Rant: I watched a chef in Asheville ruin a $40 steak with a 'trendy' butter wash

I was at a fancy spot last month, and the cook at the open grill kept brushing this herb butter on a ribeye every 30 seconds, which just steamed the meat and killed the crust. The whole thing came out gray and soft, like it was boiled in butter (which, I guess, it kinda was). Has anyone else seen a good cooking tip get taken way too far and wreck the food?

3 comments

3 Comments

eric_murray261mo ago

Basting is fine, but that just sounds like bad technique.

jones.anna1mo ago

The guy in the video used a whole stick of butter for one steak. A full stick. Eric_murray26, that isn't a basting technique issue, that's a heart attack on a plate. You can get a great sear and baste with two tablespoons. Using that much means the steak is basically boiling in fat instead of frying. It makes the outside soggy. That's not bad technique, it's just a bad recipe.

danielr9422d ago

Gotta disagree a bit here... the recipe might be excessive but "bad technique" ignores that too much fat can mess with the heat transfer. You can baste perfectly fine with less butter, the excess just steams the outside instead of crisping it.