The Reason You Should Always Serve Steak On A Warmed Up Plate

Making a steak dinner requires concentration — whether it's a grilled herby flat iron steak or a coffee-rubbed steak, the meal probably took considerable care and attention on your part. With this in mind, the last thing you want to do is mess up the steak by serving it incorrectly. One common mistake? Serving hot steak on a cold plate.

If you serve your juicy just-cooked meat on a cold plate, the plate will likely absorb the heat from the steak, resulting in meat that is not nearly as hot as you want it to be and, thus, no longer nearly as appetizing and satisfying as it should be. To heat up your plate for serving, you can use the oven by placing a stack of plates into the oven for about 15 minutes at about 150 degrees Fahrenheit. Another method to heat up the plates is to run them under very hot water for just about 10 seconds. Of course, you'll need to dry them with this method. Once the plates have been heated up, you can rest easy knowing that all of your hard work making the steak won't go to waste.

Now that you know to serve steak on a warm plate there are a few other tips to keep in mind when serving a steak dinner. Firstly, even though you're probably eager to dig into the steak, it's important to let it rest before serving it. Steaks, and other meats, should rest after cooking so that the juices have time to spread through the whole cut — otherwise, the end result may be too dry. The resting period also allows for the steak to finish cooking to temperature, as it's best to take it off the heat when it's about 10 degrees under what you're aiming for. This is known as carryover cooking, when the temperature continues to rise after removing steak from the pan or grill. 

Additionally, if you plan to serve the steak sliced then make sure to cut against the grain, meaning the opposite direction as the muscle fibers. The muscle fibers can be tough, so you want to slice through them to make sure that the meat is tender — cutting alongside the muscle fibers will only make the meat tougher to chew, which we certainly don't want.

Finally, to end the steak dinner on a high note and have a delectable dessert ready to enjoy afterward, check out Tasting Table's list of the 12 best desserts to serve after a steak dinner. This includes all sorts of make-ahead treats, including a chocolate torte and a blueberry cobbler.