Why You Should Rest Your Grilled Meat
Since I last wrote about resting your meat, there have been some questions called as to the validity of the science behind it. Here is the prevalent theory as to why resting your steak is important :
“As the steak cooks, the muscle fibers on its exterior tighten, squeezing juices out of its surface. This creates an imbalance of juice in its interior, with most of the liquid being concentrated at the center of the meat. If you cut the steak open as soon as it comes off the grill, the juice has only one place to goonto your plate. On the other hand, allow the steak to rest until its temperature has normalized, and the juices will distribute themselves more evenly throughout its interior. Cut the steak open, and the juice stays put exactly where it’s supposed to be: in the meat.”
However, Nathan Myhrvold of the James Beard 2012 Cookbook of the Year Modernist Cuisine says otherwise. His claim is that it’s not so much about redistribution of moisture, but that it’s about the relative viscosity of hot vs. cool liquids. The juices stay in place because they’ve managed to thicken up a bit as they cool.
In either case, the fact remains: resting your meat works. That said, if you are using the reverse-sear method, then resting is largely unnecessary: the steak cooked gently enough that there is not a large temperature gradient inside it anyway.
Q: Should I pre-carve my steak before serving?
Isn’t that pretty?
Q: Do you have a favorite steak knife or serving tool?
Ready To Hit The Grill
If this all still feels new to you, I encourage you to head over to Grilling 101, a compilation of tips & tricks for all of the grilling basics everything from how to light your grill to how to clean your grill.
All this talk about grilling have you feelin ready to hit the grill? Me too! Be sure to check out this post for my 15 go-to marinades you need this grilling season. At our house, a good marinade is at the heart of grilling season. Im positive these marinades will be on repeat at your house this summer! For even more grilled goodness, be sure to check out all of our Grilling & Smoking recipes.
& lastly! Be sure to give @playswellwithbutter a follow on Ill be teaching you how to grill up some goodness all summer long, & we have so much fun on Instagram!
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Helpful Tips For Grilling To Keep In Mind
Once you have a good grill sear over high heat, you can move your steaks to a lower temperature to make sure they dont dry out quickly. This is known as indirect grilling. To do this, sear both sides over high heat for a couple of minutes on each side, and then move to low heat. Only turn your steaks once the full time for one side has been reached. Flipping too often on the grill can ruin the cooking process and dry out your steaks faster.
Also, always allow your steaks to rest. You should plan to rest your steak for 5 to 10 minutes to allow the juices to move back through the meat for ultimate flavor and tenderness.
If you do use a digital meat thermometer to better gauge your time for steaks on the grill, make sure you remove your steaks when its internal temperature reaches about five degrees below your desired temperature, since it will continue to cook a bit after you remove it from the grill. If you want your steak to cook to 135 degrees, then remove it when it hits about 130 degrees.
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How Do I Cook A Ribeye On A Weber Gas Grill
Answer
If youre looking to cook a ribeye on your Weber gas grill, its a good idea to follow these simple steps. Firstly, preheat the grill before cooking your steak. Secondly, make sure that your steak is cooked to perfection byactivating the grilling procsess and then resting it for about 10 minutes after. Finally, brush it with a clorox mixture and serve hot!
Season Early And Intentionally
If you season properly, you wont taste the salt. Salt is a flavor enhancer it brings out the flavor of whatever it touches. When you salt the beef correctly, you taste more beef, not more salt.
Bring the steak home and salt it 24 to 48 hours before you cook it. There is considerable disagreement on this, but I prefer to salt early. This steak is inbound for dinner tomorrow, so season the night before, at the latest.
Not all salts are the same: Each type of salt has different amounts of sodium per volume because of the grain size. If you are using a different type of salt than the recipe specifies, then your results will be off. Something might be over- or under-seasoned. See conversions below.
2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt = 1 ½ teaspoons Morton kosher salt = 1 teaspoon table salt
Whichever type of salt you use, get familiar with it and stick with it. My preference is Diamond brand kosher, so thats what I use in my recipes.
Amount of salt per pound of meat: 1 teaspoon of Diamond kosher salt per pound of meat.
Sprinkle it on with your fingers from about 6 inches above the steak for even distribution. It might seem like a lot of salt, but its all going to be absorbed into that big steak and not stay on the surface.
Dont marinate a high-quality steak like this. You just want to taste the steak, salt and the grill.
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Common Grilling Steak Times
So, how long do you cook steak on the grill? That answer largely depends on the thickness of the meat youre cooking. You can cook thin or thick cuts on the grill just fine, but youll definitely want to alter your times to cook your desired cuts to the right doneness, which, again, is a matter of preference.
One good tip to keep in mind is to use a meat thermometer for thick cuts of steak and a timer for thin ones. A steak thats ¾ of an inch thick or less may be difficult to get an accurate temperature reading from, so a timer can help. But a meat thermometer can give you a more precise idea of the doneness of your steak to make sure its right.
For a medium-rare doneness, you typically will need to grill your steak between 4 to 6 minutes on each side, depending on thickness. For medium cooks, shoot for closer to 5 to 8 minutes on each side. Its always best, though, to start with the lower grilling steak time and check with your finger to see if it might need a bit more time, instead of allowing it to cook for a couple of extra minutes. You can always cook it a bit longer if required, but you cant get back tenderness you lose from overcooking.
