How to Cook a Steak on the Grill

A basic guide to grilling steak on a grill

Cooking a steak on the grill is a key element at cookouts, Family BBQ's, and American dinners all over the country. It is not a difficult process but one you should plan out, especially for your first time attempting, so all of your efforts are not wasted on an inedible piece of meat.

Picking The Cut of Meat to Cook

Steak is cut from a cow in many different forms and since they are such a large animal there is a large number of cuts you can choose to grill. Your options you can pick will rely greatly on your butcher or supermarket and what they offer to sell you. Some meat markets have pre-cut steaks already packaged for sale or will do custom cuts by request where you can have them cut you a steak any way you like.  Some options of cuts include but are not limited to rib eye, sirloin, flank, and filet Mignon. Also, when choosing your cut of meat, you will need to consider how many people you will need to cook for as some cuts can get very expensive. Filet mignon is an extremely high-quality cut, but if you're cooking for more than a couple of people then you may want to consider a cut such as sirloin which is still a good choice and will not cost you as much money.

Preparing the steak for cooking

When you are ready to grill the meat, it is crucial that you prepare and season the steak to ensure a flavorful steak. How you season the steak and how much seasoning you use is ultimately up to you. Some people chose to be very conservative with their seasoning, such as just a pinch of salt and pepper, and let the natural flavor of the meat come out while others will cover the meat in their own blend of spices or a store-bought mixture. Set the meat out, covered, at least 30 minutes before you gill to let thaw and reduce the chance that the outside burns before the middle is done. This time is also perfect for seasoning the meat because you will want to have time to sit on the meat for 20 minutes prior to grilling. Allow the meat to soften on the outside before rubbing the seasoning in to allow it to stick to it better and not just fall off.

Prepare the grilling surface

When grilling, juices from the meat, fat, charred meat, and other substances will fall off of what you're cooking and onto the cooking surface. This is normal but over time it can become pretty disgusting, especially between times of using the grill when it is allowed to dry and harden. In order to have a sanitary and safe steak you must clean the grill.

Steps to cleaning a grill

1. Turn all the burners on high for 10-15 minutes.
2. Turn the gas off and scrub the grate with a grill brush.
3. Spray a grill cleaning compound on the grate and allow to soak according to directions on bottle.
4. Scrub the grate one more time with the compound still on it.
5. Rinse and wipe the surface with a wet cloth to remove any bristles that was left by the brush.
6. Brush the surface with vegetable or olive oil using a basting brush to prevent future sticking and build up. 

Cooking the Steak

Grilling the steak is where you can go from having a great steak to having an undesirable one, and it can be the easiest time in the process to mess up . First, you must decide how "done" you want your steak to be cooked. There are different options for you to chose from which range from least to most cooked. Three most popular options are rare(135°), medium(160°), and well-done(170°). Rare will be the juiciest and most flavorful, but it will have the most blood still in it.  Well-done will be dryer, but it will be completely cooked with no blood.  Medium is a well balance choice that includes a little bit of both rare and well-done.

Steps to grilling

1. Turn the grill to high heat for 10-15 minutes with no meat on it.
2. Place the meat on the grate and make sure not to move it once its on.
3. As soon as the meat is placed on the grate, turn the grill to low heat.
4. In a spot on the grill where there is no meat, turn the heat on high.
5. Flip the meat after 5 minutes to the new hot spot and immediately turn to low.
6. Flip the meat every 3-5 minutes keeping the heat on low during the remaining cooking time.
7.  Periodically check the temperature with a meat thermometer until the inside of the steak reaches the temperature you consider done.
8. When the steaks reach the correct temperature, place them on a room temperature pan, rub a small about of butter on them, cover the steaks on the pan with tin foil for 5-10 minutes to allow them time to "rest" and soak all the juices back into it. 

The Finished Product

There is nothing more satisfying than being able to grill a great steak all on your own with ease. This basic tutorial will get you started, then you can take over and experiment on your own with different rubs and techniques to make your steaks like no others. Before no time you'll have a reputation at the cookouts for the best steaks and have people begging you to teach them.