Let them eat steak!

Nothing beats a thick juicy steak for dinner. Put a little sizzle in your summer and get tender results every time with these steak secrets . . .

• Marinate less-tender cuts (flank, London broil) in the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours or overnight for better flavor and a more tender texture.  
• Marinate tender cuts (tenderloin, porterhouse, T-bone, strip, rib eye), if desired, in the refrigerator for just 2 to 4 hours. Marinating too long will cause the steak to become mushy. 
• Build a two-level fire, allowing about 30 minutes for charcoal and 15 minutes for gas grills.

  --Charcoal grills:  Stack most of the ash-covered coals on one side of the pit (medium-hot) and a single layer of coals on the other (medium-low).
  --Gas grills:  Preheat the grill with the cover closed and all burners on high for 15 minutes. Leave one burner on high; reduce heat of other burners to medium.  

• Let steak stand at room temperature for about 15 minutes before grilling.
• Sprinkle on salt or seasoning blends containing salt just before cooking.  Salting meat too early will draw out juices, leaving the meat dry. 
• Clean the grid with a stiff wire brush. Or crumple a large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil and, using tongs, brush residue from grid. 
• For perfect grill marks, sear steaks over Direct High Heat for 2 minutes and turn 90 degrees F . . . do not flip; sear 1 to 2 minutes more.  Flip and repeat on second side.  Move steaks to the cooler side of the fire to finish cooking to desired doneness.
• Grill 1-inch thick steaks for a total of 12 to 14 minutes, turning once, for medium-rare.

Take steak off the grill at . . .	If you like it served . . .
135 degrees F	Rare
140 degrees F	Medium-rare
145 degrees F	Medium

If the cooking time in the recipe is longer than 8 minutes, finish cooking steaks over Direct Medium Heat.

• Bring cooked steaks indoors on a clean plate.  
• Allow steak to rest for 3 to 4 minutes before slicing and serving to allow juices that rose to the surface during cooking to ease back to the center.  The internal temperature will rise about 5 degrees F as the meat stands. 
• Slice steaks across the grain to retain tenderness.

Click here for our May-June 2007 Class Schedule