- 4 days ago
Chef and pitmaster Matt Abdoo joins Epicurious to break down everything you need to know about grilling the perfect steak. From choosing the best steak and simply seasoning with salt and pepper to achieving those perfect grill marks and finishing with a homemade chimichurri sauce, learn how to serve restaurant-quality grilled steak in your backyard.
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00:00It does not take a lot to grill up a steak to make it unbelievable.
00:04I'm Matt Abdu, chef and pit master, and today I'm going to show you how to grill up the best
00:09steak of your life.
00:11Let's keep it simple. This is Grilling 101.
00:18The secret to a great grilled steak is first and foremost selecting the right cut and all the right quality
00:24indicators you're looking for.
00:25The methods and procedures I'm going to be showing you will apply to strip steak, ribeye, filet, skirt steak, flank
00:31steak.
00:31Name all the grillable cuts and it's all going to be more or less the same.
00:35Today we're going to be treating ourselves to a New York strip steak, one of my favorite steakhouse cuts.
00:39If you have the time to pull the steak out and let it come to room temperature before cooking it,
00:44I think it is better if the steak has an opportunity to warm up a little bit.
00:48This steak is about an inch or so thick.
00:50That's a really important thing you want to look for in a good quality steak.
00:53The thicker the steak is going to give us more of an opportunity to develop that beautiful eye
00:58so we have that beautiful medium rare to medium pink center on our steak.
01:02If the steak is a little too thin, by the time you've developed all that char and crust on the
01:06outside,
01:07the steak usually gets overcooked.
01:08This is a big, thick cut of meat, so don't be afraid to season it aggressively
01:13because by the time all that salt permeates the meat, the seasoning level is going to be just perfect.
01:18I like to add a little bit of oil to my steak before I season it for two reasons.
01:21First, it's going to help that salt and pepper really stick to the meat
01:24and second, it's going to also help release it from the grill grates when it's cooking.
01:28Simple as king and there's nothing more simple than salt and pepper.
01:31That's all you need, guys, to make the steak shine because again,
01:34we have a really great cut of meat here and we want the flavor of the beef to be the
01:38star.
01:38The salt and pepper is just going to bring out all the flavor to it.
01:41I like to season from a little bit up high, guys.
01:43We want the salt to evenly distribute itself all over the meat.
01:46If you get too close, you're just going to have pockets of seasoning and that's never going to be good
01:50for anybody.
01:51But you can see I'm going pretty aggressively on this side of the steak with salt
01:55and then we're going to do the same with black pepper.
01:57To really maximize the flavor of that beef and to get that restaurant quality grilled steak, this is how we
02:01do it.
02:02Once this side's done, we're going to give it a flip.
02:06I'm going to take just a little bit more oil.
02:09It doesn't take a lot.
02:10And then right back at it with a good amount of salt.
02:13If your steak is thick enough, it'll stand up on its side on its own.
02:16And we're just going to hit that with some more coarsely grated black pepper.
02:21Now that this gorgeous New York strip steak is all seasoned up,
02:24we're going to let it dry brine for about 10 to 15 minutes while we fire up our grill and
02:27get it nice and hot.
02:28It's just kind of a way of getting it to be a little bit more seasoned on the inside
02:31and letting the salt have time to react to all that meat instead of just making a crust on the
02:35outside of the steak.
02:39Today we're cooking on a gas grill.
02:41I love the convenience of a gas grill.
02:43For me personally, I'm grilling three or four nights a week.
02:46It's simple, it's fast, it keeps the mess outside, right?
02:49And it's easy cleanup.
02:50But if you guys have a charcoal grill at home, all of these steps are going to be exactly the
02:53same.
02:54Before we start cooking, it's really important that we clean our grill.
02:56You don't want any residual char or charcoal or burnt bits on the grill.
03:01They're going to cause the grill to not get hot in those spots.
03:03And it's also going to put that burnt weird flavor on your food.
03:06There's two basic styles of cleaning grills.
03:08The first is a cold grill brush.
03:10And these are usually indicated by having plastic bristles on them.
03:14The second style is a wire or metal grill brush.
03:18Now this one here has got that little scraper on the end.
03:20It's got the metal wire brushes.
03:21These are good to use when the grill is hot.
03:23And also if you're doing lots of cooks, it's good to clean in between cooking.
03:26Always check it to see if there's any residual bristles or anything that could be on that.
03:30But no matter what you have, just make sure if the grill is hot, we're not using the plastic
03:34one.
