Salt Grilled Prime Meat

Thank you all for you patience as I sort through the latest episode of “Extreme Home-Ownership”.  This last one, if you missed my live-tweet recipe extravaganza, involved a fried motherboard on our brand new range the first time we used the oven.  Apparently it’s an incredibly busy week in the appliance warranty repair business this week because the earliest they can come fix it is Friday.  Which is the worst for a cook/baker like myself.  I’ve definitely learned all the weird work-arounds like cooking pasta in a rice cooker (it turns out mushy… I don’t recommend it) and the benefits of an electric fry pan (thank you parents for that one).  But come Friday we should be back in business!

In the meantime I tried a new thing!  I did a live-tweet of this Salt Grilled Prime Meat recipe.  And yes, I know on twitter I called it a live-twitter.  I’m still new to the social media game – an embarrassing thing to admit for a 20-something like myself.  There were a few people who stuck around and checked it out.  Did any of you blog followers think this was cool?  Is it something you’d be interested in seeing again?  Or, instead of live-tweets, would you rather see a twitch stream showing the entire process start to finish?  I’ve been thinking about starting one and maybe the comments on this post will help me finally make up my mind on the matter!  But now, without further delay, here’s the reason you came to my blog today:

Salt Grilled Prime Meat

We start with purchasing the meat.  After a lengthy discussion with the butcher yesterday I finally learned that prime meat is, indeed, a thing.  Apparently there are 4 major types of meat – Select, Choice, Prime, and Prime Aged (least to best from left to right).  As you would expect the higher the quality the higher the price, with this particular butcher charging about $20.00 a pound for prime New York strip steak.  I had him cut 1 inch thick steaks for me and 4 cost about $40.00 total – a very pricy sum for a single part of a single meal.  It’s definitely something to save for special occasions!

We start by taking the meat out to warm to room temperature about 30 minutes before cooking.  As I mentioned in my Meat and Rice Bowl recipe it makes a huge difference in the evenness and the time it takes to cook if you do this!  Make sure you keep it covered – as a microbiologist I promise you don’t want flies on your food!

With about 10 minutes until grill time heat your grill. I have a charcoal grill so this recipe is how to work with charcoal.  If you have a gas grill I think you’d want the setting at about medium-high.  You’ll have to play with it a bit to be sure…  If you are lucky enough to have a charcoal grill, like I do, start your briquettes.  I use Kingsford Match Light.  I have found they are the easiest and best quality – it’s what my dad, the master griller, uses.  Stack the briquettes in a pyramid and light in several places.  Leave them to burn and turn ashy for about 10 minutes.

When the coals are almost ready pat the steaks down with a paper towel to remove the excess liquid.  This is especially needed if the steaks were frozen and have been thawed.  Brush the steaks lightly with olive oil and season generously with kosher salt and pepper.  We use kosher salt because the large crystals make for a better flavor.  Using ground salt makes it much more difficult to control the quantity and taste of the salt on the steak.

Once the coals are ashy spread them out along the bottom of the grill until they are evenly distributed.  Lay the steaks cross-ways along the grill – you want really pretty sear marks and it provides the best support for your steaks.  Cover your grill and allow to cook for 5-7 minutes, depending on the heat of the grill and thickness of the steaks.

Before they start to look cooked on both sides turn the steaks over.  Cover and cook another 5-7 minutes, depending on how well done you’d like them.  Remove them from the grill and leave the cover off to allow the coals to burn out faster.

 

Place the steaks immediately on a plate and cover with foil to let them rest.  This rest period is very important – it allows the juices to equilibrate so they don’t ooze out the steak the minute you cut into it.  It makes for a more tender, juicy bite!

Garnish and serve just the way it is – if you did it right it’ll be delicious!  And trust me, if you do splurge and get prime meat, it’ll be the best steak you’ve had in a long time!

Link’s Meat and Rice Bowl

• • Any raw prime meat or bird thigh
  • Rock salt