6 tips for grilling meat like a boss
Say goodbye to the mac ’n’ cheese and that eternal tomato soup from a packet (sorry Sharon..). Want to serve a restaurant-worthy entrecôte, serve fantastic steak de boeuf or make an incredible flat iron steak? With these tips, you can grill your meat like the very best Argentine restaurants do.
Sorry vegetarians, but the smell of meat on the grill awakens the primitive human in all of us. When the grill pan is roaring or the barbecue is glowing, that seductive aroma of fat, meat, herbs and hot coals goes straight to the reptilian brain. This has nothing to do with calories or nutritional values; this is about EATING. Is your mouth already watering as you read this? Then get started with these tips and put restaurant-worthy steaks on the table tonight.
Cold meat
Taking your steak out of the fridge just before grilling? Wrong, wrong, wrong. Take it out about half an hour in advance and let it come to room temperature, then you’ll have a much better steak later.
Pat it dry
Pat the meat thoroughly dry with paper towels. It doesn’t matter whether you bought your meat at the supermarket or from the butcher (although you shouldn’t look for a truly quality steak among the bargain cuts), meat always feels a little moist. Pat it dry, grill it better.
Salt and pepper, yes and no
Entire books have been written about this and wars have been fought over it. Salting beforehand draws moisture out of the meat, they say, while sprinkling pepper on your meat beforehand means you’ll end up eating burnt peppercorns. Follow your own primitive instinct here, or experiment to find out what suits you best.
Pro diamond pattern
That’s how it always looks in cookbooks: a steak with such a beautiful diamond pattern. Turn the meat a quarter turn after a few minutes on the grill, and you’ll have those lovely stripes too.
Don’t pierce it
Piercing the steak? A crying shame. The juices run out of the meat, your cut becomes dry—never do it again.
Wait it out
How long should your meat stay on the grill? That depends on the type of meat and its thickness. Ask your butcher for advice and keep a close eye on it. A gray steak, cooked all the way through, tastes like a pack of printer paper, so keep it juicy and pinkish-red. Feel, press and experiment. Making a steak? Let it rest for a little while after cooking, wrapped in aluminum foil.
Read also:
- Recipe: steak tartare with white truffle mayonnaise
- Experiment: dry aged steak in Nutella: is this a good idea?
- Emma’s food irritation #6: lady steaks
Source: Ambiance
