How Often Should You Flip When Cooking Steak? | Dallas Steak (2024)

• June 21, 2022

Few things in life are more satisfying than a perfectly cooked steak. The look, smell, and taste are second to none. How can you achieve that perfect steak on your home grill?

Conventional Steak Flipping Wisdom

When you first started cooking steaks or burgers on the grill, your barbecue mentor probably advised you to place your meat on the grates, flip it once and place it on the serving platter when done. The idea behind this practice is that the meat must be left alone to have sufficient time to develop a beautiful, browned crust and cook evenly on both sides. However, top Dallas steakhouse chefs follow a newer practice: flipping steaks multiple times during the cooking process.

TheFood Science States Otherwise

Recent experiments and noted food scientist and writer Harold McGee indicate that flipping a steak several times while cooking results in a steak that is ready sooner but also yields better overall results than the single flip method. Flipping your meat constantly also minimizes the desiccation zone or the dry area. The result is a steak that cooks more evenly.

What do we mean by better, more cooking? When flipping a steak, it has a greyish-brown band around the edges. Frequent flipping almost eliminates that area, producing more dark pink meat. While it won’t reach the sous-vide level of perfection, it comes mighty close.

Secondly, you can serve dinner sooner. Cooking time is about 30% less, so when your hungry guests repeatedly ask about eating, you’ll be able to put a plate in front of them a few minutes sooner.

What About That Nice, Browned Crust?

The main claim to flipping only once is that you’ll reduce the amount of browning that will occur and also reduce the flavor. While this can be true, you can easily avoid this drawback by ensuring you do not have an overabundance of surface moisture on your steak and have sufficiently high heat. Flipping multiple times allows for better evaporation of surface moisture, thus augmenting browning.

How Often Should I Flip Steaks While Cooking?

Now that you know you’ll get a better-tasting steak, how often should you turn it over? Our Dallas steakhouse chefs do so about every 30 seconds, but as you’re probably not grilling with a stopwatch, flip them as much as you want. Most likely, you’ll tend to other foods simultaneously, so keep going back to the meat to keep turning it.

Additional Steak Cooking Tips

For the best results, select steaks at least one inch thick. We wouldn’t put anything thinner on our tables. Dry steaks by wrapping them in paper towels and pressing on them for several minutes. Salt your steaks for at least 40 minutes before cooking until the meat surface absorbs salt. Better yet, salt the meat the day before and place steaks in the refrigerator overnight to enhance browning.

Enjoy a Perfectly Cooked Steak Dinner at Y.O. Ranch Steakhouse

Of course, sometimes you want someone else to do the cooking for you. At Y.O. Ranch Steakhouse, you’ll always find steaks cooked to perfection in a relaxed, elegant atmosphere. Make your reservation today and discover why we are the best steakhouse in Dallas.