How To Make Steak In The Oven Juicy, Tender & Delicious

Last Updated on February 2, 2021 by SteakEat

If you are wondering how to make steak in the oven juicy and delicious, I am more than happy to help you!

Since there are numerous ways of using the oven when cooking steak, I tried to somewhat combine the most popular questions steak lovers ask. This article is what came out from it – make sure to follow all the pages to get the most out of it.

Also let me know If there is a specific question you have in the comments below.

I hope it will help you take your cooking to the next level!

Contents:

• How To Make Steak In The Oven Juicy and Tender
• Should I Use Tin Foil / Oven Bag For Cooking Steak In Oven?
• How To Make A Well-Done Steak In The Oven
• How To Cook Steak In The Oven With Broiler
• Steak in the oven and stove
• Cooking beef from frozen in the oven

How To Make Steak In The Oven Juicy and Tender

By far the most popular question. And the answer is very simple.

To bake a juicy steak in the oven all you need is…decrease the cooking temperature!

Conventional guides recommend around 200C / 400F and more for making beef in oven.

My recommendation is – max 140C / 285F with the fan on in a conventional electric oven.

Personally I prefer 130C / 265F temperature setting, as I find 140C / 285F to dry my steaks up and 120C / 250F just takes a bit too long.

So every time you see a recipe saying something like “preheat the oven to 400F and finish the steak for 10 minutes”, turn your oven to 265F and take the steak out in 15-20 minutes. Then feel the difference!

You can also try using a meat tenderizer with needles (like this one). Check out these meat tenderizers like these.

Should I Use Tin Foil / Oven Bag For Cooking Steak In Oven?

Some people wonder whether they need tin foil or oven bag so to preserve moisture from escaping and so on.

But look at it from this perspective – the moisture (read – juices) is still escaping the steak (where we want all that goodness to stay). It doesn’t matter where it goes – tin foil or oven bag – it’s still leaving beef, turning it dry and flavorless.

Reducing the cooking temperature for your steak is one of the single biggest changes you can make right away. And it has a massive impact.

Still need to use oven bag? See how to cook chuck roast in oven bag as a guide.

How To Make A Well-Done Steak In The Oven

Searing a steak to medium-rare and keeping it juicy is a nobrainer (ok, it can be tricky), but what about baking steak to well-done and keeping it tasty at the same time?

This is where it gets tricky…but not for you – you know the trick of reducing the temperature! Exactly the same idea applies with well-done level of doneness.

Suppose you have just seared a round steak on stove top.

You only have it cooked to rare – medium-rare, because you want to keep all the moisture and flavor inside this lean cut (high heat coagulates protein molecules at a very fast rate, thus causing them to release moisture and become tough, so you want to sear that round steak to golden brown as quickly as possible).

Now you have your oven preheated to 130C / 265F.

Put round steak right inside and wait for approximately 30 minutes before checking its internal temperature with the meat thermometer.

No temperature probe? Try these cooking times approximations (and get the probe on Amazon).

Once the temperature reaches 75C / 167F, you are good to go. Take it out, give it a rest and cut it.

This method will give you the most tender and juicy steak, given the level of doneness you are looking for.

Pro Tip: If the temperature inside the steak stopped climbing up, increase the oven temperature slightly.

How To Cook Steak In The Oven With Broiler

When it comes to a broiler in conventional oven, we refer to a heating element located on the ‘ceiling’  in the oven. It’s a grill-like tool which may be used with some sort of success, if used very-very carefully.

Why carefully? Because, truth be said, it sucks big time – it’s no good for preparing ‘grilled steak in oven’.

Commercial broilers, which steakhouse chefs use for cooking, heat up to extremely high temperatures. With such a tremendous heat, it’s very simple to quickly brown the steak on the outside without overcooking it on the inside (i.e. the steak stays tender).

Once the browning part is done, they can then finish it at lower heat in an oven and so on.

Back to home broilers that are integrated inside most kitchen ovens. They don’t produce nearly as much heat.

It means that to get a proper browning on the steaks’ surface you need to wait for good 10 minutes per side (as opposed to less than a minute in a steakhouse).

While that’s happening some heat will still penetrate beef and cook it on the inside, so no matter what you do, get ready for not just well-done steak, but a really chewy version of it (of course if you are not using a rib eye or filet mignon).

However if you are still determined to cook steak in oven with a broiler turned on, it is possible to do fine if you have a thick cut. This top round roast for example. Check it out.

How To Cook Steak In The Oven And Stove

If you are wondering how to cook steak in the oven after searing, I recommend you do completely the opposite – cook it in the oven first and THEN finish it on the stove top.

I recommend this sequence for one main reason – it really does make the process of browning the surface of the steak much, much simpler and more effective. It’s just so easy!

Cook Steak In Oven & Finish It On Stove In 4 Simple Steps

1. Begin with heating up the oven to 130C / 265F.

Once it’s ready, put the steak inside. Use a simple tray or some heat-resistant cooking dish.

There is no need to season the steak with salt or pepper at this stage. On the other hand, dry rubs and marinades are OK to use now.

One advantage of this sequence is that you don’t need to wait for the steak to reach the room temperature before starting to cook it. The oven will take care of it.

How long to keep it there will depend on the level of doneness you are looking for. For medium-rare 56C / 133F internal temperature is ideal. Once again for those without meat thermometer, steak cooking times approximations are here.

2. Looks good? Take it out and start heating up the skillet on the stove top. Add a tiny bit of olive or coconut oil.

3. Once you can see gentle smoke coming off the skillet, season the steak with coarse salt and throw it inside. Keep the pepper till later.

Each side will require 1-2(max) minutes per side for browning to develop. Use tongs to flip the steak. The whole finishing on the stove process should take about 5 minutes.

4. Ready? Put the steak on a plate and let it rest for a few minutes. Now is the time for freshly ground pepper.

Cut the steak with a sharp knife at 45-degree angles to make it look even more legit. 🙂

Pro Tip: Heat up serving dishes in the oven before serving steak – they will keep it warm for longer.

How To Cook Steak In The Oven From Frozen

The same idea applies – low heat baking is king.

However this time we will set the oven at 120C / 250F. This lower setting will help frozen steak to warm up in a more gentle way, so it stays tender and juicy.

I also recommend using a grill rack and dripping pan right above it. It will help to catch cold water escaping frozen steak, when it starts to melt.

You will need to be patient with this, because it will take a while.

The idea is the same though – wait for internal temperature to reach the desired level of doneness.

I then recommend you sear the steak in a pan to help develop browning just like we did above.

Pro Tip: If you have a microwave, use it instead of the oven. It takes far less time to defrost the steak and then you can cook your dinner much quicker!

Now that you know how to make steak in oven in different scenarios, let me know in the comments if you have any additional questions or tips for us.

Happy steaks!