Buy It, Age It, Cook It: The Best Steak Cookbook for You

A steak has one ingredient and very little to hide behind, which is why people write whole books about it. In a Mexican kitchen, carne asada teaches the same lesson: buy the right cut, get the fire right and leave it alone. Most of the difference is made before the meat is cooked.

That is why the useful steak books spend so many pages on buying, cuts and aging. This guide gives eight books from named authors at established publishers. Seven are for cooking, one is simply a good read, and we say which rest on a named review and which on the publisher’s details.

Julia’s earns a commission on purchases made through links on this page, at no cost to you. Recommendations are based on what a restaurant kitchen looks for in a cookbook, the Amazon listing, publisher and author information and published reviews, which we name where we use them.

Quick verdict: the best steak cookbook to start with

The other five cover a steakhouse road trip, a Texas ranch, a New York restaurant, a cut-by-cut meat guide and one book with no recipes at all.

Five steak books side by side

Five of the eight, one for each kind of cook. All eight are described in full below.

Cover images from Amazon. Page counts and formats are from the Amazon listings for the editions linked. Recipe counts are from the publisher’s copy; where it gives none, we say so.

Our picks for the best steak cookbook, book by book

All eight were in stock, in print and new when we checked. Six were sold by Amazon; two had a third-party bookseller as the lead offer, and we say which. We have not cooked from these books; where we describe a strength, we say whose view it is.

How to choose a steak cookbook for your kitchen

Four questions will narrow this list quickly.

• Do you cook over fire or in a pan? Franklin and the Perinis are grill people. If you cook indoors, Franklin’s advice on which cuts suit a pan helps, and so does our stainless steel pan for steak guide.
• Do you know your cuts? If you do not, start with Baych, Hayward or Pryles, because buying better is the cheapest improvement available. A sharp knife at the table helps too, as our steak knives guide explains.
• Do you want to age beef at home? Franklin covers home dry-aging, per the copy, and Mar writes an essay on dry-aging. Read their warnings and instructions before you try it, and follow them closely.
• Is this for steak, or for all of dinner? Wareheim and the Perinis give you the sides and the mood. Hayward and Baych are more about the meat.

How we chose these steak cookbooks

We searched Amazon’s book listings first and kept print editions from named authors at established publishers, plain in stock with a new lead offer. We checked our grill cookbook and smoking cookbook pages and repeated none of their titles. Author, year, format and page count come from the Amazon listing. Recipe counts and descriptions come from the publisher’s copy, as carried by booksellers, unless we credit someone else.

Here is what stands behind each pick. Franklin Steak, Butcher and Beast and Schatzker’s Steak have Publishers Weekly reviews that we read ourselves, the last attached to an earlier ISBN. Steak: The Whole Story, Steak House, the Perini book, Primal Cuts and Prime Cuts rest on the publisher’s and authors’ details. Four of these go beyond steak alone, and their entries say so.

Stock ruled out some familiar titles. Michael Symon’s Carnivore, The Perfect Steak Cookbook and How to Cook a Steak were low in stock, and Morton’s Steak Bible was not available to ship now when we checked. We also left out Meat Illustrated and Meat: The Ultimate Cookbook, which are general meat books.

Steak cookbook questions, answered

What is the best book on cooking steak and beef for a beginner?

Franklin Steak is our first choice because it covers both buying and cooking, according to the copy and PW. If you are more worried about choosing beef than cooking it, start with Primal Cuts.

Do I need a grill to use these books?

Not for all of them. The copy for Franklin Steak covers which cuts suit pan cooking indoors, and Steak: The Whole Story includes a cooking course. The Perini book is built around mesquite grilling, so it is the least useful without a fire.

Can I dry-age steak at home?

Franklin Steak covers home dry-aging, according to the publisher. We have not tried its method, so follow the book’s instructions closely and do not improvise.

Which book has the most recipes?

By the publishers’ counts, Prime Cuts has over 100 and Primal Cuts has 100, though both cover more than steak. Steak House gives 45.

Is there a steak book with Mexican recipes?

We did not see one in this group, though Steak House makes a case for Mexico as a steakhouse destination. For carne asada, our grill cookbook guide includes Bricia Lopez and Javier Cabral’s Asada.

Which steak book should you buy first?

Buy Franklin Steak if you want one book for the whole process. Choose Steak: The Whole Story for depth, Primal Cuts for the cuts, and Steak House or the Perini book for the night out at home. Then get the pan right, with our best cast iron skillet for steak guide.

And if you would rather let someone else cook tonight, see the menu or call to order.