My Main Squeeze is a master at grilling. He has a way of flipping those steaks and burgers at just the right time. I know that when he’s out there grillin’, dinner’s gonna be kickin’!
I’ve learned a couple of things from him about what makes a good grilled dinner. Here are the best things:
The cut of meat
Seasoning
Letting it rest afterwards
There are, of course, several cuts of meat. What you buy can absolutely depend on your individual preference. Start with asking yourself if you’re in the mood for tender and lean, flavorful and marbled (fat content) or something a little bit more tough. Which, not sure why you’d want tough, but to each his own!
For tender and lean, think: filet mignon or tenderloin and sirloin. For flavorful and marbled, think: ribeye, T-bone, porterhouse and New York strip. Other popular cuts that lean tough are: flank steak and skirt steak. A popular cut that leans more tender is flat iron steak. And then there’s brisket, suited for slow cooking and BBQ.
There are so many ways to season grilled meat. Dry rub, marinade, simple salt and pepper. Letting it sit in the seasoning for hours or even days. Or seasoning as it comes to room temperature before slapping it on the hot grill.
My Grill Master has experimented with all the ways of seasoning. One of my favorite kinds is when he comes up with his own marinade and allows the cut of meat to sit in it for several hours, if not overnight or longer.
Here’s his rule of thumb for a delish marinade: Use whatever is in the fridge. Whether it’s Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce and salt, pepper and spices… “Some type of vinegar is important as well because the acidity gives the meat a more tender texture. Lemon or lime does that, too.”
If the ingredients are in your fridge already, chances are you already like them and so it would be a fun experimentation to combine flavors for your marinade.
Once the grill is nice and hot, the timing for cooking the meat largely depends on an individual’s preference for how they like their cut of beef to be done. This could be five minutes on the first side, three on the second for a rarer finish. Or five and five if you like it more well done.
The last key step is to let the meat rest. It’s just gone through a lot and resting it allows the internal juices to redistribute rather than leaking out when cutting the meat. It also aids in making the meat more tender and flavorful.
For smaller cuts, like we’re talking about here, allow to rest for 5 - 10 minutes.
While the meat is resting is the perfect time to make sure all your sides and condiments are ready to go!
