How do i know when a cast iron skillet is too hot for searing a steak?

I've been doing trial and error for a long time. Now i want to be informed.

It is doable. How else does one cook a ny strip?

If you're cooking on a foreign stove without the benefit of experience, and don't want to use a thermometer, and can't tell by feeling the temperature of the air coming off it, then no. There's no way.

No, it's a gas stove. Although, fair, that's a good point, i could just learn the size of the flame.

However while cooking, depending on what you put in there, the shape and size of the pan, the heat leaves at different rates. So i thought there might be... surface signs.

I figure there has got to be signs people are reading, even if they're subtle or subconscious, because it can't be that cooks just learn an internal clock on how long to keep something in there, because they would only be good on a stove they've learned, they wouldn't be able to adapt quickly to different stoves.

>been doing trial and error for a long time
>still font know what the fuck I'm doing

user, its time to leave the kitchen. Leave and never come back

I'm not trying to become a great chef, i just want to eat.

Okay, i know this might sound silly, but you can reliably learn a sense for how hot the pan is just subtle differences in how hot the air/radiant energy is coming off the pan from a given distance?

Then temperature is right when the oil (canola oil, no shit like butter or olive oil) is "shimmering", i.e. appears to be moving when you let light reflect off it, or if you tilt the pan it ought to form little "rivulets" when flowing from one side to the other. If the oil is smoking it is too hot, except when your steaks are very thin and you need to get a good sear before the heat reched the middle.

I do normally cook with canola oil, i understand that the temperature you need to get a good sear is higher than olive oil can do.

Honestly, i'm a little puzzled how anyone can add butter or do it with olive oil, given how hot you supposedly need to get the pan to get a good sear, but i mean... clearly they're fuckin' doin' it.

youtube.com/watch?v=AmC9SmCBUj4

And please, i am not deifying ramsey, it's just a quick thing i can pull off youtube to show that the guy is cooking with olive oil and butter, and it's not turning into pure evil.

I'm guessing he is using absolutely prime bits of meat there, thoroughly aged, with little to no excess moisture. That makes getting a good sear considerably easier.

So are you saying it's possible to get a sear when the temperature is much lower than it's normally said you have to get it?

Ya gotta understand, to me, what he just did was wizardry. One, he's says a hot pan. To me, hot pan means butter and olive oil turn into pure evil. So clearly, i've got the wrong idea about hot pan. But then.... how do i know it's too hot?

That's the whole point of my question. He couldn't POSSIBLY be cooking olive oil and butter at canola-oil-hot temperatures unless he sprinkled some pixie dust into his butter and olive oil. So he can figure out how to make it HOT but not too hot.

How did he do that?

>throw some water on there
>what is gently touching the pan with your meat

What?

this is retarded and entirely dependent on what type of oil and pan you're using

OP just feel the thing. don't touch it, but put your hand very close to the surface. it's never failed me, but i'm kind of concerned you don't know your stovetop's settings very well

Just pour some olive oil on and see how quick it crawls together to one blob

tfw you start a grease fire because your cast iron pan is too hot

he adds butter towards the end so it doesn't cook long enough to burn

But still, it can't be rocket hot.

When my stove gets my pan rocket hot, when i put butter in there, it doesn't "start to burn", it turns pitch black like the oil was a dimensional portal, and normal matter cannot exist on the other side.

So how do i tell that the pan is hot, but not too hot?

So far the answers i've got are "learn to relate the heat to the size of the flame" "learn to relate the heat to the subtle differences in radiant heat from a given distance with your hand".

And possibly, "just heat it until olive oil shimmers" - but i'm just inferring that one. Because it seems to me that... that wouldn't be hot enough to sear a steak. It seems like ramsey just did it, but maybe we're missing a step.

user you can raise the pan so it doesn't get too fucking hot are you retarded how come you've never figured this out from all your trial and error shit

So how many steaks have you turned to coal?

You guys are oddly combative.

I'm sorry that i wasn't able to pull this knowledge directly from the akashic records, i have to ask people shit i don't know.

Do you mean raise the pan at an angle?

Not many, when i cook them wrong, it's usually on the underdone side. I can tolerate a steak that is too rare, might as well pitch a steak that is too well.

It's like asking us to explain to you how to ride a bike.

Well, you actually DO learn how to do that. Training wheels are a thing.

you sear in the end ya goof

Yes, we can tell you how, but you have to train it yourself.

Okay, but when you're NOT in searing stage... when you're merely in cooking-through stage, how do you tell that the pan is hot but not too hot.

>he used training wheels as a kid

Yes, but generally that's taught in person isn't it?

