Whats The Best Steak For Grilling
Honestly, when it comes to cooking a steak on the grill, you cant really go wrong with any cut you choose. However, getting a perfectly cooked steak from a grill can be tricky if youre new to steak cooking or using a grill. Each cut of steak is a different size, thickness, and texture, so itll be a different process to grill ribeye steak than it would be to grill a much thicker steak, like a filet mignon.
Another issue you might have with the grill lies in the fat content of steak. Although steaks with more fat tend to be more flavorful and tender , they also can be more dangerous to cook on the grill. As fat drips off cut steaks, grill flare-ups can happen. This is especially common with cuts like the rib eye, which are known for their marbling.
That doesnt mean you cant grill them, but youll definitely need to take extra precautions when doing so. Whether you want to cook a rib steak, a T-bone, or flat iron on the grill, you can learn to do it by following our helpful grilling tips for steak.
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How To Grill The Perfect Steak: A Step
Everybody loves a juicy and tender steak with a nicely seared crisp surface. On the other hand, a dry and overcooked steak is a sad sight. Thats why knowing how to grill a steak is one of the skills that every backyard grill chef should master.
Getting your steaks right is a mixture of art and science. There are many variables that have an effect on the outcome. Yet, with the right instructions, you can succeed every time.
Its also important to have fun experimenting with your grill and different types of meat. Lets go through the process of preparing a perfectly grilled steak!
Searing A Steak With A Pellet Or Charcoal Grill
If you are lucky enough to own a gas, charcoal and pellet grill, I strongly recommend doing your steak on the gas grill. Gas grills can create the heat needed for a proper sear. I personally have a Traeger Ironwood 650 which can be cranked up to 500F but it just doesnt provide the high heat needed for a good sear. My Broil King Regal S590 can get really hot, fast and sear steak amazingly. It is my go to.
Charcoal grills can create the searing heat needed for steaks if you have the right tools. I use a charcoal Vortex to get searing temps on my Weber Kettle. You simply put the charcoal into the Vortex and the heat will be focused at the center of the grill grates. This creates high searing heat and works perfect for steak.
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How Do You Cook Steak On A George Foreman Grill
Directions: Preheat your George Foreman grill for 5 minutes with the top closed. In a small bowl, mix together the EVOO, garlic, salt, and pepper. Place the steaks on the grill and close the top. Remove the steaks to a clean cutting board and allow them to rest for 5 minutes before serving or slicing.
How To Use A Meat Thermometer
Never used a meat thermometer before? Our Food Editor’s got you covered. “To get the most accurate temperature reading, place the thermometer in the meat while it’s still cooking in the pan, oven, or on the grill. Do not take it off the heat before gauging the temperature.”
The most important thing to remember is to insert your thermometer into the thickest part of the meat, avoiding any bones or fat. “With most thermometers, you need to insert the probe at least 1/2-inch into the meat. If your cut is thicker than an inch, you will want to go even deeper to reach the very center,” our Food Editor writes.
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How Do I Select The Best Steak For Grilling
If I want a basic grilled steak that is juicy and flavorful, I select either a New York Strip steak or a Ribeye steak. These cuts have higher fat content than other cuts. This means they will be more tender and have a richer flavor even without marinating.
Some people prefer bone in steaks, but I personally choose boneless steaks. If you are grilling the steaks, opt for a steak that is at least 1 inch thick. Any thinner and it will be difficult to control the temperature on the grill.
What Can You Serve With Grilled Steaks
The options are endless! From BBQ sides to pasta salads, there are so many side dishes for steakâespecially when it’s made on the grill. Ladd likes the refreshing crispness of a wedge salad, but you can also choose potato salad, cornbread, or grilled vegetables. And, if you’ve happened to make too much steak, don’t worryâyou can always use the grilled meat for steak sandwiches or any one of these leftover steak recipes. They’ll come in handy all summer long!
Try These Grilled Steak Recipes
Cajun T-Bone Steaks
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Do You Close The Grill When Cooking Steak
Yes, you close the grill when cooking steak. Closing the grill helps the temperature stay high, achieving the tasty sear you want on the surface of the steak.
But you should check the temperature of the steak frequently. If you have a Traeger that’s no problem, because you can use the temperature probe to keep track.
