Top 10 Grilling Commandments
While that seems like an easy and carefree task, it’s easy to screw up- and who wants to be the guy that screws up a steak? Not us. We’ve gathered up 10 techniques and tips to give you the tools you didn’t even know you needed to: you guessed it, become a Meat God.
THOU SHALT NOT GRILL COLD MEAT
J
ust like in baking, you want your ingredients to be at room temperature. When the meat is cold, the interior of the meat will turn cook slower than the exterior resulting in a undercooked and grey center. Take your steaks out about 20 minutes before you’re ready to grill to ensure even temps throughout that beauty and you’ll have a crusty, charred crust with a juicy, tender inside.
THOU SHALL CLEAN THE GRILL
Make sure you’ve brushed down your grills with a grill brush to remove any built up residue. You can even rinse it off the day before to save some time. Just soak in some warm water and brush off remaining bits.
THOU SHALL USE CHARCOAL
Just use it, trust us. Although gas grills well, your meat will taste like whatever your heat source is. You’re grilling a steak for that charred, smokey flavor. You don’t want that first bite to taste like chemicals and lighter fluid.
THOU SHALL SEASON (AND SEASON AND SEASON)
Salt [and pepper] ALWAYS. You can add whatever your heart desires from dry rubs to meat straight out of the marinade. But always season your meat no matter what. An under seasoned or over seasoned cut of steak is no bueno.
THOU SHALL DESIGNATE HEATING AREAS
Essentially, you want a hot area and a not so hot area. Create a primary searing zone with high heat that is going to sear in the juices and flavor- you can do this by piling up those coals so it’s closer to the meat. Then, have a zone with a somewhat lower temperature to finish the cooking process
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THOU SHALL NOT PEEK
It’s super tempting to want to peek at that underside of the meat but doing that will interrupt the crusting process and can cause it to stick to the grill-top. The more you mess with it the greater the chance you blow it. just be patient and let nature do it’s thing.
THOU SHALL NOT OVERCOOK
This is our worst nightmare. You do NOT want a leathery piece of jerky. Generally, for a 1 1/2 inch steak you should cook it about 12 mins on the first side ( and in the hot zone) then 9 mins on the other side (and in the not so hot zone). If you wanna be really technical, you can use a meat thermometer. 125 degrees is usually medium-rare.
THOU SHALL HASH IT UP
You wanna really send it over the top. When you set your meat down, place it at a 45 degree angle with the grill. A quarter into the cooking time (before the flip) give it a quarter turn. That’s what’s going to give you those steakhouse grill marks.
THOU SHALL REST
Even the Almighty Himself rested on the 7th day. Place your masterpiece on a cutting board and let it rest for 5-10 mins. This is very important. Letting your meat rest allows the juices to reincorporate back into the meat. If you cut into it right off the grill the juices are going to spill out and all that flavor is lost!
THOU CAN NOW FEAST!
Now all your hard work is done. Grab a beer and slice into that masterpiece.
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