Steak is a great dish to serve at dinner parties or special occasions. The problem is that steak can often get wasted due to it being so big. If you don’t want to waste a perfectly good steak, you’ll need to know how to reheat it properly.
Leftover steak can taste just as good, if not better, than freshly cooked steak! People often don’t bother doing this, however, due to their worry about reheating it incorrectly. Reheating meat incorrectly can be dangerous, but don’t let this put you off!
Another reason why people tend to waste steak rather than reheat it is because they’re worried that it will dry out and become ruined. It is completely possible to reheat steak without this happening, though – and we’re going to tell you how to do this today.
Let’s get right into our article of how to reheat steak properly.
Six Ways To Reheat Steak
If you thought that there was only going to be one, very difficult way to reheat your steak, then you’d be mistaken! There are actually six methods to reheat your meat, each ensuring that it is as tender and as juicy as the first time you tasted it.
Take a look through these six reheating methods to find the best one for you.
1. Reheating Steak In The Oven
One of the easiest ways to reheat steaks is in the oven. This method works well with most types of meat, including beef, lamb, pork, chicken and turkey.
You simply place the steak on a baking tray and pop it in the oven for around 30 minutes, or until the internal temperature is at least 145 degrees.
Most people will suggest reheating your steak in the oven because of its simplicity. Here is a quick method of how you should reheat your steak in the oven.
Preheat your oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
Place your leftover steak on a wire rack over a baking tray, ensuring that the steak is at room temperature.
Cook the steak in the oven for 20 minutes. After this initial cooking time, keep it in the oven for another 10 minutes while checking often to ensure that it doesn’t dry out.
Serve immediately once the meat has reached a safe internal temperature. Use your favorite sauce to flavor it and enjoy!
Bear in mind that all steaks will need a slightly different cooking time due to the varied thickness. We suggest purchasing an internal meat thermometer to ensure that your reheated meat is safe for consumption.
2. Reheating Steak With A Sous Vide
The sous vide technique is perfect for reheating large cuts of meat such as steak. Using a water bath, which is essentially a vacuum sealed container filled with hot water, allows you to cook your steak safely and effectively.
The sous vide will reheat your meat very gently so that you don’t lose any of the delectable flavor or juiciness.
Here’s how to do it so that you can get a perfect reheated steak every time.
Put your steak into a sealable plastic bag with a little butter for flavoring.
Remove as much air out of the bag as you can before sealing it.
Leave your steak out on the side for around 30 minutes so that it can come up to room temperature.
Place the bag into your sous vide with the water at between 120 to 130 degrees Fahrenheit. Follow your sous vide instructions on how to properly use it.
Cook the steak for around 5 to 8 minutes, or until it has been reheated all the way through.
Afterwards, remove the steak from the water bath and allow it to rest for five minutes before serving. If you prefer, you can serve it straight away.
Some people choose to sear their steak after using their sous vide to make it crispier and more resembling a freshly cooked steak. To do this, add the steak to a hot saucepan straight out of the sous vide for 60 seconds on each side.
It’s important to cook your steak from room temperature in a sous vide to avoid overcooking it and being left with a dried out steak. That is why we included a step to bring the steak to room temperature!
3. Reheating Steak In The Air Fryer
Air fryers have grown amazingly in popularity in recent years and it is actually stated that 40% of Americans have an air fryer in their house.
Most people don’t know that you can actually use an air fryer to reheat meat, but we’re here to tell you that you can! It’s actually one of the best ways to do it as it can reheat quickly without losing any of its tenderness.
Here’s how to reheat your steak in an airfryer:
Leave your steak out of the fridge for around 30 minutes to get it to room temperature.
While you’re doing this, preheat your air fryer to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Add your room temperature meat into the basket and start the air fryer.
Check the temperature every 2 minutes until you get to the optimal internal temperature. The time it takes for your steak to reheat will depend on its size and thickness.
