Tips for Grilling Beef
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of grilling beef? Usually steak. While steak is a good cut of beef for the grill, it’s not the only cut suitable for the grill. The following is a feature about how we grill different types of beef on our backyard grill.
Different Kinds of Steak
There are many fine cuts that are available for grilling. We prefer three specific cuts when we grill at home.
- Rib steaks
- The rib steak is cut from the rib region of the beef. While it will still retain tenderness this cut is in the moderate price range.
- T-bones and porterhouse steaks
- Are cut from the tenderloin region and will produce a very tender steak. However, with tenderness comes price increase.
- No matter which cut you may choose we have found that you can retain that tenderness no matter what marinade you use.
- The key to retaining the tenderness is the length of the marinating. A good overnight soak will allow the steak to fully absorb the liquid and aid in tenderness no matter what doneness. Make sure to reserve some of the marinade to use during grilling. However discard any unused marinade after grilling; do not use for consumption. Any sauces you may wish to use can be applied when you first put the meat on the grill.
Other types of Beef
- Roasts done over the grill
- Our method of grilling a roast does not involve a spit or hours of grilling
- We usually take a roast and cut it up into chunks.
- Then we soak the roast in a marinade for at least 24 hours.
- By soaking for an extended period of time we are able to avoid restricting ourselves to a leaner cut of meat. An economic way to do this would be to purchase a few chuck roasts when they are one sale and freeze them.
- After soaking we then make a foil bowl to put the meat in and grill. You can use a grill basket if you want a little more of a flame grilled taste.
Less Common Types of Beef
- Liver
- Now we have only done liver once but according to Grandma, whose taste runs to liver it was very good. The only real suggestion we have is to cook it thorough on a lower heat.
- Beef Ribs
- Beef ribs are very different from pork ribs. Short ribs are the common term for beef ribs. Simply grill with barbeque sauce as you would pork ribs.
- Beef ribs are very different from pork ribs. Short ribs are the common term for beef ribs. Simply grill with barbeque sauce as you would pork ribs.
The last bit we have for you are guidelines for meat doneness. Everyone is different on their preference for doneness in beef. Usually you will want to get any roasts, ribs, or liver to a nice well done temperature. Steaks vary from from rare to well done and varies by ones personal taste. The most important thing to have is a meat thermometer handy when checking for doneness. Check out the chart below for your choice of doness
| Very rare
|
115 – 125°F (46 – 52°C) | Blood-red meat, soft, very juicy |
| Rare
|
125 – 130°F (52 – 54°C) | Red center, gray surface, soft, juicy |
| Medium rare
|
130 – 140°F (54 – 60°C) | Pink throughout, gray-brown surface, often remains juicy |
| Medium
|
140 – 150°F (60 – 66°C) | Pink center, becomes gray-brown towards surface |
| Medium well
|
150 – 160°F (66 – 71°C) | Thin line of pink, firm texture. |
| Well done
|
>160°F (>71°C) | Gray-brown throughout, tough texture. |
Well that about wraps up our tips for beef. Don’t worry we didn’t forget hamburgers. They will be included in our picnic tips article. Subscribe to be notified when we have posted new tips. Happy grilling!
