How to grill a perfect steak?


 
I've not tried this with steak so it may not work, but with a beef roast I've done a reverse sear, taking it off the heat entirely for about 30 minutes before putting it back on to sear. That gets the resting out of the way and stops the heat pressure working toward the middle of the roast. Then comes the sear over very high heat. The heat pressure it generates isn't on top of what was applied bringing it up to temp so it stays uniformly done inside while getting nicely brown and crusty outside.

Obviously, with a steak you'd only let it rest for maybe 10 minutes before searing it. You want the heat pressure to go away, not for the steak to cool to room temperature. This might work better with a thicker steak and particularly if you want it on the rare side.

It's probably best I not say anything at all about good steak cooked past medium rare.
 
I like that technique Jay!
I have a boneless roast in the freezer that I was considering slicing into steaks but, NOW? I think I will try that!
 
I also have the E-330 gas grill, with the searing burner.
I use the reverse sear method to cook my steaks. I discovered this about two years ago, and it is the only way I now cook steaks, particularly rib-eyes.

Let steak sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before putting on grill.
Turn on two burners and leave the other burner off. Heat the grill to about 300 F.
Place steak over UNLIT burner, with an internal thermometer inserted. Leave steak on until internal temp is about 80 deg. (10-15 minutes)
Flip steak over and let internal temperature rise to 100 degrees (about 10 minutes).
Remove steak from grill and cover. Turn up searing burners to high.
Add steak to searing burner for one minute, rotate 90 degrees and cook another 1 minute.
Flip steak over and repeat on other side, rotating once (2 minutes on this side total)
Remove steak when internal temp reaches 130 to 135 deg (for medium rare). Pink center with no blood.
Cover steak and let rest for 5 to 8 minutes. Internal temp will rise to about 140.

Never cut into a steak when it is on the grill. Use tongs to turn the steak, never use a meat fork, otherwise the steak will loose all of its juices.
The first time I cut into a steak is when it is on my plate.
For steaks thicker than 1 1/2 inches, I find it better to get the internal temp to 110 deg on the indirect cook.
 
Well the first thing is to start with the best meat. For me we no have a new Costco and the quality of the Prime beef there is incredible. Will never waste my $$$ on Sam's Club again. Yes theirs is a touch cheaper on comparable cut $16.99 lb vs $18.99 but on the plus side I am not throwing out 1/3rd of the steak to waste either as I do with Sam's.
In the photos I did nothing very special. S&P lid up high heat on my Wolf, finished lid down med heat placing steaks in the back (the Wolf is designed to be hotter in front). The results were so incredibly good. Easily some of the best steak I have ever eaten bar none.
Notice too no magic "grates" just top quality grates made by Dave Santana (RCPlanebuyer). No gimmicks allowed on my equipment :D
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Bob Correll said:
I'm fully on board with resting meat, not just steak.
I was refering to: "Use tongs to turn the steak, never use a meat fork, otherwise the steak will loose all of its juices"
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For the record, I don't use a fork to turn meat, but sometimes I do use a pigtail hook to flip, catching the edge of the meat.
It might get poked a few times with a thermometer.
 
Kim H. said:
Different source, different conclusion:

https://www.thespruceeats.com/the-secret-to-a-juicy-steak-995233
http://www.clovermeadowsbeef.com/long-steak-rest/
Click to expand...
Not sure I'd put much weight into blanket statements like, "Poking a hole in the meat will cause all the juices to come pouring out." This is so obviously not a true statement it hardly justifies comment. ALL the juices aren't going to come pouring out of one thermometer hole. That steak isn't a balloon ready to pop and expel all its juices. I've poked thermometer holes into lots of different meats. Sure, some juice comes out. Typically just a couple drops. If the loss of that moisture is going to be the difference between a good and a bad steak, the odds of it ever being a good steak were pretty poor.

Even the one where they cut into the steak right after taking it off the heat, there wasn't all that much juice on the plate. Maybe a teaspoon. Sure, I'd rather have that in my steak than on the plate, but probably not a deal breaker.

I'm not arguing against a rest period. I always give meat a rest before serving, even hamburgers. I guess I'm going along with the quote Bob posted. If you don't treat it like a voodoo doll, you'll be fine.

As far as the thermometer, it comes down to whether the meat is worse for having a hole poked in it or for being overcooked by 10F (or 20F or 30F) because you can't accurately judge the internal temp without a thermometer. I'll take the properly cooked steak with a hole in it every time.
 
