Meat – How to properly sear a sausage

You should be able to get a reasonable steak stovetop using a cast iron grill pan, if you have a strong enough exhaust. Oil the cast iron pan (with canola or such), then heat it very hot, until it starts to smoke. Make sure the meat is completely dry on the outside (wipe with a paper towel, water will prevent browning) and gently place in the pan. Leave it there for a minute or two (it'll smoke quite a bit!), rotate 90° to get the nice grill marks. Leave for another minute or two. Flip, and repeat for the other side.

It may splatter, have a splatter screen handy. It will smoke, quite a bit, make sure the exhaust is on high.

You will probably have a medium-rare steak now. Using a thinner cut will make it more well done (you can cut a thick steak in half with your chef's knife, making two thin steaks); so will plopping it in the oven (not sure if you want the oven before or after searing, I like 'em medium rare...).

Remember to let the meat rest for 5 minutes or so before serving.

Also, if your steaks are coming out ridiculously tough, you're probably using the wrong cut of meat, or some terrible grade. What cut are you using?

[edit: I should note that, in case it wasn't obvious, the burner should be up pretty high]

Edit by rumtscho There is a reason this answer specifies a cast iron pan. If you are limited in your cookware choice, pay attention to the maximum temperature your pan can tolerate. If you are using a non-stick pan, you have to go on medium heat and wait longer, else you'll damage the pan. (And sorry, but you can't get it as tasty as on high heat that way).

Well, you don't need to spend hundreds of dollars, but you might need to put in more elbow grease. You can get a hand-crank meat grinder for about $30 or so and a manual sausage stuffer for about the same. You could save on the grinder if you have a food processor or blender that can have its way with the meat.