5 Tips for Grilling the Perfect Steak

Every avid outdoor cook wants to grill the perfect steak. Providing friends and family with mouth-watering, delicious steaks earns you wonderful bragging rights. Here are 5 tips to help you grill the perfect steak.

-Choosing Your Steaks
There are several different cuts of meat that range in thickness, texture and price. The difference between a decent steak and the perfect steak starts with your choice of meat. The cheaper cuts, such as round or top sirloin, while more appealing to the eye, are actually not the best for grilling. They have less fat and tend to be tougher to chew, even when they've been carefully cooked. Better cuts, such as Porterhouse, T-bone and Ribeye are more expensive, but well worth the extra money. Choose a cut that has a darker texture and is laced with thin lines of fat throughout. This pattern of fat versus flesh is called marbling. A perfect grilling steak with some fat will be juicy and tender and will not curl or shrink during the cooking process.

-Preparing Your Steaks
Seasoning the perfect steak is entirely up to the cook. Some prefer a simple brushing with a good olive oil and fresh ground black pepper. Salting your steaks dries them out. Save the salt until you are removing them from the grill. Others prefer to experiment with a variety of seasonings, marinades and rubs. There are many prepared marinades to choose from that can be found in any grocery store. Or, you may choose to create your own. The most important tip for marinating your steaks is to allow at least two hours. The longer they marinate, the more tender and flavorful they will be. Also, be sure that your steaks are at room temperature before placing them on the grill. This will give you a faster and more even distribution of heat while grilling.