Grilling the perfect steak

[HaywardBound]

I'd like to be able to grill a steak like you get in a restaurant. I'm ok at it, but never perfect.

I've been messing with rubs, marinades, and everything else but I can't seem to get it right. I'm wondering what you do for a great tasting steak? Cooking time/temp, choice of meat, etc...?

HB

[upnorth]

Upnorth's guide to steak grilling.

1. Take the steak(I really like Porterhouse, but will eat most anything if cooked right) out of the fridge at least 3 hours before you put them on the grill, they gotta be warm all the way through before you cook them. Especially for RARE.

2. Start your grill of choice(I have gas now but going back to charcoal). High heat.

3. Lotsa fresh ground pepper, then cover it with garlic powder, rub it in, flip it over and repeat.

4. Put steaks on the grill for desired time per side for doneness(me that is 3 mins per side)(others is 4 to 5 mins per side) if you want a steak done past med rare, cook your own. Those cooking times are assuming about 3/4" inch cut of meat.

5. Remove meat let sit for a couple mins to settle down and quit cooking and serve.

[1luckydad]

My best secret steak recipe for the grill is to let the wife make it. I do not order steak in restaurants anymore because I know I will be disappointed. They are never as good as the wife’s steaks on the grill. I know that her steaks involve lots of garlic, sea salt, and must be rare. Well done is a sin!! Sometimes she does a marinade that involves Jack Daniel’s. I think it is just an excuse for her to buy a new bottle. I grill the beer can chicken and the odd ball stuff.

[LMITOUT]

If you have some medium-grade steaks that are typically a little tough to begin with, I like to put them in a flat tupperware container with a bottle of Italian Dressing. I pepper and salt them up before pouring the dressing in and put it in the fridge for at least a day. I also poke the steak with a fork to help the dressing soak in good. This helps with the toughness of a cheaper cut of steak. If not marinating I won't do this.

[NEANGLER]

Here is one that is easy and I like - I am in the meat business so have tried a few. Take low sodium soy sauce and rub on both sides of the steak, then sprinkle with granulated garlic, kosher salt and pepper. Grill to desired doneness (anything over MR is over done!)as stated before turn only ONCE. Also meats will cook an additional 5-7 degrees once taken off the grill or out of the oven so when in doubt take off a little early. Rotate a half a turn during cooking (will give the diamond grill marks like the restaurants. Then take room temperture butter, chopped garlic and rosemary and mix together. Top the steak with a little dolop of the butter when you take it off the grill. The best way to tell doneness is by touch with your finger, the firmer it gets the more done it is, minutes are a good guide line but each grill and coals are different. One other tip, most steak you get at teh store are Green meat as in it has not been aged, let in sit in the package a couple of days in the frig to let the meat age and break down some of that tissue. Bright red meat is not a good sign you want more of a deep maroon color.

[countryboy9799]

I started using the chick can and have been pretty impressed.

We raised some home grown chickens and the taste cant be beat, something about putting a chicken on the grill within 20 minutes prolly helps too.

I mix up 1/4 cup salt, either sea or kosher

1/8 cup paprika

hickery smoke salt

thyme and oregano

You can add or delete ingredients to your taste.

I skinned my chickens and didnt have any flare ups and to my suprise it didnt dry out as bad as I thought it would

BTW, great thread and I will enjoy trying new things.

[HaywardBound]

I have learned a ton of info here...a lot of great info! I didn't know about the color of the meat? I always thought the 'red' meat was just fresher and better. I'll have to keep the wife from throwing out the meat if it is in the 'fridge' too long!

Hey countryboy...your avitar looks like mine...is yours from Mille Lacs?

[united jigsticker]

The key to cooking the best steak is to let it warm to at least room temperature slowly before cooking.

Then let em' sit in the sun a while....yep.

[countryboy9799]

Quote:

---

Hey countryboy...your avitar looks like mine...is yours from Mille Lacs?

---

My pic was taking at Waubay lake on 5/17 with a couple of friends of mine. We didn't catch anything big but we caught alot of them.

[Jeremy airjer W]

I tried a butterflied chicken last night on the grill. Wow! That was the best grilled chicken I've had in a long time! Tender and jucy!!

I started with a whole chicken. I cut it down the backbone. I used a store brand chicken rub in between the skin and flesh. I cooked it with the skin side down over medium coals for 30 minutes then flipped and cooked for another 30 minutes.

Of coarse I had a side of country style ribs smothered in jack daniels original no. 7 barbecue sauce just in case the chicken didn't work out!

[walleyewild]

I use a little lemon pepper, granulated garlic and jamaca me crazy seasoned sea salt on t-bone or porterhouse always cooked over charcoal with dry mesquite chips thrown on just before the steaks go on, and getting the meat to room temp is a must. Dad was a meatcutter for 35 years, and would never allow a steak to be cooked past medium rare.

Medium is too done, if there is no juice coming out of the meat after cooking you lose too much flavor.

[BLACKJACK]

It gets my hungry just reading all these posts!!!

Some more thoughts:

1) I'll second the McCormick Montreal Steak seasoning. I've tried others but I keep going back to this one. Also try the others that they have for chicken and pork. I even use them on fish.

2) On steaks, thicker is better, anything under an inch and you better be ready to flip it on, turn over after a minute, and then take it off or you'll end up with a piece of leather.

3) On chicken, I buy mine from a local farmer and leave them whole, that way they stay moist, plus lots less flipping of pieces. I don't mess with the beer can thing either, just rinse out, leave the skin on, put on the grill, back first, then keep flipping it to brown all the sides, then move it to the side to slow cook. Plan on 1 1/2 hours and it comes out sooooo moist you'll never go back to cutting up a chicken and ending up with dry white meat.

4) Try a beef roast. Not too long ago I did a Sirloin Tip roast, rubbed with Montreal seasoning, when it was sitting on the platter it created its own au jou (sp), it turned out better than any prime rib at a restaurant.

5) If you're getting the starting fluid taste, you started cooking too soon!! Read the back of the bag! Put out a big pile of briquettes, soak with fluid, let sit 5 minutes, put on more fluid and light. The let sit until ALL the coals are grey, anywhere from 25-45 minutes, depending upon how much wind you have. Spread the coals out, let sit for five minutes and grill.

6) Especially on steaks and burgers, I like to have enough so I can have some sample pieces. Of course I’m just checking the doneness I even keep a salt shaker in my garage by my grill.

Happy grilling!!!

[BobT]

Tell you what. If you've never done it, try grilling a turkey. Works best to spread your coals into two piles on opposite sides. I like to place an aluminum drip pan in between the coals to catch the drippings. Place the grill so the handles are over the coals. This provides access to add coals if needed while cooking. I have a folding grate that will support the bird and I place the turkey, breast up, in the center of the grill. Season inside and outside with your favorite seasoning, put the lid on the grill, and have a few while you wait. During about the last hour of cooking, take a stick of butter out of the refrigerator and rub it on the meat to baste it. DO NOT TASTE-TEST! My father-in-law and I volunteered to cook a bird one time while our wives went to town. Well, after a few beers and a couple hours, okay more than just a few, we began to baste it with the butter. We made the fatal mistake of taste-testing. By the time our wives returned we had consumed the entire bird! We were in the doghouse for quite some time but it was worth it. A 10lb. bird usually takes about 3 to 3-1/2 hours.

Bob

[upnorth]

That is one of the big reasons I am planning on get another weber. Turkey on the grill is nothing short of great.

[walleyewild]

Weber and turkey go together, but the deep frier is simply awesome for turkey.

[deadminnowcatcher]

Holland and turkey go together