the heel press

Grill Marking & Searing Meats

Have you ever noticed that when you get a steak at a restaurant it has that nice diamond shaped grill mark on it while yours never grills that nicely? Or have you ever seen a piece of seared scallop with that nice brown color on top as opposed to your plain looking scallops you cooked at home? In culinary school, we were never allowed to just roast our meat or just simple place it on the grill. We had to give it that extra color or grill marked look that separates a restaurant from your normal home cooked piece of meat. Here's the basics to grill marking and searing.

First, season your meat. You can refer to the Basic Seasoning Article if you want some ideas.

Grill Marking
Now if you are grilling make sure the flame is hot. You will not get a nice grill mark without a real hot flame. Some people oil their meat but we always took a rolled up towel and placed it into oil. Then we took the rolled up towel with a pair of tongs and rubbed it all over the grill to oil the grill. Then we placed the meat on the grill, it should sizzle. Don't be in a rush to move the meat right away. Of course you can't place the meat on there forever or else it'll burn, but give it a little time to make some nice grill marks. How do you know when it's ready? When you try to lift the piece of meat, it should come off somewhat easy if your flame is hot enough. You'll notice this especially with beef. You'll try to lift it with a pair of tongs and it'll release from the grill almost effortlessly. It'll be harder with fish since fish is usually delicate and breaks apart easy. To achieve a nice diamond shape grill mark pretend you see a clock and place the meat pointing at 3 o'clock. Then place the meat at 6 o'clock. If you do this correct, you'll have beautiful grill marks. Depending on your piece of meat or if it is a thick piece of meat, you might want to finish in the oven or place to an area of the grill that is lower in temperature. High heat is needed to make grill marks but if your meat is really thick or takes longer to cook it will burn your food before it cooks all the way through.

Searing
If you are using normal pans, first heat up the pan then place oil in it. You want the pan hot before placing the oil in it but not smoking or burning up. If you are usually nonstick pans, place oil in it first then heat up. Heating up a nonstick pan without oil can ruin the nonstick surface. Make sure the oil you are usually can withstand high heat. Olive oil will start to smoke and burn before it can reach a high enough temperature to really achieve a nice sear. Butter, peanut oil, or any oil labeled ok for frying will work. If you are not sure if your oil can reach a hot enough temperature, you can add a little butter to it and this will allow it to reach a higher temperature before smoking and burning. Once the oil is added, make sure it gets real hot. Hot enough so that when you place your meat on the pan, it'll sizzle. Just as with making grill marks, give the meat a little time so it'll get that nice brown color. Too long and it might brown, but as with making grill marks, you'll know it's ready when you try to lift it and it releases from the pan. Once again depending on how thick your meat is or what kind of meat you are usually, you might want to finish cooking in the oven. The high heat is great for searing but for some meats it'll burn the meat up before it can fully cook through.