BBQ STEAK STATION
Porterhouse
Comes from the hindquarter, an area that does not do a lot of work, the result is a beautifully tender piece of meat, and one that is quite lean and firm with a rich, beefy flavour.
Features: Tenderness, juiciness, and a delicious beefy flavour.
BBQ Method: Best grilled or chargrilled
Scotch Fillet
Comes from the area on either side of the spine which means it’s an area that does practically zero ‘work’ which makes them extremely tender and therefore highly desirable.
Features: Supreme tenderness and a subtle beefy flavour
BBQ Method: Best grilled or chargrilled
Rib-Eye
Comes from around the ribs, an area that naturally collects more intramuscular fat. This creates white lines of marbling producing an incredibly juicy, tender, & flavourful cut.
Features: Meaty flavours, succulent juiciness & delicious tenderness..
BBQ Method: Best grilled or chargrilled & reverse seared
T-bone Steak
T-bones are one of the few beef steaks that are always served on the bone (which is shaped like a capital T, hence the name). On one side is a piece of sirloin and on the other is a smaller piece of fillet.
Features: More variety, flavours and textures going on, big and bold, gaining an extra boost from being cooked on the bone
BBQ Method: Best grilled or chargrilled & reverse seared
Porterhouse
Comes from the hindquarter, an area that does not do a lot of work, the result is a beautifully tender piece of meat, and one that is quite lean and firm with a rich, beefy flavour.
Features: Tenderness, juiciness, and a delicious beefy flavour.
BBQ Method: Best grilled or chargrilled
Scotch Fillet
Comes from the area on either side of the spine which means it’s an area that does practically zero ‘work’ which makes them extremely tender and therefore highly desirable.
Features: Supreme tenderness and a subtle beefy flavour
BBQ Method: Best grilled or chargrilled
Rib-Eye
Comes from around the ribs, an area that naturally collects more intramuscular fat. This creates white lines of marbling producing an incredibly juicy, tender, & flavourful cut.
Features: Meaty flavours, succulent juiciness & delicious tenderness..
BBQ Method: Best grilled or chargrilled & reverse seared
Features: Best shared, exceptional juiciness, tenderness, & beefy flavour. BBQ Method: Cook hung over charcoal & reverse seared
STEAK TEMPERATURE GUIDE
Perfect Grill Temperature for Steak
Cooking Temperature: Between 230-260°C or 446F-500F
Required temperature at the centre of the meat in order to achieve your preferred steak:
- Rare: 50C or 122F
- Medium Rare: 55C or 131F
- Medium: 60C or 140F
- Medium Well: 65C or 150F
- Well Done: Over 70C or 160F
BBQ STEAK TECHNIQUES
Special thanks to Jess Pryles for helping outand sharing her talents in steak BBQing
Jess is an Australian BBQ legend and chef, television show host of Aussie Barbecue Heroes, meat expert and a live fire cook. She co-founded the Australasian Barbecue Alliance. She is also the author of the book Hardcore Carnivore. She grew up on the bay in Melbourne and now lives in Austin, Texas.
BBQing THE PERFECT STEAK – STEAK FLIPPING TECHNIQUE
How you cook the perfect steak can be a contentious topic with the traditional technique being to flip it once about halfway through the cooking process or the more contemporary method of constantly flipping your steak every 20 to 30 seconds. At the end of the day, it comes down to your personal preference to achieve the desired result for how you love your steak done.
The team at Turn Left @ Albuquerque prefers the flipping method, it will produce a terrific crust (over time… don’t be impatient) and gives you a more evenly cooked interior (not the grey done colour), and takes about 30% less time to boot!
Flipping your meat treats the cook like a rotisserie by pulsing heat through your cut of choice. This produces a more evenly cooked steak by not allowing the meat to stay in contact with the grill long enough to start overcooking from the outside.
Creating the perfect brown char crust does not happen immediately. As the steak surface dries out and the fat begins to render, the crust will build. Adding seasoning to your steak at the prepping stage will provide a textured base for the crust to build from.
Whilst we will talk to using a charcoal grill BBQ set up, the same technique can be used on a gas BBQ, cast iron pan or in a pellet smoker using grill gates.
Hot Tip
- For meats with a cap of fat (Ribeye, Tomahawk or T-bone) control flare-ups by flipping the meat more frequently.
- For round shaped steaks (Tenderloin) rotate the steak rather than flip it so that the cylindrical shape cooks evenly.
