Why Your Pan-Seared Tomahawk Steak Should Finish Cooking In The Oven

The truth about the tomahawk steak — and the reason why you might want to think twice before ordering one in a restaurant — is that it's really just a ribeye with a rib bone attached. As such, you're not getting more meat for your money, but it sure is eye-catching, so it might be worth making for a backyard barbecue if you want a truly impressive entree. While this sizable steak can be cooked on a grill, as is the case with this recipe by Rasheed Philips from "The American Barbecue Showdown," if you're pan-searing the steak you'll probably want to finish it off in the oven. This second cooking method will allow the interior to get nice and pink without the exterior charring to a point where it just tastes burnt.

In order to cook the steak, you'll need to preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit at the same time you start heating a heavy frying pan. Fry the steak for a few minutes on each side, and then transfer it to a baking pan. Once the oven is hot enough, bake the steak, using a meat thermometer to check for your desired temperature. At 135 degrees Fahrenheit, the tomahawk is medium rare, but you can go up or down by 10 degrees on either side of that number if you prefer your meat medium or rare.

One problem you may run into when cooking your tomahawk steak is fitting it into the frying pan. It's okay to have most of that honking big bone hanging outside, since you probably won't be eating this part, plus it's going to get baked in the oven anyway. If the bone's at such an angle that it won't allow the entire surface of the steak to lie flat on the pan, though, you may have a problem. One solution would be to buy a larger pan or even a two-burner griddle, but spending the extra money isn't necessary as long as you have the right baking pan.

Just as some frying pans and saucepans are oven-safe, so, too, can some baking pans do double-duty on top of the appliance. Most metal pans should be okay for the few minutes of stovetop cooking needed to sear a tomahawk steak. Not all ceramic pans can withstand such direct heat, though, and glass is right out since it can shatter. As an additional precaution to keep the pan from warping, put the steak in while the pan is still cold and allow it to heat up gradually. Cooking in a cold, unoiled pan, in fact, is actually endorsed by some chefs as a superior method for steaks. As a bonus, you won't need to transfer your steak to a different pan when it's time to go in the oven.