Once the internal temperature reads between 110 and 130 degrees Fahrenheit, it’s ready to serve.
Now take the steak out of the air fryer and serve immediately. Most air fryers will keep your food warm before you open the door, so you can also leave it in there if you want to keep it warm longer. However, bear in mind that this might dry the meat out.
4. Reheating Steak On The Stove
If you’re looking to reheat your steak on the stovetop, then you’ll need to heat it up first. This means that you’ll need to put it into a pan over medium heat and let it sit there for around 10 minutes.
This will heat the pan so that you can sear the meat straight away rather than allowing the pan to heat up while the meat is on it, which will lead to dried out meat.
Below is the best way to reheat your steak on the stove:
Put your pan over the stove on a medium heat with some oil and butter within. You can use a pan lid to heat the pan up quicker.
Now place the steak in the pan and replace the lid.
Flip the steak every minute to get an even sear on both sides. A medium rare steak will only take between 2 and 4 minutes to reheat.
Serve immediately with your favorite sauce and sides.
Reheating your steak on the stove is one of the quicker ways to do it, but it is also easier to overcook the meat and leave it less juicy than it was fresh. This is because you’re using a very high heat to sear the meat.
If you’re making fajitas or quesadillas with your steak, then the stove might be a good option. However, if you’re reheating to eat the steak on its own, we would use a different method to retain more of the juiciness and flavor.
5. Reheating Steak In Broth
Broths are great at keeping your meat moist, so they’re great for adding to the pan when reheating meat that you don’t want to dry out. This method includes adding some broth to the pan before cooking your steak in it on the stove.
Sounds simple, and it is! Another benefit is that you don’t have to use any oil, so you can enjoy a burst of flavor from your steak without having the greasy taste. Here’s how to use broth to reheat your steak:
Heat some broth in a pan for a couple of minutes until it begins to boil.
Add your steak and turn the heat down, cooking for around one minute.
Remove the steak and serve immediately.
Remember to check the temperature of your steak before eating, as it has to be of a safe temperature to avoid any illness. Bear in mind that you can still overcook steak in broth, so don’t leave it in there for too long!
6. Reheating Steak In The Microwave
Finally, you can also reheat steak in the microwave. A microwave works by heating things up quickly, so there is a risk of overcooking and drying the meat out. In fact, the microwave option is probably the most likely to dry out your steak, which is why we have put it last in the list.
If you are set on reheating your steak in the microwave, however, there are steps that you can take to avoid it drying out. Below is the best way to reheat your steak in a microwave to avoid overcooking it:
Place your steak on a microwavable plate with a dampened paper towel covering it.
Set the microwave to medium setting and cook the steak for 30 seconds.
Flip the steak and cook on the other side for another 30 seconds.
Continue with this pattern until the steak is cooked. This should take no longer than 2 minutes, but it will depend on the thickness and size of your steak.
Cooking at only 30 seconds for a time will give you the best chance of avoiding overheating it. Don’t set it to 2 minutes and leave it to cook for this entire duration, as you might find that the steak dries out in this short amount of time.
What Is The Best Way To Reheat Steak?
Out of the six methods we have looked at above, we think that the sous vide option is the best. It allows you to control the exact temperature and timing of the steaks, ensuring that they stay tender and juicy.
The water slowly warms the steak rather than cooking it with high heat, giving you the best chance of enjoying a tender steak for the second day in a row.
Plus, you can then use the reverse sear method of cooking to give your leftover steak a crispier finish. When reheating food, we find that low and slow is always the best method of avoiding dry and brittle meats. However, all of the methods above can be used to reheat your steak to a reasonable quality!
Summary
We hope that our guide to reheating steak has helped you understand what happens to your steak after you’ve cooked it. We’ve discussed each of the different ways that you could reheat your steak, and explained which ones work better than others.
Hopefully we have convinced you that you don’t have to throw away perfectly good leftovers due to the worry of reheating it properly!
