How to grill beef?

Question

Help!!! I suck at bbq-ing steak, tri-tip or any other cut of beef. I can't afford to (nor do I want to) go out to eat every time I want some red meat and the smell from neigborhood grills are driving me nuts with envy. I'm tired of preparing tastless slabs of leather. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Slap that meat on the grill. Wait a few, then flip. Same amount of time and its done. The wait time depends on the redness you want. Extra red is about 3 minutes on high heat. Of course extra red is simply the outside cooked but the center cold. It all depends on how red you want it.

Answer 2

Start with a good cut of beef: Delmonico, rib-eye, T-bone, Delmonico being my absolute favorite. They should be 3/4" to 1" thick, no more. The major thing I look for is good marbling. I know that higher fat is not as good for you, but if you're not eating this everyday, you'll be fine. These cuts are usually more expensive, so I look for sales and value packs. I freeze what I'm not using right away.

Next: marinate. Most of the time they say to marinate beef about 20 minutes, but I do it a lot longer. Hours, usually overnight. I put in what flavors I like. Here's a basic marinade that I like:

3-4 cloves garlic, crushed
¼ cup teriyaki sauce
¼ cup soy sauce
Fresh ground pepper

Mix in a bowl, pour over 4 steaks. Allow marinating for 30 minutes up to 24 hours.

I do not use any extra salt as there is plenty in the teriyaki and soy sauces.

I use a gas grill on high, but if you use charcoal, make sure your coals are very hot, but not flaming. Make sure your grill grate is clean and pre-heat the grill grate about ten minutes.

Spray the grill grate with non-stick spray, being careful of flame-ups. Having a fire extinguisher is a good idea any time you use a grill.

Put the steaks on the grill, presentation side down. (that's the side you want people to see.) Wait about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, turn the steaks about 45°. This will give nice grill marks. After turning, wait another 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. At this point you can flip the steaks or wait, depending on how well done you want them.
Rare:4 minutes total each side
Medium: 6-8 minutes each side.
Well done: 8-10 minutes each side.
For well-done, make sure the steak is firm, but not solid. If it's solid, it's overdone and will be dry and leathery.

After taking your steaks off of the grill, wait at least five minutes before cutting them. This allows the juices to redistribute and be re-absorbed into the meat. If you cut it right away, the juices will run out and and you will have a really dry steak.

Know your grill. Learn where the hot and cold spots are. If possible, make sure it's on a level surface, and try to keep it out of hard winds.

Answer 3

Sounds like you have a ton of mixed answers.

Here are a few simple tips:

Don't grill cold meat. It doesn't work well. It takes too long to cook the inside and the outside gets dry and tough.

High heat is why grilling works. All this stuff about ashy coals is BS. Next time you see a cart vendor selling tri-tip sandwiches, see if there aren't flames. I like the charcoal starter cans. No Fluid needed.

Typically a good steak (t-bone) can be sprinkled with a little lawry's all spice and cooked for 4-6 minutes on each side.

Take it of the Grill and let it sit (cutting into hot meat will make it lose it's juices) for a couple of minutes.

You'll have the most delicious steak.

Marinades are only necessary for specific flavors (teriyaki, lemon pepper...etc) or if you have low quality meat. In which case, you'll need a marinade with a medium-high acid content to break up the protein.

One other thing DO NOT ADD WATER to your marinade. That's what makes cheap hams taste disgusting. If you want water, go buy Sparkletts.

Answer 4

I'll answer the simplest way I can. This is a great rule of thumb and if you follow it, you should be pretty happy having to BBQ. Basically put your meat on the grill and don't mess w/ it! Whether its a steak, or burgers, just put it on a hot grill - not to close to the heat, and let it cook on the first side until you see the juices coming out of the top side. Then you can flip it. A lot of people will flip it 10 X's and that is no good. You want it to cook, so don't be afraid to let it cook! You only need a few minutes more on the second side. Longer if you want it well done. For a 1" thick steak, try about 8-10 minutes on the first side, then about 4-6 minutes after you flip it.

Enjoy. I hope this helps.

Answer 5

Hi,
I just saw your question. My husband and I grill all of the time and our favorite thing to do is steak. I won't even eat it in a restaurant anymore because we do it better at home.
Anyway, the first thing you need to do is get a GOOD cut of meat. Don't buy meat at Walmart or any other discount place. I do buy some nice cuts at Sam's club. Usually I try to get it from a butcher. My preference is tenderloin. Michael M is exactly right even though he has 3 thumbs down. Let the meat come up to room temp before grilling. And let it rest about 5 minutes after. We like ours rare so it doesn't stay out there very long. But if you prefer it a little more done just cook it longer. It takes a bit of practice but once you get the hang of it you'll be out there every weekend. BTW, really good beef doesn't require any marinade. The flavor of the meat is what you are looking for not to cover it up with a bunch of sauce.

Good luck :)

Answer 6

My boyfriend taught me how to barbeque in an absolutely foolproof manner. This will only work if you have the kind of bbq with gas (rather than charcoal alone). 1)heat the grill by turning on all of the burners on high. Leave it on for about ten minutes to heat it up. 2)put the heat down to "low" or just above low just before you put the meat on. Use the low setting to actually cook the meat (this works for beef, shrimp & chicken. Fish should always be cooked on low). Leave the meat on (covered) about five minutes and then have a look. You will be able to tell visually how much more time the meat needs as it cooks. Definitely flip it on the other side while it's cooking. You can always flip it back if it needs more time on either side. So basically, the trick is to heat up the grill and then cook the meat on low. It is still very fast, and will keep its delicious juice and flavor. Finally, vegetables are also fantastic on the grill. We slice peppers or squash in half (and put a little oil, salt, and pepper on them is all) or buy wooden skewers from the grocery store (soak them in water before using so they don't catch on fire) and put tomatos and mushrooms (or onions) on them - again, with a little oil, salt, and pepper. Veggies should go on last, at the very end of the grill time because they cook fast and dry up quickly. I sure hope this helps. Good luck!

