If only the beef would behave!  Prices keep going up at the grocery store.  Prices keep going up at the farms.*  

There’s nothing like a perfectly-cooked steak off the grill this time of year…paired with an ear of sweet corn, some garden-fresh tomatoes still warm from the sun, maybe some buttered salt potatoes and a little cucumber salad….Heaven.

But it’s bad enough that the price of beef won’t behave.  It’s just too easy to screw up a pricey cut of steak on the grill.  It comes off blood rare and chewy as shoe leather.  Or it comes out gray and dry…and still chewy as shoe leather.  Or it’s too lean.  Or it’s too fatty. 

“Naughty steak!   Naughty naughty naughty steak!  See how you ruined a perfectly nice dinner?!”

Or should it be, “Naughty cook?”

Just like with naughty children  (the kids are usually good…it’s the parents who are actually naughty), I want to tell you that, if you’re buying grassfed steaks like we just got back from the butcher — beautifully marbled, dry-aged, and raised with care on well-stewarded pastures…..

Then the steaks aren’t naughty.

You’re naughty. 

You may have chosen the wrong steak.  Or you didn’t grill it properly.  

You can still have that beautiful summer meal.  And while steaks may have gone up in price, a home-cooked meal still costs less and gives you way more nutrition than take-out.  And you can enjoy it more, too.  You just need our summer steak guide.  So here it is, a guide for grilling and selecting the perfect grassfed steak for your grill.   And for turning those naughty steaks ….ooooooooh….sooo…..nice!!!

 

Want to check out our steak selection?  Visit the online store here!

The Recipe

There is no recipe.  There’s just a technique.  Depending on the steak, either season it with salt and pepper to taste (that’s all you need for the more tender steaks), or marinate it (this works best for the steaks that are a little chewier….They’ll have more muscle integrity and flavor to stand up to the marinade). Grill as follows:

Light one side of your grill so that it’s VERY hot.  You shouldn’t be able to hold your hand four inches above the grate for more than 4 seconds.  

Pat your steak dry, then season with salt and pepper (or blot off the marinade).  Lay it directly over the heat.  Allow it to sear, with the lid OFF, for 2 minutes per side. 

Remove the steak to the COOL side of your grill.  Put the lid down.  Allow the meat to cook over this indirect heat (no need to flip!) for 4-7 minutes per pound, depending on your preferred level of doneness.  This indirect cooking time allows the proteins and sugars to caramelize on the surface of the meat, and it allows the internal muscle to come up to temp at a slower rate, helping the meat to retain juices and keeping the muscle fibers from contracting and getting tough.

No.  Seriously.  The recipe.

Sheesh.  You want a recipe.  OK.  Here’s a great all-purpose balsamic marinade that we keep made up in our fridge.  It works great with lamb, beef, pork and chicken.  But as you’ll see in our steak guide, below, you should really only use the marinade on certain cuts:

½ cup olive oil

¼  cup tamari

1 teaspoon ground ginger

½ cup basalmic vinegar

2 cloves crushed garlic

2 tablespoons honey

Whisk all the ingredients together.  Store in your fridge in a glass or stainless steel container.  Marinate cuts for a minimum of two hours, or overnight. 

Choose a steak

Here’s a quick reference guide to select the best steak for your family.

Filet Mignon

The priciest steak there is.  That’s because it comprises less than 1% of the hanging weight on a bee carcass.  There’s not a lot of it.  But it is lean AND super-tender.  Season with salt and pepper and grill as directed above. 

Porterhouse

The porterhouse is actually 2 steaks attached with a T-shaped bone.  On one side is the filet mignon.  On the other is a NY Strip, aka Top Loin, aka Shell steak.  It’s all from the loin area, so it is lean but very tender when cooked properly.  It needs to only be seasoned with salt and pepper. It’s a great steak for couples to share if one person likes the texture of a slightly chewier cut, and the other insists on being able to cut their beef with a butter knife.

T Bone

The T-bone is just like the porterhouse.  The only difference is that the size of the filet portion of the steak is less than the size of a quarter. Again, a really lean and tender cut, with a delicious bone to gnaw on if that’s your thing.  Season with salt and pepper.

NY Strip

AKA “shell steak,” “strip steak,” “top loin steak,” even “Kansas City steak.”  Don’t know why we can’t agree on the name of these.  But they are the same piece of meat that you’ll find on the “non-filet” side of T-bones and Porterhouses, without the bone, and without piece of filet.  These are boneless, lean and tender.  There is very little waste with these steaks.

Sirloin

Another lean and tender cut, but slightly less tender than the steaks above.  This is a really prime piece of meat that works better for serving more than one or two people.  There’s little waste, it’s less expensive, and it’s easy to slice into individual portions.   This is a steak that you can season with just salt and pepper.

Rib Eyes

If you’re all about the marbling, this is YOUR steak.  A beef carcass is judged by how marbled the rib eye steaks are.  These typically come on the bone and are known for their more intense beef-y flavor.  Because of the bone and the trim, people often worry there is more waste on the cut.  However, the marbling makes this meat more satiating, so you’ll likely eat less.  In our household, we can feed 3 people with a 1 lb rib eye steak (but yes.  If we’re feeling gluttonous, we can eat it between two of us).  If your package contains two steaks and you can only eat one, partially thaw it, remove the extra steak and re-freeze for a later meal. Season with salt and pepper. 

Chuck Eyes

This is the rib eye’s poor cousin.  A portion of the rib eye muscle extends up into the chuck primal, and that’s where these steaks are cut from.  While they are not quite as tender as a rib eye, they’re dang close, and the marbling and flavor is extraordinary, especially when you consider the lower price point.  Season with salt and pepper OR the marinade. 

London Broils

Cut from the top round, this is my go-to steak for a family week-night dinner.  I put it in a marinade overnight, then grill it as directed above.  I love the London because I can feed a lot of hungry teenagers very affordably.  And if I’m lucky and there are leftovers, I can slice it thin to have over a salad the next day.  

Kabobs

Also known as “shish kabobs,” these are referred to as “shush kabobs” in our house.  When Ula was little, she hypothesized that “they must be called shush kabobs because everyone shushes when we eat them.”  She was right.  Kids love tearing into meat on a stick, and the delightful hush that falls over the dinner table when they’re served continues in our home even today. Beef kabobs are cut from the sirloin tip or top round.  They are not to be confused with boneless stew, which is typically cut from the chuck or bottom round, and will not perform well using the grill method above.  Kabobs LOVE a good marinade.  Cook them on skewers just as described above: 2 minutes front back over direct heat, then finish them over indirect heat.

Flat Iron, Hanger, Skirt, and Flank

These are the steaks for folks who LOVE to marinate, to chew, or to make fajitas.  If you cook them on the grill, keep them RARE!  They’re full-flavored and hold up REALLY well to heavier seasonings.  They’re boneless, so a little goes a long way!

*Want to buffer yourself from beef price increases?  Consider one of our by-the-month or bulk-buy csa shares.