Wolfgang Puck’s 14 Best Cooking Tips For Home Chefs – Tasting Table
Wolfgang Puck is quite the grill master. In one of his TikTok videos, he revealed that he only sears room-temperature steak — never a frozen steak. After the steak is at room temperature, Puck recommends liberally seasoning both sides of the steak and adding a bit of oil on both sides. Then, he places the steak on a firewood and charcoal grill for optimal flavor and tastiness.
Puck’s aversion to grilling frozen steaks might be warranted. When you grill a frozen steak, you’ll get a deliciously crisp exterior, but the extreme temperature difference will cause the inside of the steak to firm up and tighten. At 140 F, ThermoBlog notes that the steak will develop a gray band around the exterior of the steak rather than a solid pink color throughout. If you have to grill a frozen steak, ThermoBlog recommends using a thick cut of meat as well as indirect heat.
Additionally, there is some science behind cooking over charcoal and firewood versus a stovetop. According to the Texas Oven Company, wood-fired food (such as steak) both tastes and smells different than food cooked on a stove or an oven. This is because as the wood burns, it breaks down cellulose and releases two chemical compounds — guaiacol and syringol — which trigger both our nasal receptors and our tastebuds to something delicious. Gas and electric appliances simply cannot produce the same result because there isn’t any cellulose to break down in the first place.