It’s Grilling Season In Southwest Oklahoma, Kick It Off With Steak
While the nights are still cold, the days are growing and getting warmer. It's officially grilling season in Southwest Oklahoma. Celebrate with a bang, cook yourself some steak!
We've talked about this over the years and while most people have it in their mind that they know how to cook a proper steak, most are completely wrong.
I've spent decades learning how to cook the perfect steak, and if you can follow the most stupid-simple directions in the world, you'll realize that you just can't beat my meat.
The first rule of a good steak, it has to contain some fat. I'm not talking about the strip steaks fat cap or just that single big vein of chewy goodness that runs through a ribeye... no, no, no, no... it has to have what the meat industry calls "marbling." It's the little white specks of fat in the heart of the meat.
Normally, you find the best marbling in the "prime" graded steaks, but since most people look for the most fat-less cut of beef on grocery store shelves, sometimes you can find much better marbling in a "USDA Select" graded steak rather than the normal "Choice" cut. Look for the marbling. This is the way.
Second, you don't need to ruin your steak with marinading and over-spicing. Keep it simple and plan to do it well in advance.
The biggest mistakes people make with steak happen when seasoning. Most people don't season their steak until it hits the heat. This is why your steak sucks. You have to plan it out, use the right ingredients, and give it time to do what it's supposed to do.
I'll take a cut of steak out of the packaging and place it on a wire rack. I'll give it a gentle sprinkle of sea salt and a slightly heavier dose of fresh-cracked black pepper. That's it. That's literally all you need... but it has to be coarse sea salt and cracked black pepper. None of that iodized or ground pepper stuff. Get your two seasonings on every surface of that steak. Top, bottom, and around all the sides. Now you let the seasoning do its thing...
You're going to leave these properly seasoned steaks on that wire rack in your fridge for about six hours. During that time, they're going to darken to a rich red color and look like they're shriveling up... That's the salt extracting the moisture, but they won't be dry off the grill. At a certain point, the salt becomes a brine that soaks back into the steak. Since salt equals flavor, this process really intensifies the meaty goodness.
The other mistake people make with steak is cooking too fast and hot. Everyone loves a good sear, but if you cook your steak too hot or fast, it makes for a really tough and chewy bite, especially if you toss them on while they're cold.
Instead, pull those steaks out of the fridge and let them sit in the microwave for forty-five minutes to an hour. Let them come closer to room temperature... then you'll cook them on lower heat settings for a longer period of time. This slow cook is what renders all that fat into tasty bites of pure joy. Feel free to flip your steak a few times too since perfect grill marks are for the type of amateurs that order two starches - AKA - fries and mac & cheese as their normal two sides.
When your steaks are cooked to a perfect "just over" medium-rare on the grill, take them off and stick them in the microwave to rest for a few minutes while you prep the sides.
That's it. See how stupid-easy that is? And I promise if you follow these simple steps, you'll swear by this method as I do.
"But I like to marinate my steak!" Yeah, I get it. I used to enjoy marinated steak too, but then I grew up and became an adult. Steak is delicious, why on earth would you want it to taste like anything else?
"What about steak sauce?" If you need steak sauce, you're not eating steak.
"I tried it this way and didn't like it." Liar.