The Only Seasoning Peter Luger Uses On Its Famous Sizzling Steaks

Peter Luger's Steak House has been operating in New York City since 1887. First opened by Peter Luger under the name Carl Luger's Café, Billiards and Bowling Alley, the iconic restaurant has been a destination dining spot for steak lovers for over a century. But forget fancy rubs or complicated seasoning mixes: Peter Luger's seasons its famous steaks with nothing but salt.

The restaurant prides itself on simplicity and perfecting the basics. Rather than focusing on elaborate sauces or fancy preparation, Vice President and Co-owner Jody Storch says Peter Luger's focuses on sourcing the highest quality of meat. Then, the meat is seasoned with nothing but kosher salt before being put under an extremely hot broiler. 

Then the chefs remove the steak, add clarified butter to the pan, and finish it again under the broiler. The dish is then rushed to the customer's table while it is still sputtering and sizzling. The end result is a steak with a crispy, charred exterior and a tender, juicy interior, achieved with nothing other than the simple basics of fat, salt, and heat. 

While steak seasoning mixes can add flavor to your meat, kosher salt does all the heavy lifting when it comes to making a juicy steak. Liberal amounts of kosher salt help to draw moisture out of the meat and lock in flavor. It also helps to break down tough fibers, which tenderizes your steak and makes it extra juicy. 

If you want to make a Peter Luger-style steak at home, start with USDA prime-grade beef, the highest-ranking possible. Then salt your steak about 45 minutes before putting it in a sizzling-hot pan. For the best possible sear, use an oil with a high smoke point, such as avocado oil or clarified butter, which has a higher smoke point than regular butter but still has rich butter flavor . When it comes to the perfect timing for salting, James Beard Award-winning chef J. Kenji López-Alt says salting steak 45 minutes before cooking is the sweet spot, because that gives the salt time to fully draw moisture away from the surface. 

For extra juiciness, try dry-brining your steak overnight. Peter Luger's has a special dry-aging room where they age their steaks for up to a month. While home cooks don't have that luxury, you can achieve a better crust on your steak by drying it in the fridge using the Alton Brown method.