How to Grill a Steak - Essential Tips to Make the Perfect Steak on Your Gas or Charcoal Grill
If you've followed my articles, you would know that there is nothing I appreciate more in the world than a well grilled steak.
There is an art to grilling steaks and it is hard to reduce it to quantifiable certainties.
You can replicate someone's recipe down to the last second or milligram of salt, pepper they add to their meat, but your steak may not turn up like theirs.
Grilling a steak often requires that intangible extra - some mystical force, touch of individual genius, or, if this were a reality talent show, some 'x-factor' that only the most natural of chefs have.
Nevertheless, even if you don't have the magical qualities of these 'natural chefs', you can turn out a mean steak by following some time-tested rules.
Some of these have been part of grilling folklore, some intuitive (and counter-intuitive) tips, and some entirely my own invention.
Temperature: The first consideration when grilling a steak is the temperature.
This, of course, would depend on how you want the meat.
If you want it well done or medium-well done, the temperature should be moderate.
If you want it rare to rare-well done, then the temperature should be high.
This is because for rare meat, you want to sear only the outside and leave the inside juicy and wet.
Well done steaks, on the other hand, need to be cooked on moderate temperatures to prevent the inside from drying out.
The "right" temperature is something that you will learn to grasp intuitively over time.
It would take at least a few burnt or raw steaks before you get a complete grasp of this all important factor.
Preparation: Always allow the meat to come down to room temperature before placing it on the grill.
For seasoning, I personally prefer just a dash of salt and pepper, though you can experiment with a variety of other seasonings.
I also recommend coating the meat with a dash of oil (I prefer extra virgin olive oil) to keep it moist.
The grill itself should be coated with a thin layer or oil before you place the meat on it.
Olive oil works great, though you can try with other oils or even some steak fat if you are feeling up to it.
The bottom line is: you have to keep the steak moist - this is the number one secret to juicy meat.
Grilling: Again, here we dive into dangerous territory: everyone has a different notion of how long the steak should be grilled, when should it be flipped over, etc.
The truth is that there is no "right" way to the actual grilling.
The cooking time will vary with the thickness of the meat.
For a 1" thick steak, 8-10 minutes ought to be enough for rare meat, 12-14 for medium, and 16-20 for a well done cut.
Increase the time by 2-3 minutes for every half inch increase in the thickness of the cut.
A 2" thick steak, therefore, would require between 12-16 minutes for rare, 18-22 for medium, and 24-28 for a well done steak.
I like to flip over the steak once I see tiny red spots on the surface of the meat.
This usually takes about a minute.
Keep it on the other side for a minute again to allow the meat to sear through.
After that, keep it at a 45 degree angle for half of the remaining cooking time.
Flip it over, and keep it at 45 degrees again for the remaining half of the time.
This creates a nice criss-cross pattern that looks very appetizing.
The best way to judge when a steak is 'done' is to use a meat fork, though many recommend using a meat thermometer.
Use the latter when you are new to the entire idea of grilling, but eventually, you should graduate to using a meat fork (cutting the meat is not such a good idea).
If it looks pink and moist on the inside, you know it's done.
There is an art to grilling steaks and it is hard to reduce it to quantifiable certainties.
You can replicate someone's recipe down to the last second or milligram of salt, pepper they add to their meat, but your steak may not turn up like theirs.
Grilling a steak often requires that intangible extra - some mystical force, touch of individual genius, or, if this were a reality talent show, some 'x-factor' that only the most natural of chefs have.
Nevertheless, even if you don't have the magical qualities of these 'natural chefs', you can turn out a mean steak by following some time-tested rules.
Some of these have been part of grilling folklore, some intuitive (and counter-intuitive) tips, and some entirely my own invention.
Temperature: The first consideration when grilling a steak is the temperature.
This, of course, would depend on how you want the meat.
If you want it well done or medium-well done, the temperature should be moderate.
If you want it rare to rare-well done, then the temperature should be high.
This is because for rare meat, you want to sear only the outside and leave the inside juicy and wet.
Well done steaks, on the other hand, need to be cooked on moderate temperatures to prevent the inside from drying out.
The "right" temperature is something that you will learn to grasp intuitively over time.
It would take at least a few burnt or raw steaks before you get a complete grasp of this all important factor.
Preparation: Always allow the meat to come down to room temperature before placing it on the grill.
For seasoning, I personally prefer just a dash of salt and pepper, though you can experiment with a variety of other seasonings.
I also recommend coating the meat with a dash of oil (I prefer extra virgin olive oil) to keep it moist.
The grill itself should be coated with a thin layer or oil before you place the meat on it.
Olive oil works great, though you can try with other oils or even some steak fat if you are feeling up to it.
The bottom line is: you have to keep the steak moist - this is the number one secret to juicy meat.
Grilling: Again, here we dive into dangerous territory: everyone has a different notion of how long the steak should be grilled, when should it be flipped over, etc.
The truth is that there is no "right" way to the actual grilling.
The cooking time will vary with the thickness of the meat.
For a 1" thick steak, 8-10 minutes ought to be enough for rare meat, 12-14 for medium, and 16-20 for a well done cut.
Increase the time by 2-3 minutes for every half inch increase in the thickness of the cut.
A 2" thick steak, therefore, would require between 12-16 minutes for rare, 18-22 for medium, and 24-28 for a well done steak.
I like to flip over the steak once I see tiny red spots on the surface of the meat.
This usually takes about a minute.
Keep it on the other side for a minute again to allow the meat to sear through.
After that, keep it at a 45 degree angle for half of the remaining cooking time.
Flip it over, and keep it at 45 degrees again for the remaining half of the time.
This creates a nice criss-cross pattern that looks very appetizing.
The best way to judge when a steak is 'done' is to use a meat fork, though many recommend using a meat thermometer.
Use the latter when you are new to the entire idea of grilling, but eventually, you should graduate to using a meat fork (cutting the meat is not such a good idea).
If it looks pink and moist on the inside, you know it's done.
