How do steakhouses cook steak?

Question

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.

Answer

As ESNY notes, lots of places use very hot gas broilers, but personally, I like the slightly smokey flavor that cooking over charcoal imparts.

Answer

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.

Answer

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.

Answer

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.

Answer

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.

Answer

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

Answer

Another approach I've learned over the past is to take a large chimney starter and fill it up with lump charcoal. Get blazing like a jet engine. Put a heavy grill over it, and you have focused heat. I've tried it with beef tenderloin, Tuna steaks, and flank steak which I sliced up afterwards. Get the largest chimney starter you can find and it works very well. I actually think I saw it on Alton's show a long time ago. Either way it works great.

Answer

they also put butter on the steaks. that's the flavor youre not getting at home

Answer

Something not covered - time on each side. Properly cooked steak is flipped three times plus one (the laying down of the raw steak). The first lay down is the longest time, the second longest being the orig. flip (but not as long as the lay down because it is still cooking on top from the orig. lay down). Then essentially the next to flips are for proper marking and cook off. The reasoning is that when you put the steak on orig. It is the coolest - so it gets the longest time. When you flip, THAT side is the coolest, but is still benefitting from the 800 degrees the other side (now top) sat on. With the flipping in this manner the steak cooks evenly on each side - you do not end up with a (say) Med steak on one side and a Rare on the other. 

If you have a baseball cut top sirloin or a very thick filet mignon you would roll it so all sides are cooked (crusted).

Salamanders get 800 degree heat from the top and bottom and are broiled. No need to flip, but no grill marks (except the bottom if you put it in without a pan). With a salamander though - you cannot touch the steak to feel for doneness. If your kitchen is designed so that one person is watching the steaks and is not doing anything else or does not have anything else going in the salamander - then cooking one in there is possible to do correctly.

The thing is that the salamander cooks from both sides so it is done very quickly. Steaks (IMO) are better cooked slowly - unless you are doing a filet, then it prob. does not matter)

At home we got a grill with an infrared burner. I think that made a big difference in the pretty crusting of our steaks and chops. Charcoal and wood are very nice options if time is not a factor.

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How do steakhouses cook steak?

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