Is it the dry-aged meat, that flashy finishing sauce, or is it just your mind playing tricks on you? Steaks at home never seem to hit quite like they do at a restaurant — here's why steaks always seem to taste better at a restaurant.
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00:00Is it the dry-aged meat, that flashy finishing sauce, or is it just your mind playing tricks
00:05on you?
00:07Steaks at home never seem to hit quite like they do at a restaurant.
00:11Here's why.
00:12Butter, such a simple and widely used ingredient, yet when it's softened and mixed with just
00:18a few other fixings, it transforms into a complex bomb of fat-sealed flavor known as
00:24compound butter.
00:25A wide range of different ingredients that can include things like fresh herbs, roasted
00:30garlic, citrus zest, brown sugar, lime juice, and chili peppers are whipped with butter
00:35to inject a massive amount of extra flavor into it.
00:39Restaurants often use compound butter to enhance the taste of everything from chicken and waffles
00:44to cuts of steak.
00:45In fact, according to Anthony Bourdain, the reason why everything at restaurants tastes
00:50better generally comes down to one thing, butter, and lots of it.
00:56There's a good chance that when you order a nice steak from a great restaurant, compound
01:00butter was involved somewhere along the way.
01:02Some steakhouses, like Fleming's, even offer diners a choice of different types of compound
01:07butter to choose from for their steaks, like smoked chili butter or herbed horseradish
01:12butter.
01:13Aside from the flavor it imparts, a dollop of compound butter can also add some highly
01:18appetizing visual appeal to the plate.
01:21Be honest, is there anything more mouthwatering than the sight of compound butter seductively
01:26melting down the charred edges of a freshly grilled steak?
01:30The flavor-packed compound butter that the kitchen whipped up to baste your beef with
01:35is a big reason why that restaurant steak of yours tastes so unbelievably delicious.
01:40Knowing the right people and having the right connections comes with certain privileges
01:44in life, even when it comes to steak.
01:47Restaurant owners often depend on big distributors and meat processors for their cuts of steak.
01:52The direct relationships with meat suppliers give kitchens special access to top-notch
01:57beef products.
01:58Now, doesn't that sound like something you should get in on?
02:03Not so fast!
02:10Because many food suppliers are structured to only do business with licensed food vendors
02:14like restaurants, they typically don't work with the general public, though there are
02:18still some distributors who will sell directly to consumers.
02:22Some of these operations, like the one at Miami Beef, are truly impressive in their
02:27size and scale, producing up to 100,000 pounds of beef over the course of an eight-hour shift
02:33with the ability to customize orders.
02:36Having direct access to some of the highest quality cuts of beef in bulk makes it much
02:40easier for restaurants to pump out consistently great steaks from their kitchen.
02:45So when you go out to eat at a steakhouse, you're not just visiting a restaurant.
02:49You're essentially being handed the keys to some special cuts of meat that might be difficult
02:54to track down at the places that you normally shop.
02:57You may have heard the term sous-vide before, but if you're unaware of what it means, allow
03:02us to enlighten you.
03:03Sous-vide, a French term that translates to under-vacuum, is a cooking method that involves
03:09submerging vacuum-sealed food in temperature-controlled vessels of water.
03:14There are several advantages to using this method, such as being able to cook food to
03:18a precise level of doneness while maintaining its moisture and succulents.
03:23You also don't have to babysit food while it's cooking sous-vide.
03:26The machine does it for you.
03:28It takes a real genius to f*** up the sous-vide, David, let me tell you.
03:31The sous-vide cooking method can be used for a variety of dishes with all kinds of different
03:36ingredients, but where it shines the most might just be steak.
03:41According to Food & Beverage magazine, it's very common for steakhouses around the country
03:46to pre-cook steak using sous-vide.
03:48The reason so many chefs use sous-vide for steak is that the temperature settings allow
03:52for precise temperature control and dependable, consistent results.
