For perfect grilling, you need the best beef cuts. This blog will help you be the most popular grill master for the summer season.
The 4 Best Beef Cuts For Grilling
By: Michael Fleming
When it comes to grilling, many people consider myself a professional. My method of grilling is just perfect. I always make sure to get the best beef cuts when I am shopping at the grocery store so that I can have the best tasting steaks ever when I am done cooking them in my backyard on my grill.
Here are some of my favorite beef cuts that are best for getting a good, juicy and delicious steak on the grill:
1. Rib Eye Steak: The ribeye steak is an extremely tender cut. It is a muscle that doesn’t do much work so it has a lot of intramuscular fat which makes it very flavorful and juicy when cooked properly on the grill. This cut is great for people who enjoy steak with a lot of fat and marbling throughout as it gives it a lot more flavor than other cuts.
2. T-Bone Steak: The t-bone steak is one of my favorite steaks because you get two different sides and tastes in one steak! It has a smaller
If your idea of the perfect steak is one with a ¼ inch thick crust that gives way to an interior that is charred and brown on the outside, but rare on the inside, then you will want to grill up a KC Strip. Not only is this cut easy to cook, buy it comes with a nice char-grilled flavor. This steak comes from the short loin, which is located in the back of the cow and produces some of the most tender and flavorful steaks.
If you are looking for a cut that is not as thick as the KC Strip, but still has great flavor, then look no further than sirloin steak. Sirloin steaks come from the rear end of the animal and provide a rich, beefy flavor. The sirloin can be broken down into several different cuts including top sirloin and bottom sirloin (or flank steak). The top sirloin butt is taken from the primal cut located closest to the animal’s back, while bottom sirloin steaks are taken from further down on the leg.
While we are talking about less expensive cuts of meat, lets take a look at what may be one of the least expensive cuts out there…flank steak! This cut comes from underneath
When it comes to grilling, you can’t beat a good piece of steak. But with so many different cuts out there — from chuck to skirt and everything in between — how do you pick the best one?
The key is knowing which cut of meat works best for your beefy needs. And while it’s difficult to go wrong with any cut, some are better suited for certain things than others.
While we’re not going to get into every single cut of meat (there are just too many), we’ve chosen four of the most popular cuts that offer the most bang for your buck — and taste bud. These are the steaks you’ll want to grill up this weekend.
1) Rib Eye: While it’s not cheap, rib eye is well worth the price. This juicy, boneless cut comes from the cow’s upper back, and has a distinct marbling of fat throughout that melts as it cooks and bastes the meat from within. While you certainly can cook rib eye over direct heat (and it will taste great), for an even juicier steak go ahead and throw it on the grill over indirect heat.
2) Strip Steak: Sometimes called New York strip or top loin, strip steaks are flavorful, tender and
When it comes to ground beef, I’m a bit of a snob. No, I don’t buy organic, grass-fed meat (I splurge on a few key items at the grocery store, and that’s not one of them). But I do make sure that the ground beef I buy is 85 percent lean. It’s a small change, but it makes such a major difference in your finished dish. And if you’re someone who never strays from the 80 percent, you’re missing out.
What? Why?
I learned this lesson the hard way, with burgers. Burgers made with 80 percent lean meat are fine—but burgers made with 85 percent are even better. The extra 5 percent fat adds flavor and moisture, making for more tender and flavorful patties. Since then, I’ve started buying 85 percent lean for all my ground beef dishes (sorry to my credit card). The rule of thumb is: The less lean your ground beef is, the fattier it will be (and vice-versa).
But just like any type of meat, there are good cuts and bad cuts when it comes to ground beef too. Keep reading for the four best cuts of ground beef for grilling.
85 Percent Lean Ground
When purchasing beef, search for cuts with a fine grain and abundant marbling. Bear in mind that the meat should be reddish-pink in color and have a fine, firm texture. The fat should be white and creamy in appearance.
When you bring your cut of choice home, take it out of its packaging and place it on a plate. Let the steak reach room temperature before cooking. This takes about 30 minutes to an hour outside of the refrigerator.
Afterward, pat the steak with paper towels until it’s dry. Season both sides liberally with salt and fresh ground pepper (or any other spice blend you’re using). Preheat your grill to high heat for charcoal or 500 degrees F for gas. Make sure to oil the grates once hot! Now, you can grill all four cuts of steak just as you would normally grill any steak: Over direct heat for four minutes per side for medium-rare doneness. Test for doneness by touch or using an instant-read digital thermometer inserted into the center of the steak; 120 degrees F is rare, 125 degrees F is medium-rare, 130 degrees F is medium and so on.
Sure, we all know how to grill a steak. But do we really? One of the biggest mistakes people make when grilling steak is cooking it too fast over too high a heat. This creates a crusty charred exterior and an undercooked interior. A perfectly grilled steak has a rich brown crust and an exterior that’s tender and juicy.
To get this outcome, you need to use the right cut of meat and cook it to the proper temperature. We asked Michael Ollier, executive chef at New York City’s Maysville restaurant, to give us his top four picks for grilling and the best way to prepare each one.
STEAK SEASONING
You can’t go wrong with a simple salt and pepper seasoning mix. The best steak seasoning is one that enhances the flavor of the meat, not overpowers it. For an easy steak seasoning, combine together 1 tablespoon of kosher salt, 1 tablespoon of freshly ground black pepper, 1 teaspoon of granulated garlic or 2 teaspoons of minced garlic, and 1 teaspoon of onion powder. Rub this mixture all over the steaks before grilling. This mixture should be enough to season 5-6 New York strip steaks.
STEAK RUB
Many people confuse a steak rub with a spice rub for steak. While both are dry seasonings for steak, a rub has larger pieces of spices as opposed to a blend that is finely ground. A spice rub for steak consists of finely ground herbs and spices that are mixed together in a bowl and then rubbed onto the meat. A steak rub on the other hand is made up of larger pieces of whole or crushed spices such as coriander or fennel seeds, coarse sea salt and cracked peppercorns that are rubbed on the meat before grilling.
CAJUN SEASONING
Cajun seasoning is perfect if you like bold flavors that aren’t too spicy.