03:35And also just make sure that we're cleaning the grill every time before we fire it up,
03:39just to make sure we're getting rid of all the dirty carbon bits that are on those grates.
03:42Now it's time to preheat the grill.
03:44It's a very important step.
03:45We want that char.
03:46We want that flavor.
03:47We want those grill marks to happen.
03:49And if our grill is cold or not fired up properly, we're never going to achieve that while
03:54also keeping the sound of the steak nice and medium rare.
03:57First things first, whenever you're lighting your grill, safety tip, make sure the lid is open.
04:02We don't want to turn on the knobs and potentially build up a gas bubble inside the chamber and
04:06then light it and the next thing it's going boom and it's terrifying everybody around you and your
04:10wife's running outside asking if you're okay.
04:12I love cooking on what's called zone cooking, guys.
04:16This is something that's going to be super important to you when you're cooking at home
04:19because it's going to give us the ability to have all super high heat on one side
04:23with the lower heat on the other to finish cooking so we can just have more control over
04:27whatever it is that we're cooking on the grill.
04:29The right side of this grill, I have what's called this sear zone.
04:32And what we want is the highest heat you can get on your grill for this particular cook,
04:36for this steak, because we really want to get that good char on the outside.
04:39On the other side of the grill, I'm going to turn the knobs on, but I'm going to turn
04:43them down all the way to low.
04:45If it needs to finish cooking a little bit more, I can move the steak over to the lower heat
04:49side of the grill to finish it cooking to get to that perfect temperature doneness on the
04:53inside without worrying about overcharring or burning the outside of the steak.
04:56Our grill's lit.
04:57Now I'm going to close the lid and I'm going to let the grill preheat.
05:01I kind of want this temperature to be around 600 to 650.
05:04That way I can develop that really deep, beautiful grill marks on the steak.
05:11Our grill's hot.
05:12Let's get the steak on there.
05:13You might be saying the steak got a little bit wet and that is completely normal.
05:17That's the dry brining taking effect.
05:19That's the salt hitting the meat, extracting the moisture out.
05:22It is completely okay that it's got that little sheen in the outside.
05:25When we put it on the hot, hot grill, it's just going to evaporate and create that awesome
05:29char on the outside of our steak.
05:30What I like to do is place it 45 degrees against the grill grate.
05:34So when we cook it at an angle like that, and when I turn the steak 90 degrees after that
05:38two minute mark, it's going to develop those really beautiful diamonds, char marks, grill
05:42marks on the steak that we're looking for.
05:44That sizzle means we're getting that high heat.
05:46I'm going to let that steak cook for two minutes.
05:49Don't touch it.
05:50Don't move it.
05:52Don't play with it.
05:53The more you move the steak and every time you pick it up, look at it, turn it around,
05:57you're losing that heat.
05:58You're losing that momentum.
05:59It's going to take even longer to develop that caramelization.
06:02So just leave it and let it be still.
06:04Our two minute timer has gone off.
06:06So the first thing I'm going to do is I'm going to take a little sneak peek.
06:09Listen here.
06:10If the steak sticks, it's not ready to flip.
06:13That goes for steak.
06:14That goes for chicken.
06:15That goes for burgers.
06:16That goes for fish.
06:17The meat will tell you when it's ready to flip.
06:19And the best way to tell is we're going to go by one angle of it and just start lifting
06:22it up.
06:22And if it has no resistance to lifting, that's giving me a good sign that the steak is nice
06:27and charred and that they have those grill marks and it's ready to flip and turn.
06:30Lift it, turn it, and place it back down on an unused part of that grill so that we can
06:37get
06:37those really nice, hot, hot part of the grill grates to mark off that steak.
06:41And we're going to set our timer again.
06:42Two minutes and we'll be right back.
06:44Now it's time to take a peek and see how we did.
06:47It's not sticking.
06:48Always a good sign.
06:51We're going to take it.
06:52We're going to lift it.
06:53And we're going to put it back on another unused part of the grill.
06:56And you can see how we got all that nice char marks happening over here on the steak.
07:00If you develop perfect hash marks or not, it's okay.
07:03If they don't come out great, it's still going to be a delicious steak as long as you're developing
07:07that charred.
07:08And then we're going to check for the internal temperature doneness.
07:10There is no better tool on the planet.
07:13The thermometer is the best way to be consistent and even across the board.
07:16We're going to put it in.
07:18The coldest part of the steak is where we want to find.
07:21Now, right now we're at 119 degrees.
