Why Can't I Grill A Decent Steak?
 

Grilled steaks last night, they came out ok but not great. Good cuts of meat but they weren't juicy like a restaurant. I only turned them once, used high heat. I like them medium rate.
I have 2 grills, gas and infra red, just can't seem to get the perfect streak.
Anyone have any tips?

Go get a ****ing papa johns pizza then :)

Ha! NFW.

Where'd you buy from? Costco or Walmart?

French's Butcher shop.

What sort if cuts are you using? Are they overly thick cuts?

8 oz ribeye, 10 oz boneless filet usually. They are thick, I don't know if they are overly thick...

Marinating is the key.

Let them sit out for 20min before grilling. Let them sit 5-10 before eating.

A 1 inch thick ribeye I'll cook about 7 minutes per side for medium

Real men eat their steaks raw! No need to worry about juiciness then! :p

gtfo

Thanks! I'll try this. Anything to get to the next level.

I don't like that, I like steak just as it is.
But thanks.

Lol

Not unlike other things, I like it pink but not bloody :D

Hot grill. Over 400 if you can, leave the lid down.

Do you use any seasoning on steak? I never have but wonder if people do.

Oh I can get over 400. Anxious to try this. After cooking, where do you leave them to sit? Don't want them cold.

I just let them sit on the counter. Yeah, they aren't as hot, but the meat relaxes and allows the juices to redistribute.

Thanks a lot.

I'll sprinkle a little bit of lawrys or black pepper on my ribeyes sometimes. Wouldn't season a filet.

If you use any salt, use in moderation and do it right before it hits the grill.

Oh hell I can't take it. I'm going to the butcher and going to try again tonight. Skewer up some prawns to put beside it.

Edit: crap, the meat shop is closed on Mondays. WTF?

I let them sit out for a little while, and salt and pepper only, both sides. The wife and I like them medium rare to rare...yeah, blood on the plate...

I have an infrared grill I just bought. I think it works great. I like a thicker steak too, but last night we had 8 oz sirloin from HyVee and they were great. About 5 min. per side on a hot ass grill gets it done.

Thanks. I really like the infrared, super easy.
God I wish we had Hy-Vee in Arizona.

It's the official pizza of the NFL. Haha. Tired of hearing that crap when I play Madden.

Salt pepper, & garlic.

I only cook steaks over charcoal. I have a gas grill but only use it for large groups.

No. Do not do this.

All restaurant steaks go from cold storage directly to the grill. Why? Because any amount of time where meat is kept at a unsafe temp. is bad. Any time uncooked meat is not kept within in a safe temp. only increases the odds of getting sick. I prefer to not take any chances.

And it doesn't do a thing for the meat. It is better for the meat to go directly from cold storage to the heat.

Letting it sit after cooking is okay and does let juices recollect.

As other people have said, 6 or 7 minutes per inch or so. Don't be afraid to flip twice if you don't think it is done.

If you have the time, try searing both sides, then cooking it slower with indirect heat. Usually produces a juicy steak.

And I'll suggest my favorite steak rub: Jerk. Jerk seasoning on a steak is delicious.

Marinate them in antifreeze. Thank me later. But not too much later.

Fresh garlic or powder? I don't do the charcoal thing. I'm too damn lazy and don't want to deal with the mess.

Thank you.

:D what took so long for this to be posted?

There is a guy in Arlington TX that sells propane and propane accessories for all your grilling needs.




Me personally I like charcoal grilling and wood chips.

:D I'll give hank a call...
I love charcoal/wood chip cooking as long as someone else is doing it.
I'm more of a turn on the grill and have a drink by the pool while it heats up kind of guy.

I do that as well. I have a huge smoker, but when I cook steaks I use a Webber kettle grill I picked up for $99 dollars at Walmart. Remember to pull them before they are at the done level you want, because they will continue to cook internally for up to 5 minutes after they are off the grill. Not doing that is how a lot of guys end up with "Jack links steaks." An overdone steak is like trying to eat a Tony Lama boot.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41MXBH52FVL.jpg

Okay, that's a good tip. Pull them a little early.
I'm going to grill the perfect steak one of these times.

You're a Donk fan, so red meat isn't really consistent with your particular demographic.

Try something more trendy, fru-fru, fusionistic, and... "Denveresque".

Perhaps foie gras is more suitable. Be sure to wash it down with Perrier.

Charcoal. Woodchips.

Salt. Pepper.

Consume.

:D I have shrimp with it, is that close enough? F Perrier, I go with Mexican water-Tecate.
In college one of my roommates was a girl from France. Her mom sent her canned fois gras. One night my buddy and I came home drunk and replaced it with canned dog food.
You want to see a girl get pissed?
We still laugh about that.

coat in olive oil, salt and pepper, then sear each side in a pan on high heat 2 min each side. Then throw it in the broiler for 6 minutes. Perfect steak.

Hmmm...I'll try this in the winter. I don't do much if any oven cooking though, I have a convection oven don't even know if there is a broiler. Thanks.

A good steak requires no seasoning or marinating of any kind. Especially a ribeye. I do 6 minutes a side with an addtional minute on the first side.

exact same grill i got for my bday sat. Used it for the first time yesterday and it was great.

Yeah I like mine plain, don't use sauce. But to each their own. There have been some great tips so far, going to try them.

One other thing I was told was never put salt on them while they are cooking, or at least wait until the end of the cooking process. I had some old boy gravel my ass years ago when he caught me doing that. He told me it dries out the meat and from my experience, he was right.

