I’ll never say no to barbecue chicken or a snappy dog right off the grill, but grilled steak always feels like a special treat. Which steak, you ask? If you haven’t noticed, there are seemingly endless cuts of beef in the grocery store and at the butcher, and in my honest opinion, you can’t really go wrong. But no one likes that answer, so I'll go over a few of my steak grilling tips, plus top four favorite steak cuts for grilling (in no order because my mood changes every day).
The basics of grilling a steak
Credit: Allie Chanthorn ReinmannGrilling steak can be intimidating at first, but stick with it and you too will become a grill boss. The pressure might feel high, but even if you overcook the meat, a grilled steak is never ruined and can easily be used for a number of other dishes. I like the following cuts best for grilling because they’re versatile (can be sliced and served in a number of dishes), they have great beefy flavor, or because you get a lot of bang for your buck—and that means more steak nights this summer.
All steaks, unless you’re slow smoking some brisket, should be grilled fast (around three to six minutes per side depending on its thickness) and over the hottest area of your grill. Be sure to let it rest for about 10 minutes off the heat before slicing. There’s no real reason to slowly cook steak unless you’re trying to do a reverse sear. Personally, I’ve never done reverse searing on a grill because it’s less predictable than doing it in an oven or in the air fryer. Additionally, my primary reason for reverse searing is to reduce smoke indoors. When I’m cooking outside, the smoke doesn’t bother me. The stinging eyes and smoky laundry is all part of the experience.
A more affordable cut of meat, the flank steak is taken from the underside of the cow, in front of its hind legs. Essentially, it’s the cow’s six pack. And like mine, the cow’s abs are tough with less fat marbling. Less fat means more muscle grain and those will tighten up more and more as it cooks through. Additionally, flank steaks aren’t thick, so this is a quick sear. I like to throw it on the hottest part of the grill for maybe three minutes per side. It’s enough time to get some beautiful color and loads of flavor on the outside but just warm up the inside.
Since flank steak can be tougher, always slice your flank against, or perpendicular to, the muscle grain. Cutting across the “lines” will shorten the protein strands so it’s easier for you to chew, and that's a much nicer eating experience. Read here for a step-by-step guide on grilling a flank steak. And when you have leftovers, try this recipe for cold flank steak with chimichurri sauce.
Skirt steak
Another somewhat cheaper cut compared to other parts of the cow, the skirt steak comes from the area right above the flank steak, below the ribs. Skirt steak has similarities to flank—thinner cut and strong beefy flavor—but it usually includes more fat marbling. Think of the fat ribbons as breaking points in the strong chains of protein. That makes a piece of meat easier to chew because it readily separates at those points. This reads as tender to our palate, and that’s always nice.
Just like flank steak, skirt steak does well with a short and hot sear on the grill, and slicing it against the grain. I really love it thinly sliced with an herb-forward board sauce drizzled over the top, and it’s a great affordable replacement for ribeye when you’re making a cheesesteak—the bold flavor easily stands out against the bread.
Surprise! Who would have thought the porterhouse steak would be at home anywhere else but in a fancy mahogany and marble embellished steakhouse. I wouldn’t consider this a cheap cut of steak, but it is one of my favorites for tossing on the grill. I don’t do this for every weekend backyard grill session, but I visited my dad for his birthday last year and we took him steak shopping for lunch. I didn’t expect him to choose a porterhouse, but I was quietly impressed by his decision to let me buy him a $35 steak. How could I be grumpy when I knew I would be sneaking some slices off his plate?
We tossed that inch-and-a-half-thick cut on the grill for longer than the skirt steaks we bought, about five minutes per side, and carved it up for the table. Besides having great flavor and fat content, the porterhouse is actually composed of two different cuts: strip steak (my other favorite grilling steak) and tenderloin. The tenderloin. As in, the filet mignon section that everyone goes bonkers for. Filet mignon doesn’t have as much flavor on its own, but when paired up with the strip steak and the bone in the center of the porterhouse, you get a well rounded experience of flavor and a delicate bite.
Strip steak
The strip steak is my go-to steak for most cooking styles, not just grilling. It’s a great compromise between cost, flavor, and fat content. With a usual thickness of an inch or inch and a half, I also find that it’s more forgiving than skirt or flank steak when it comes to accidentally leaving it on the grill for an extra minute or so. You’re much less likely to ruin it, and the fat marbling can help keep it tender.
The strip steak comes from the short loin of the cow and it’s not a heavily used body part which makes it a more tender cut. I find it also works well with my budget but still feels like a treat. As I mentioned, strip steaks have a decent amount of fat marbling, so you get a thick, tender steak with plenty of flavor for roughly $12 to $16 a pound. When it’s not porterhouse week, you might find that a strip steak fits the bill. I usually toss a strip steak on the hottest, or near the hottest, section of the grill and give it about five minutes per side depending on the thickness.
What if you don’t have one of these steaks?
Bummed because you bought a chuck steak or a flat iron steak? Don’t be. As long as you keep in mind timing, heat, and slicing against the grain, you’ll be in good shape. Thinner cuts of steak (less than an inch) need two or three minutes per side over the hottest heat, and thicker steaks need two to three more minutes per side (also on high heat). All you need now is a scoop of potato salad. And maybe some charbroiled oysters. Oh, and maybe three other dishes from this list.
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