Food - Drink
The Real Reason Some Restaurant Grill Marks Aren't Real
By KALEA MARTIN
Ever noticed that your grilled chicken sandwich looks a little too perfect or that your charbroiled burger doesn't actually taste like it was made on a charcoal grill? Well, there's good reason to be suspicious because the grill marks you see on the food you order at restaurants aren't always legit.
In fact, they sometimes make the grill marks using a special branding machine after they have cooked the meat in an industrial oven. However, the meat won't taste grilled even with fake grill marks, therefore to overcome this, the meat is soaked in or injected with chemical additives and chemicals before cooking to give it a grilled, smokey flavor.
This is done because when you see grill markings, you're conditioned to believe that the food also tastes like it does because people equate grill marks with charred meat and barbecued flavor. Therefore, even if you're consuming a fast-food burger or frozen boxed chicken, the grill marks will still give the impression that the food is of greater quality than it actually is.