Butter on Steak?

I finish grilled steaks with butter. If you order a steak in a steakhouse and wonder how they get it to taste so rich and fatty, this is part of the reason why. It is almost always done this way. You don't just slather butter on a steak like it was a baked potato, it is part of the cooking process.

What else am I gonna sear it in.

I don't have a problem if the steak is lightly cooked with butter where you can't even tell by looking at it. But if it comes to my table and there is a big ol' dab of butter sitting on top we're going to have a problem.

Just grill it dont put anything on it steaksause BBQ ketchup medium rare your done all you need just eat the meat

Only when i don't care of its super unhealthy.

Hmm. It's worth trying I suppose.

Edit - I take it back, I guess that's what we cook it in.

@acidbrandon18: What a boring steak that first one is, load me up with the second one that is definitely killing me faster.

It’s a totally normal thing to do in steak preparation. If I’m out eating, I trust the kitchen to know how to put their best foot forward.

I’ve never considered buttering steaks at home, though. I’m not opposed; frankly, it never crossed my mind.

Anyhow, I’ve had plenty of delicious steaks that were clearly finished with butter, so I say it’s cool.

@uppercaseccc: I think a steak can be lightly seasoned or marinated, but I largely agree.

A decent cut of steak needs nothing more than to be cooked properly (medium-rare).

I had butter on my steak 2 nights ago. was delish !

I used to never eat butter on steak but then I had a fancy steak once and it game with an odd butter blob in the middle and I was like, "WTH man?" Tried it and I've been hooked since.

Are we talking served with butter or cooked with butter ? I don't want my steak to swim in a pool of butter, but compared to other cooking methods I vastly prefer my steaks finished with browned butter.

You can't sear a steak in butter. The butter will be completely burnt by the time it's hot enough to get any kind of proper crust on the steak. Use an oil with a high smoke point like canola or peanut oil and crank the heat so high that the pan (not non-stick) is smoking.

Once you've seared both sides you can turn the heat all the way down or even off and add your butter at the end and spoon it over the steak.

i always whip up a little garlic butter to drop on the steaks as they finish cooking out of the pan. i never met anyone that didnt do this. I think you just dont realize its being done.

I know of cooking stakes in butter. Just read a recipe for Chateaubriand in fact.I myself don't do so. Because I strictly grill outdoors. I spray with olive oil and create a rub to then work into the meat. I could use a butter spray instead of olive oil, but I don't.

Also i dont butter the steak after its cooked only before its cooked.

I have no need for butter if the steak is properly cooked and seasoned.

The trick is to use butter towards the end of cooking your steak on the pan. Melt the butter in the pan then baste your meat after each flip. Also, throwing in some garlic and thyme will also help give the meat a more complex taste than just extra fat from the butter. Herbal/garlic butter works with this too. LET YOUR MEAT REST PEOPLE.

This method is honestly pretty superb. I love cooking steak this way because it turns a mediocre steak into something so much better and a nice steak into godliness. No pre-cook marinating or rub needed.

Gordon Ramsay has a video for a more visual representation on this.

As long as steak is not being overcooked and served with ketchup. Things will be fine.

Depends on when it's implemented, but most steaks are cooked using butter AFAIK.

@acidbrandon18: gimme the second steak every time.

I read through this thread and I'm still unclear as to what we're actually talking about here. Is this butter in the cooking process or butter served alongside steak?

I usually cook my steaks in a cast iron. Oil in the pan, steaks in, flip the steaks and melt some butter in the pan and baste while it finishes the second side. Then take it out to rest and drizzle some of the juices from the pan over top. Not a healthy way to do it, but it's delicious. I'll never stick a slab of butter on the top after cooking, though.

Only garlic butter.

It can be a great medium to season your steak, like garlic butter or something similar. It helps make the steak really rich, but there is a fine line of how much you can add before you overdo it.

