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Tips for grilling steak
bleemus:
--- Quote from: shmokes on October 23, 2006, 12:20:42 am ---Speaking of tender, I've never liked fillet mignon. They're tender, but not nearly as tasty as a ribeye. What really kills me is when they're cooked while wrapped in bacon. Why would I want to pay $20 for a piece of meat that tastes like bacon when I could just eat bacon?
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Places that know how to cook a piece of meat don't cook it with bacon. Usually your chain steakhouses wrap them, because they don't have a hot enough fire to cook the steak to medium-rare without losing all the juices in the process. The fat from the bacon helps keep it moist.
Depending on the cut of meat, 4 minutes on one side, 3 minutes on the other for a medium rare sirloin on an extremely hot fire. If the cut of meat is thicker, go with 5/4 or 6/5. Always be sure to let your meat rest under a loose foil cover for 5-10 minutes.
While cooking steaks, I make sure to use lump charcoal, and not charcoal briquettes. You can get a hotter fire going with lump charcoal over briquettes. Lump can be hard to find, but once you use it, you'll never go back.
Also, never use charcoal starter fluid. Buy yourself a chimney starter. Start a small fire with dry wood in the chimney, once the fire gets going, dump your coals into the chimney, and let them smoke like hell until you see white/red coals all the way up to the top (the very top will still be black, but there should be small flames jutting up from the coals). A very hot grilling fire will be your reward for your patience. If you insist on lighting fluid, be sure leave your cooking surface off until you let the fire burn to white-hot coals for at least 10 minutes to burn off all that nastiness. And no, I don't do gas gills, so I don't have any input in that arena.
As for seasoning, a little kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper is all you should need. I also like to get some of the marinades you can find in the store. Be sure not to skimp on price, buy a good one. Also, be sure the marinade is very runny so it can penetrate the steak. Those marinades that are more like sauces will not penetrate the steak and just burn onto the surface of the steak when you sear it.
--- Quote from: Fran Lebowitz ---My favorite animal is steak.
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boykster:
good advice bleemus. chunk charcoal and a chimney starter are DEFINATELY the way to go..you'll get the best cooking / heat and flavor from that approach. Almost all briquette charcoal has filler/binder in it, and doesn't burn nearly as hot as chunk charcoal. And starter fluid is a definate no-no unless you want your steaks to taste like lighter fluid.
I am guilty of grilling on a gas grill, but properly done, it can be almost as good as chunk charcoal. heat the grill REALLY hot for at least 10 minutes, cook with the lid open (dont be tempted to "bake" the steaks -> you'll pick up propane flavor) and don't crowd the steaks.
ChadTower:
One of my projects for the spring hopefully will be a brick smoker/grill setup for wood burning... of course I've been saying that for about 4 years now.
mpm32:
--- Quote ---I used mpm32's instructions and the steaks were excellent.
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I'm glad it worked out for you shmokes. There's many ways to do it and most of them will give good results, just depends on what you like.
I think I'm going to get some steaks tonight.
Oh, one other thing along with letting the steaks get to room temp, try to buy the steaks the day you're going to cook them. A couple of days before is ok. Try not to freeze the meat. My wife and I argue over this but I think that freezing really changes the flavor and texture of the meat. Sometimes she'll go shopping and pick up some nice steaks and throw them in the freezer, kills me.
I had a NY strip the other day that came out of the freezer. I didn't feel like grilling it so I cut it into strips and made some Philly cheese steaks out of it. Cook up some onions, throw in the steak, make a pile in the pan and put the cheese over until it melts. Put on a nice roll. Too nice of a cut to use for cheese steak but they were delicious.
Spaz Monkey:
The way I was taught to determine how long to cook steaks, is to test the firmness of the meat vs your hand. Relax your hand and feel how firm the "meaty" party of your thumb that is part of the palm. That is rare. Touching the ring finger to the tip of your thumb (the OK sign) is medium rare, etc. I never just look at the steak to figure out the wellness of the meat.
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