How to Broil a Steak in Electric Oven Without Broiler Pan

Last Updated on September 7, 2015 by SteakEat

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This guide shows how to broil a steak in electric oven without using broiling pan. Quick and simple method with minimum ingredients.

Do you like a delicious grilled steak?

Would you like to cook one inside your electric oven without going out from your house?

Then home oven broiling is for you.

All you need is a good size steak, oven grill rack and a dripping pan.

Add some heat from your oven broiler (and a bit of chemistry) and you will end up with a tasty, flavorful steak. 😉

Contents:

• Part 1: Ingredients & Cooking Utensils
• Part 2: Broiling Steak in Oven in 6 Steps

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Part 1: Ingredients & Cooking Utensils

As my goal here is just to explain the method, I’m going to use a very simple recipe.

You will need these ingredients:

• 8oz / 230g 1-inch thick steak
• Kosher/flaked salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Add these cooking utensils:

• Oven grill rack
• Dripping pan
• Meat temperature probe
• Paper towels
• Tin foil
• Meat tongs

After you got them, we are ready to SteakEat! 🙂

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Part 2: Broiling Steak in Oven in 6 Steps

We are now about to kick-start the cooking process, but I must warn you…

You might find the method a bit tricky, simply because you are not yet familiar with how your broiler and the entire oven works…this is OK.

The more we practice, the luckier we get – let’s broil! 😉

Broiling is nothing but grilling steak inside the oven, but…there is one massive disadvantage and that is…

Home ovens tend to have a fraction of power when compared to the ones used in commercial places (e.g. 550F at home vs 2200F in a restaurant).

That means that a steak needs MORE time to develop the same level of surface browning.

And that means that the steak is MORE likely to overcook, while being inside the oven.

To avoid that, we are going to do these two things:

1. We use a thick (at least 1 inch) slice, which takes longer to cook inside.
2. We are going to cook the steak right out from the fridge – without waiting for it to reach room temperature.

Both of these tricks will give us time for the surface browning to develop.

Now let’s look at the actual cooking guide.

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Step 1: Preheat the Broiler

Open the oven door and set the oven to the broiler mode at maximum power.

The door will be opened for the entire duration of the cooking process.

Now cover the drip tray with tin foil and put it inside the oven on the lowest rack (i.e. #1 from the bottom). The tray will collect juices dripping from the steak, so that you don’t need to clean up afterwards.

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Step 2: Pat Dry & Season with Salt

Take your steak out from the fridge and pat it dry with paper towels.

We do that to remove excess surface moisture, which really inhibits the browning (this applies to every dry heat cooking method).

Once again, we are using cold from-the-fridge steak to gain more time for surface browning.

Once the cut is dry, season its top side with Kosher salt (no pepper until it’s cooked, because it burns at high broiler heat). I recommend 2-3 pinches to begin with.

You will add salt to side #2 after flipping the steak or it will fall off when you start broiling side #1 (that’s gravity in action :)).

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Step 3: Broil the Steak

As soon as you’ve added the salt to your steak and the broiler is hot enough (the thermostat light will start going on and off), place the steak on the grill rack (salted side towards the top, heating element in your oven) and put it inside the oven as close as possible to the heating element.

The goal is to get the surface browning developed as quickly as possible – we don’t want to overcook the inside.

How long to broil steak in oven?

Until it develops the browning you like!

In my case, it takes around 7 minutes per side, but your experience might be somewhat different.

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Once again, if this is your first time broiling, don’t feel overwhelmed – this is tricky! 😉

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This is Part 2 of the ‘How to Broil Steak in Oven’ guide. Click here for Part 1.

Step 4: Flip, Season & Probe

After you have browned the first side, pull out the grill rack and flip the steak using meat tongs.

Now quickly check the inside temperature with the meat probe. We do this to understand how far we are from the desired level of doneness.

I recommend going no further than medium-rare – 55C / 130F – as a guarantee of a tender, juicy and flavorful steak (alternatively use 50C / 122F and 60C / 140F for rare and medium levels of doneness respectively).

Now add salt to side #2 just like you did before with side #1.

Continue broiling after placing the grill rack inside the oven.

Note that it will very likely take less time to brown the side #2, because the steak’s surface is already warm.

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Step 5: Probe the Doneness & Finish Steak in Oven (if necessary)

Think that side #2 is ready?

Check the inside temperature with the probe.

If the reading is below my recommended medium-rare guidelines of 55C / 130F, then you have two options.

1. Enjoy a slightly rarer steak (my choice) – skip to the next step.
2. Finish the steak in oven at low heat.

If you choose to finish the steak in oven, so it reaches a higher inside temperature to accommodate your personal taste, switch the oven to a regular mode (i.e. broiler off) and set the temperature to 275F / 135C with the fan on (or 300F  / 150C with the fan off).

The temperature that low is the best way to keep steak tender and juicy, while gradually heating it up.

Place the steak inside the oven (you may use the dripping pan with tin foil for that).

Now, depending on how many degrees you missed, finishing process might take another 10-20 minutes.

This is when meat probe is indispensable and I highly recommend you get one.

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Step 6: Rest & Cut

As soon as the temperature reading shows the figures you were going for, transfer the steak on to a plate.

It’s time to season it with pepper to create a rich aroma.

After you do that, cover the steak with tin foil and let it rest for 3-4 minutes.

This helps to stabilize the temperature inside, so that most of the juices stay inside, when you cut into it.

Cut the steak across the grain and enjoy your masterpiece.

Great job!

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Now you know how to broil steak in oven without using broiler pan.

Thank you for sharing. 🙂

Happy Steaks!

SteakEat

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