Grill the Perfect Steak
Mmm, the tasty combination of smoky, caramelized crust and tender, juicy interior--nothing compares to a steak grilled just right.
Choose Wisely: If money's no object, line up the New York strip, T-bone, filet mignon, and porterhouse steaks. But if breaking the bank isn't part of your barbequing plan, consider less spendy sirloin, flank steak, and skirt steaks.
Size matters: Choose cuts that are 1- to 1-1/4-inch thick. Pay special attention to bone-in cuts: make sure the steak is an even thickness. Meat near the bone will take longer to cook.
Use caution with marinades: Over-marinating can result in tough or mushy meat. For additional ways to flavor a steak, try a dry rub or top cooked steaks with herbed butter.
Handle hot coals: Sear steaks over direct heat, then move them to indirect heat to finish cooking. For a 1-inch thick steak, a general guide is 5 to 7 minutes per side for medium-rare (145 degrees F). For an accurate reading--and to avoid cutting into that sublime steak--use a meat thermometer to test for doneness.
Some Favorite Grilled Steak Recipes:
Fair-Weather Fowl
Chicken is one of the trickiest foods to grill. And maybe the hardest is boneless, skinless chicken breasts. That's because the grill's high heat can dry out the meat before it's cooked through. Avoid drying by lightly pounding boneless chicken breasts to a uniform thickness; the breasts will cook more evenly.
Some Favorite Grilled Chicken Recipes:
Get on the Stick
Call them kabobs, kebabs, satays, or skewers, food on a stick is great for the grill.
- Cut meats and veggies to the same size. One- to 1½-inch inch cubes work well.
- Group foods with similar cooking times together. While a skewer of bell peppers, cherry tomatoes and chicken looks appetizing, those tomatoes may turn to mush--or worse, slither off the skewer--by the time the chicken is done.
- To stabilize round or hard-to-skewer foods like tomatoes and shrimp, use two skewers parallel to each other.
Some Favorite Kabob Recipes: