If you’re a frequent enjoyer of the humble steak, you’ve likely experienced it all.  You’ve had tough, dry, over-salted steaks.  You’ve had succulent, tender, and juicy steaks full of flavor.  You may have even had the unique and delectable experience of a slice of real Wagyu.  You’ve probably tried steaks cooked in many different ways, from sous vide to reverse-sear to barbecued.
One thing we commonly hear is that steaks from a steakhouse (or a churrascaria like Texas de Brazil) are just better than anything our guests make at home.  They ask us: what’s our secret?  Why do our steaks taste so much better?  There are quite a few possibilities, so let’s talk about all of them!
Table of Contents
Reason #1: Better Cuts of Beef
First, let’s talk about the meat itself.  When you buy a steak, where are you getting it?  Do you just go to the local grocery store a pick up something that looks good?  Do you talk to the butcher and get a precise cut?
Some people buy steaks without really paying attention to the type of cut, the quality of the meat, the marbling of the fat, or even the actual cut itself. Â You may know that there are differences between top, round, filet, and more, but knowing what those differences are, and how they impact flavor and preparation, can be a very important detail that home cooks may overlook.
But, it’s not all quite that simple.  After all, you can buy a filet mignon from your local butcher, but will it be as tasty as the ones we grill?  Moreover, some of our cuts are Brazilian specialties, like the Picanha, which you might not be able to find easily.  Though, don’t forget, you can always buy directly from our butcher shop!
One benefit, though, is that steakhouses are large businesses.  Where you’re buying one, two, maybe half a dozen steaks at a time, we’re buying thousands.  We can form direct relationships with cattle farms and other suppliers, to get specialty cuts, high-quality beef that might not otherwise make it to market, and consistently high-quality meat for you to enjoy.
There’s a lot that can go into an excellent, high-quality cut of beef, from the way the cattle are raised, to their lineage, to the conditions in the slaughterhouse, to the way the meat is prepared and shipped.  We’re in a position to get the best meats available, whereas home consumers have to wait.
If you’re just buying your steaks from the grocery store, it’s also very possible that they’re a little older than you might think.  Even just a day can make a difference!
Reason #2: Better Equipment
Different steakhouses prepare their meats in different ways, but one key is that they almost always have high-quality equipment that just isn’t available to the home chef.
At Texas de Brazil, we’re a churrascaria, or Brazilian steakhouse.  Our claim to fame is the open fire grill, where our meats are roasted on skewers.  You might think this is most comparable to your own home grill, but the reality is, that’s like comparing your home oven to an easy bake oven.
How easily can you get your grill to a nice, hot temperature?  How well can you keep it at a consistent temperature while you cook numerous cuts of delicious steak?  You might not even want to get your grill so hot; it feels like a waste of fuel when you’re cooking just a small handful of steaks.
One of the most important keys to a great steak is the Maillard Reaction, which is the reaction that forms that golden crust that contains so much incredible flavor on the surface of your meat. Â This reaction can really only occur at specific temperatures, and controlling temperature to allow it to happen can be very tricky.
The Maillard reaction, the additional smokey flavors of the fire we use to cook our steaks, and a whole lot more are much more easily controlled using professional equipment.  You can make a fantastic steak at home, sure, but you have to know what you’re doing with the equipment you have.  Meanwhile, our gauchos are using equipment made for mass-cooking thousands of steaks all day long, turning out exceptional meats constantly.
Some people are certainly willing to buy a $15,000 commercial grill for their home, but those people are few and far between.  Most of us don’t have that luxury, which is why being able to take advantage of these fabulous appliances at a steakhouse is so much better.
Reason #3: Dry Aging for Maximum Flavor
Another fairly significant reason why a steakhouse steak can taste a lot better than even the same cut from the same supplier cooked at home is the process that goes into preparing it.  A lot of people buy steaks and take them home, and either freeze them or keep them in the fridge all wrapped up, pulling them out when it’s time to cook.
There are a lot of different schools of thought when it comes to cooking steaks. Â Some people want to keep them chilled, to maximize the variance between a well-crusted outer surface and a tender and juicy interior. Â Others bring their steaks to room temperature, helping to loosen up muscle fibers and make the steak more tender.
What most people don’t do is dry-age their steaks.
Dry aging is an ancient process, that goes back thousands of years as a way to preserve meat before the invention of refrigeration. Â Dry aging keeps a piece of meat exposed to the air and circulating with cold, clean air, pulling moisture from the meat and allowing natural enzymes to break down and enhance the flavor of the beef.
Properly-done dry aging is a very interesting process.  In a way, it’s very similar to cheese; a mild cheddar is only minimally aged, while a sharp cheddar with a more pungent flavor is much more heavily aged.  There are cheeses aged for decades with incredibly intense and unique flavors, but they’re often more of an acquired taste compared to the mild cheeses.
