Wednesday, May 20, 2009
How to cook a good steak on a BBQ. Rightly or wrongly, it is a true ‘man-skill’ to cook a steak properly over a BBQ. Or a griddle pan for that matter. You have two options - chuck it on, flame it and hope for the best. Or with an extra 5 mins TLC making it wonderful. As with all cooking, the quality of the end result is directly proportional to the quality of the raw ingredients. The better you put in, the better you get out. I buy steak from two places only - Tony’s butchers in Stroud and more recently Sheepdrove Organic Butchers in Bristol as I live in Stroud and work in Bristol! Getting to know your local butcher is the crucial first step in ending up with a great steak on your plate in the evening. He’ll advise on the best cuts, offer cooking tips, tell you about the provenance of the meat and if you become a familiar face he’ll give you a discount too. The best bit is the quality of the meat you will buy will be infinitely better than the Tescoburywaitrossons. I could wibble on about the differnt cuts here - but that’s for another day. Assuming you have talked to your butcher about what sort of steak you like and he has sliced you a slab, then here is how I suggest you deal with it for optimum taste, flavour and juiceness…. You will need steak - my preference for a BBQ is rump as it is full of flavour, good value and is more tolerant to a little over cooking which can happen on a BBQ good quality flaked sea salt (or kosher salt if you are in the US) freshly ground black pepper Before you do anything, let the steak come to room temperature so it cooks more evenly. You have two options now - either rub a good couple of teaspoons of salt and freshly gournd pepper into your steak at least 45 mins before you cook it or otherswise seconds before you cook it. Anywhere in between is bad. When you rub salt into a steak, one of the effects is it draws the moisture out. If you leave your steak 45 mins or more, then you give enough time for this moisture will be drawn back in along with the seasoning whcih makes for great flavour - any less and the juice stays on the plate and makes for a tasteless dry steak. Adding the salt just before you cook means the seasoning kick works but you don;t give the meat time to surrender it’s juices. That’s it for prepping the meat - any more and you are taking away from the flavour of the steak. Next it to make sure you BBQ of heavy based griddle pan is on full blast and has had a good 15-20 mins to really heat up. When you throw that cold lump of beef on there you will cool the area right down so you need to make sure everything is as hot as possible. Slap the steak down (no pressing down) and give it 1-2 minutes minimum. Now - if you have a thinner steak, it’s inclination will be to curl up which is not desirable. Even a thicker steak can do this on a hot BBQ. Instead of giving the steak 4-5 mins on each side, the trick is to give it about 1-2 mins (before it starts to curl) then flit it. Give it another 1-2 mins then flip it again. Repeat this process once or twice so each side has enjoyed 4-5 mins cooking time. Once cooked - let it sit on a plate and cover in foil for 5 mins to relax. Clearly timings will vary hugley depending on how you like your steak, the thickness, the temperature of the grill and also the temperatire of the steak when you start to cook. So to summarise my ramblings the key tips are: buy your steak at your local butcher and NOT your supermarket let the meat come to room temp before you cook it season at least 45 mins in advance of cooking or else just before use just salt and pepper to season cook on a very hot BBQ or griddle pan flip the steak over every 1-2 mins to avoid curling let it sit for 5 mins once cooked to relax That’s it - enjoy! By the way - my recommendation is a 1.5” to 2” thick rump steak for a good crust and flavour on the outside with a tender, juicy, pink middle.

How to cook a good steak on a BBQ.

Rightly or wrongly, it is a true ‘man-skill’ to cook a steak properly over a BBQ. Or a griddle pan for that matter.

You have two options - chuck it on, flame it and hope for the best. Or with an extra 5 mins TLC making it wonderful.

As with all cooking, the quality of the end result is directly proportional to the quality of the raw ingredients. The better you put in, the better you get out. I buy steak from two places only - Tony’s butchers in Stroud and more recently Sheepdrove Organic Butchers in Bristol as I live in Stroud and work in Bristol!

Getting to know your local butcher is the crucial first step in ending up with a great steak on your plate in the evening. He’ll advise on the best cuts, offer cooking tips, tell you about the provenance of the meat and if you become a familiar face he’ll give you a discount too. The best bit is the quality of the meat you will buy will be infinitely better than the Tescoburywaitrossons.

I could wibble on about the differnt cuts here - but that’s for another day. Assuming you have talked to your butcher about what sort of steak you like and he has sliced you a slab, then here is how I suggest you deal with it for optimum taste, flavour and juiceness….

You will need

  • steak - my preference for a BBQ is rump as it is full of flavour, good value and is more tolerant to a little over cooking which can happen on a BBQ
  • good quality flaked sea salt (or kosher salt if you are in the US)
  • freshly ground black pepper

Before you do anything, let the steak come to room temperature so it cooks more evenly.

You have two options now - either rub a good couple of teaspoons of salt and freshly gournd pepper into your steak at least 45 mins before you cook it or otherswise seconds before you cook it.

Anywhere in between is bad.

When you rub salt into a steak, one of the effects is it draws the moisture out. If you leave your steak 45 mins or more, then you give enough time for this moisture will be drawn back in along with the seasoning whcih makes for great flavour - any less and the juice stays on the plate and makes for a tasteless dry steak. Adding the salt just before you cook means the seasoning kick works but you don;t give the meat time to surrender it’s juices.

That’s it for prepping the meat - any more and you are taking away from the flavour of the steak.

Next it to make sure you BBQ of heavy based griddle pan is on full blast and has had a good 15-20 mins to really heat up. When you throw that cold lump of beef on there you will cool the area right down so you need to make sure everything is as hot as possible.

Slap the steak down (no pressing down) and give it 1-2 minutes minimum.

Now - if you have a thinner steak, it’s inclination will be to curl up which is not desirable. Even a thicker steak can do this on a hot BBQ. Instead of giving the steak 4-5 mins on each side, the trick is to give it about 1-2 mins (before it starts to curl) then flit it. Give it another 1-2 mins then flip it again. Repeat this process once or twice so each side has enjoyed 4-5 mins cooking time.

Once cooked - let it sit on a plate and cover in foil for 5 mins to relax.

Clearly timings will vary hugley depending on how you like your steak, the thickness, the temperature of the grill and also the temperatire of the steak when you start to cook.

So to summarise my ramblings the key tips are:

  • buy your steak at your local butcher and NOT your supermarket
  • let the meat come to room temp before you cook it
  • season at least 45 mins in advance of cooking or else just before
  • use just salt and pepper to season
  • cook on a very hot BBQ or griddle pan
  • flip the steak over every 1-2 mins to avoid curling
  • let it sit for 5 mins once cooked to relax

That’s it - enjoy!

By the way - my recommendation is a 1.5” to 2” thick rump steak for a good crust and flavour on the outside with a tender, juicy, pink middle.

Posted at 9:14pm