SEAR-ious Flavor

However, some chefs prefer to boost the heat temporarily at the beginning or the end of the cooking to ensure a good sear. If this is your plan, you're better off spiking the heat near the end and you always should have a meat thermometer to ensure you're cooking the center properly.

BROILING: Broiling is not direct heat but cooking via infrared radiation. However, the heat source is extremely hot and in close proximity to the food. Thick items are not appropriate for broiling.

Again, you will obliterate the outside by the time the center is cooked. Broiling is better suited to steaks as opposed to roasts, chicken cut into pieces, chops, and even some fish. If your food is a little on the thick side then move it further from the broiler.

GRILLING: Ah! One of the best thermal methods for that ultimate sear. This is why grilling is so popular. Grilling is intense, direct heat.

But again, if your steak is very thick, or your chicken breast is on the bone, you can transform the surface into an ashtray while the center's still a bacteria-fest.

For large items, start them on a hot part of the grill, sear them, and then move them to a cooler part of the grill or on the rack above it to finish. Thin items aren't an issue unless they're too thin. Then you get the opposite problem: the center is overcooked by the time a proper sear is produced.

SAUTEING: Make sure the pan has fully heated first. Add the cooking fat, allow it to heat up and then add the food. It should sizzle when it hits the pan. Flip after the first side is seared.

The second side will not take as long. If the item is more than an inch thick, you may need to finish it in the less intense heat of the oven to prevent burning the exterior.

FRYING: Watch the temperature of the oil. It varies with the food but 375 is almost always the max with most items cooked in the 325-350 range. Here again, very large items are not appropriate.

In all of these methods:

the food should be at room temperature at the onset of cooking, heat the cooking vessel and/or oil fully before introducing the food, do not move the food until the one side has seared, and brushing the meat lightly with oil before cooking will facilitate even browning.

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