Most new grill owners want to know how to grill steak. It begins with choosing a steak that is fresh, the best grade and cut for your needs, as well as one that fit into your price range.
If you want to know how to grill a great steak, start with these tips to choosing a steak. With a little practice along with some trials and errors, you’ll soon become a grilling expert in the eyes of anyone who samples your steaks.
Practice makes perfect. To grill the best steak you’ve ever tasted, you need to use that grill more than a couple of times each year. So, stock that freezer with the best cuts of beef for the job and let’s get down to brass tacks when it comes to picking out steaks.
The first thing to do is to choose your meat. I won’t lie to you—beef is expensive. Those thick steaks you see on the commercials will cost a pretty penny, but, not to worry. You can find what you need at a butcher shop or the meat section of your favorite grocery store.
Always choose beef steaks that are cherry-red. This coloring means they are ready for grilling and have not gone past their prime. Avoid “marked down meat” that is turning a shade of gray or brown.
The best meat for grilling is labeled USDA Prime. This beef is marbled which means that there are veins of fat running through the meat. Prime is aged for a several days so that it is perfect for cooking. If you can’t afford the prime cut of beef, move on over to USDA Choice. It is a little cheaper but just as marbled and delicious on the grill.
Now that we know the grade of meat we are looking for, we need to know which types of beef cuts are best on the grill. I personally love a good New York strip steak or a T-bone steak. They grill up nice and tender so they melt in your mouth. Porterhouse and sirloin steaks are also good. Any steak with a bone in it will take longer to cook because of the meat next to the bone.
If you choose to marinate your steak. A good hour in the fridge should do it. With the proper cuts of meat, this is enough time for the meat to soak up the flavor. Let the meat come to room temperature before grilling.
When you are just starting out, don’t get too ambitious. By this I mean, start with a thinner cut of meat. Don’t throw a two inch thick steak on the grill like the king of the world and have it taste tougher than shoe leather when it’s done. Stay around an inch or less in thickness and practice before moving up to the major leagues.
When family members or friends want to know how to grill steaks as great as yours, just tell them that it all starts with choosing a steak. Then give them a few grilling pointers of your own.
