Recipe: Grilling Steaks – the debate begins…

Ok, lots of people will freak out because when you talk about the grilling of meats, this is like talking about religion.  People have really strong opinions, and they are always right.
With that in mind, let’s skip all the fancy discussion and get right to it.  I think this might be the simplest set of ingredients for anything I will ever write.
Ingredients

  • Steak (I prefer things with more marbling, but in reality, I will eat anything that used to “moo” and is cooked well)
  • Salt (Prefer larger flakes, so Kosher salt works well)
  • Fresh ground pepper

People are going to argue that you must add something else, and realistically, there is a much longer list of things you can add that will make a steak worse than make it better, so the list above is what I would call the “Trinity”.
An example of why I don’t add some other stuff (especially at the beginning) would be garlic powder.  I love garlic powder.  I love garlic in all forms except one.  What form you ask?  Burnt.  When you are grilling, you are dealing with very high heat, and you can only have things (the way I cook things) on a steak that can tolerate the heat without giving a bad burnt flavor.
Ok – before I go crazy with the words, here goes the instructions…

  • Get the grill as hot as you can get it.  (I am not touching the gas vs charcoal debate, others can argue that one for days)
  • Put an even sprinkle of salt on all sides of the steak
  • Add pepper on all sides (some like more or less, do as much or as little as you like)
  • Put the steak on the grill at a 45 degree angle.  (Ok, you didn’t think I was going to not get a “little” fancy did you?)
  • Leave steak (presuming the grill was really hot) on for 2 minutes
  • Turn the steak clockwise 90 degrees.  (This will give you a pretty diamond mark just like the restaurant)
  • Leave steak on for another 2 minutes
  • Flip the steak and this is where it gets “tricky”

I usually have a section of the grill which is very low heat where I can put the steaks which I flipped.  This way I can close the grill for a bit and let it “bake”.  Especially for thicker steaks, you will need to do something like this, because if you keep steaks on the hot fire, you will have to bounce it around constantly watching out for fires and flare-ups which isn’t what you are looking for.
[Ok, how long to keep the meat on is a trick – depends on how thick the steak is, but here is what I do]
For rare, let your left hand hang loose in front of you. Poke your right index finger into the fleshy part of your left hand between your index finger and thumb. It will offer very little resistance and is soft and pliable. This is how a steak cooked rare will feel to the touch.
For medium rare, extend the same left hand but this time spread out your fingers and poke the same spot with your right index finger. You’ll see that it is firmer and a little springy to the touch. This is how a steak cooked medium rare will feel.
For medium, make a fist with your left hand and poke again. It should feel firm and only give a little. This is how the medium steak will feel.
For those who like their meat well done – well, you are just ruining a good piece of meat – so cook some chicken instead.  😉
-Mike Rothman