Grilling tips to elevate your steak game this season

Grilling steaks is a rite of spring, summer, fall, and there are many of you, like me, who continue that necessity right into winter.

It is always a great idea to brush up on your steak methodology. There has been a shift in coming back to old school cuts of steak and more attention focusing on cooking them right.

I have noticed that Kobe beef and other hugely overpriced cuts are no longer as popular as they were a year ago.

I have seen restaurants dropping the Kobe beef in favor of reintroducing the tomahawk and its sister cut, the rib-eye, along with the t-bone and porterhouse cuts.

Now, the cost of the tomahawk and good rib-eye is steep, but the flavor is so worth the price.

The standby sirloin strip and filet mignon are still popular, but the growth is still in the tomahawk, T-bone, and rib-eye.

According to the USDA National Report on Beef, the sales for the bone-in rib-eye, which is also the tomahawk, the porterhouse, T-bone, and the boneless rib-eye are all up over 20% from last year.

That is a healthy jump. The sirloin strip is down slightly, as is the filet mignon from 2023 to 2025.

With that said, the average cost of the rib-eye ranges from $12.99 to $22.99 a pound, depending on the grade.

Special cut rib-eyes at your butcher will cost you more based on thickness and quality, but I feel it is worth it to pay more for those two key factors.

In cooking a great steak, as you know, the steak should be at room temperature. Resting at room temperature for about an hour to an hour and a half before cooking should do it.

The steaks should be patted very dry with paper towels. Do not use a clean dish towel; whatever chemicals are on the towel, although clean, will be transferred onto that beautiful steak.

After patting it dry, salt and pepper both sides along with the side of the steak. I like kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.

When you are heating the grill, crank that baby up to the highest it will go. That will ensure the markings and searing on the steak.

As your grill is heating up, in a small pan, melt three sticks of butter with fresh garlic, salt, and fresh rosemary, let it infuse.

Take it with you to the grill.

Put the steaks on the grill, depending on how high the heat is, keep it on for 3 minutes on one side, turn the steaks, immediately hit the side that was just turned with a generous portion of the butter, use a brush, remember too much and you’ll get a flare up.

After the other side is on for 3 minutes, do the same butter treatment. Turn down the temperature to 375 – 400 degrees on your grill.

Move steaks away from direct heat. Do not keep flipping steaks, they will dry out. Close the lid and keep on for 3-5 minutes longer, depending on the size of the cut.

Take the steaks off the grill and immediately hit them with more butter mixture. Let the steaks rest for at least 15-20 minutes, you should have a perfect medium rare and a very juicy, flavorful steak.

Good luck with your grilling.

I know we all have a certain regimen that we each do to make the perfect steak. This is mine. Enjoy!