<P> One story relates that the method originated as an explanation for an accidental charring of a steak at a Pittsburgh restaurant, with the cook explaining that this was "Pittsburgh style". </P> <P> It has been said that the "original" method of preparation was by searing the meat with a welding torch . Whether this is true is unknown . Another method, related by a staff member at a Pittsburgh branch of Ruth's Chris Steak House, originates from the region's steel mills and the practice of workers cooking a steak on a cooling piece of steel . The temperature of the steel would be such that it would be impossible to do more than char the outside of the steak while keeping anything worth eating . One popular version of this myth is that steel workers would bring raw steaks to work and on their lunch break throw them against the huge searing - hot molten steel "tubs". The steak would burn almost immediately then fall off, then they'd throw it up against the other side of the steak . Whether any of these origins is genuine or just a play on Pittsburgh's industrial image is debatable . </P> <P> Many restaurant guests use the term Pittsburgh to describe a steak that is extra charred on the outside, no matter what internal temperature is desired . </P>

Where did the term pittsburgh steak come from