- Cooking Wagyu Steaks: There are a few different ways to cook a wagyu steak. Some believe that it should never be grilled and use pan searing to maintain the delicious textures while avoiding common flare-ups that result from the Wagyu’s intense marbling. However, many feel that grilling allows the meat to absorb some of the grill’s smoky flavour, provides a more evenly cooked interior and it improves building a terrific crust. You may need to control flare up by flipping the meat more frequently.
Steak Flipping Method
- Grill Preparation: It’s most important to have your grill HOT, pile lightly ashed coals to one side to concentrate the heat and give them an additional 10 minutes to build the heat.
- Prepping Your Meat: Take the meat out of the fridge and allow to reach room temperature. Lightly pat the meat dry using a quality paper towel. Then season with salt or your dry rub of choice – the Turn Left @ Albuquerque team has a list of our favourite rubs for steak later in this section.
- Cooking Your Steak: Place the steak directly over the coals. Flip the steak every 20-30 seconds through the entire cook. The crust will build and watch out for flare-up flipping more frequently if necessary. Use a digital thermometer to check for internal temperature (check out our Steak Temperature Guide) to achieve you preferred cook.HOT TIP: Take your steak off the grill 5c or 10f before the desired cooking temperature. Whilst resting there is still energy carrying over from the grill so the meat will continue to cook.
- Rest Your Steak & Serve:
When your steak reaches the desired temperature, rest it for 5-10 minutes before serving as the fibres will begin to relax and will hold onto the delicious juices.
Hot Tip
Allow your steak to rest on a wire rack, set over a plate to catch the juices. This allows less temperature to be lost from the meat and the juices not to affect the crust.
BBQing THE PERFECT STEAK – THE REVERSE SEAR METHOD
Charged with cooking the perfect succulent Tomahawk or Ribeye steaks for guests can appear intimidating but it’s really quite simple using the reverse sear method – perfect for cooking steaks over 1.5 inches (4cm) thick. It involves two steps:
- Cooking the steak at a low temperature
- Finishing off over high heat
Reverse Searing Meat Cuts
Reverse searing only works with cuts of meat that are over 1.5 inches (4cm) thick, and both bone-in and boneless work fine. The bone can add flavour to your meat and can help protect the meat during the slow cook stage. Meat cuts perfect for reverse searing can include:- Tomahawk
- Ribeye
- T-bone
- Tri-tip
- Porterhouse
Hot Tip
- Whilst we’ll talk to a method that uses a charcoal BBQ to provide the smoke flavour during the ‘smoke’ phase, to gain additional smoke, wood chunks can be added to the charcoal for an extra depth of flavour. This phase can also be completed in a pellet smoker, gas, offset or even the oven. The ‘sear’ phase also utilises charcoal, however this can be done using a gas BBQ, cast iron pan, a grill inside your offset firebox or grill grates in your pellet smoker.
Reverse Sear Method
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 90 mins
- BBQ Preparation: Preheat a BBQ to 121c (250f) in preparation for the low and slow cooking phase. Fire up lump charcoal and once it has started to ash over move it to one side of the grill – you want to create a cool and hot side to your grill creating indirect and direct cookingzones. If you want some extra smoke, add a couple of pieces of your favourite smoking wood.
- Prepping your meat: Lightly pat the meat dry using a quality paper towel. Then season with salt or your dry rub of choice – the Turn Left @ Albuquerque team has a list of our favourite rubs for steak later in this section. Make sure to cover the steak thoroughly with your preferred seasoning
- Low and Slow (indirect) Cook – approximately 90 minutes: Once your grill has reached 121c (250f) place your steak on the cool (indirect) side of the grill. Cook the steak until it reaches the internal temperature (check out our Steak Temperature Guide) that you desire, should take about 90 minutes. This time is only an approximate, and will depend on many factors, so it’s important to monitor the temperature.Place a good dab of butter on top of the steak and allow it to rest under a loose tent of foil for 15 minutes.
- BBQ Prepping For Searing Your Steak: Whilst your steak is resting , ensure the hot (direct) zone is ready for searing. It may simply require the vents to be opened fully, or adding some extra pieces of charcoal to the lit coals. In 10 minutes the grill will be hot enough to be searing your steak.Alternatively, light a half full charcoal chimney, place a grill on top and use this to sear your steak instead!
- Final Sear (Direct) Your Steak Over Hot Heat: Your steak is almost cooked through and all that’s left is to give your steak a quick sear, flipping multiple times gives you a more even sear and tastier crust. This should take up to 60 seconds on a really hot (direct) heat. Importantly, make sure that you sear the sides of the steak to help render the fat. There is no need to rest the steak, it’s now ready to serve up.
