Should I pan fry or broil a top round steak?
I have been marinating a top round steak for 5 hours in a pineapple and soy sauce marinade, with a few other spices. This is my first time cooking with this type of meat indoors. I usually have a fellow out on the grill….
I want to cook it to a warm medium rare, absolutely no more. I like my steak pretty bloody. Any tips?
Both…
If you have to choose, Pan fry. You’ll get more flavor that way…for one thing it’ll carmelize your marinade and create a yummy maynard reaction that you just cannot get from broiling.
But honestly, here is how I cook my steak (assuming about 1″ thick).
1. Turn the oven on to 350 deg.
2. Medium heat and oil in a cast iron pan (or regular if you do not have cast iron). When you can flick water on it and it sizzles, it is ready.
3. Put the seasoned steak in the pan. Do not move it for 4 minutes.
4. Flip it. Do not move it again for 3 minutes.
5. Put it in the oven to finish it (I usually use an aluminum foil covered tray) for another 4-6 minutes. If you want you can put the cast iron pan directly in the oven, but only give it half the time since the pan will keep cooking it.
That should do about a medium rare. You can do more/less if your steak is thinner/thicker or you want it more/less cooked. I sometimes only do 2-3 minutes per side and 4 in the oven, but then I have been known to order steak “raw and warm to the touch” 
Round Top (Texas) Festival Institute – summer 2010