Grilling the perfect steak is more then throwing red meat on a hot flame.
No matter what you preference in a steak, maintaining good moisture
should always be your goal. When searching for a good cut of beef, look
for a cut with good consistent marbling. Fat equals flavor so very low
fat content in meat will tend to dry it out and have much less flavor.
You should not have to coat a great piece of meat with sauce just to
get flavor, in fact you should avoid using a sauce at all. You want to
see visible grains of fat running through the meat but not large pieces
of fat. If you do see larger pieces simply trim them off. As you cook
your steak the fat will melt and naturally tenderize the meat.
After removing the meat from refrigeration seasoning the meat with generous amounts of salt and pepper.
Many other herb and spice combinations can be added to your taste just
be sure you have plenty of salt and pepper in addition to any other
seasonings. Allow the meat to come to room temperature before grilling.
When grilling your steak first make sure that you have your grill nice
and hot. This will give the outside a nice crust and will also help
seal in its natural juices. If you fire flares up at any point, move
the meat off the flame. While you want a hot grill, you do not want
direct flame on the meat for any extended time period. The worst
mistake that most grillers make is to continually flip the meat time
and time again. Continually flipping the meat does nothing but cause
the meat to dry out. Flipping the steak over and over does not make you
a grill master, doing it right, does. In the end you will flip your
steak 3 times which will mean you have cooked both sides twice for 3
minutes on each side. For cross-hatch marks on your meat simply turn it
45 degrees when flipping. Total cooking time should be roughly 12
minutes. This will achieve a medium rare steak depending on how hot
your grill is. Because every grill it different you will need to
experiment to get the desired results.
There is no exact way to tell when the steak is done. Without cutting
the meat open and risking the release of its juices, the best way is to
either press the meat to judge its tenderness or use a meat
thermometer. If you choose not to press the meat, you can use you hand
as a guide. For instance if you take you index finger and touch the
fleshy part of your palm right under your thumb, that is what rare
should feel like. Conversely if you touch you pinky to that same part
of your palm that is the consistency of well done. So from finger to
the next starting with your index finger and ending with the pinky it
would be: rare, medium-rare, medium and well done.
Herb rub:
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly cracked black pepper
2 teaspoons mustard powder
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon onion
Mix all ingredients thoroughly in a bowl. Brush the steak lightly with olive oil and rub in herb rub.
