Grilling a steak does not have to be difficult. Learn how to grill a steak the easy way.
If you are like me you love steak on a grill, but often thinking of grilling a steak seems daunting.
There’s nothing better than a nicely grilled juicy steak. But how come I can’t duplicate that restaurant, expensive, juicy, melt-in-your mouth, perfectly grilled steak?
Well, I found out how to grill a steak perfectly and here’s how you can too.
Follow these tips on how to grill a steak.
- The choice of meat is important!!! Just because the supermarket has labeled the steak “good for grilling” doesn’t mean that it is. Lean meat does not do well. You want a piece that has marbling throughout. And these are good cuts: fillet (mignon), top loin (rib eye) – basically the same cuts that are the ones you love in the restaurant.
- Next, proper heating of the grill is vital. If you are using charcoal, spread 2/3 of the bricks on one side and 1/3 of the bricks on the other. That way you have a hotter side for searing the meat and a cooler side for cooking the meat.
If you are using a gas grill, you will lose some of the flavor, but you will want to turn the heat down for the cooking portion. - Next, rub both sides of the meat with oil and cover with salt and pepper. Be generous with the salt and pepper because it will fall off during the grilling.
- Place your meat on the hot side for searing. Cook on each side for three minutes to get the nice grilled meat crust color you love. For a hand test, I’ve been told that you should be able to hold you hand over the heat for 3 seconds before you can’t take it!
- Place your meat on the cooler side for cooking to your taste. The hand test for the cooler side, I’ve been told, is 6-7 seconds. You will want to use a timer to cook the meat – or use the slice and peak test to see if the meat is done enough for you. Just don’t cut and peek too often or you’ll lose all the juice!
- When the steak is done, take if off the grill and let it set for at least 5 minutes. Some people call it “resting”. It allows the juices to spread back out so that you’ll have a juicy steak with a nice crust.
No matter what you preference in a steak when learning how to grill a steak, maintaining good moisture should always be your goal. When searching for a good cut of beef, look for a cut with good consistent marbling.
Fat equals flavor so very low fat content in meat will tend to dry it out and have much less flavor.
You should not have to coat a great piece of meat with sauce just to get flavor, in fact you should avoid using a sauce at all.
You want to see visible grains of fat running through the meat but not large pieces of fat. If you do see larger pieces simply trim them off.
As you cook your steak the fat will melt and naturally tenderize the meat.
How to grill a steak well make sure your cut of meat is tenderize.
After removing the meat from refrigeration seasoning the meat with generous amounts of salt and pepper.
Many other herb and spice combinations can be added to your taste just be sure you have plenty of salt and pepper in addition to any other seasonings.
Allow the meat to come to room temperature before grilling.
When grilling your steak first make sure that you have your grill nice and hot.
This will give the outside a nice crust and will also help seal in its natural juices. If you fire flares up at any point, move the meat off the flame.
While you want a hot grill, you do not want direct flame on the meat for any extended time period. The worst mistake that most grillers make is to continually flip the meat time and time again.
Continually flipping the meat does nothing but cause the meat to dry out.
Flipping the steak over and over does not make you a grill master, doing it right, does. In the end you will flip your steak 3 times which will mean you have cooked both sides twice for 3 minutes on each side. For cross-hatch marks on your meat simply turn it 45 degrees when flipping.
Total cooking time should be roughly 12 minutes.
This will achieve a medium rare steak depending on how hot your grill is.
Because every grill it different you will need to experiment to get the desired results.
There is no exact way to tell when the steak is done.
Without cutting the meat open and risking the release of its juices, the best way is to either press the meat to judge its tenderness or use a meat thermometer.
If you choose not to press the meat, you can use you hand as a guide.
For instance if you take you index finger and touch the fleshy part of your palm right under your thumb, that is what rare should feel like.
Conversely if you touch you pinky to that same part of your palm that is the consistency of well done.
So from finger to the next starting with your index finger and ending with the pinky it would be: rare, medium-rare, medium and well done.
Herb rub:
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons freshly cracked black pepper
- 2 teaspoons mustard powder
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion
Mix all ingredients thoroughly in a bowl. Brush the steak lightly with olive oil and rub in herb rub.
If you want to learn how to grill a steak follow these tips.
XO
Grilling For Dummies .
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