07:24We're going to let it finish cooking on this one side so that the final temperature comes
07:28up to around 125 degrees.
07:30For me, when I'm cooking, 118 to 120 is usually around the rare zone for New York strip steak.
07:37123 to 125 is usually around medium rare.
07:41126 to 130 is around medium.
07:45135 to 145 are the varying degrees of medium well.
07:48And then a well-done steak is going to be 165 degrees so that there's no pink at all within
07:53the center of it.
07:53I feel like the steak is at the point where I want it to be, so I'm going to lift
07:56it up
07:56off the grill.
07:57We're going to let it rest on a wire rack.
08:00You need to let this steak rest.
08:02As the steak is resting, all the juices, all that moisture inside the steak, it's kind
08:06of coming back inside the protein structure.
08:08If you cut into it too soon, all that beautiful juice and flavor on the inside of the steak
08:12is going to leach out onto your plate or platter.
08:14For a steak this thick, five to eight minutes is really kind of an ideal zone to let that
08:18meat rest.
08:22As the steak is resting, I love making a chimichurri sauce.
08:25It takes just a few minutes to make.
08:27It's a mixture of herbs, oil, vinegar, some spices and seasonings that really bring that
08:33meat to life.
08:34Chimichurri recipes are going to vary from house to house, from person to person, and
08:38it's all okay.
08:39I like the combination of mint, chive, and parsley.
08:42It may not be super traditional, but for me, this is the way that I like making my chimichurri.
08:46It's about the herbs coming together with the oil and the vinegar, the garlic, the chili,
08:50the oregano, the salt, the pepper, which really evolves it into this beautiful flavor profile.
08:55Now that I have my herbs cut, we're going to go into cutting up some shallots.
08:58I'm making these a little bit coarser, a little bit larger, because I like that texture in
09:03my chimichurri.
09:04Garlic.
09:05Give your garlic a smash, and then just chop, chop, chop, chop, as fine as you want it to
09:09go.
09:10I love the microplane, especially in a chimichurri, because it's going to make the garlic super
09:13fine, finer the garlic's going to be, the more pronounced of that garlic flavor is going
09:18to develop in my sauce.
09:19Some coarser salt, some ground black pepper, some dried oregano, a little bit of crushed
09:25red pepper flakes, some olive oil.
09:27This is going to be regular olive oil.
09:28And then the last bit is our acid.
09:30And for this, I'm using a little red wine vinegar.
09:32You have to have that acid, because that's really what's going to brighten up the sauce
09:35and bring all the flavors together.
09:36This chimichurri, for me, I like it to be kind of thick and herbaceous and herby like
09:41this, our steak is now cooked and rested.
09:48Before we get cutting, let's talk about the grain of the steak.
09:51The grain is referring to the muscle fibers of the protein within that piece of meat.
09:55You can see here on this raw steak, if you get really close up, the lines that are going
09:59straight.
10:00That means if I want to cut this steak against the grain, the lines are running this way
10:04going down it.
10:04We want to cut against the grains going this way.
10:06It's going to end up for a more marbled and tender bite.
10:09On the cooked steak, it gets a lot harder to see where those grains are, because we cooked
10:14it and it's charred and it's covering up those muscle fibers and those muscle strands.
10:18Don't be afraid to make a cut into the steak.
10:20And if it's looking like you have those straight lines going across, we're just going to give
10:23our steak a turn and we're going to try to cut again until it looks like it's a marbled
10:27interior.
10:28That's when we know that we've cut correctly against the grain.
10:31While you're slicing the steak, the grain could change and that's okay too, but we're just
10:36going to keep cutting right against.
10:38And this is a great example of when you're cutting with the grain, when you see those
10:41straight fibers or those straight lines, that's what cutting with the grain is going to look
10:46like, versus when you go over here and you see a more marbled texture.
10:51Now that the steak is sliced, we're just going to put a little chimichurri over the top of
10:54it.
10:55Restaurant quality grilled Europe strip steak with this bright, vibrant, herbaceous, beautiful
11:01chimichurri sauce.
11:02And I know if we just keep it simple and we're patient, everything we learned here today is
11:07going to apply for when you're grilling in your backyard.
11:09It's time to give it a taste for all this amazing work we put into this steak.
11:12Let's give it a bite.
11:19Beefy, meaty, bright, herbaceous, this is a restaurant quality steak cooked in our backyard.
11:25And I know by following these simple instructions, you guys can do this at home too.
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