Answer 7

One of my favrite ways to grill beef is to use wasabe (powder, not paste). You can pickit up in an oriental market or at at grocery stores.

Marinate your beef with your favorite marinade. Then just before grilling, rub in the wasabe powder on only one side of the beef.

Grill to taste. If you are having problems cooking the beef (i.e. - turning it into leather), then you should try to seer the beef on both sides. If your grill does not ha ve a seering option, then seer it in a frying pan using bacon drippings or other lard. Then finish cooking it to your desired level (rare, meduim, well-done, whatever) on a low to medium heat on your grill. A low heat will take longer, but the syeak will be more tender. The seering keeps most of the juice inthe steak, where it belongs.

Also, when you are choosing the steak to grill, pick out the piece with a good level of marbing, that is, it should have streaks of fat running through it. It is the fat that the juice of the steak comes from. A "lean cut" will not cook as well as a well-marbled piece.

The wasabe adds a distinct flavoring that you'll enjoy.

Answer 8

I've learned several things about barbecuing beef this year from trial and error and watching food tv.

The first is you need to have a clean grill and it has to be well pre-heated before you put the meat on. Believe it or not, that helps to keep the meat from sticking because it sears so quickly.

You also need to use a timer and a meat thermometer and avoid piercing your meat - use tongs. Don't keep flipping the meat. Put it on for the desired amount of time, flip it once and then when you think it is just about ready, but not done, check with an instant read thermometer. If you are within 4 or 5 degrees of the desired temp, pull it off the fire and let it rest for at least 5 minutes - longer if its a big piece of meat - and it should be ready to enjoy.

Answer 9

marinate, beer is a good liquid, apple juice or ginger ale work well too, salt, pepper, garlic, worcestershire sauce, whatever you like to your taste, and let it sit at least 3 hours, the more flavor of the marinade the longer it should sit. Use a zip lock or plastic bag rather than a bowl or dish because you can close the bag so that the meat is surrounded fully by the least amount of marinade.
When cooking, sear the meat on the outside on a hot fire to seal the juices in, but you do not want to engulf the meat in flames, they should rarely touch the meat. If you have a thin steak (under 3/4 inch) a couple of (3-5) minutes on each side until you see the blood puddle on the topside, the more you like it cooked the more you will like to see it puddle. The thickness and how you like it, red, pink or brown should also be factored in . For bigger pieces like a whole tri-tip or two inch sirloin you will want to follow up the searing with a low heat in a covered grill. For both flat steaks and bigger roasts learn to know when the meat is done by the firmness, raw meat is totally limp and it firms up as it cooks, more limp--less cooked, more firm--more cooked. One more thing is find a cut you like (tri-tip, sirloin, chuck) and try using this the next couple of times, if you bounce from cut to cut you will never get the hang of it. I cook a three pound tri-tip on a hardwood charcoal grill for about 25-30 minutes (about 5-10 minutes uncovered and attended to sear and seal it followed by 20 minutes covered to desired firmness) and get a juicy pink at the thin end to a red-pink at the fat end. Finally, keep in mind that it is better to err on the underdone side which can be remedied by throwing the beef back on the grill, once it's overcooked it's done without remedy. When you learn how to do the roast on the grill try throwing on some whole peppers and onions (the onion should have both ends sliced off and may have to go in the microwave for a few minutes to pre cook)

Answer 10

I do either rib or T-bone. I marinate in olive oil and lemon juice about 2hrs at room temperature. Use a double layer of charcoal ( real wood charcoal is best) and wait until they just turn white. Make sure the grill grate is clean. Wipe some oil on the gratel.Put steaks on the hot grate - then, using a blow hair dryer, aim the dryer at the coal on high - this torques up the temperature. It will create a great dark crust and leave the middle succulent Cook about 4-5minutes per side for med-rare.
Put on a platter and add a nice chunk of butter - letting it melt over the steak. Wait about 5 minutes - then enjoy!

Answer 11

First you have to pick the perfect slice of meat. You generally want some fat or it will dry out. I call that marbling throughout the meat. For a charcoal grill, you want to light the coals about an hour before you want to start cooking as you can't put the meat on until the flames have died down and the coals are smoldering. Scrape the grill with a wire brush beofre you put your meat on so as not to get ash from your previous meal on todays food. Depending on how rare you want your meat and how thick it is the time will vary. Push down on the thickest part of the meat after you flip it. The more spongy feeling it is, the more rare it is. If you are cooking with propane, you want to turn your grill on about 15 minutes before you want to start cooking so it can be nice and hot then turn down to medium. Scrape with a metal brush and then put your meat on. I like a simple but good flavor to my meat. I mix a 1/2 +1/2 solution of lliquid smoke and olive oil onto my meat then sprinkle both sides with lemon pepper and garlic salt. For chicken, I poke it with a fork all over until the meat relaxes and flattens out a bit. I do it this way so I don't have chicken juice go everywhere when tenderizing with a hammer type object. I then mix equal parts honey and soysauce plus 1 tablespoon ground ginger and 1 tablespoon ground garlic. I spoon it all over the chicken then place on the grill about 9-12 minutes on each side. It is grat with rice. You don't have to have all these fancy flavors in your meat to make it taste good. Have fun with it.