436979 Fri Aug 31 11:15:43 -0700 2007 11 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 2900685 Can anyone here state for certain how high-quality steak houses cook steak? My understanding is that you get the best cooking from charcoal, because it´s much hotter than gas. So do steakhouses use charcoal? If so, then is venting a problem? Charcoal produces a lot of carbon monoxide, and it would have to be carefully vented. And what about those grille marks on steak? You´d have to turn it over VERY carefully to get the grill marks in that nice cross-hatch pattern. I´m always very suspicious of that pattern, because I know that many food establishments have a kind of branding iron they use to apply that finish to steaks, chicken breast, etc. Fri Aug 31 11:15:44 -0700 2007 18055 Howard_2 1 2900965 Most of the top of the line steakhouses in New York City use superhot salamanders, aka broilers to cook the steak. Something along the lines of an 1800 degree broiler. Also the NYC steakhouses dont have crosshatch marks on their steaks and the steaks have a crust across the entire steak. You usually only see the marks on bistro steaks. It isn't very difficult to make a crosshatch pattern though, so I'm not sure why you'd have to "VERY carefully" turn it. Basically you sear the steak for a minute or two and then turn it 45 degrees to get the crosshatches. Then flip the steak and finish cooking. I'm not sure why you'd think that would be tough to accomplish. It requires very little additional oversight or work. Fri Aug 31 12:25:16 -0700 2007 2900685 12821 ESNY 2 2901182 "Most of the top of the line steakhouses in New York City use superhot salamanders, aka broilers to cook the steak. Something along the lines of an 1800 degree broiler." And it looks a little somethin' like this: http://www.southbendnc.com/sectionalbroiler.shtml Fri Aug 31 13:22:46 -0700 2007 2900965 10606 Joe Blowe 1 2901199 As ESNY notes, lots of places use very hot gas broilers, but personally, I like the slightly smokey flavor that cooking over charcoal imparts. Fri Aug 31 13:27:46 -0700 2007 2900685 10134 David Kahn 1 2901202 However... restaurants use those super high heat contraptions to save time & make it an even more no-brain practice. Research has proven that searing meat at very high heat does NOT lock in the juices... in fact they lose more moisture. High heat, however delivers some nice browning... however a good cook knows how to produce tender & browned steaks at much lower temps that are also alot juicier than the more modern methods. Regarding the hatch marks... while its not physicall hard to move the steak 45 degrees... its best to not touch them at all.. because you lose juice each time you touch them. Oven, Pan Fry, Grill over Charcoal... .it all depends on the desired result... if you are going to pair the steak with an extremely delicate French sauce you would not want to grill etc., but a nice mesquite charred steak is my preference. Fri Aug 31 13:29:50 -0700 2007 2900685 42572 Eat_Nopal 1 2902139 One thing to remember is that it's easier to make a good steak if it's real thick. Those skinny little 3/4" steaks from the grocery store are more difficult to get right than a nice thick 2" thick cut. I grill my steaks over wood, usually oak. Sometimes I use lump charcoal and sometimes, I'll use regular charcoal. But one constant is that I use a very hot grill and a very thick steak. The outside will get the nice crusty while the inside stays nice and red and warm. Grill marks are for show and I don't think it's worth worrying about. Fri Aug 31 19:58:39 -0700 2007 2900685 22801 bkhuna 2 2904439 Agree with bkhuna 100%...I have grilled steaks for more than 40 years...and have eaten in all the great steakhouses in the US....so you might say I love steak. Some of the best I have eaten are cooked at my home, on an inexpensive Weber grill. Here are the cardinal rules, at least for me: 1) Use good meat...I can't get USDA Prime aged beef locally, so I order, from one of the following: Lobel's; Allen Bros.; Harris Ranch, Niman Ranch. they all have websites. I prefer dry aged, but wet aged is better than you will get at most supermarkets. Minimum thickness is 1.5 inches, and maximum is probably 2.5" A bone in steak will be more flavorful and juicy. 2) Take the meat from refrigerator at least an hour before cooking, and salt liberally with kosher salt and coarse ground black pepper. Use more salt than you would think. I also trim off some the "extra" fat since the steak should be well-marbled and if it is a ribeye, I open them up and trim out the large nuggets of fat and put back together with a bamboo skewer. By the way, I don't have flareups. 