OS Grilling Tips and Advice

[ScoobySnax]

So I wanted to do what every man wants to do for his family...get in front of the grill and make it happen.

I just took two sirloin steaks off the grill for my wife and I, while she finishes up the beans and potato salad. Needless to say, I think my steaks are going to be undercooked (we like ours medium well and we haven't dug in yet). They are rather thick steaks and I had no idea how to tell when they were "done". From everything I've read, on high heat they should've taken 7-9 minutes, but looking at them now I think it's going to be a lot of bloodshed. In addition to that, I put some chicken legs and breasts on as well and burnt those to a crisp.

Scoobysnax is the epitome of a rookie...*sigh*

Happy 4th!

[PantherBeast_OS]

Re: Grilling Woes

Good lucky with the blood part of your steaks. LOL I love my Steak cooked all the way. I just don't understand how some people like their steaks cooked halfway. But other then your half cooked steaks. The rest of the food you are having along with the steaks sounds pretty good bro. Enjoy it and your 4th of July.

[areobee401]

Re: Grilling Woes

Nothing beats a good cut of steak off the grill cooked medium rare. You can always finish them off in the oven if your worried. Either way enjoy your meal and happy 4th.

[oneamongthefence]

Re: Grilling Woes

I like a bloody steak personally. Did you use gas or charcoal?

[ScoobySnax]

Re: Grilling Woes

I like a bloody steak personally. Did you use gas or charcoal?

I used a gas grill.

[slickdtc]

Re: Grilling Woes

The good news is that if it's undercooked (at least to your preferences), it's still edible. Undercooking chicken is what scares me, because it's tough to tell and it's not good for you to eat it undercooked. Overcooked is way too dry and tough.

I tend to go for thinner cuts just because I don't want to eat too rare of a steak, though I don't mind pink or even a little red. When it's kind of purple-ish, that bugs me. I got some filet mignon's a month or two ago and by the time it reached preference, it was dried out. I'll leave that up to the masters, I like my NY Strip or ribeye just fine anyway.

What I do is, when I think they're about done, just cut into it at the middle. Sometimes it looks different color outside then when you're eating inside (the lighting), too. But it also continues cooking a bit. So as long as they look pretty good, I'm taking them off.

P.S. charcoal all the way. Just got a contraption that allows you to use hardwood brickettes without having ready-to-light chemicals on them (like MatchLight, which I used).

Where's StumbleWeed when you need him. Chef Matt too. They're professionals.

[Gotmadskillzson]

Re: Grilling Woes

Shouldn't be cooking on high heat. I cook everytihing on medium heat. I rather it cook all the way through. Cooking on high heat, the outside gets done before the inside, which is why you burnt your chicken.

But hey it is a live and learn process. Plus on the bright side, she is your wife so its not like she is going to up and divorce you over burning something.

Now if that was your GF, then yeah that 1st impression would have been bad.

Enjoy your day man ! Many more BBQ days left in the year to perfect your craft.

[Sublime12089]

Re: Grilling Woes

Good luck man, but esp for a steak, the blood is where the flavor is. I look at it like this: If you are going to cook a steak to well done anyway, why not just eat a burger?

[Kruza]

So I wanted to do what every man wants to do for his family...get in front of the grill and make it happen.

I just took two sirloin steaks off the grill for my wife and I, while she finishes up the beans and potato salad. Needless to say, I think my steaks are going to be undercooked (we like ours medium well and we haven't dug in yet). They are rather thick steaks and I had no idea how to tell when they were "done". From everything I've read, on high heat they should've taken 7-9 minutes, but looking at them now I think it's going to be a lot of bloodshed. In addition to that, I put some chicken legs and breasts on as well and burnt those to a crisp.

Scoobysnax is the epitome of a rookie...*sigh*

Happy 4th!

Heh, happy 4th everyone.

Hey ScoobySnax, I'm no cooking or cullinary skills expert, but going by what you've mentioned here, it seems to me that you may have cooked your steaks at a temperature that was too high like Gotmadskillzson pointed out. When it comes to grilling I was always told that the thicker the meat, the lower the cooking temp should be set to. When the outside of the steaks appears "done" while the inside remains very bloody, then that tells me that not enough heat is penetrating deep inside of it as the outside get scorched. And believe it or not, chicken should be cooked at an even lower temperature than steaks. This is why I always opt to cook them after steaks.

