Humans have been eating beef since prehistoric times and for good reason. Pound for pound, beef is one of the best sources of high-quality protein and nutrients. It’s also the third most widely-eaten meat in the world, accounting for about 25% of modern meat production, after pork and poultry.
I love beef. It’s such a straightforward and simple food to cook.
Though you can get fancy with it, if you want to, all you really need is a little salt and heat to create one of the most delicious foods on the planet. Loaded with health-promoting amino acids, and it’s one of the single biggest sources of protein in the human diet.
How much to serve:
I recommend 8oz (½ lb) per “average” person, or ¾ lb (12 oz) for big and lovers of leftovers.
Some Definitions:
Grass-Fed
“Grass-fed” beef refers to cattle that were allowed to graze for their own fresh forage, possibly supplemented with some alfalfa during the winter, providing the closest approximation to the animal’s natural diet.
Grains, which are much higher in calories, allows you to grow cows much faster and cheaper but lacks many key nutrients like Omega-3s and B vitamins.
Grass feeding takes longer, which reflects in more expensive beef, but the result is steaks and roasts that are leaner, healthier, and have a much richer, beefier flavor.
Organic
Organic products, including meat animals, must be produced and raised without synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, or GMOs and managed using conservation and sustainability techniques.
Organic beef is produced in such a way that it ensures both the health and welfare of the animals. allowing for no antibiotics or added growth hormones, requiring organic feed and year-round access to the outdoors. From an eating standpoint, happy and healthy animals taste better.
Aging
Dry-aged beef is hung in humidity-controlled coolers, usually for at least 30 days, and often much more. As the meat ages, moisture escapes and the beef shrinks in size (up to 15%), concentrating its flavor and softening the meat. The results are an extraordinarily rich flavor and melt-in-your-mouth texture. Dry aging also requires additional trimming before cooking, sometimes up to 50%, all of which helps to explain the very high price-tag on dry-aged beef.
Wet aging is done by sealing the meat in a plastic bag, and aging in a refrigerated room. 3 weeks is the minimum aging required for any beef, and natural (grass-fed) requires more than 6 weeks to break-down and tenderize.
The truth is, many times you’ll find that that supermarket steak is unusually tough simply because it hasn’t aged long enough.
Steaks
A hot juicy steak sizzling on the grill, crusted with salt, cooked to a perfect medium-rare, and properly rested…is there anything better?
No...no there’s not. ;)
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association suggest twenty-eight steaks or beef fillets that are best for live-fire grilling, in a wide variety of flavors textures, natural tenderness, and price range.
Of these, my personal favorite to grill are, in
order:
STRIP STEAK
Cut from the short-loin, strip is commonly referred to as a New York strip, it’s also known as a Kansas City strip, top loin, Delmonico, or shell steak, depending on where you find it. My favorite cut for flavor, when I just want a nice, thick steak.
SKIRT
STEAK
Cut from the diaphragm, this boneless cut is often marinated before grilling; slice it thinly across the grain for tenderness.
My favorite for sandwiches, tacos, fajitas, etc.
HANGER STEAK
Also called the Butcher’s steak, or hanging tender. Sear quickly, slice thinly across the grain for tenderness.
Choosing
your Steak
Marbling
Marbling refers to the amount of fat distributed within the meat, and it’s your best indicator of beef quality. Marbling is the squiggly white lines running through the muscle fibers, NOT the large chunks of white fat along the edges, or sometimes in the center of a cut (also known as gristle).
The more squiggles, the more flavor, and the more tender your steak!
Color
Your beef should be a healthy, bright (but not
unnatural) red in color, with bright white fat. Also, there should be little or no odor to the meat.
Tips for Prepping, Grilling, and Resting Your Steaks
Like all red meats, you want to bring steaks to room temperature before cooking.
Rub both sides of the steak generously with coarse sea-salt about 10 minutes before grilling. Salt dries the surface of the meat to help create that beautiful crusty exterior (wet meat, won’t brown).
DO NOT add pepper or other herbs or spices before grilling. These burn over high heat and create a bitter after taste. Add additional spices just after it comes off the heat, before resting.
Start your steaks over direct heat. No more than 2-3 inches from the coals. Grill 3-5 minutes per side to char the exterior.
When properly seared, move your steak to indirect heat*. Cook over indirect heat, covered, until desired doneness is reached.
Chef’s Tip: If your steak sticks to the grill, leave it alone. Once perfectly crusted, the grill will “let go” of the meat. Don’t force it!
Term (French) Description Temperature range
Extra-rare (bleu) deep red, cold in center 115–120 °F
I prefer my steak somewhere between rare and medium-rare, and I won't cook a steak beyond medium. The cow is already dead, I see no point in killing it twice. ;)
To stave off the carnivorous lawyers, I need to mention, that the USDA recommends a minimum safe temperature of 145 °F.
Now you know…let the griller beware! 😉
Resting
Allow your steaks rest for at least five minutes. Contrary to popular belief, this is NOT to “redistribute the juices” but instead, as the temperature of the meat begins to drop from its maximum, the viscosity of the meat juices increases (think hot oil vs. cold oil in your car’s engine) until it’s thick enough to stay trapped in the muscle fibers, when cut.
Chef’s rule of thumb: An unrested steak is a ruined steak, the moment you cut into it.