I have getting an amazing crust on steak down to perfection. I take the steak (NEVER FREEZE STEAK!!!) sea salt and pepper both sides and put it between 2 paper towels on the counter. I leave it for 90 minutes changing the paper towels as the salt draws the water out of the meat. Then once it's at room temp I take room temperature compound butter I make, or you can use regular sweet cream unsalted butter, and spread it over both sides. Again, let it sit til the fat in the butter is thickened and forms an outer layer.
Get your cast iron skillet really fucking hot then ad a layer of avocado oil and spread it out with a paper towel. no puddles! just a layer on the skillet!! then place your steak in the center and cover. the butter on the top side is going to melt before you flip it of course, but that's ok. After 3 minutes flip it and leave again for 3 minutes. Flip for a second time again for 90 seconds on each side and then sit on a screen or whatever cooking/baking/drying rack you have for 10 minutes before slicing.
Pic quality sucks but that crust was beautiful.
Take an hour to make compound butter. Its the best hour you'll spend for a long time! I use kerrygold unsalted butter, garlic and parsley with sauteed shallots. Its good on ANYTHING
this is a pork chop I made with a mushroom and red onion pan sauce