3 Ways to Cook Your Tomahawk Steak | Pan Sear, Reverse Sear, Sear & Bake
What is the best way to get the juiciest and flavorful tomahawk steak? We cooked three different steaks, three different ways, to show all the different outcomes you can get by pan searing, reverse searing, and a combination of both.
Reverse Sear Tomahawk:
We’ll start by roasting our first steak in convection in the Wolf Wall Oven. Reverse sear means we roast it first, then we will take it to the induction cooktop and sear it in a cast iron. This method will really give you a tender steak with a crisp sear. Depending on the size of your steak, you’ll be able to feed a few people with this.
Before putting it into the oven, pat it dry to get the extra moisture off of it. This will really help the outside crust while it’s roasting in the oven. Season this with 2 tablespoons of black pepper, and 2 tablespoons of salt. You can be more generous with the salt too; it will help bring the beef flavor out. Don’t forget to season your fat sides of the steak as well. If you also season from up high, this allows for more even seasoning distribution and coverage.
We’re using the Wolf Convection Wall Oven for this. We have it preheated to 350 degrees. This oven also has a roast probe function. In some ovens you have the option of monitoring your meats internal temperature. You stick the probe end into the middle of the meat, and then plug it in to respective hole at the top inside of the oven. We can then go to the oven display and set the temperature we want the internal of the steak to reach. For this steak, we want it to get to about 130 degrees.
Of course, if you don’t have a roast probe feel free to monitor your internal temperature with any meat thermometer.
Chef’s Tip: If you are using the roast probe, make sure to insert it in the center of the steak and not along any bones or the edges. This will ensure your meat will be cooked thoroughly.
Convection will use all three heat sources to create an evenly cooked piece. It pushes air all around the oven making a much more thorough cook. It's going to brown it on the bottom, and on the top. The convection fan is going to fly all the way through, creating an even oven surface, the left, the right to get a really even cook with top and bottom heat.
Once we pull it out of the oven, we will take this over to our Wolf Induction. We’re using a cast iron pan for this. After oiling the pan, place your steak down and cook it for about 3 minutes on each side. Don’t forget to also sear the sides of the steak. We want a crust on every side. If you want you can pull this off and cut right into it, or let it sit for 15 minutes to hold in all the juices. This method gave me a tender and juicy tomahawk steak, with a crisp crust on the outside.
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons black pepper
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 1 tomahawk steak
Method:
- Pat your steak dry
- Season all sides with salt and pepper
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
- Insert roast probe into middle of steak to monitor internal temperature
- Set the roast probe temperature on your oven to 140 degrees Fahrenheit
- Cook your steak for 20 – 30 minutes, or until it reaches the correct internal temperature
- Preheat your cast iron on the induction on high
- Remove steak from the oven when finished, and place in pan
- Cook all sides for 3 – 5 minutes or until crust forms on outside of the steak
- Let it rest or serve it right away
Pan Seared to Convection Tomahawk:
For this steak we will sear it first in a cast iron on our Wolf Induction. We're going to finish it in true convection in our Wolf wall oven using our roast probe. We want to pat the steak off with a paper towel before cooking it. This just allows for it to crust up better on the outside. Then season both sides with 2 tablespoons of salt and 2 tablespoons of pepper. I also like to add 1 tablespoon of Montreal steak seasoning to enhance the beefy flavors. To the top of this drizzle a teaspoon of olive oil, and an ounce of butter for caramelization.
If you have any excess seasoning, just shake it off before adding this to the pan that way it doesn’t burn. Preheat the induction up to 80%, so this side should take 3 minutes. This can vary depending on how thick your steak is. Don’t forget to get the sides of your steak too. You might have to stand yours up on the bone for about 30 to 45 seconds to sear the sides.
Once we sear all the sides, this is ready to go into the oven. Place this on a raised rack on top of a tray in order to ensure that the convection air reaches all sides of the steaks. If you want less of a mess, put a piece of parchment paper or tin foil down on your tray to catch drippings. For our roast probe make sure to put it in the center of the steak at least covering 80%. This will give you the most accurate internal temperature for the steak while it’s cooking.
