jmcquown wrote:
> I'm curious as to why, if the steaks you grill at home "don't hold a
candle"
> to the ones you order when out, why are you asking how to duplicate
the
> taste?
>
> Jill

I thought I had explained that in my original post, but I guess I
didn't explain it very well. :-\ Let me try this again.

The only thing I like better about the restaurant steaks is "that
taste". It's that aroma and the initial flavor the steak has when you
FIRST put it in your mouth. But it seems like it must be something ON
the steak, not IN the meat itself... because I get "that taste" if I
just take a bite of restaurant steak and let it sit in my mouth,
without chewing. Or if I just sop up some steak juice with a piece of
bread.

Where my steaks take precedence is once the chewing begins. Often
times, restaurant steaks turn into a foul wad of rubber once you start
to chew. And yet that initial "taste" is still there, regardless of
how the meat actually turns out once I start to chew. I'd be
completely happy with restaurant steaks if I just let it sit in my
mouth, savor "that taste", and then spit it out without chewing!

However, I can consistently cook my steaks at home to the perfect
doneness and juiciness (medium rare with a thick char crust) and good
pure beef flavor. The only thing it lacks is that initial "taste" I'm
talking about, the flavor of whatever is on the restaurant steak.

I would believe that it's got something to do with the quality of beef,
except for the fact that some restaurant steaks I've had could pass for
tire rubber, and yet they still had "that taste" initially (for
example, the steak served at Golden Corral of all places). So I do
think it has something to do with either the way it's cooked, or
something that's applied to it. Heavy salting and/or MSG seems like a
good candidate, because that's something that's likely to happen
regardless of the restaurant. It seems to be a common denominator
so-to-speak.

I hope this all makes sense. Food is obviously a very subjective
topic, so it's difficult to describe this I suppose.