Go ahead and explain how to ride a bike, so that someone who had no idea how would understand.

I tried that. And in fact, i can get by. I am not asking you like i still have 0 idea how to cook. But i'm clearly missing something important that i can't gauge the heat properly to not sear with olive oil or butter without burning it.

Right now, i can make a steak. I wanna make a better steak.

yup when you baste it you can tilt it or you can lower the temp some more if you remove the pan from the flame. you can always return it. some butter may turn to black on a cast iron pan i know mine does. doesn't really bother me i think it has to do with the cast iron itself

>using a cast iron pan for steak

umm sweetie you're meant to use a skillet

user you can tell how hot it is by the steam??? jesus. if it is too hot there is fucking steam

Sooner olive oils have a higher smoke point than others, but just don't use them because there's no point. I know Gordon does it but he's not god, you can disobey him and live. I don't generally see people searing steaks in butter, usually if you're adding butter to the pan it should be after you've gotten your sear and lowered your heat to finish.

Waiting for your oil to shimmer is the correct way to figure out what "hot enough" is, but after enough practice you won't even think about it. If your oil is smoking turn down your heat, if your steak seems like it's burning rather than searing nicely, turn down the heat. We can't really go over every possible scenario and combination of factors, so a lot of this is just common sense. If you understand the basics of cooking, just follow your gut if something unexpected happens.

First stand the bike up, then sit on the bike with both feet on the ground.

Then try to balance a bit without moving, you wont be able to stay up, but it's just to give you a little practice to help balancing later.

Later, you'll be able to immediately put your feet on the pedals from a standing position and start moving without tipping over, but to give you a little help, push the bike forward with your feet, and then lift your feet.

If you're scared, don't put your feet on the pedals yet, just keep moving forward and lifting your feet. If you lose control, you can just stand up.

However you'll find that when you start moving forward, the bike becomes easy to balance, almost as if it's pulling you into an upright position.

Then, when you're comfortable, put your feet on the pedals, and push them down to thrust yourself forward.

It's a good idea to wear a helmet and at least knee pads when starting out just incase you fuck up the "stand up when losing control" procedure.

Jesus christ, that was easy.

I... honestly hadn't considered that when the butter turns black it might not be ruined. I've seen videos where it turns brown, but not pitch black.

right below the cooking oil's smoke point

Now go find someone who's never ridden a bike and give them those exact instructions written down with no other help and film it.

As i said, i'm not deifying(to worship as a god) gordon. It's just clear that he can sear a steak in olive oil without it turning into pure evil. So it has to be able to be done. The merits of doing that are another topic entirely.

I'm mostly interested in adding the butter, and butter and olive oil are both notorious for low smoke points, but somehow it's possible to sear with them without it turning into pure evil.

So would my goal here be to put the olive oil in(once again, mostly using it here to gauge the heat, not for flavor), and wait for it to shimmer, and back the heat down if it starts to smoke(or smoke too much)?

There's no point adding olive oil, especially if you don't want it for flavor. Forget the fucking olive oil you sperglord. We already told you, add canola oil and wait for it to shimmer. Your pan will be hot enough. If you want butter, add it at the very end after you've lowered or even turned off your heat, baste the steak with the butter for the last ~minute it's in the pan. If your butter turns black, either you were to stupid to turn your heat down or your pan just has black shit in it. If your butter it's actually burning it will be smoking.

When the seasoning on the dry pan (no oil added) begins to billow smoke, it's too hot.

A wisp or two is OK, but if it's smoking like you are cooking but there's nothing in the pan, turn it off for a few seconds.

Find a bike that can have its saddle lowered such that you can comfortably place both feet flat on the ground when seated in the saddle.
Scoot along by pushing off the ground with your feet - ignore the pedals for now.
As you practice scooting, keep your feet off the ground for progressively longer periods between pushes. A slight downward slope may be helpful at this point.
When you become comfortable at balancing for a sufficient period between pushes, try to reach for the pedals with your feet and start pedaling.
????
PROFIT

Nuclear-hot searing is super overrated anyway. You can get a good sear on medium heat with butter without overcooking the inside. Tastes better too, because butter is fucking delicious.

He has judged it perfectly and adds LOTS of oil/butter - something most newbs are afraid of doing... His pan is holding just enough heat to bring the oil and both steaks up to temp so it's that goldylocks zone without losing too much heat but also never lets it get past the smoke point of the oil.

Keep in mind he is on gas where you can lift it off the heat accurately and return to the same temp quick without suffering... on electric it's much harder because you have to be always flat on to get any heat.