what are the best steak restaurants in Alanta?

getting a steak to come out the way it does in restaurants

• I'm trying to discover the secret to getting steaks to come out the way they do in restaurants if you order them medium rare, with a smooth dark brown crust on the outside but medium rare (light pink) throughout the inside. Of all the things I've tried (propane gas grill, pan-frying, broiling in the oven, George Foreman grill, and cooking in a cast iron pan), by the time the outside was dark brown, the insides would be medium well as well. I know you're supposed to "sear" the outside of the steak using some high-heat method like grilling or pan-frying, and then finish cooking the insides of the steak (using either the low-heat part of the grill, or if you're at home, an oven), but whenever I try it, by the time the outsides are seared, the insides always come out well done. Although the latest method I tried (using the cast iron pan), I only tried one set of instructions from someone who I think was just guessing: leave the pan on high heat for 5 minutes and then throw the steak in. That burned the outside of the steak completely black almost immediately (beyond dark brown, what I was aiming for). I know restaurants use a flame-broiler to cook the steaks evenly brown on the outside. But what's the closest I can get using home equipment? Who knows how to do this right?

• Answer:

  bennett... According to Ask Food Network, the secret is to create two different temperature zones on your grill - one high, for searing and browning, and one low, for finishing the job. A thick Prime cut that's been dry-aged will ensure success: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/ck_culinary_qa/article/0,1971,FOOD_9796_4152058,00.html Alton Brown of the Food Network offers a more usable recipe utilizing a cast iron skillet, which may have been the source of your friend's guess. The difference is, you don't heat the skillet on the stove, you preheat it to 500 degrees in the oven: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_99,00.html Of course, the secret of some top steakhouses, like the renowned Ruth's Chris Steak House in Phoenix, is to broil the steak in butter at 1800 degrees!: http://www.ruthschris.com/ There's really no way to duplicate that at home, but by searing and browning at the highest possible heat (without contact, as with a pan) and then finishing at a lower heat, you can come close. The third alternative is broiling, but to get the highest heat, you'd have to place the meat dangerously close to the heating elements, and you risk a fire. And, of course, the further you are from the heat (for safety), the lower the temperature. This is why the grill offers a good solution. You can afford a bit of a fire in the searing process, and use a higher heat than might be safe in the broiler. But I'd also encourage you to try Alton's methods. He's really quite the genius when it comes to cooking. Here's his recipe for a sirloin, using the broiler, and tricking it into staying on. This one reverses the sequence and accomplishes the browning at the last: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_24087,00.html The rationale behind this method is discussed in a comment on this page from CookingForEngineers, which also elaborates on the AskFoodNetwork's grilling method: "Alton Brown made a very good case for SLOWLY cooking the steak over a low-moderate heat until the interior temperature was a somewhat less than the desired final temperature, THEN quickly searing the outside to form a crust, followed by a rest period before serving. The contention is that this prevents the meat from drying out or splattering over high heat in the beginning causing flare-ups at a time when most of the cooking is still to be done. I tried this and it works." http://www.cookingforengineers.com/recipe.php?id=31&title=Grilled+Porterhouse+or+T-Bone+Steak Here's another recipe of Alton's, for skirt steak, in which the marinated steak is placed directly on the coals for only a minute on each side (after the ash has been blown away with a hair dryer). Don't neglect the important rest period afterwards, in this or any of the other recipes: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_24088,00.html I think this will take you where you want to go. Bon Appetit! sublime1-ga Additional information may be found from an exploration of the links resulting from the Google searches outlined below. Searches done, via Google: "restaurant steak at home" ://www.google.com/search?q=%22restaurant+steak+at+home%22 alton brown steak recipes ://www.google.com/search?q=alton+brown+steak+recipes