The Maillard reaction commences when a steak’s outside temperature hits about 350 degrees F-one of the main reasons you want a hot fire to work with when grilling these cuts. The chemical reaction you may have heard about, if you’ve done a lot of grilling, is the Maillard: a reaction between amino acids and sugars that contributes to the browning of meat (and other foods) and that sought-after caramelization. That intramuscular fat, the marbling, melts into the meat.Įxposed to high temperatures, the proteins in the muscle tissue change shape-denature, if you want to get scientific about it-which transforms the meat’s appearance, texture, and flavor. Achieving that tightrope is, essentially, the boiled-down challenge of grilling steak.Ī steak on a grill experiences some fundamental chemical reactions and processes that turn it from a hunk of bright-red, raw meat into something indescribably delicious. That translates to exposing the outside of the cut to high heat while cooking the inside at a lower temperature. The trick with a grilled steak is giving its exterior a crispy brown sear while keeping the inside meat soft, tender, and juicy. Grilled beef steak slice, close up on fork. That’s on the more “done” side of things for a lot of steak connoisseurs, hence the value in asking your butcher about the processing. If you’re not sure whether your cut’s been subjected to needle- or blade-tenderizing, the USDA recommends a minimum internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit. Steak that hasn’t been prepared this way is inherently safer than ground meat because surface microbes can’t easily infiltrate the steak’s inner tissue, and it can be confidently cooked to a lower temperature-aka cooked rawer. As we said, however, thinner cuts are also highly grillable, just easier to overcook.Īs this interesting, technically focused Live Science article notes, it’s best to go with steak that hasn’t been needle-tenderized or blade-tenderized, a process that can work pathogen-prone outside meat into the steak’s interior. Typically, grain-fed or finished beef will show more marbling than grass-fed beef (which is still awesome to grill, just a different flavor profile).Ī steak, say, 1 to 2 inches thick is best-suited for the grill, as it gives you the best setup for a seared, flame-licked crust and a juicy interior. Look for marbling: the intramuscular fat that manifests as white blotches and streaks. The completely sturdy rule of thumb? Buy the best steak your pocketbook will allow. Brisket, round, and other tougher beef cuts are, generally speaking, better reserved for slower cooking methods and a higher finishing temperature. Flank and skirt steak can also be “perfection” on the grill, but only if you’re quick about things. Sirloin, tenderloin, T-bone (which consists of the former two), ribeye, strip: these are ideal for grilling. Obviously, you can successfully grill any number of steak cuts-that is, the more tender ones. Barbecue Rib Eye Steak, dry Aged Wagyu Entrecote Steak What Kind of Steak? Hopefully, some really simple Steak 101 science will give you a bit of perspective on the task at hand, if nothing else. Treat the actual steps laid out here as a fundamental framework you can feel free to modify or completely disregard them depending on your own empirical experimentation (which is half the fun of grilling, right?). To each his or her own.Īnyhow, acknowledging all of that, we thought we’d iron down some of the basics of grilling a good steak. You may favor a bloody, half-raw steak that would terrify not only vegetarians but more than a few fellow meat-eaters you might, conversely, prefer an incredibly well-done piece of beef that would offend self-proclaimed purists. The “best” steak is the one you like eating the most, and that honestly might be a charred, gristly, smoking, carbon-black hunk. Grilling steak is a science and an art it’s also a complicated subject with a lot of contradictory partisan passion and-as with any matter of the taste buds-plenty of subjectivity to muddy the waters. That makes it hard to cover up the fact that you overcooked that expensive ribeye or Porterhouse, sacrificing an awful lot of the flavor and texture that make them worth savoring. A steak doesn’t need much time over the fire, and when it comes to a high-quality cut you want to let the beef do the talking, not a bunch of fussy marinades or sauces. They’re also a classic test of a grill boss’ actual chops (so to speak). Barbecue Rib Eye Steak or rump steak – Dry Aged Wagyu Entrecote SteakĪlong with burgers (and, if you’re from Wisconsin, brats), steaks are just about the most classic pieces of meat we slap on grills.
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