SNIP

>
>The name comes from the steel mills. People would bring pieces of raw
>beef to work and they'd drop it on the ledges of blast furnaces or mold
>tops. Those surfaces run to more than 2000°F. Meat sears instantly and
>if left there for more than a few seconds is charred to inedibility. So
>the outsides were crusted and the centers were raw.
>
>Here's the science behind it:
>The total amount of energy available to cook radiated by a hot object is
>proportional to the fourth power of the absolute temperature, so that a
>2000°F metal surface is radiating more than 40 times as much energy as
>the equivalent area of a griddle or oven surface at 500°F.
>
>You say that 110°F is warm? Ok. It's warm.
>
>Pastorio

Now THAT is an Alton Browne kinda answer!

I love AB (in a non *** sort of way) BTW!