaks (my