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I do not have an outdoor grill but would like to make steak. I just bought a grill pan, and I have an electric oven with a broiler setting. Between these two methods which would produce the more tender and juicier steak if I have an already tender steak like Filet Mignon?

Jay
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S. M. Shahinul Islam
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    Since people's taste is highly subjective and 'best' is a bit vague, you might want to lay out the particular characteristics of the end product you are looking to attain. Otherwise, this question is a bit open-ended. – mfg Mar 12 '12 at 12:45
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    As @mfg says - "best" for what? We don't know from the question text. There are many different cuts - what do you mean by "tender type"? This is far too vague as is, needs clarification to be reopened. It also seems to cover very similar ground as [How do you properly cook a steak?](http://cooking.stackexchange.com/q/267) and [How do you cook a steak like those found in fine steakhouses?](http://cooking.stackexchange.com/q/3218) – Aaronut Mar 12 '12 at 20:02
  • @Aaronut, While I would agree that this question could be better worded a 'good question' is asked all the same. I also see this as clearly different from the two questions you present as similar (and they are similar, but not 'the same'). The difference in OP's question is he is trying to discern the 'best' (ok, sure that can be subjective...) technique given his limited tools (electric oven and 'grill' pan) A full range of available answers presented in both of the other questions are excluded by context. – Cos Callis Mar 12 '12 at 21:45
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    @CosCallis: Of the 3 answers so far, one is somebody's "favourite way" and the other refers to a completely different method that is neither grilling nor broiling - neither actually answers the question. Clearly this isn't inspiring good answers. You made some good points in your answer, but a lot of it is speculation that wasn't inherent to the question. The word "best" here is next to meaningless, and there's really no other substance to make it work. This is really just inviting people's opinions. – Aaronut Mar 12 '12 at 22:10

2 Answers2

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If by 'grill pan' you mean something heavy (cast iron) like:

enter image description here OR enter image description here

then it would be your choice as to whether you want to heat them on top of your stove or under your broiler. If your 'grill pan' is less heavy duty (say aluminum) then it is unlikely to be capable of with standing the heat required to 'best' cook a steak. When the weather here does not favor outdoor grilling I get great results out of placing my cast iron griddle/grill (similar to the second picture) inside of a half-sheet pan and under the broiler to preheat. Once the iron reaches 500F I will add the steak for about 3 minutes per side (for a med-rare) I would also suggest wiping the iron with a little oil first.

Community
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Cos Callis
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You can also slow-fry steak on your cooktop. This requires quite a bit less heat, but takes rather longer.

I use butter to fry it in and try to keep the heat just below where it will burn the butter (about half on my cheap electric cooktop). The meat probably gets turned a few times more than what most cooks recommend. It's fairly well done when the meat's juices pooling on the top are starting to go clear.

staticsan
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    Whilst I would agree with @MFG that "best" is a bit subjective, I think "best" and "steak" precludes the use of the term 'Well Done" – Cos Callis Mar 12 '12 at 16:03
  • I suspect the term 'well done' might be subjective, too. I simply don't like my meat at all red; I find it too tough to eat. – staticsan Mar 13 '12 at 02:37
  • Too much Roo on your Barbie mate ;) With quality beef the red is nice and tender. Same holds true for lamb chops... – Cos Callis Mar 13 '12 at 02:44