Lots of people visit steakhouse restaurants, marvel at the succulent steaks, and talk about how they can’t seem to match this kind of quality at home. Are their chefs really that good, or is there something about the ambiance of the place? Does it make the steaks taste so much better if you run up a huge bill?
The fact is that these places have secrets, but now these secrets are pretty much in the open. If you want to try to match the quality of the steaks in these places, here are some facts you have to know about:
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They start with premium quality beef. The “premium” label has been a tad overused these days, but with the great steakhouses there’s no other word that fits. Their dishes are so much better because they really take care to get only the best beef. In many cases, this means getting USDA Prime beef, which is between the top 2% beef in the country. The level of the marbling in this beef is spectacular, and the meat also comes from the youngest and therefore the more tender cows. You will have to be lucky enough to find a butcher shop that offers USDA Prime beef, as you won’t find this in your regular supermarket.
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They use the right equipment. Specifically, they have infrared broilers. These things can really heat up the cooking surface to an even temperature. You’ll need to learn how to use this first, but in the end, you get a better crust on your steak than what you get from your griddle or grill. These broilers can get cooking temperatures of more than a thousand degrees F, so you only need a couple of minutes to cook a steak that measures 2 inches thick.
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They “dry-age” their beef. This means they store huge cuts of meat in a room where the temperature and humidity levels are carefully monitored. This process results in the surface of the meat growing a layer of mold. That mold is removed when the steak is served, and you end up with steak that tastes a lot more robust and earthy than the regular stuff.
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Others “wet-age” their beef. This isn’t as good as dry aging, but then you still get meat that’s a lot tenderer than their un-aged counterparts. This is the more common aging process, and it involves using steak in a vacuum-sealed bag that’s been stored for weeks.
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They add a lot of butter. You can do this if you care about getting more flavor over limiting your calorie intake. You just add a huge amount of butter to the pan immediately before you serve the steak. This butter is what makes the steak really sizzle.
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They keep their customers from ordering well-done steaks. That’s because if the meat is well done, the taste prevents you from being able to tell the quality of the meat. That’s why if these restaurants are unable to prevent you from committing this folly, they tend to use the older steaks for your well-done order. You won’t be able to tell the difference anyway.
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They don’t abstain from salt. The best restaurants tend to use kosher salt, and they apply huge amounts of it to every portion of the steak surface before the steak goes into the broiler.
That’s it then. Buy USDA prime beef, and then age it. Use lots of butter and salt, and make sure you have an infrared broiler. That’ll try to match the high quality of meat you get in the good steakhouse restaurants!