5 Tips For Grilling Steak

How do you grill a perfect steak? Well you've come to the right place!  Here are 5 tips to grilling the perfect steak. Scroll to the bottom to get a fan favorite recipe from Weber's Greatest Hits. Preview more recipes from the cookbook here.

There is a belief that salting meat too far in advance of cooking can draw out moisture. While it’s true that salt can draw moisture towards itself, it's also true that over the course of 20 or 30 minutes that can actually be a good thing as the salt will begin to dissolve into that little bit of moisture that's been drawn out. 

So, when you drop the steak onto the hot cooking grate, all the sugars and proteins in the moisture will mix with the salt, and any other seasonings you've added, which creates a perfectly crisp crust. The flavor of that delicious crust is worth any moisture you may lose.

Grilling steak until it's a brown with a light char on the surface, while also making sure the interior is cooked to a perfect juicy doneness is the goal, right? However, if the steak is too cold it can require so much cooking time for the interior to reach that perfect doneness that the steak may overcook and turn gray and dry. To remedy this, allow steaks to stand at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes before you grill them. They will cook faster through to the center and stay juicer.

A rule of thumb that separates professional chefs from many home cooks is that chefs sear their steaks for more time. This is because professionals understand that you can lock in flavors and aromas on the surface of steak by searing it, so they let their steaks sizzle over direct heat until the surfaces are dark, dark brown. Don’t believe that searing “locks in the juices.” It’s a myth. But searing sure does make a steak a whole lot tastier.

Using only high heat can grill most steaks perfectly. If you see flare ups is the only time you would really need to move them around on the grill. Some cuts of steak are so thick that they would burn on the outside if grilled over direct heat alone and wouldn't reach the desired internal doneness. This is why you should consider the sear and slide approach for steaks thicker than an inch. After you've seared both sides nicely over direct high heat, slide the steaks to a part of the grill that is not so hot, ideally over indirect heat, and complete the grilling process there.

Steaks grilled over high heat will lose moisture. This means that the fat and juices are literally pushed out of the meat. Over time, as we've made steaks easier to digest, this is an unfortunate reality. Perhaps the most important part of maintaining this moisture when grilling a steak is to take it off the heat before it becomes too dry. 

You usually only have a minute or two to execute this. When steaks go from medium rare to medium, or from medium to medium well can happen quickly. You must be vigilant to catch that window. Never walk away from a steak on the grill. Be cautious as it’s always better to take a steak off when it’s underdone than to let it over cook, because you can always return it to the grill.