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Tender, juicy, tasty, restaurant steaks are among the most coveted dishes. Whether you like a tender filet mignon or prefer a well-marbled rib eye medium-rare, there’s a steak for every meat lover. However, even though restaurant-prepared steaks are delicious, they still seem nearly impossible to recreate at home. What are their secrets ?!
Well, on the one hand, if you think buying a steak from this crate at your local supermarket will get you there, you’re on the wrong track. “Your choice of beef ultimately has more to do with the taste of your steak than the cooking technique,” explains Malaki Handicraftsexecutive chef of Rick Erwin’s Clemson.
Craft explains that beef is rated by the USDA, with Prime being the top 10% in the country, followed by Choice, Select, Standard, and so on. “If you want restaurant-quality steak, I recommend avoiding Select or Standard quality,” he says. Learn more about steak qualities here.
Choosing the right steak is just the first step to preparing a restaurant-worthy steak in the comfort of your own kitchen. We’ve recruited a handful of chefs to give you tips on how to get the job done. From making sure to use high heat to remembering to cut like a pro, here’s seven chef secrets that make restaurant steak so much better than the one you cook at home.
Matthias merges, chef and owner of Mordecai Chicago, says you can also get your steaks straight from the butcher for the best quality. “I recommend home chefs find a good butcher in their neighborhood and ask for steaks, rib eye or any other cut that interests them,” he says. He also shares that moist-packed meat should be avoided. “That means the meat will be aged in a vacuum bag with water to hold as much weight as possible – it’s not something people want to buy.” Instead, opt for a cut of meat with firm, white fat and a “dry” texture.
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Tony Sudak, chef and butcher at Walden Local, recommends adding a little butter (or “butter butter”) to the steak near the end of cooking. “It comes from my background at French cooking school,” says Sudak. “Monté au beurre means ‘to rise with butter.’ This process adds richness and a bit of flavor to the finished product.”
To make the steak even more delicious, Sudak says you can add crushed garlic cloves, fresh thyme, and fresh rosemary when you add the butter to the pan. “‘So !’ You just did chain cooking at a high-end steakhouse,” he says.
If you want to cook like a pro, you also have to cut meat like a pro. “When slicing your steak, cut across the grain, or across the direction of the fibers, to maximize tenderness,” explains Chief Lamar MooreFood Network celebrity chef and hit TV series winner Vegas Chef’s Prize Fight. Moore also says you should avoid piercing the beef with a fork while carving to prevent the juices from leaking out. “Try using tongs to hold it in place while slicing it to preserve the juicy goodness!” he adds.
Planning to put a glazed steak on the pan or grill? You might want to rethink that. “Start with a steaming hot skillet with olive oil and make sure your steak is at room temperature,” says the Mediterranean chef and Bravo’s Under Deck celebrity. David White. “Don’t take it straight out of the fridge and cook it, it’s a MUST!” »
Chief Pete Geoghegan, culinary director at Cargill Protein North America and chef at Sterling Silver Premium Meats, says to also use high heat when cooking the steak. “You need the grill or pan to be hot enough to develop that char or browning on the surface of the steaks,” Geoghegan says. “You don’t want it to be so hot that it burns but hot enough to create the flavor on the outside.”
Remember to let your steak rest after cooking. “Resting is also a very important part of cooking steaks properly,” says Craft. “Steaks should be cooked to within 5 degrees of the desired internal temperature, then removed from the heat and allowed to sit for 5-8 minutes to reabsorb the juices.”
Craft warns that cutting a steak before it has had a chance to rest will cause the juices to run out and the steak to become dry and less flavorful.
Sudak explains that you need to season your steak before cooking it, “especially if it’s a thicker steak about 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick,” he says.
“A cut that thick, you want the salt to get inside the meat,” he adds. For this reason, it’s best to generously season your steak with salt (and other spices, if desired) at least 45 minutes to an hour before cooking. “It will also help purge excess liquid from the steak and promote crust development,” he adds.
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