The Art of Grilling the Perfect Steak...NOT

[FLBuckeye]

I belong to a FB group dedicated to smoking / grilling in my area. Someone posted a video on "The Art of Grilling the Perfect Steak". The video shows the guy salting and peppering the meat (after slathering with olive oil) right before he puts it on the high heat. I couldn't help myself and made a post saying I prefer the reverse sear technique. He cooked them (porterhouse, ribeye, and filet) 5 min. on each side and then flipped. He said you can "impress your friends with grill marks, the mark you look like a really good grill master"
I even linked the AR article re steakhouse steaks in the comments of the video.

Link to video: http://fabweb.org/2015/07/31/the-art...grill-a-steak/

So much wrong info passed off as fact. He also advocated resting the meat "half as long as you cooked it"

[Stevehtn]

Long before I even found AR, I strove to get a dark sear all over a steak. I've never understood the fascination with grill marks. I'm more interested in flavor personally.

[FLBuckeye]

I think grill marks are marketed as a sign of a great steak

We know better

[Stevehtn]

Very sad when you think about it. Most people will never get to experience a real steak

[Ernest]

Grill marks is how chain restaurants sell steaks and chicken breasts. I do it sometimes just for fun but I prefer searing on my cast iron griddle.

[BBQPhil]

Some chicken comes to the restaurant with grill marks already printed on.

[mackdaddy]

Wrong info promoted as truth. As Colonel Jessup said I the movie "A few Good Men", "You can't handle the truth". People don't want to know, they would rather live in blissful ignorance.

[Breadhead]

It seems to me that low end Steakhouses use grill marks to dress up Select Grade cuts of meat. It allows them to sell steaks for less money. It's like putting lipstick on a pig. The pig looks cute but it's still a pig!

High end Steakhouses that use USDA Prime beef never present your steak with grill marks. They do it like Meathead has taught us. Pink, bumper to bumper and a nice crust all over.

[Huskee]

Yep, exactly. David Parrish and I enjoyed a fine steak at Michael Simon's "Roast" steakhouse in Detroit. Guess what- it didn't come with grill marks. It had an all over sear. It was fantastic. That's the difference between a high end steakhouse and Ponderosa.

[_John_]

Let's spray some flammable stuff all over. This guy has videos screwing up many things.

[Huskee]

Grill marks do look pretty, but that's hardly a sign of a good grillmaster. Leave a piece of meat on a hot grate and it will get grill marks by itself while you do other things. There's no "grillmaster" about grill marks. Then serve your friends a cool steak that was rested. See, you wanna bluntly say things like that, but you attract more flies with honey than vinegar. And more friends with hot steaks than cool ones. Lol.

I read a post, think it was on the main site, where a person said he/she will always rest their steak because it relaxes the muscle fibers and makes it more tender. Then he/she said if it cools too much while resting they'll blast it with high heat again right before serving.

Shake my head.

Let's count how many things are just silly about that reasoning...

[Mosca]

I'm sort of torn on this one.

On the one hand, it's bad information. And, taking nothing else into account, it is just wrong, and should be stomped out.

On the other hand, does it really matter? Is it worth arguing about? If people are happy with the results, even if they are sub-optimal, who cares? And anyhow the right information always wins, over time, as information spreads organically throughout backyards.

Watch Meathead's video where he does reverse sear and Jamie Purviance does the sear and slide. There is no clear winner, just differences.

(I do most of my steaks with sear and slide, btw. It's just easier. Not that reverse sear isn't great, but the difference isn't enough to care about.)

[Stevehtn]

By all means, I agree with liberty- if it makes you happy, go for it. I just think people are missing out on the great flavor that can be obtained by cooking a steak properly.

[Jerod Broussard]

I agree with Mosca, but I still couldn't stand to watch the video knowing what was coming.

I crave a little Heinz 57 on my steaks every so often. My taste buds like variety.

[jholmgren]

Stevehtn Au poivre is my very favorite sauce of all to put on a steak. If you like peppercorns and you've never had it... you haven't lived until you've had a nice strip steak au poivre.
Now I'm drooling, thanks.

[richinlbrg]

Oh man, I haven't done an au poivre in AGES! Used to love it. Got me hungry!

[Stevehtn]

There's nothing like a well made steak au poivre. My fiancé loves it

[johnmcq4]

I think marketing invented pink salmon as well to sell the less desirable breed, or so I heard. Now it is a thing.

[texastweeter]

Farmed salmon are not pink on their own. Like flamingos they get their pigment from the food they eat. They feed farmed salmon the chemicals from Algeria and crustaceans so that they will match the color of their wild brethren.

[Jfrosty27]

To me, it’s cook them as you like them. If it’s cooked/done the way you like it then that’s the perfect steak.

[RichieB]

I didn't watch the video based on the comments. The cut dictates the cook. You don't cook a 1.5" porterhouse the same as a strip steak or a sirloin. As already mentioned the perfect steak or for that matter anything you cook is up to you. That's what makes it perfect.

[Sweaty Paul]

FLBuckeye at least you tried to mitigate the damage he was doing. I've been a big fan of the reverse sear and when I use my grill grates when I cook on my Yoder or PK I have them turned upside down so that I use the flat part to increase the surface area for the Maillard reaction to occur.

So much bad information out there that has been around for so long it is taken as gospel and it doesn't help that professional chefs talk about bringing meat to room temperature.

Keep fighting the good fight!

Sweaty

[Oak Smoke]

Just look at grilling and smoking information on YouTube. There are some idiots and some very good cooks on there. Without the info I’ve gained here it would be hard to know which is which.