Ruth's Chris' 2-Second Grill Test For Steakhouse-Quality Results

For most people, dining out at an upscale steakhouse like Ruth's Chris is a rare treat. However, just because your budget or your schedule prevents you from enjoying the restaurant experience doesn't mean you can't eat a luxurious steakhouse-style meal at home. Although much can go into making a top-quality steak, one of the quickest but most important steps happens before it even hits the grill. That's a simple, two-second test of the temperature using nothing other than your hand.

Those two seconds are all the time an experienced Ruth's Chris chef needs to know whether a grill has been heated to the level necessary for a perfect cook. That's because a properly heated grill should only allow a person to hover their hand a few inches over it for two seconds before the heat is uncomfortable. Typically, this means the grill has reached over 450 degrees Fahrenheit, which, according to many experts, is the ideal temperature for cooking steak.

Much longer than two seconds suggests the grill needs some extra heat before it's ready, while a grill that's so hot that users can't even test it for two seconds risks burning the exterior of your steaks before the interior is properly cooked.

Though it might seem like a small thing, not properly heating the grill is one of the most common mistakes people make when grilling steak. It ranks up there with over-flipping and failing to let your steak rest after cooking in importance, but is far simpler to carry out. This brief test contrasts with another of Ruth's Chris' pre-grill principle for top steaks, which is to allow the beef to come to room temperature over 20 minutes to an hour. This helps ensure more even cooking throughout the cut.

Knowing these simple tricks should give home cooks the confidence they can replicate the results on their backyard grills. No matter which popular cut of steak you have on the menu tonight, the process for readying your grill remains the same. All it takes is this simple two-second temperature check to ensure your cooking session gets off to a hot start.