Yeah I'm not sure either because the user who created the poll later posted a picture of a steak with what looks like a slab of butter laid on top after cooking. Who knows.

when im cooking steaks at home I generally sous-vide them and then finish in cast iron with butter (and also oil) and that is very good. Not sure if ive had steak served with butter though. I don't think that would be bad tbh. In the 2 pics the OP posted the one with butter on it does look a lot better. Not even just from the butter it just looks like a better cooked steak, but butter is tasty

Butter on steak is supposed to have bone marrow in it for flavor, that's the only way I've ever had it on a steak and if you have never tried this, you are missing out.

I mean it depends. A steak with a lot of marbling and fat in it doesn't need added butter. But a lean piece of meat like a tenderloin for sure needs a bit of butter to keep it moist.

@acidbrandon18: That second steak looks far more delicious than the first. Its not even just the butter, the first also doesn't look properly seared at all.

If you haven't had compound butter served on a perfectly cooked steak, you're missing out.

@retrometal: Supposed to is a weird way of putting that. Herb butters are pretty good too.

Folks that think steak should be just thrown in a hot pan and anything else is sacrelige probably havn't eaten a whole lot of truly good food.

Oh hell yes. I use a good oil with a high smoke point and then bring it down and throw some butter on the steak before wrapping it in foil to finish.

Butter is delicious.

@berniesbc: I dunno I can understand that perspective. If cooked properly that is one of my favorite ways to prepare a nice blue steak.

I’ll more likely rub some salt and pepper on there and melt some butter on it but that’s about as far as I take a steak. Not everyone wants that extra stuff and just a steak in oil when done right and with good meat is amazing all in its own.

If you use butter instead of oil you’re doing it wrong, unless you cooked the meat some other way and are just searing the surface, and even then. Butter has a low smoke point and will burn unless you want to slow cook it.

@opusofthemagnum: Oh, don't get me wrong. I love a simply seasoned nicely cooked steak as much as the next person. All I'm saying is that people who hear about a preparation method they haven't heard of and have the immediate reaction of "oh that's gross" probably don't eat a lot of good food, because they aren't willing to try things that mom didn't make.

Sorry. To clarify I meant actual butter on top of a finished steak. I have no quarrel with using butter during the cooking process.

Is this an american thing? The only thing that goes on my steak is a bit of salt and pepper rubbed in before it goes in the pan :/

I like seasoned salt on my steak but I will not say no to butter.

It's weird to me that people are acting like a) butter is some kind of crazy extreme flavor similar to a steak sauce or ketchup; or b) that it would in any way detract from the flavor when used in the correct amount (just like any flavor enhancer). So yes, I eat butter on steak. If you put too much butter on it, it will suck, just like it you put too much salt or pepper on something it will suck. Otherwise, who doesn't like butter?

Ranch and ketchup work fine.

I've found that butter in the bag when we sous vide steaks makes it a lot tastier. That's during the cook and not after, though.

It's always seemed like a delicious idea, but keeping kosher has always kept me from trying it. I generally just use salt, pepper, and olive oil.

As a lot of people are saying, butter while cooking is huge, the best steaks are probably being seared with butter and possibly left to rest with butter. That being said, using butter as like a condiment is abhorrent. Steak is not bread.

@sethmode said:

Right? This thread is crazy to me. It's like asking "salt on steak?". Duders, this is basic seasoning.

You ain't slathering the thing down you just tastefully apply delicious butter.

@imhungry: people seem to be interpreting it either way. Since I am not familiar with steaks being served with butter I am assuming cooked with butter. In my experience, if you are eating steak at a restaurant, it has been cooked using butter.

Use butter while grilling/searing the outside.

No. A well cooked steak doesn't need much in the way of seasoning, especially not butter. If a "steak house" is preparing steaks in butter as a general rule of thumb, I would not eat at that establishment. To me, this would indicate they are trying to make-up for lesser grades of beef. You ordering with butter, or them offering it as an option, is fine.

The only thing I do on a steak is a bit of garlic butter.