I put this into the oven at 350 degrees until the internal temperature reaches 130 degrees. For my steak this took roughly 45 minutes. This will obviously depend on the thickness of the steak you have. After the internal temperature reaches 130 degrees, this out of the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes. Resting this will really allow the juices to hold in our steak. When you cut into this, follow the grain of the steak. You could slice this thin for more pieces or cut it into thick steaks.
This yields a juicy and tender steak from this method. It really held in the moisture since we let it sit before cutting into it.
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 2 tablespoons pepper
- 1 tablespoon Montreal steak seasoning
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
Method:
- Pat your steak dry Season all sides with salt, pepper, and Montreal steak seasoning
- Preheat cast iron pan on high
- Add a teaspoon of olive oil to the pan
- Cook the steak on all sides for about 3 – 5 minutes or until a brown crust starts to form
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
- Insert roast probe in middle of steak
- Set internal temperature timer on oven for 140 degrees Fahrenheit
- Cook steak in oven for about 30 – 45 minutes or until it reaches the desired internal temperature
- Let rest or serve right away
Pan Seared Tomahawk Steak:
We’re going to cook this tomahawk outright in a cast iron pan on the Wolf induction cooktop. This will really give us a crispy outer crust, but then a juicy and tender inside. I have the induction up to 70% to preheat my cast iron pan.
If you don’t know what induction cooktops are, it’s a safe and efficient way to cook using magnetrons. It only creates heat where it meets the pan on the cooktop. You can put your hand beside my pan while you’re cooking, and you won’t get burned. You can also have your utensils and cutting board right beside the pan and won’t have to worry about them being a safety hazard.
Add about 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan before adding the steak. Make sure to pat the steak dry, since this will allow for a better crust. Season this with 2 tablespoons of black pepper, and 2 tablespoons of sea salt. You can heavily salt this since it will only build on the flavor. To compliment the steak’s flavors, add 1 tablespoon of Montreal steak seasoning to finish it off.
Chef’s Tip: To test if your pan is hot enough, sprinkle a little bit of seasoning into the pan and see if it pops. When it’s popping, you know it’s up to temperature.
Smoking point matters on a few of these, but the induction is so safe that you can feel comfort cooking with a little bit of regular extra virgin olive oil. Push the heat up to high, so we ensure we get a great sear in the first few minutes of cooking this. Place the steak down and it will cook on this side for 5 minutes. Throughout the cooking process you’ll want to monitor the internal temperature. You want your steak to be at about 130 degrees. We used a wireless roast probe that connects to an app on our phone and gives us the internal temperature. Although, if you prefer a more old-fashioned method, you can also monitor the temperature with any meat thermometer.
It was about 5 minutes on each side until our steak reached the desired internal temperature. If your steaks are bigger or smaller though this will vary. Once it’s ready to be pulled off, add an ounce of butter on top. This will just give it a creamy richness to the crust. If you can hear the crust when you run your knife along it, you know you have a great sear. To build the flavors and juiciness, let this rest for about 15 minutes. Or if you choose to you can cut into this right away. When it’s time to cut into it, an easy way to remove the bone is just to follow the curve of the bone with your knife. This makes it a breeze to remove. Sometimes you’ll even get someone to knaw on the bone.
To finish this out, just add 1 teaspoon more of sea salt. This steak was crispy and salty on the outside, but soft and juicy on the inside.
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons black pepper
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 1 tablespoon Montreal steak seasoning
Optional:
- 1 tablespoon of salt to taste
- 1 ounce butter
Method:
- Pat steak dry Season with salt, black pepper, and Montreal steak seasoning
- Preheat cast iron pan on high
- Add 1 teaspoon of olive oil to pan
- Insert wireless roast probe, or monitor internal temperature until it reaches 140 degrees Fahrenheit
- Cook steak on all sides for 5 – 8 minutes until reaching desired internal temperature
- Once steak is almost full cooked, add an ounce of butter to melt on top
- Let rest or serve right away
This was just 3 different ways to cook your tomahawk steaks. Each one was tender with a great sear on the outside. Some juicier than others, but hopefully this helps you determine which way you want to cook your tomahawk steaks.
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