When you touch the center of your steaks, a medium rare cook will spring back slightly, yet still feel squishy. A medium cook will be more springy than squishy. If all else fails, you can always cut a small slit in the center of your steak to check its color, but this should only be used as a last resort.
Thicker Steaks Should Slide Over
Most steaks grill beautifully over direct high heat alone. The only time you might need to move them is if/when they cause flare-ups. However, some steaks are so thick that if you left them over direct heat alone, they would burn on the outside before they reached the internal doneness you like.
If your steaks are much thicker than an inch, consider the sear and slide approach. After you have seared both sides nicely over direct high heat, slide the steaks to a part of the grill that is not so hot, perhaps over indirect heat, and finish cooking them safely there.
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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.
How To Prepare Steaks For The Grill
To prepare steaks for the grill you will need to:
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Why Youll Love This Recipe
The 4 Positions For Grilling Steaks On A Gas Grill
If you are grilling your steaks on a gas grill, let the grill become as hot as possible. When your gas grill reaches its peak temperature, place your steaks on it.
Do you want to prepare a rare, medium rare, or medium steak? If you do, let the temperature go as high as it can. For a medium-well and well-done steak, heat your gas grill to its highest temperature and then lower it a little.
If you do not lower the temperature, it can burn the surface of the steak, drying out before the middle hits the higher temperature. You can make the perfectly cooked juicy steaks on a gas grill by understanding the four different grilling positions.
Cooking steaks demand your full attention on a gas grill. Make sure to close the gas grill, so it can hold as much heat as possible. You need to inspect the steaks before placing them on the barbecue grill. Decide which side of the steak you want to label as the top. You can then grill the steaks in four different positions and change their position with time. Here are the four positions:
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How Hot Should The Grill Be For Steak
Raichlen recommends establishing two cooking zones in your charcoal grill: one thats very hot for searing the steak, and one thats medium for finishing the steak and cooking it through.
On a gas grill, heat the grill to 450°F with two burners going, which should only take about 10 minutes, then turn one of the burners down to medium to create two cooking zones.
Not sure if the grill is hot enough? Raichlens tip is to hold your hand 3 inches above the grill grate and count 1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi If you can only hold it there for a second or two, the grill is hot and youre ready to cook.
I followed Raichlens advice, and started my steak in the hot zone, then moved it to the medium zone to finish cooking. It worked like a charm.
How Do You Grill A Bone In Ribeye On A Gas Grill
Grilling a bone in ribeye on a gas grill is a simple and convenient way to cook the steak. The key is to use an indirect heat source, such as a gas grill, to cook the steak evenly. Additionally, ensure that the steak is cooked through by ensuring that it reaches an internal temperature of about 145 degrees F .
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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.
Prepare The Barbecue Grill
The cooking surface must be clean and oiled so your steaks will have good contact with the grill without sticking. Prepare the grill while it’s finishing heating up.
The easiest way to oil the cooking grate is with an oil-soaked paper towel and the metal brush used to clean the grill. Fold a paper towel in half until it is the size of your grill cleaning brush. Soak it with oil that has a high smoke point, like canola or grapeseed oil. Brush this over the cooking grates evenly. It will smoke some, but enough oil will remain on the grates as long as you don’t let the grill sit at its highest temperature for too long before grilling.
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Reverse Searing Steak On A Gas Grill
For thicker cuts of steak, many grillers are now opting for the popular reverse sear method. Heres how to reverse sear steak on a gas grill:
GRILL SPOT TIP:
How To Smoke Ribeye
- 60 minutes before you are ready to start cooking, bring your steaks out of the refrigerator and sprinkle with salt- allow the steaks to come to room temp
- Preheat your smoker- get it smoking well and stabilize the temp around 225-235°F
- Smoke your ribeye until 10-15°F from your preferred finished temperature. So for medium rare I would take the steak off at 115°.
- Preheat your grill or a cast iron pan with a little oil, the sear the ribeye on each side until a nice crust forms. Sear each side for about 2 minutes and remove when your internal temp reaches your desired eating temp.
- I like to add a little bit of butter after I flip the ribeye.
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Top Tips For Barbecued Steak:
- Preheat the barbecue to the correct temperature before adding the steak. As a general guide, you should be able to hear a sizzle as the steak hits the hot surface. The heat seals the surface, trapping the juices inside.
- Bring steak to room temperature just before cooking. The meat can become tough if it goes straight from the fridge to the barbecue.
- Drain any marinade from the steak before placing it on the barbecue to cook. Excess liquid can ignite on the barbecue and cause a flare-up. Plus, if youre cooking steak on a flatplate, the liquid can boil around the meat and make it tough.
- Limit the number of steaks cooking on the barbecue at any one time. Overcrowding reduces the heat, which can prevent the steaks from cooking evenly and cause them to release juices, making the meat tough.
- Use tongs to turn your steak. Sharp forks can pierce the surface, which allows the juices to escape.
- Cover the steak loosely with foil before resting to keep it warm. If you cover it tightly, the meat will sweat and lose its moisture.
- Clean your barbecue grill or flatplate with a stiff wire brush or scraper while its still warm. This leaves it ready for your next barbie.
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