3) I use lump charcoal, not briquets. Lights faster, burns hotter and cleaner, and leaves less ash. I put the steaks on over high heat and sear on one side, and then flip and sear a little and for last few minutes put the cover on to slow the cooking. I like a nice crust, and medium rare, and think grill marks are for pictures on the cover of Gourmet magazine.....If you are using a bone in steak, usually when little bubbles of blood appear on the bone, it is time to turn, so you don't burn. Don't flip the steaks every 45 seconds, or you can't get that crust. I turn them once. 4) Let the steak rest for 3-4 minutes to allow the juices to recirculate. This would also be a good time to brush the steak with a little garlic butter. Garlic would burn and get bitter over the hot fire. 5) Open a nice bottle of cabernet or Zin or Shiraz...One last tip: Most people drink their reds too hot. I put mine in the fridge a couple of hours before dinner, and take them out at the same time as the steak...so they come to a nice cellar temp by time to eat. 6) Enjoy, and plan the next cookout. Sun Sep 02 08:27:04 -0700 2007 2902139 12296 steakman55 1 2903835 I worked in four different steakhouses, and we always cooked over gas because it was quicker to fire up, and maintain over the night. And, yes, venting is very efficient - it's hot enough that the cooks would lose a couple of pounds over the night, so sucking that hot air out was important. At some places, we would add mesquite or hickory under the grill to produce smoke. As for the grill branding iron - never seen it used anywhere I worked, or even heard of it before this. Sat Sep 01 18:39:44 -0700 2007 2900685 48210 KevinB 2 2904008 The branding irons do exist, as do custom grill tops that can even incorporate images (typically a corporate logo). I don't consider these things evil, though I do find them silly. I doubt that a high end steak house would do this, but it needn't cause any harm. The really nasty approach is grill marks stamped, or spray painted, on meat, fish, and poultry during processing. I've seen these products advertised, and occasionally available for retail sale (typically frozen/boxed products). Just recon that "grilled" chicken breast in the nuker and serve it up. Sat Sep 01 20:41:23 -0700 2007 2903835 23411 embee 1 2905083 There's few places that use charcoal, but venting is generally not a problem due to the huge vent hoods directly above the cooking appliance. Sun Sep 02 14:47:56 -0700 2007 2900685 10996 JK Grence the Cosmic Jester 2 2905215 Almost all high end steakhouses use over-fired infra-red broilers such as those manufactured by companies like Garland, Southbend and Montague. They use these units because they know that the infra-red ceramic burners will give them the extremely high temperatures--up to 1800 degrees Fahrenheit-- that are required to develop the necessary char on the outside of the steak. This is known as the Maillard effect--named after the French scientist that discovered the effect. (google "Maillard effect" for a more detailed explanation). This is what makes a steakhouse steak taste the way it does. Charcoal and wood are used less and less due to the onerous fire code rules regarding solid fuel cooking in commercial establishments. Most steakhouses using charcoal have been around for a while and are grandfathered around these relatively new regulations. Charcoal does not itself produce better flavour but due to its intense heat craetes the Maillard effect which we assume to be "charcoal' flavour. That same flavour can be produced in a very hot cast iron pan but this is not practical for large volume cooking. The hash marks created by the grill do not have any purpose except to look pretty but as most serious steakhouses don't give a fig about appearances they concentrate on making the steak taste as good as possible-well charred and damn the hash marks You will never see hash marks at Peter Lugers et al. They are usually restricted to places that buy inferior meat and then try to mask its inferiorority by making it look pretty and slutting it up with sauces and garnishes. A dear departed friend who ran a very successful steakhouse for many year once said "the secret to running a great steakhouse is to buy the best meat possible and don't f**k it up".. Words to live by. Sun Sep 02 16:19:28 -0700 2007 2905083 53134 ishmael 1 2905797 I worked at one of the "Top Of" chain restaurants in Columbus, OH and we didn't have gas in the kitchen...I guess being 40 floors up it was an issue to have gas up there. The stoves were electric but the broiler was wood burning and we did all the grill work over oak. The ventilation system looked standard as any other restaurant I had worked at. Grill marks are easy with enough heat - Start the top of the steaks at 10 O'Clock then turn to 2 O'Clock about half way before flipping the steak over then do the same with the other side and you'll get some nice "branding iron" looking marks Sun Sep 02 23:35:46 -0700 2007 2900685 122001 hncreature