The higher the cooking temperature, the more often you should peek and test. Different cuts cook at different rates, and you never know exactly how long it’s going to take. Sometimes the steak’s internal temperature will putter along around 100 degrees Fahrenheit and suddenly shoot past the 135-degree target.
How To Grill The Perfect Burger According To A Chef
The season of tailgating, cookouts and pool parties isnt quite complete without burgers sizzling on the grill. While hamburgers make for a simple dish, you can dress them up with some unique or flavorful condiments to add some flair to your summer gathering.
Video of the Day
Kirk Biondi, the corporate executive chef at Teds Montana Grill, has some tips and tricks to try at your next cookout. Whether you want to dress your sandwich up or down, consider this advice for grilling your best burger yet.
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Gas Grill Temperature For 15 Inch Steak
The best gas grill temperature for 1.5 Inch steak is between 110°F to 120°F, and it should be cooked for about 3 minutes per side. The temperature range above is for rare filet mignon steaks. However, ribeye or sirloin steaks should be grilled between 130°F to 140°F for 6 minutes per side.
Regardless of the steaks size, you need to preheat your gas grill to a temperature of about 450°F to 500°F before grilling. Turn on your gas grill and turn the knob to a high setting. Close the lid and allow the grill to heat up for about 20 to 30 minutes. Also, let your steak defrost and warm up before placing it on the grill.
Grilling Steak Why You Need To Do It
Steaks on the grill really is the bees knees. Theyre juicy, tender, and that charred flavor on the outside you just cant beat it! Our sous vide steak is one of my favorite things to grill, but I realize that not everyone has a sous vide, so we thought wed come up with a much simpler, marinated grilled steak recipe.
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Best Steak Marinade For Grilling
In this particular grilled steak recipe, were using our favorite grilled steak marinade. Its made with some of our favorite ingredients. Heres what you need:
- garlic: minced garlic is such an amazing flavor for pretty much any marinade.
- Worcestershire sauce: Worcestershire sauce is tangy with a punch of vinegar and its so necessary.
- balsamic vinegar: balsamic adds a hint of sweetness with too much sweet.
- lemon juice: a little citrus goes a long way and really brightens up this steak marinade.
- olive oil: olive oil will help keep things nice and juicy.
- lemon pepper: I love that you get the traditional pepper flavor, but also a lemon zest punch with lemon pepper.
Is It Important To Let Steak Rest After Grilling
Yes! It is key. Any protein that is placed on a searing hot surface will seize up and all the juices will go to the center. When you take it off the grill, letting it rest for at least 5 minutes will allow all those juices which are in the center to redistribute through the steak again, ensuring that every bite you have is tender and juicy.
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How To Season Steak
You have a couple of options when it comes to seasoning steak.
- Keep it simple. When youre cooking a good quality steak, you dont need much in the way of seasoning to enhance the natural richness of the meat. Just a bit of olive oil and a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper will give you the satisfying flavor you crave. You can also sprinkle on some garlic powder, as weve done in this Air Fryer Steak recipe.
- Steak Marinade. Marinating the steaks before cooking is a simple step that both adds flavor and helps to tenderize the meat.
- Steak Seasoning. Rubbing the steaks with your favorite steak seasoning is an easy way to ensure intense flavor.
Setting Up The Gas Grill:
When using a gas grill it is important to make sure that you preheat it, and clean and season the grill before placing your steak on the grill to cook. Once it is hot, use a grill brush and clean the grates, then use either some beef fat, or a cloth saturated with oil and brush the grill surface before placing your steak on the grill. This helps with getting great grill marks and helps the meat release from the grill.
Ideally you want your grill near 400F when you place the steak on the grill and once you get the steak grill marked and flipped to the other side, you want to shut off the center burners and turn the outside burners to low. This will help to keep your steak moist and tender.
The thicker the steak, the longer it takes to cook. So if you are cooking a standard steak cut, which is between 1 and 1.5 inches thick, cooking time is about 20 minutes total.
While your grill is heating up, take your steak which should be at room temperature, season it on both sides, and take it to the grill. Once the grill is ready, time to start grilling your steak.
Equipment needed:
Steak
Seasoning
Season your steak on both sides, then take to the grill, I use my own seasoning, but you can use any one you choose.
