When I was young, I worked in a bake shop in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.  It was a work camp and I baked at night.  The night crew came in after midnight each night for a meal.  Often they wanted steaks.  These were cranky old roughnecks and those steaks had to be right and the boss made sure I got it right.  He had three rules:

  • Don’t press the steak with a spatula.  You want the steaks as juicy as possible, not with juices pressed out.
  • Only turn the steaks once.  Every time you turn them, you lose juices.
  • Cook them just right.  I don’t remember a thermometer.  He taught me to poke the steaks with my finger to see if they were done.  The more they’re cooked, the firmer the meat becomes.

I still use the finger method to see if they are done but a thermometer is more accurate.  Cook a steak to 135 degrees for rare.  That’s about five minutes in total.  For medium rare, cook them to145 degrees; for medium, 160 degrees; for medium well, 165 degrees; and for well done, 170 degrees.

Before you begin cooking your steaks, brush them with oil and season them with salt and pepper.  Don’t wait until they are half-cooked to season them.  You want the seasonings to cook into the meat.

Your grill should be medium hot.  If you’ve got a good cut of meat, you should have a great steak.

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