It’s hard to screw up a good steak. Unless you cook it until every drop of juice is gone and it’s as dry as shoe leather or if you serve it so rare that it crawls off your plate before you can kill it with a steak knife, most any steak will be good. And well it should, because steaks come from the choice parts of a steer, generally the loin or rib area. Steaks are one of the first things a young chef learns to prepare, and I have cooked thousands in my career. I like a warm deep-pink center, but I’ll eat it rarer if I must, or more well done.
But here is how I believe the Perfect Steak should be cooked and served. First, the steak.
Select a well-marbled ribeye, porterhouse or T-bone cut. Marbling is the key. My Daddy told me to always pick out the steak with the most fat and you won’t go wrong. Beef tenderloins are delicious and extremely tender, but they lack the fat content for that perfect flavor. And we intend to cook a Perfect Steak. Other cuts like a flat iron, flank steak or sirloin are also good, but not perfect.
Let’s say you have chosen a 12-ounce rib-eye, and remember, it cannot be too marbled. There is no such thing.
Take the steak out of the refrigerator one hour before cooking, more if the steak is thicker. You want it to be at or near room temperature so it will cook evenly throughout. As soon as the steak is on the counter, cover it in kosher salt and add lots of coarsely ground pepper. Later, flip the steak and season the other side. That’s it. No steak rub, no garlic powder, no marinade – just lots and lots of salt and a good bit of pepper. This will help form a nice crust when the steak is on the grill.
A great steak can be cooked inside in a hot skillet and finished in the oven, but the Perfect Steak needs to be cooked on an open fire grill, so the juices hit the flame, sizzle down and add extra flavor. I prefer gas because charcoal smoke really adds nothing to a Perfect Steak.
Get the grill top nice and hot before putting on the steaks. If you don’t hear lots of sizzle when the meat is added, the grill was not hot enough. Grill on one side for about two minutes, then flip the steaks. Continue to cook over high flames for another two minutes, then turn down the heat and bring the steak to the desired doneness. To test, I use my finger, not an intrusive meat thermometer. If the meat is spongy to the touch, it’s not done enough. If it’s slightly springy, it’s medium rare and just right, If you must serve it medium well, the meat should barely indent when you push on it.
Now for the piece de resistance. Take the hot steaks off the grill and put them immediately on a hot plate covered with melted butter. Let them rest about five minutes, turn the steaks over so the butter side is up, plate them and that my friends is how to cook the Perfect Steak.
