High summer! And time for a check-up on your beef handling skills… Why? Because I said so. And if you started grilling as early as most avid grillers I know, you’ve had time to let your skills slip at least a bit…
A perfect Rib Steak: Beef Grilling Best Practices should
also be followed when cooking on cast iron!
Best Practices
We’ll just go down the list of Best Beef Practices, shall we?
Have any of the following tips, hacks and must-dos slipped through the tynes of your grill fork over the past couple of months?
Room Temperature
Always let your neat come to room temperature before attempting to sear it. That goes for not only steaks, but roasts, stew meat, Fajitas and hamburgrs, alike. Otherwise, you’ll miss the chance to get that coveted seared, umami, caramelized Maillard flavour and crispy crust on your meat. And that where most of the flavour – and the value of your beef investment – reside
Pat Dry
The other side of the searing secrets coin: You can’t sear (caramelize) a piece of meat if it has as little as a few drops of surface moisture on it. That goes for marniade, as well. Use heavy-duty paper tow-els to make sure all the excess moisture off. DO pat gently to encourage absorption in the towel. DON’T use a wiping motion!
‘Season’ before placing on heat
Scatter your choice of salt and freshly ground/cracked black pepper on the dried meat. Season both sides.
Marinate Beef at least 8 hours
Marinate in your fave flavour-enhancing dry blend, or moist ‘plaster’ for 6-8 hours. Soak in your fave liquid libation for 6 to 8hours or, preferably, overnight. Pat off any surplus liquid marinade before placing the meat on the heat. Always marinate in the the fridge, not on the counter top.
Turn only ONCE
Use only tongs. Piercing the meat will just allow those coveted flavour-carrying juices to run off and be lost forever. Likewise, never press down on your meat, Again, the juices will be forced out and lost.
Baste on the grill?
It’s a classic flavour-building technique for low-and-slow smokers and pitmasters. ANd you can baste or not. Just remember: don;t re-use any marinade, or ploughshare used marinade ad as basting fluid unless you’re sure the surface of your meat is going to reach or exceed the the recommended safe temperature for the type and cut of meat you’re using. You can, and should, bring your recycled marinade to the boil for a minimum of 10 minutes to make sure any bacteria are killed.
Use a Meat Thermometer?
If you have one – and what serious chef does not? – use it. For griling, because many of the classic meat cuts are relatively thin, use a surface-reading model.
My take
There’s no reason all of the above techniques and tips should NOT be ‘matters of course’ for every Grilling Chef! And if you follow them all religiously, you’ll always get back every cent you invested in your meat plus that beloved, seared, umami dividend!
~ Maggie J.