How to Cook a Medium Steak

Grilling beautiful steaks is easy

The idea of a succulent cut of beef cooked to medium perfection over an open flame is enough to make almost anyone's stomach growl. The problem most people encounter is the "cooked to perfection" part. It's easy to turn a quality cut into a smoking, black cinder. But that doesn't mean that cooking a medium steak is hard, only that you need to know exactly what you'll be doing.

Things You'll Need

• Propane or Charcoal Grill Wire Brush Vegetable Oil Grill Tongs Steaks 3/4 to 1 1/2 inches thick, trimmed to the same size and thickness Paper Towels Kosher Salt Fresh Ground Pepper Digital Meat Thermometer Grill Spatula Plate or Cutting Board Aluminum Foil

Instructions

Getting Started

1. Preheat the grill. Light charcoal fire or turn all burners on the propane grill to high. Close the lid. When the fire is hot, scrape the grill grate with the wire brush and coat the grill lightly with vegetable oil to keep the meat from sticking.

2. Build a two-level fire. To cook steaks properly over open flame, you need two different zones in your fire, one that's very hot and one that's not. With a charcoal grill, use grill tongs to carefully maneuver most of the charcoal to one side of the grill. For a propane grill, turn off the burners on one side.

3. Take the steaks out of the refrigerator and pat dry with paper towels. Season liberally with salt and pepper and allow to remain at room temperature until ready to cook.

4. Insert the thermometer probe into the side of the thickest steak. Make sure the probe isn't touching bone, as this can give an inaccurate reading. If your thermometer isn't ovenproof, you can do this step later when checking for doneness.

Grilling

1. Position the steaks on the cleaned and oiled grate, directly over the hot side of the fire. Grill steaks without moving them for three minutes, then flip with spatula and grill for another three minutes.

2. Slide the steaks to the cooler side of the grill, and continue to cook with the lid on the grill for six to 10 minutes, flipping halfway through. If your thermometer is already inserted, watch the digital readout carefully during this step; if your thermometer can't stay on the grill, check the temperature when you start this step and every few minutes after until steaks reach the desired temperature of 130 to 135 degrees

3. Transfer the steaks to the plate or cutting board as soon as they hit the proper temperature, then cover loosely with foil. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving, during which time the temperature of the steaks will rise another five to 10 degrees.

Tips & Warnings

• This method works great for cooking steaks to other temperatures as well. All you need to do is change the temperature at which you pull the meat off the grill. You can also incorporate other seasonings besides salt and pepper. Any dry rub works particularly well. Marinades and wet rubs can also be used, but won't allow the steak to develop attractive sear or grill marks.

• The United States Department of Agriculture cautions that measures should be taken to ensure cleanliness whenever handling raw meat. Make sure to wash your hands and any implements used.

References

• America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook; America's Test Kitchen; 2006
• Bbqreport.com How to Tell When a Steak is Done
• USDA

Resources

• Sharky's Grilling Forum