re: steak question: never cooked steak on cast iron skillet

there's more than one correct way to sear a steak in a cast iron skillet.

The reason people use the oven (myself included) is because if you don't its very possible to overcook the steak since the only heat the meat is getting is from the pan. in the oven, the inside of the steak gets up to temperature faster because of the 550 oven so you're able to cook less time and get more even great distribution. at least that's how I look at it.

its certainly possible to just cook it in the pan, but feel like there is more medium meat and less medium rare that way.