This Is Bobby Flay's Secret To Perfect Steak
It seems like every celebrity chef out there has their own technique for cooking a steak. Gordon Ramsay advises taking the meat out of the refrigerator 20 minutes before you're ready to cook in order to avoid overcooking the outside of the steak while the interior is still cold (via YouTube). Andrew Zimmern suggests that after you cook your steak, let it cool to room temperature before eating because it's easier to enjoy the texture and taste when it's not too hot (via Business Insider).
Bobby Flay is no different. While on Rachael Ray's cooking show, Bobby Flay cautioned against overcooking steak (via YouTube). He opined that many home cooks err on the side of caution and cook meats for too long to ensure that they are done. But while you can easily put a piece of meat back in the oven or back in a pan to cook it for a bit longer, you obviously can't do the reverse.
The trick to not overcooking your steaks
To avoid overcooking, he advises undershooting the temperature guidelines. Medium-rare steaks are said to be 125 degrees Fahrenheit, and medium is around 140 degrees Fahrenheit. However, if you use your meat thermometer (Flay assures watchers that using one isn't cheating) to get this reading while the steak is still in the oven you will wind up with a steak that is overcooked.
Why? Flay reminds home cooks that meat will continue to cook even after you've removed it from the heat source because of the residual heat in the pan. To prevent this from happening, he suggests pulling the steaks from the oven when they're still a few degrees shy of where you want them. He suggests aiming for 120 degrees instead of 125 degrees if you want a medium-rare steak, and 135 degrees instead of 140 degrees if you want your steak to turn out medium.
Even though this is a bit short of what you're aiming for, the temperature will continue to rise slightly, and therefore the steak will continue to cook as it is resting.