03:58Sous-vide makes it possible for restaurants to keep partially cooked steak swarmed by
04:01the stove, ready to be finished on the grill as orders come in, all while maintaining tenderness
04:07and the ideal temperature.
04:09So if you go out for a steak and take that first juicy bite and notice its perfect color,
04:15it might be due to the sous-vide method being used in the kitchen.
04:18Fortunately, there are plenty of commercial sous-vide devices you can buy for your home
04:23kitchen if you want to try to approximate one of the restaurant industry's best tricks.
04:28As you can imagine, pans play a big role in the cooking process.
04:33Different types of pans have their own unique strengths and weaknesses, depending on the
04:37material that they're made from.
04:39While cast iron pans can last a lifetime, they're also heavy to handle.
04:44And even though stainless steel pans are more lightweight, they also require more oil to
04:49prevent food from sticking.
04:51The best choice for chefs is a high-quality carbon steel pan.
04:55This surpasses the alternatives for several reasons.
04:59For starters, carbon steel pans are great at browning, which is caused by the Maillard
05:04reaction.
05:05The most delicious steaks at restaurants have a crunchy, brown crust on the outside that
05:10provides a nice contrast in texture with a soft tenderness on the interior.
05:15Restaurants know that carbon steel pans are a great vessel to achieve that crust, which
05:19makes them perfect for achieving that top-notch texture we're all craving when we go out for
05:24steak at a restaurant.
05:26They're also somewhat non-stick, and they're lighter than cast iron pans.
05:30At the end of the day, a chef is only as good as the pan in hand, and you better believe
05:35that restaurants make sure the kitchen has some nice ones ready to go.
05:40You might be thinking something like, hey, I have an oven at home.
05:43I can cook with intense heat, too.
05:46That's adorable.
05:49No offense, but while it's true that the oven in your kitchen can get hot, most models tend
05:54to max out at about 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
05:58That temperature pales in comparison to what broilers in professional kitchens are capable
06:02of, some of which can reach nearly 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
06:08Restaurants often use broilers for steaks, since broilers offer a large surface that
06:11cooks consistently and evenly.
06:14Broiling at high heat is another great way to achieve that gorgeous browning on steaks
06:18from the maillard reaction, since these special broilers can tend to run between $15,000
06:24to $25,000.
06:26It's safe to assume that most home cooks don't have the kind of scratch lying around to purchase
06:30one of these bad boys.
06:32By having access to high-quality, professional equipment like special broilers that can produce
06:37super intense heat, restaurants are able to cook steaks in a consistently hot atmosphere
06:43that most home kitchens simply can't compete with.
06:46There's a good chance that you've heard about a few important steps to take with steak.
06:50Among these, one of the most common recommendations is to bring the steak to room temperature
06:55before cooking, and then allow it to properly rest once cooking is done.
07:01Yet many home cooks may skip these steps, not fully realizing their importance for producing
07:06a restaurant-quality steak.
07:09Bringing steaks to room temperature allows them to cook more evenly, and also loosens
07:13up their muscle fibers.
07:15According to chef Kevin Thompson of the acclaimed New York Steakhouse in Bangkok, his kitchen
07:20always does this with the steak, making sure to allow each cut to reach room temperature.
07:26He makes sure to give the steaks a proper resting period after they're cooked as well.
07:30Sometimes patience is the key to victory.
07:32Sometimes it leads to very little, and it seems like it's not worth it.
07:36Oh, but trust us, dear viewer, this is very much worth it indeed.
07:40The resting period is particularly important.
07:43Some even consider it one of the most crucial parts of the cooking process.
07:47The reason this is important is that the juices inside of the steak need a chance to reabsorb
07:52into the muscle fibers and settle back down throughout the meat.
07:56But how long should you let your steak rest?
07:58Usually, the resting period should be anywhere between 5 and 20 minutes, with some wiggle
08:04room depending on factors like how long the steak was cooked and how thick the cut is.