Hot Tip
Step 1:
- Add a water pan to the cool (indirect) side of the grill to keep the temperature stableStep 1:
Step 2:
- Position your steak so the fattier side faces the hot (Direct) side of the grill – the hot coals. If you have a bone-in steak then the bone should face the hot side of the grill – the hot coals.
- Take your steak off the grill 5c or 10f before the desired cooking temperature. Whilst resting there is still energy carrying over from the grill so the meat will continue to cook.
- · You will need an accurate meat thermometer to get the required temperature at the centre of the meat in order to achieve your preferred steak.
Step 3:
- For meats with a cap of fat (Ribeye, Tomahawk or T-bone) control flare-ups by flipping the meat more frequently.
PREPPING YOUR STEAK
Dry Rubs
A quick and easy way to take your steak seasoning to the next level is to apply a dry rub to the raw meat before cooking. When applying the rub be sure to first dry off the raw meat – a light dab with a clean paper towel does the trick and then apply your rub. It’s a great way to create a terrific flavoursome crust to your steaks.
Click on any of our Top 10 favourite steak rubs below to find out more info.
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The Black Rub 300g
$21.95Add to cart -
What’s Your Beef Rub 397g
$24.95Add to cart -
The Black Truffle Rub 300G
$25.95Add to cart -
SPG 240g
$19.50Add to cart -
Original Cowboy Coffee Steak Seasoning 296.82G
$19.95Add to cart -
Cattle Call Rub 200G
$19.95Add to cart -
Black Shaker 368G
$25.95Add to cart -
Black Angus Rub 170G
$19.95Add to cart -
Beef Rub 280G
$19.99Add to cart -
BBQ Bonkers Beef 240g
$16.00Add to cart
FINISHING YOUR STEAK
Sauces & Condiments
There’s probably two rules of thought in finishing a perfectly cooked steak, the first being that it’s perfect as it is… don’t spoil it. The second rule of thoughts sees finishing your steak is an opportunity to add some extra flavour to the meat and give it an extra layer of deliciousness… in some cases next level decadence. A simple and quick way to add flavour is with your favourite sauce or a condiment. Below is a selection of our favourite sauces and condiments designed to add that extra layer of deliciousness.
We have also thrown in one of our team’s secret “next level must have” with their steak, Mama Melisse’s Mustard, it’s a crowd pleaser!
Click on any of our Top 10 favourite steak sauces and condiments below to find out more info.
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Cream Style Horseradish 340g
$8.99Add to cart -
The Classic OG Crunchy Chilli Oil 190Ml
$25.00Add to cart -
Steak Sauce and Marinade 354ml
$13.99Add to cart -
Smokey Bourbon BBQ Sauce 250ml
$12.95Add to cart -
Original Competition BBQ Sauce 482g
$17.95Add to cart -
Old Yella Habanero Mustard 250g
$11.49Add to cart -
Mustard 200G
$15.00Add to cart -
OG BBQ Sauce 250ml
$15.95Add to cart -
Ghost Pepper Steak Sauce 355ml
$11.50Add to cart -
Fancy Pants Tomatah Sauce 250ml
$12.00Add to cart
FINISHING SALTS
A really simple and effective means of creating some delicious flavour to your steak is to add Finishing Salt while it is resting or right before you dig in. Whatever flavours you use to season your meat you can continue as normal. Then when your cut of meat has finished cooking (we would suggest letting cuts of meat rest before you slice them) simply garnish with Finishing salt to your liking and enjoy some next level flavour.
Click on any of our Top 5 Finishing Salts below to find out more info
FINISHING YOUR STEAK
Next Level Finishing… pure decadence
Finishing Your Steak
A really simple way to finish your steak adding some decadent flavours and delight your guests is with a combination of Rum and Que’s Umami Truffle Butter or Umami Garlic Butter with Umami Port & Black Garlic Sauce.
Click on the Rum and Que products below to find out more info.
Method
- Simply take a pinch of Umami Truffle Butter or Umami Garlic Butter and sprinkle over your cooked steak whilst resting for a full flavour Umami bomb!
- Once your steak has rested, and then sliced ready to serve, drizzle Umami Port & Black Garlic Sauce over your steak to further elevate the flavour complexityand deliciousness. It’s a winner and so easy!
Click on the Rum and Que products below to find out more info.
STEAK BBQ ACCESSORIES
Click on the accessories products below to find out more info