Our local PBS Create channel has a Project Fire marathon going.
Steven just cooked 2 large tomahawk steaks on a hot gasser and pulled them at 135 internal.
It made me cringe, because the carryover heat, while resting, no doubt took them closer to medium than medium rare.
 
One more nail in the coffin of "don't poke holes in meat", from well-respected Cook's Illustrated magazine.

"A widespread belief holds that piercing meat with a fork during cooking should be avoided since it allegedly allows precious juices to escape. To put this theory to the test, we cooked two sets of five steaks to medium-rare. We gently turned one set with a pair of tongs, the other by jabbing the steaks with a sharp fork. We then compared the raw and cooked weights of each steak. Both sets of steaks lost exactly the same amount of moisture during cooking—an average of 19.6 percent of their weight. The reason: Virtually all moisture that is lost when meat is cooked is a result of muscle fibers contracting in the heat and squeezing out their juices. Piercing does not damage the fibers enough to cause additional juices to leak out (any more than poking a wet sponge with a fork would expel its moisture).

"When it comes to the moisture level and tenderness of meat, cooking time and temperature are the most important factors."
 
Meat is not a sponge. Juices don't flow through the meat.

Easy proof of that is do the opposite and inject meat.
 
Some people like their ribeyes at medium. I believe medium is the standard for SCA competitions. If I see 125 on my thermopen I pull it. I prefer rare to medium rare. If I mess up and cook one to medium I'm not going to cry over it.
 
Dustin Dorsey said:
Some people like their ribeyes at medium. I believe medium is the standard for SCA competitions. If I see 125 on my thermopen I pull it. I prefer rare to medium rare. If I mess up and cook one to medium I'm not going to cry over it.
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I think it was member Bryan S, of roadside chicken fame, who said he likes his ribeyes cooked to medium to help break down any connective tissue.
 
Kim H. said:
I also have the E-330 gas grill, with the searing burner.
I use the reverse sear method to cook my steaks. I discovered this about two years ago, and it is the only way I now cook steaks, particularly rib-eyes.

Let steak sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before putting on grill.
Turn on two burners and leave the other burner off. Heat the grill to about 300 F.
Place steak over UNLIT burner, with an internal thermometer inserted. Leave steak on until internal temp is about 80 deg. (10-15 minutes)
Flip steak over and let internal temperature rise to 100 degrees (about 10 minutes).
Remove steak from grill and cover. Turn up searing burners to high.
Add steak to searing burner for one minute, rotate 90 degrees and cook another 1 minute.
Flip steak over and repeat on other side, rotating once (2 minutes on this side total)
Remove steak when internal temp reaches 130 to 135 deg (for medium rare). Pink center with no blood.
Cover steak and let rest for 5 to 8 minutes. Internal temp will rise to about 140.

Never cut into a steak when it is on the grill. Use tongs to turn the steak, never use a meat fork, otherwise the steak will loose all of its juices.
The first time I cut into a steak is when it is on my plate.
For steaks thicker than 1 1/2 inches, I find it better to get the internal temp to 110 deg on the indirect cook.
Click to expand...

do you set your burners on the highest setting?
 
Jake PA said:
do you set your burners on the highest setting?
Click to expand...

For the indirect cook when the steak is over the Unlit burners, the other burners are set at a low setting (less than 300 deg F on the grill thermometer).
For the final direct cook, the burners are on high, close to the highest setting (about 600 deg F on the grill's thermometer). The steak is over these lit burners.
 
Cooking the perfect steak, that's third rail material right there. Are we sure we wouldn't rather discuss religion or politics? ;)

The best steaks I have ever grilled start with ... the best steaks. I second Larry's endorsement of Costco prime. We buy most of our meat there. We're also lucky enough to have a butcher nearby that dry ages sides of beef, and that's even better.

I have two go-to techniques. My DW's favorite is from America's Test Kitchen (ATK). It's cooked in a CI skillet, turning frequently to build up the perfect crust. ATK does it indoors, but it makes a helluva mess and I don't have a crew of sous chefs to clean up afterwards, so I cook it outside on a camp stove. It would also work great with the CI on a gasser.

My favorite is a two-step process: sous vide, followed by finishing in the CI skillet over the camp stove. Finishing in a gasser or charcoal grill would be preferable, but I'm still looking for an old genny and I can't waste charcoal for 2 minutes of searing. When the menu allows (grilled veggies or other sides), I do finish the steaks over charcoal.

The ATK technique puts the best crust, bar none, on a steak. The sous vide technique gives a more tender result. Both are perfection to me.
 
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