And it isn't even fucking true.
You don't want the pan that fucking hot at all.
Black and blue steak would require a smoking hot cooking surface.
That is true, though I never think of it because that's such an unusual request
Oh god, that’s another term for Pittsburghing a steak, isn’t it?
The reverse sear method disagrees with you
Nah, if you get a pan "ripping" hot, you fuck the Maillard reaction. It works best around the 325 range. You want the best possible crust on your steak, you get the pan up to between there and 350, close enough to 350 that the initial loss of heat from the pan doesn't dip it too far.
I mean, unless you want burnt bits and such. If you want carbonization instead of the complexity of the Maillard reaction, you do indeed need high heat so that the exterior will blacken nicely before it fucks the interior temp
The kind of temps that have a pan actively smoking reach 400 plus. You aren't building the same kind of reaction then, because the carbs just can't handle it, they break down instead hence the black stuff.
Reverse sear, regular, whatever, that holds true. Once you get much past 350, you don't get that deep flavor and crust, you just get carbon.
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SIR! YOUR COMMENT OFFENDS ME! I sear MY steaks in an air fryer on broil 400 degrees. 12 mins flip halfway through. THAT is the only way to sear a steak.