Essentially, the same can be done with meat, as long as the environment is very carefully controlled. Â Dry aging forms a crust across the surface of the meat, creating a unique and deep flavor that enhances the taste of the steak. Â Even mediocre cuts can taste fabulous with the right dry aging.
Unlike cheeses, of course, dry-aged beef is usually only aged for a few weeks at most. Â Anything more than eight weeks can get very intense.
Dry aging is also not something most people can do at home, because the conditions require very specific temperature and airflow controls, and it’s very easy to do something wrong and create an illness hazard.
Now, it’s worth mentioning here that at Texas de Brazil, we don’t dry age our steaks.  The churrasco experience is all about fresh, flame-grilled meats, and all of the flavor comes from the flame, the fat, the meat itself, and salt as a flavor enhancer.  But, dry aging is common for many steakhouses, at least as an option, so it’s important to include it in the discussion!
Reason #4: Steaks Cooked to Perfection
Speaking of flame-grilling, technique, timing, and proper cooking are all critical to the steak experience.
They say that anything you do for ten thousand hours is a skill you master.  While that’s not always perfectly accurate, the concept holds true; the more you perform an action, the better you’ll be at it.  You learn how it works, you learn what effect different actions can have, and you learn how best to handle changes and variances.
In the case of grilling steaks over open flame on a skewer, there’s a lot to learn and a lot to know.  Even steak-lovers who cook steaks for themselves several times a week are only making a few steaks each week; our gauchos, meanwhile, are grilling hundreds per hour to succulent perfection.
On top of that, churrasco is a cultural process with thousands of years of history behind it, and we can draw on all of that history to know exactly how to train our gauchos to produce the best possible steaks.  Subtle variance in timing based on the size of the cuts of meat, properly arranging them on the skewers, knowing when to move and rotate them, and when they’re ready to be taken out to our customers; it’s all part of the trade, and our gauchos are experts.
You may have heard that one of the secrets to a steakhouse steak is an immense amount of butter.  Indeed, compound butter is very common in traditional American steakhouses, and it’s an incredible way to enhance and add flavors to steaks.  But, it’s just not a traditional part of the churrascaria.
Most of our meats are as simple as can be; the meat itself, the salt that crusts it, and the flavor of the fire below. Â All of the depth and complexity comes from the interplay of these factors, the Maillard reaction, and the skill of the people making each dish.
If you want steaks with a little more going on, we do have options for you, like the spicy picanha; on the other hand, there are marinated meats and BBQ pork as well.  But for the steaks themselves, it’s the meat itself that shines through.
Reason #5: Social Psychology
A huge part of what makes steakhouse steaks special isn’t the meat itself, or the cooking method, or the skill of the chef or gaucho doing the cooking.  It’s the atmosphere, the location, the people you’re dining with.  It’s the experience of eating at a churrascaria.
Even just the impression of luxury, the unique experience of a Brazilian steakhouse if you’ve never been to one before, the friends, family, business partners, coworkers, or whoever else you’re dining with, all have a significant impact on your enjoyment of a meal.
There’s a lot that can go into the psychology of a meal, too.  Some steakhouses go even down to the style and design of the utensils they offer, the color and weight of the dishes – the actual dishes, not the foods – and a whole lot more.
The Brazilian steakhouse experience is quite unique, especially if you’ve never been to a churrascaria before, so it’s understandable that it can be elevated in your mind.  From a constant succession of gauchos offering you incredible cuts of meat, to the multitude of options in the salad area, to the stunning desserts, it’s both a down-to-earth and an elevated dining experience that can stand out above and beyond even other steakhouses you’ve visited before.
Is it Time to Experience a Churrasco Steak?
Steakhouse steaks can be raised above the average home-cooked steak in a variety of different ways, and we haven’t listed all of them.  Some, like the skill of the chef, or the possibility of a variety of delicious sauces, are always options.  Others, like dry aging, can be relevant to some steakhouses, but less so to Texas de Brazil.
If you want to enjoy a steak in its purest form – just the meat, salt, and heat – then Texas de Brazil is an excellent option.  All you need to do is find your nearest location and stop on in!  You can call or use our online reservation system to reserve your spot, if you’d like, or you can stop by and see if there’s space.  If you like, you can also join our eclub and receive access to special deals, offers, and promotions you can’t find anywhere else.
And if you want to test things out for yourself, don’t forget that our butcher shop also sells many of our most delectable cuts, so you can experiment with making them yourself at home, and see just what difference the atmosphere, the equipment, and the skill of our gauchos can make.
If it’s time to get a little taste of Brazil here in America, we’re ready to welcome you with the true churrasco experience.  We look forward to seeing you!
