Cooking Steaks to Perfection on the Grill

Steak Recipe, Preparation for Grilling and Cooking Times

Jun 27, 2009 James Clausen

There's nothing better on a grill than a great steak. The biggest secret to cooking a great steak is to start with a great cut of meat.

Rib Eye is not the tenderest cut of steak, but Rib Eye has a lot of flavor. Filet Mignon for example is a much more tender cut of meat but Rib Eye has it beat hands down in flavor. Look for steaks with a little fat marbling; much of the flavor comes from the fat. A good cut of meat and a quality steak doesn’t need much seasoning, a little fresh ground pepper is all that’s needed, too much seasoning takes away the natural flavoring of a good steak.

Preparation

Before you put the steaks on the grill, take them out of the refrigerator and let the steaks reach room temperature. Trim any excess fat in excess of ¼ inch. To prevent your steak from curling, make a cut in the fat about every inch or so. Rub steaks lightly with olive oil and sprinkle steaks with fresh pepper. Oil the grill and set a gas grill on high. For a charcoal grill add single layer of dense charcoal until ash is white.

Grilling

Place your steaks on hot grill using direct heat. For cross hatch grill marks on a steak, cook the steak for about 2 minutes, then turn the steaks 90 degrees. To ensure a juicy steak, flip the steaks only once turning cooking. Flipping the steaks more than once can dry out a good steak. Always use tongs to flip your steaks, never puncture them with a fork to turn and remove them. Watch for flare-ups and move the steaks to a cooler part of the grill if necessary.

Cooking Time

Cooking times can vary depending on external conditions like wind, ambient temperature and so on. Of course the biggest factor is the thickness of the steaks. If it’s an exceptionally thick cut of steak, partially cook the steak using indirect heat. But always sear both sides of the steak to lock in the juices first.

One method of testing a steak’s doneness is by pressing the steaks with tongs. A rare steak will be soft; medium slightly firm and well done will be firm. Another method of testing steaks doneness is to use a cooking thermometer. Insert the thermometer into the thickest part of the steak to get an accurate reading. The cooking times below are an approximation of cooking times. Remember there are a lot of factors involved in cooking times.

• Rare - 1" thick 8-10 minutes, 1 1/2" thick 10-14 minutes, 2" thick 12-16 minutes
• Medium - 1" thick 12-14 minutes, 1 1/2" thick 16-20 minutes, 2" thick 22-26 minutes
• Well - 1' thick 16-20 minutes, 1 1/2' thick 22-26 minutes, 2" thick 24-28 minutes

Let the steaks sit for about 5 minutes before serving; this allows the juices to distribute evenly throughout the meat. A good microbrew paring with a great steak is a pale ale with a bit of a hops bite to enhance the flavor of the steak

The copyright of the article Cooking Steaks to Perfection on the Grill in Recipes is owned by James Clausen. Permission to republish Cooking Steaks to Perfection on the Grill in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

New Yorks On My Grill

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