As far as thickness, I cook up to 2" ribeyes and they turn out great. It's a lot easier to over cook a thin steak, than a think one.

Montreal Steak Seasoning.

You're welcome

I have been told the same thing about salt. I go with thick too, trying to find that balance to get them exactly to medium rare.
At least I've mastered grilled shrimp.
Get big prawns, grab a lime off the tree, 5 minutes with one turn and they are perfect.

Thank you. Seems like some like seasoning, some don't.

I'm not going to get into a big debate about this. Most of what you say is technically true, excluding the bolded part. Setting the meat out before cooking allows it to have a more even temperature, which in turn allows it to cook more evenly.

As for the health risk, while technically true, a lot of people have been doing it this way for a long time. It hasn't killed me or my family yet.

jesus. **** no. Don't ruin a good steak with that shit

I have no problem with letting red meat sit out for a bit.
Pork and poultry? No.

A $20 piece of meat should stand on it's own, I just need to cook it right.

salt helps to break down the fats and sinews.

Of course restaurants do this. They don't know 20 minutes before hand if someone is going to order a steak and they can't make the customer wait an extra 20 mins. If they set it out anyway they would either have waste when a customer didn't order it or questionable food storage practices when they returned the sitting steak back to cold storage.

In addition we don't all have grills that go above 1000 degrees like many of the big steak houses do that can make up for letting the meat warm up.

Good points all...

Ditto on the quick sear part. I find that especially for thicker cuts, I often like to sear on high heat, then cook on low or indirect heat. I feel like that keeps me from accidentally overcooking the outside while the inside needs cooking.

Never have had a problem with cooking steaks on my grill. I use a charcoal grill. They always come out good. I didn't think you could screw them up other than burning or over cooking them.

Indirect heat? As in I shut off half my grill?

Because **** Denver..tthats why.

try a charcoal loaded habachi and tell me if that's what you wanted your steaks to turn out like. I say this because I used to spend the big money on outdoor grills and was never quite satisfied with red meat coming off them. It never occurred to me there would be such a difference compared with charcoal. Last year, I kind of moved home base to this project I have going in KC and I picked up a cheapo habachi for temp purposes. What a diff in how a steak comes out.

Sorry to break the news to you but the reason you can't grill a decent steak is because you're a Donko fan. Become a Chiefs fan and instantly grill a decent steak :D

Where do you live? Location is a big factor also if you want select cuts.

I haven't been able to hit the perfect medium rare. They aren't screwed up but I want perfect.

I live in Scottsdale, AZ. We have a meat shop here that gets Iowa beef. I also order from the Amanda meat shop. You're right, the grocery stores here are not up to par for meat with Midwest stores.

Eat mor chikin

like chicken, the key is multiple flips...remember they will cook a litle extra once they are pulled from the grill.

I'm from Iowa, it should balance out:D

Thanks. The pull them early tip is one I will definitely use.

Iowa, Kansas, Texas. It's all the same.

I like the corn fed beef.

Ahh gotcha. I am not a blood eater. I do like mine pink though. To me the perfect is just less than 1/2 inch of pink in the middle. I normally flip my steaks, chicken and fish a lot compared to other things. I pull them and let them set for a little bit as I am usually finishing something else up. Evidently that was a good thing and I just didn't know it.

Not if you can't pick it out directly from the butcher knowing the product your getting and the individual's stock.

Yeah I'm gonna do the let it sit thing. Makes sense. Will grill my shrimp while waiting.
It's not like this is the most important thing in the world but it's irritating, you know?

I'm sure there are a thousand ways to do so.
but I get the grill piping hot (I usually put the grate on as soon as the flames from the first light go out). before a toss them on , I clean the shit out of the grill (clean grills are happy grills). Then immediately before they go on, I slather a bunch of veggie oil on the grate via tongs and paper towels soaked in it in a bowl.

Toss the steaks on. depending on thickness, I'll sear for about a 1:30 - 2:00 minutes. . Then I do the other side.

then flip back, lid on, keeping the top vent slightly open (bottom vent full open). flip once more until just about where I want t them.

Rest the meat for 5-10 minutes. I also keep the oven on at about 250 just in case they steaks are tool cool after resting, I'll put them back in there for a few while I prepare the rest of my plate, or salad etc.

I know there is some unwritten rule out there about flipping once, but I've done it this way for years and have never had a dry steak - unless it's my own fault for overcooking etc. It's almost like clock work for me. Only time they don't come out the way I want is either a mistake on my end/not monitoring cooking time (ie...too much of a buzz), or if I'm cooking an unfamiliar cut of meat, or a thickness I'm not quite used to (NTTAWWT).

The reason I sear and flip, is to get both sides seared very well while the grill is white hot. My $.02.

Medium heat, don't scorch the steaks unless you like it well done.

and pls don't marinate a ribeye or filet! rub/seasoning sure, no marinating, unless you're buying cheap crap it doesn't need marinating.

:thumb:

Seriously, I think they are all fed the same.

I've picked up loads of beef from all 3 states, plus Colorado and Nebraska. The cattle feeders are right nearby. Tyson, Cargill, National Beef. All the same.

Of course, I have no clue what they are fed.

I'd be surprised if Iowa feeds them any differently than the other states.

I agree with this. My parents moved to Texas and I can't believe how bad the beef is down there.

I have no doubt you know your business. What I've always bought has been advertised as corn fed. Obviously I have no way of verifying. It's mainly because I grew up in Iowa and that's what I've always known.