The Biggest Mistake You're Making When Cooking Steak, According to Butchers

Cooking steak feels, well, high stakes. It has a way of intimidating even confident home cooks: You splurge on a nice cut, heat up your pan or grill, and before you know it, you’ve turned that juicy cut of beef into something dry and chewy.

Steak isn’t cheap, either. The cook time is short, and the experience can range from smoky to downright chaotic—sometimes even setting off the fire alarm. (Trust me on that one: I once managed to evacuate my entire building on a winter evening thanks to a smoky ribeye.)

One small misstep can be the difference between a festive, romantic dinner and a quiet, regretful night where you’re too busy chewing to talk. So I wanted to know, what's the number one mistake people make with steak? To find out, I asked three experienced butchers, and surprisingly, they all said the same thing.

The Panel of Butchers

• Ed Campbell: Butcher at Kings Food Market in Hoboken, N.J., with more than a decade of experience
• Danny Arriaga: Assistant butcher at Whole Foods Market in Weehawken, N.J., with 13 years of experience
• Brian Guarnaccia: Butcher at Stew Leonard’s in Newington, Conn., with five years of experience

Why Overcooking a Steak Is the Biggest Mistake

According to these pro butchers, the biggest mistake home cooks make is to overcook their steak. While a hot pan or grill is key for a flavorful sear, leaving a steak on too long, even at the right temperature, can quickly dry it out, Campbell explains. Admittedly, this was a mistake I made in my early years of cooking.

Arriaga understands the sentiment that “people don’t like seeing red in their steak,” so their first instinct is to cook their steaks at a high temperature for a long time, which causes them to go beyond the point of well done. He recommends flipping the steaks after three to six minutes per side, but no more than 10 minutes in total, and monitoring the steak as it goes.

For a flavorful, juicy steak, Arriaga recommends aiming for medium-rare, which is warm and red in the center. A medium-rare steak typically reaches an internal temperature of 130°F to 135°F, which you can check with an instant-read thermometer. Or, you can use the “touch test” by pressing the thickest part of the steak—medium-rare feels like the fleshy part of your hand just below the thumb when your hand is relaxed.

For the most precise results, Guarnaccia also recommends using a thermometer to remove the guesswork, and taking the temperature in two different places. It's important to insert the thermometer into the thickest part of the meat, he adds, explaining that this is where it'll take the heat the longest to penetrate.

A Bonus Tip for Success

Finally, the butchers stress the importance of resting your steak. Let it sit for at least 10 minutes after cooking, before slicing, so the juices can redistribute. Follow these steps—cook to medium-rare, monitor internal temperature, and rest properly—and you’ll turn every steak into a flavorful, juicy centerpiece.