Grilling Tips for Beef

Summer is the perfect weather for grilling, and beef is the most popular meat to throw on the grill! Do you know the best tips for grilling that perfect steak? July is National Grilling Month, so it’s well past time to break out your grill and get to cooking!

Marinades

Image courtesy of The Beef Checkoff, www.BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com.

There are two main reasons to use a marinade – to add flavor to a cut of meat, or to help tenderize a slightly tougher cut of meat. The ingredients for these types of marinades are different, so it’s important to know what cut of meat you’re going to start with and what your goal is.

If you’re starting with a tender steak (think T-Bone or Ribeye), you’ll just want to use a flavor-enhancing marinade. These types of marinades will have ingredients like herbs, oils, and spices to help add lots of flavor to the already-tender steaks. Steaks only need to be left in these marinades for as little as 15 minutes, or up to 2 hours.

If you want to get your steak a little more tender (think cuts like Top Round or Skirt Steak), you need a little different ingredients in your marinade. These marinades need to include either an acidic ingredient (like lemon juice or vinegar), or a tenderizing enzyme (like those found in ginger or pineapple). Steaks need to be kept in these marinades for a longer time – from 6 hours up to 24 hours. Regardless of your marinating time, keep the beef in the refrigerator until your grill is hot and ready!

Spice Rubs

Image courtesy of The Beef Checkoff, www.BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com.

Rubs are mixtures of different seasonings, added to the surface of meat. These spice mixtures can add a ton of flavor to the meat, but do not have any tenderizing action. There are two types of rubs – dry and paste. As the names might give away, dry rubs are only a mixture of dry spices while paste rubs have a very small amount of wet ingredients (like oil or crushed garlic) to give the rub a paste-like consistency. Dry rubs are great for steaks and burgers. Paste rubs work very well for roasts, or other cuts of beef that are cooked over a longer period of time.

Either type of rub can be added to the meat just before cooking, or up to two hours before cooking. (Just stash the coated meat back in the refrigerator until you’re ready to cook it.)

Cooking Times

Now that you’ve got all this amazing flavor added to your tender steak, how do you grill it? Turns out, it’s not that hard! Start by getting your grill warmed up and ready. You’ll want to cook your steaks over medium heat. (Although I prefer to do a super-fast sear over high heat – just 1-2 minutes per side helps to get a nice brown outside and seal all the natural juices inside. Then I turn the heat down to medium.)

When your grill is hot and ready, take the steaks out of your refrigerator. Pat them dry. If you used a marinade, the rest of the liquid should be discarded. Take the steaks straight from the refrigerator to the grill.

Depending on which cut of beef you’re using, the size of your particular piece of meat, and how “done” you like your steak, you’ll need a little different cooking times. The Beef Checkoff has a great infographic that summarizes the steps to perfect beef grilling, along with a cooking time chart for different cuts and sizes of beef.

Be sure to check out the Beef Checkoff’s website. July is National Grilling Month, and they are highlighting grilling tips, techniques, and recipes!

What is your favorite cut of beef to toss on your grill in the summer?