How come I can't get my steak to have that sort of crispy sear on the outside? I have a gas stove and stainless pan (also tried cast iron) and a BBQ that I can get up to like 700 degrees and the outsides still look a little anemic. Not like boiled-steak tier, but it still clearly lacks that proper steakhouse cook.
Same for scallops, but worse. At best, I get some light browning by the time they're cooked, even when the pan is hot enough to smoke canola oil. I think it's because I can't find diver's scallops easily--is there a trick to cooking those "wet" scallops properly?
I'm not a professional chef but I'm hospitality industry, have worked in kitchens in the past, took a bunch of culinary classes in commercial kitchens, and love a great steak so thought I'd offer my shit take...
Commercial equipment is designed to get lots of food out fast and has more power and heat than anything you will find in a home kitchen. Most steaks with a great crust are coming out of a salamander which is kinda like a home broiler but much hotter. Some are coming out of a pan on a commercial range that can get screaming. Others are coming off a char griller that has the same magic. Restaurant steaks are cooked as fast and accurate as possible and have a very small window of error (the time between too long and too short for ideal doneness and crust).
Because of the lack of it the same level of heat and power. One of the better ways to do a steak in a restaurant (salamander) becomes one of the worst at home (broiler). Because of the difference in the tools and the goals at home (perfect steak versus perfect steak fast) I'm a huge advocate of the reverse sear method which was invented by the BBQ community about a decade ago to get a restaurant steak at home.
Basically it's cooking a steak low and slow like a roast till you hit ideal doneness then using the classic super high heat (well as super high as you can get at home) to get a pretty crust. The pros are it widens the window of error so big it's almost foolproof, you do get a great crust, your preferred doneness is there and warm from crust to crust (no grey band). Cons are it takes a good while.
If I'm at my house my "recipe" is a Montreal seasoning covered thick ribeye steak sat on a rack and pan uncovered in my fridge for 24 hours to dry age it a bit (trim before seasoning and keep the fat for the pan). Then 2 hours at 150" f in my air fryer (if I bother to temp check it it's in the proper medium rare range). When the steak is almost done air frying at extremely low heat, heat your cast iron or stainless pan (not sure which I prefer, I go back and forth) over your hottest burner with about a tablespoon of a high heat oil (I use peanut) and some chopped steak fat. It should be smoking and screaming. If the steak coming out the low heat looks dry and weird you are on the path. Pan fry a minute per side. All you are doing is making a crust the dryer the outside the better. Mine end up not splattering in the oil and impossibly juicy on the inside with warm pink from crust to crust. At my parents house the low heat is a pellet smoker and high heat is charcoal grill. But you can use whatever tools work.
If reverse sear isn't for you (I think everyone should try it) you best hope is maximizing surface dryness, using oil, and getting the best heat you can. Traditional method leave very little room for error but can make a great steak quickly.
I rarely cook seafood and never eat it but I'd reckon the difference in a commercial range versus home might be the x factor.
Good luck and great steak.
