Is it better to fry or grill a steak? [closed]

Generally speaking, frying gives a better crust due to the higher direct heat producing more Maillard flavours. A good, heavy, screaming hot pan is required. Oil the steak, not the pan, with vegetable or groundnut oil (olive oil will burn), and baste with butter towards the end for extra flavour.

If your steak is thick, you might try a reverse sear - roast the steak at about 150°C until the centre is 10°C off your desired doneness level (if you don't have a digital probe thermometer, invest the small amount they cost, it is completely worth it), then sear the outside on your mega hot pan. This avoids you having to overdo the outside just to get the inside right.

Regardless of whether pan-searing seals in the flavor (it doesn't), Malachi is correct. The poster who was rewarded with the winning answer will have ruined his steak.

I will add some details for the roasting.

• Preheat your oven to 500F
• Pan-sear first, high heat. If you didn't produce smoke in your kitchen, you did it wrong.
• Have prepared a drip system for your steak when you go to roast:
• Place a wire rack over a shallow pan with ~1/4 inch of table salt. This will catch the drippings and prevent your oven from adding to further unwanted smoke in your kitchen (at this point, you've already opened your windows, and your wife is fanning the smoke detectors)
• Insert a meat thermometer in the thickest steak
• Roast until it reads 120-125 (medium-rare)
• The last step is open to interpretation, but I wouldn't suggest deviating