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How to Grill the Perfect Steak [2021]

by Outdoor Cooking Pros May 29, 2021

meat and greens on white plate

Looking to impress your family or significant other via a fancy dinner? 

Regardless of your reason for finding a grill to make perfect steak, all we know is you DON’T want to settle for less. 

Allow our expert grillers to guide you in making the perfect steak in the easiest way possible! 

How to Grill Steak: A Step by Step Guide

Ready to eat the best-tasting steak in your life? 

We hope you are, because we’ve prepared a step by step guide on how to grill the perfect steak!

Preparing Your Ingredients

First thing’s first, prepare your ingredients. 

Lucky for you, the recipe we prepared is simple and straightforward!

Prepare the following:

  • Meat of choice
    • 1/4 -½ inch thick boneless rib-eye
    • New York strip steaks
    • Filet mignons, trimmed
  • 2 tablespoons of canola or extra-virgin olive oil
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground pepper

Defrosting Your Choice of Steak

Next up, like every other meat that you have to cook, defrosting enters the picture!

For this steak, it’d be in your best interest to let the steaks sit outside your refrigerator, covered, and at room temperature.

Don’t forget that when you defrost[1] for too long, you’re giving bacteria and all kinds of junk a BETTER ENVIRONMENT to multiply.

slab of raw meat on brown board

And well, if we’re aiming for the best or even just something completely edible, you don’t want any of that. 

So start defrosting your steaks around 20 minutes before you start grilling them!

Know where to better get your steaks with our Omaha Steaks vs Butcherbox comparison.

Grilling

Finally, the step everyone’s been waiting for. Let’s get the grilling party started!

First up, heat your grill to a high temperature setting. The best temperature for cooking steaks sits at around 450 F to 500 F. 

You want to brush your steaks with oil on both sides while your grill is heating up. 

And then, of course, seasongenerously with kosher salt and pepper! 

Once that’s over, place the steaks on the grill for 4 to 5 minutes, or just until your steaks are golden brown or slightly charred.

person cooking meat on grill

When that physical change of color has become visible, flip them over and leave them on the grill at your preferred time depending on the level of meat you want it to be. 

Here’s a table to help you understand the different grilling styles and steak doneness.


Degrees of Steak Doneness 

Time

Internal Temperature 

Medium Rare

3-5 minutes

135 degrees F

Medium

5-7 minutes

140 degrees F

Medium-Well

8-10 minutes

150 degrees F

Bon Appetit!

Don’t worry, those steaks are going into your mouth in just a little bit!

When you’ve gotten your steaks just the way you like it, you can now transfer them to a cutting board or platter.

Here’s a friendly reminder to tent them loosely with foil, too. 

Start slicing them after they’ve rested for 5 minutes, and you’re now ready for a feast!

Tips for Getting the Perfect Steak

You may have some doubts about cooking that steak, regardless of how easy the recipe is. So here’s a few tips we’ve prepared just for you!

Choose the Right Piece of Steak

Have you heard about that principle in chemistry where the accuracy of your analysis isn’t any more accurate than the quality of your samples?

Steaks have the same principle, too!

Really, there are only three things you need in making a good steak: beef, salt, and fire. 

hand slicing meat on board

But once you’ve gotten that beef wrong, everything else, and we mean everything, is going down. 

On that note, look for a slice that looks plump, bright red, and with lots of marbling!

When in Doubt, Oversalt

When you’re grilling steak, it’s not the time to be shy about overseasoning! It’s always best to use sea salt or kosher salt, and then some pepper if you’d like. 

When adding pepper, add about the same amount as you did for the salt.

And once again, when you think it’s enough the first time, it’s PROBABLY NOT. So add a little bit more! 

DON’T Flip Your Steak More Than Once

We’ve all seen it happen, or at least, we’ve made the same mistake at least once in our lives.

But really, please refrain from overturning your steak. Doing so might overcook the meat, thus resulting in burnt parts.  

Ideally, you should only be turning the steak ONCE on each side. And yes, only flip it once!

Conclusion

There are a lot of recipes for a good steak, but around only one way to cook it the best it could be!

On our note, this is the way it should be done!

Anyhow, we hope you enjoy your now perfectly grilled steak!

Increase your grilling knowledge with more of our articles:


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