J. Kenji Lopez-Alt is one of the biggest names in food for a reason: The guy is just really, really good not just at cooking, but at explaining how to cook everything from vegan mayo to onion rings. So it’s no surprise that he approves of this great fat-flashing tip to get the perfect finish on your steaks. He pours the fat on after the fact and right before serving. He rests his seared steak on a wire rack over a pan to catch the resting juices, which get heated up with the cooking fats, before being poured back over the steak on the rack.
It’s important to understand why this works so well. It’s based on a similar principle to basting a seared food in fat while it cooks. This is typically with butter or oil, a technique that works wonders for everything from steak to fish. In this case, though, you’re not basting and letting the fat cook into the meat. Instead, it’s a last-second move with literally smoking liquid fat. This works for two reasons: First, fat equals flavor, and this gives your steak an extra flavor pop. But more importantly, fat is a better heat conductor than hot air, meaning you can blast the surface of your steak without drying it out. You can actually see it work: The meat is going to sizzle and sputter.