At any rate, there are ways to tell if a steak is done to your liking, but I wouldn't trust any generic grilling instructions to lead you the right way. In my opinion there's no better way to test than to get out a fork and knife, then cut a few slits in the middle to pry it open for inspection. Screw a manual. ;-)

I obviously can't see how your sirloin steaks look, but man... I can't see 7-9 minutes being nearly long enough to do the job once the grill is set at a proper cooking temp. Medium rare steaks hold in more juice than well done steaks, so you have to closely monitor how much juice it loses while cooking. Also, you shouldn't have to flip a steak more than once.

Here's hoping things get better for you in your next grilling experience.

Kruza

[oneamongthefence]

Re: Grilling Woes

Gas is good for steaks. Especially since you can control your heat and get an even cooking surface. Charcoal is good for burgers but its hard to get it took cook evenly on the entire grill surface.

[JohnnytheSkin]

Re: Grilling Woes

OK...it's not blood, folks. If it was blood, then when you take your steak out of the fridge to bring it to room temperature (which you should, not matter how you like the meat in order to bring it to room temperature), then the "blood" would drain out over that hour or so on to the plate. If it didn't, then what you see after you cook a medium rare or rare steak, isn't blood. It's the moisture from the cooking meat that is colored by the muscle fibers. You should also cover or let rest said steak for at least five minutes, in order for the juices to re-absorb.

And for you folks that like to eat shoe leather, well, gray is your king. Just toss it on the coals, or the grill, leave it alone, and 30 minutes later it's done. Gray, tasteless w/o some sort of sauce, etc.

To me, a perfect steak, is a deep red center, which for 1" steaks on my grill are about three minutes each side on high heat, seasoned solely with a touch of kosher salt. Oh, and it has to be Ribeye, Strip, or Porterhouse. Those, are good eats!

[Kruza]

OK...it's not blood, folks. If it was blood, then when you take your steak out of the fridge to bring it to room temperature (which you should, not matter how you like the meat in order to bring it to room temperature), then the "blood" would drain out over that hour or so on to the plate. If it didn't, then what you see after you cook a medium rare or rare steak, isn't blood. It's the moisture from the cooking meat that is colored by the muscle fibers. You should also cover or let rest said steak for at least five minutes, in order for the juices to re-absorb.

Good stuff. Thanks for clarifying the moisture/blood mixup.

Kruza

[Aggies7]

Yea I prefer a rare steak with a lot of blood still showing. Kind of makes it hard to do when my fiancé likes hers well done with absolutely no blood showing. But it's all about timing and getting a feel for what you and your family like.

[Pete1210]

Re: Grilling Woes

Steak I will also cut in the middle to check.
Chicken I bake on the unlit half of the grill for about 1/2 hr, then another 15 min over the flame.

[Qb]

Re: Grilling Woes

A few other things I picked up on in my time with a gas grill:

1. Oil your food, not the grill. This will prevent sticking, add some flavor as it cooks on the surface, and give you those flashy grill lines. I've read canola is probably best due to a higher smoke point, but I usually use olive since I always have it. Brush it on lightly or you'll have some massive flare-ups as it drips off.

2. Don't marinate. I know it sounds crazy, but in my experience with gas, it often leads to a mess of flare-ups, sticking and burnt food. When I do chicken breasts or fish, I cook one side then flip and baste with my sauce while the other side cooks... works like a charm. For steaks, I more or less try to do what Johnny suggests, but I usually screw up my timing because I'm cooking something else for my wife who doesn't like steak.

3. Thicker/firmer cuts like pork chops or steaks will cook a little more once off the grill if you let them sit uncut due to those hot juices reabsorbing as Johnny mentioned. This can help put the finishing touches on the "inside" of the meat without drying out or burning the surface.

4. Just general gas grill stuff... always pre-heat the grill to a good high temp, clean your grates, then adjust to proper flame/temp. This seems to help with cooking through since the indirect heat trapped inside the grill is cooking, not just the flame. That's provided you keep the lid closed as much as possible, which you should to prevent flaring and promote even cooking.


EDIT: I have a grilling book I found on the clearance rack that has rarely, if ever, lead me astray. The step-by-step recipes tend to be focused on charcoal grilling -- grilling snobs shun gas for the most part -- but it's very useful for gas grilling as well and the quick guides broken down by category work like a charm. For example, pork chop >1" thickness equals sear on high heat for 4-6 mins then indirect heat for 4-6 mins (IIRC). It has those for all cuts of beef, poulty, seafood, veggies, even fruit.