Ruth's Chris Steak House Swears By This Cooking Method For Its Beef

Ruth's Chris Steak House is one of the most well-known steakhouse chains in the country, and not just for its unusual yet unforgettable name. The food is also quite satisfying, with a plethora of steaks and sides available. And every steak that comes out of the kitchen is cooked using a technique that the business has stood by for over 50 years.

Beef at Ruth's Chris Steak House is cooked in an ultra-hot broiler for a fast and even sear on any and all cuts of meat. This is the method that founder Ruth Fertel patented in 1967, when she invented her own broiler that reached temperatures up to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit — the same temperature the chain's broilers use today.

In just a few minutes per side under the broiler, this cooking method provides a great balance of volume and consistency, perfect for chains like Ruth's Chris that serve hundreds of tables a night. Without these broilers, it's possible the business may have never taken off in the first place.

Ruth Fertel's patented broiler method came just two years after she founded the business in 1965 as a single mom, and just one year after Hurricane Betsy heavily damaged the young restaurant. This was an early example of how single moms have always powered Ruth's Chris Steak House, and one that proved influential to the restaurant industry.

Fertel's ability to quickly and perfectly cook large quantities of steak to order cemented her business model and helped develop the modern American chain steakhouse. Today, many steakhouse chains cook with broilers for the perfectly crispy crust that Ruth's Chris pioneered at scale over half a century ago.

To make your own perfect steak, however, it's important to choose the right fat for a broiler. Butter's smoke point is too low to use for broiling without clouding up the entire kitchen, so we recommend options with higher smoke points, like avocado or safflower oil. Ruth's Chris Steak House achieves its signature buttery broil by finishing the meat in melted butter, made sizzling-hot by a plate preheated to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. This rich finish to a wonderfully charred protein is a generations-old recipe for success, and it all started with a steakhouse in New Orleans.