How to grill the perfect steak

The quest to cook the perfect steak has been a challenge since slabs of meat were roasted over fire. But what constitutes a great steak?

It should take you through a complexstrata of textures and flavours: dark crust, rosy meat, tenderness balanced bychew. You want a steak you can sink your teeth into. There should be a perfectratio of meat to fat — and there should be blood. Without those luscious steakjuices, a steak would be merely delicatessen roast beef.

Tri-tip delivers all of that. A cutpopularized in Santa Maria, California, and the surrounding area, thiscrescent-shaped steak from the bottom of the sirloin slices like brisket andeats like steak, with a rich, beefy flavour. But like all thick cuts, it posesa challenge: Grill it directly over high heat as you would a strip or skirtsteak and you risk burning the exterior while leaving the centre undercooked.Cook it low and slow, as you would brisket, and you lose the caramelized crust.

Enter reverse-searing — an ingeniousgrilling method that combines the low and slow smoking of traditional barbecuewith the high heat charring practiced at steakhouses. It takes the guessworkout of grilling steak, rewarding you with a juicy, perfectly cooked slab ofbeef every time.

With this simple two-step process, youfirst cook the steak slowly — for 30 minutes or so — at 250 degrees, thetemperature used by pitmasters to barbecue brisket. Once you’ve warmed the centreof the meat to 110 degrees, you rest the steak on a platter and raise the grill’sheat to a searing temperature of 600 degrees. You then char the exterior of thesteak directly over the fire until sizzling, crusty and dark brown, bringingthe meat’s internal temperature to 125 degrees (for rare) or 135 degrees (formedium-rare).

Reverse-searing offers severaladvantages over traditional direct grilling over high heat, in which steak goesfrom undercooked to overcooked in a minute or two, requiring precise timingthat inexperienced grillers may find daunting. During the initial stage ofreverse-searing, the internal temperature of the meat rises gradually, so it’seasier to monitor and achieve the doneness you desire. Also, the meat cooksmore evenly this way, ending up with uniform colour and doneness from top tobottom, not a grey-brown ring of meat just beneath the crust and a reddish-bluebull’s-eye in the centre.

Because the meat rests between the twostages, which allows it to relax and become juicier, the steak can be servedhot off the grill right after its final sear. That means no more lukewarm steakand not having to keep hungry people waiting.

Perhaps the biggest advantage toreverse-searing is the ability to smoke the steak by adding hardwood chunks orchips to your low fire. That step infuses thick cuts like tri-tip with thehaunting flavour of barbecue and adds a spectacular dimension of flavour.

The resulting tri-tip steak is perfectlycooked and intensely flavourful — and the cut, also known as Newport, SantaMaria, triangle and bottom sirloin tip, is mercifully inexpensive. Food pricesare rising, and reverse-searing works great for other inexpensive thick cuts,such as top round, sirloin or picanha. (It can be applied to three-finger-thickporterhouses and tomahawks, too.)

If you’re going to splurge on steak, youcertainly want to nail it. Reverse-searing is as close to foolproof as grillinga steak gets.

—Recipe: Reverse-Seared Steak

Reverse-searing is a grilling techniquefor steak that ensures a dark, sizzling crust and a rosy centre  that is perfectly cooked to your desireddegree of doneness. This brilliant grilling method combines the low and slowcooking of traditional barbecue with the high heat charring practiced atsteakhouses. Though it works well with any thick steak, from picanha toporterhouse, this recipe calls for a cut of steak popularized in Santa Maria,California, and is today known and loved across the US as tri-tip. As the namesuggests, it’s a triangular or boomerang-shaped steak cut from the tip of thesirloin, blessed with a robust beefy flavour.

Yield: 4 servings

Total time: 45 to 55 minutes, pluslighting the grill

1 large or 2 small wood chunks (such asoak, hickory or mesquite) or 1 1/2 cups wood chips

Canola oil, for greasing the grill grate

1 tri-tip steak (about 2 to 2 1/4 pounds;see Tip below)

Coarse kosher or sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Granulated onion or garlic (or both)

1. If using wood chips, soak in waterfor 30 minutes. Set up your grill for indirect grilling and heat to 250degrees. Clean and oil the grill grate.

2. Remove the tri-tip from therefrigerator. Generously season it with salt, pepper and granulated onion orgarlic (or both) on all sides.

3. Place the tri-tip, fat side up, onthe grill grate away from the heat. Insert a remote thermometer probe, ifusing, deep into the centre of the meat. If you soaked wood chips, drain them.If using a charcoal grill, add the wood chunk(s) or chips to the coals. Ifusing a gas grill, place the wood chunks under the grate over one of theburners, or place the chips in your grill’s smoker box. Close the lid. Indirectgrill the tri-tip to obtain an internal temperature of 110 degrees, which willtake 30 minutes or so. Transfer the tri-tip to a platter and let it rest for atleast 10 minutes, or as long as 1 hour.

4. Just before serving, heat your grillto high. On a charcoal grill, rake the coals into a mound in the centre of thegrill, adding fresh coals as needed. Let the new coals burn until glowing red.On a gas grill, simply set the burners on high.

5. Return the tri-tip to the gratedirectly over the heat, fat side up, and reinsert the thermometer probe, ifusing. Direct grill until the top and bottom are sizzling, crusty and dark, andthe internal temperature is 125 degrees for rare or 135 degrees for medium-rare,3 to 6 minutes per side, turning with tongs.

6. Transfer the tri-tip to a cuttingboard and thinly slice across the grain. (You do not need to rest the meat asecond time.) Take time to notice the even colour and doneness of the meat andto appreciate the intoxicating aroma of the wood smoke. Serve at once, whilethe steak is still hot.

Tips: Tri-tip, the triangular orboomerang-shaped steak cut from the tip of the sirloin, is also sold asNewport, Santa Maria, triangle and bottom sirloin tip. This technique alsoworks with any thick steak, such as top round, sirloin or picanha orthree-finger-thick porterhouses and tomahawks.

—How to Set Up Your Grill for ReverseSearing

Reverse-searing can be done on acharcoal or gas grill, but it’s easier to smoke with charcoal. The methodrequires little more in the way of special equipment than a grill with a lidand an accurate meat thermometer.

Ideally, you’ll use a wired remotethermometer, like ThermoWorks Smoke X2 or ChefsTemp Quad XPro, or a wirelessmeat probe, such as the ones made by Meater or Maverick. You can also use aninstant-read meat thermometer, but you’ll need to open the grill several timesto get a reading, which can cause the internal temperature of the grill todrop.

To give the meat a smoky flavour, you’llneed hardwood chunks or chips. Oak, hickory or mesquite go great with beef. Ifusing chips, cover them with water and soak for 30 minutes, which slows theircombustion when heated. Drain the chips well before adding them to the fire.There is no need to soak wood chunks.

When reverse-searing, you start withyour grill set up for indirect grilling, that is, with the heat source awayfrom where the food will cook.

On a charcoal grill, rake hot coals intotwo mounds on opposite sides of the grill and leave the centre empty for themeat. On a two-burner gas grill, light one side and cook the steak away fromthe heat on the other side. On larger gas grills, light the outside or frontand rear burners, keeping the centre free for the steak.

After indirect grilling, and just beforeserving, set up your grill for cooking directly over high heat. On a charcoalgrill, rake the coals into a mound in the centre of the grill, adding freshcoals as needed. Let the new coals burn until glowing red. On a gas grill,simply set the burners on high.

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