The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science

Advantages: Easy and done indoors. Drippings stay
in contact with meat.

Disadvantages: Without an ultrapowerful burner,
crust can take a while to develop, leading to slightly
overcooked meat underneath.

Grilling

Advantages: High heat leads to fast char and good
flavor development.

Disadvantages: Requires an outdoor grill. Steak
loses moisture and flavor to drippings.

Torching

Advantages: Very high heat makes it easy to char.
You look badass doing it.

Disadvantages: Charring can be uneven, resulting in
some blackened bits before the rest of the steak has
even browned. If you’re not careful, it can also leave
your steak tasting like uncombusted fuel.