08:09Good restaurants understand the importance of this step, and that's part of the reason
08:13their steaks are so tender.
08:15Once the steak is cooked and hits the plate, it can be tempting to call it a day and dig
08:20in.
08:21While many home cooks consider it a job well done at this point, some chefs will take it
08:25a step further for the sake of flavor.
08:27Case in point, chef Robert Irvine from Restaurant Impossible likes to grill up New York strip
08:33steaks and drizzle them in a homemade romesco sauce that's made with roasted red peppers,
08:38cherry tomatoes, garlic almonds, and lemon juice.
08:42But that's just the beginning.
08:45Delicious steak sauces don't stop there.
08:47Some may insist that a good steak doesn't need any sauce, and while we're inclined to
08:51agree, who doesn't appreciate an extra dose of flavor?
08:56The fact remains that some of the best steakhouses feature homemade sauces to complement their
09:00cuts.
09:01B&B Butchers & Restaurant has a dish of sliced sirloin over hash browns with mushroom marsala
09:06sauce.
09:07Some steakhouses, including Knife, which is run by top chef contestant John Tzar, even
09:13offers different sauces on the side for their steaks, such as chimichurri and salsa verde.
09:19So if you find yourself enjoying a particularly tasty steak out at a restaurant and it's glazed
09:24with a little something special, take a moment and give credit to that delicious, lip-smacking
09:29finishing sauce.
09:30"...sauce me!"
09:31Dry-aging Dry-aging is another step that restaurants
09:34often take to deliver some big flavor in their steaks.
09:38But what does this process entail, exactly?
09:41Well, dry-aging is when large cuts of steak are left in special refrigerated rooms that
09:46consistently circulate cold air around each piece of beef.
09:50Enzymes in the steak's muscle tissue slowly break down and soften the meat, deepening
09:55its natural flavors and vastly improving its taste and texture along the way.
10:01Essentially, the dry-aging process tenderizes steak and condenses the flavor of its beefiness
10:06through evaporation.
10:07In other words, you can think of dry-aging as a rather time-consuming way of concentrating
10:13the meat's flavor.
10:15While many of us have heard that it's best to pat steaks dry before cooking them, it's
10:19safe to say that the dry-aging process for a high-quality steak in a restaurant is a
10:24longer procedure that's a bit more involved and difficult to do at home.
10:29So if you're wondering why that ribeye at your favorite steakhouse is packed with outrageous
10:33flavor, it's probably because it was professionally dry-aged in its own special climate-controlled
10:38fridge for a while.
10:40And since most of us don't have the space or equipment to safely dry large slabs of
10:44raw beef at home for long periods of time, restaurants have the upper hand here, once
10:49again.
10:50Clearly, a lot of factors contribute to producing a tasty piece of steak.
10:56Between the quality of the cut, top-notch equipment, and the chefs in the kitchen, there
11:00are a variety of influences that directly impact the food and shape the overall experience.
11:06The Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious."
11:13While The Matrix may or may not be influencing your perception of the steak in your mouth,
11:18research in the field of food psychology suggests that there is a wide range of more subtle
11:22details that play a vital role in how you perceive the quality and taste of your food.
11:28Dr. Charles Spence, an experimental psychologist at Oxford University, has made it his mission
11:34to learn more about how our brains process multisensory information, including seemingly
11:39trivial details like the color of our dinnerware and the lighting of a restaurant.
11:44At first blush, many of these influences may seem unimportant and practically inconsequential,
11:51but his research has uncovered some surprising discoveries.
11:55As it turns out, even the weight of your utensils can affect how sweet or salty your food tastes,
12:01and you're more likely to enjoy a dish if it has a more descriptive name on the menu.
12:06The next time you're out at a restaurant and you're blown away by a steak, there's a good
12:10chance that a number of subconscious influences are affecting your perception and taste in
12:15a way that you're completely unaware of.