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How To Grill Skirt Steak
Chef Frothinghams favorite cut, skirt steak, is long and thin with a slightly chewy texture that pairs well with marinades.
Dont Play With The Steaks
Yes, you should touch the steaks to test for doneness, but that doesnt mean that you should be flipping and moving and poking a lot. Steaks should only be flipped once, and only moved once from a higher to a lower heat. And dont poke them with anything but your finger! Put the meat on a hot grillthey should sizzle immediatelyand leave them there until they release on their own accord. If youre pulling or struggling with them, they are not seared and not ready to flip.
Once ready, flip them once and cook until they feel done. Do not stab them with a fork, which will release their flavorful juices into the flames below. Do not press down on them with a spatula. Just let them cook.
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Pull When The Lowest Number Reaches Your Target Temperature
Steaks come in different shapes, sizes, and thicknesses. Two steaks from the same package will typically look very different, let alone different cuts of steak. Add the variability of hot spots on certain grills and you end up with steaks that will be done at different times. One of the paradigm shifts of owning a Thermapen is that you can remove each steak when it reaches its target temperature and not a moment before. If you are aiming for medium rare goodness and one of your steaks shows a lowest internal reading of 127°F , pull that steak off the grill, not all of the steaks. Another steak right next to it may only be at 123°F .
different sizes and shapes of steaks + a variable cooking surface = different cooking rates
Let the steaks that are done rest on the platter while they wait for the other steaks to reach the same perfect doneness temperature. Test every steak and get perfect results every time!
Note: Our chef-recommended temperature for medium rare steaks is 130°F , but because of the high heat of the grill cooking environment, grilled steaks will experience a little carryover cooking, so we pull our steaks at 127°F or 128°F and let them rest up to 130°F .
Which Cut Of Steak Is Best For Grilling
When I first started working on this recipe, my top contenders for the steak were the ribeye , the rib steak , the porterhouse, and the T-bone.
Any of those cuts will taste great grilled due to the significant marbling of fat, which leaves the meat tender, and flavorful. Let’s take a closer look at each:
- Ribeyes vs. Rib steaks: A ribeye has the bone taken out a rib steak, also known as a bone-in ribeye, is a ribeye with the bone in. Due to its extensive marbling, this cut cooks beautifully on the grill, bone in or out. Trim the thick fat from the outside edgeleaving it on will cause flame flare-ups that can give your steak an unpleasant burnt flavor. Don’t worry, trimming it off won’t result in lost flavor!
- T-Bones vs. Porterhouses: People often confuse these two cuts, which is understandable because both cuts come from the loin and both have a T-shaped bone with meat on both sides. But porterhouses are larger and actually have more of the tenderloin than the T-bone. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Institutional Meat Purchase Specifications say the tenderloin of a porterhouse must be at least 1 1/4 inches thick at its widest, while that of a T-bone must be at least 1/2-inch.
Ultimately, I chose to use ribeye steak for its flavor, size, and the lack of bone — I wanted to slice and serve this steak family-style, and the fact that it doesn’t have a bone makes that easier.
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Which Cut Of Steak Is Best
All steaks are great for grilling but there definitely is a hierarchy. Here are the best steaks to grill from oh my gosh that the best to these are great. Because lets be honest, all steaks are great.
Season Your Steak And Refrigerate
Youll want to season the steak with salt a few hours before grilling. Follow this simple rule of thumb from grilling expert Meathead Goldwyn: Season the steak with 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt per pound of meat and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours. You do not need to rinse off excess salt. It will all be sucked into the meat. The salt acts as a dry brine, helping the meat stay juicy throughout the cooking process.
For thinner, tougher cuts like skirt, hanger, or flank steak that come from muscular parts of the cow, you can also use a instead. Consider adding sugar into the mixits a secret trick for tenderizing tougher cuts.
Make sure to remove steaks from the refrigerator about 20 minutes prior to grilling so they dont have a chill on them before you throw them on the grill.
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How Long Do You Preheat An Electric Grill
You are probably going to need about twenty minutes to get your electric grill up to four seventy-five, but this definitely depends on the model. Newer models have a light that shows you when the grill hits its ideal temperature, but you can use a drop of water on the surface of the grill to see when youve reached your cooking temperature on an older grill.
