I love to barbecue

I’ve already had Ingrid fired up more than a dozen times this year. Love it. If you're on my facebook you've seen me post my successes and even some failures.

I've had drunk chicken, pork back ribs, burgers (1/4 pork sausage)... I barbecue tomatoes, zucchini, potato/onion/garlic packets of goodness, corn... and the list goes on. Love it!
And, of course, steak.

Ah, steak.

Steaks fall into one of two categories:
1. Flavourful - The more the muscle is used, the more flavourful (and tough) it is
2. Tender - Less used muscle and more tender

Let’s have a look at the more popular cuts and how they stack up:

• Sirloin - Cut from the area behind the short loin and in front of the round. Usually well-marbled and flavourful but, lacks depth and not the most tender of cuts
  • Sirloin - Refers to the Bottom Sirloin and Sirloin (see pic here)
  • Top Sirloin - Just below the Tenderloin and the most prized of the Sirloins
     
• Strip steak - Cut from the short loin area between the sirloin and the fore rib. This is commonly called Strip Loin or New York Strip in North America and Club Steak, internationally. Fairly tender piece of meet with excellent flavour
  • T-bone - Falls into this category as this cut has a Strip Steak and a smaller piece of Tenderloin divided by a bone shaped like a 'T'. Due to this fact, the T-bone has the best of both worlds in that it has flavour from the bone and Strip and a tender side form the Tenderloin. With this comes a difficulty in preparing the meat as the two sides cook at different speeds
  • Porterhouse - Basically, this cut is a T-bone with a larger portion of Tenderloin than the T-bone would have
     
• Rib eye – Fore rib area in front of the short loin area. Marbled with a central piece of fat, which makes this cut quite tasty and tender, though it won't be melt in your mouth tender
  • Rib eye originally referred to the cut without the bone (eye of the rib cage), while a Rib Steak is with the bone
     
• Tenderloin - Runs along both sides of the spine, and is usually harvested as two long snake-shaped cuts of beef
  • Fillet - From the foremost tip of the tenderloin. The most tender, and therefore most expensive of cuts but, lacking true beef flavour, which is why we see it paired with a crust or sauce frequently. Also, due to its location on the Tenderloin, the Fillet is an awkward shape and difficult to cook evenly
  • Many butchers (and restaurants) sell the entire Tenderloin as Fillet though truly any Tenderloin except the foremost tip is Beef Tenderloin, while the foremost tip is the Fillet Mignon (cute fillet)
  • Tenderloin, due to its tenderness, is the choice cut to make carpaccio

How to prepare (according to John):

There is only one way to prepare your steak at home unless you have a restaurant-grade oven - Barbecue (of course):

• Use thick cut steak to create the appropriate texture on the outside while not over-cooking. If this is too large for portions, halve just prior to serving
• Steak should start at room temperature and that takes at least 30 minutes prior to cooking, from the fridge
• Pre-heat grill to maximum heat
• Salt and pepper (lots) on one side, and only salt and pepper. Why take something as beautiful as a nice steak and douse it in spices or drown it in sauces? Unless the cut of beef calls for it so as to tenderise
• Place on pre-heated grill, seasoned side down, and season the face up side with salt and pepper again.
• Rotate 45 degrees for the second half of the cooking time for this side
• The lid should be closed most of the time, but not necessarily all of the time
• Flip only once. Rotate 45 degrees half way through again
  • My barbecue, for thick cut steak (1" to 1.25"), is about 215 seconds per side
  • Yours may be different and you'll get accostomed to it but, in order to do that you have to use a stopwatch. Seriously, use a stopwatch
• Remove from grill and place on grate, not a flat surface, and cover with foil for 10 to 15 minutes. This will cause the beef to cook a little further and also retain its juices

Medium rare is the optimum preparation to enjoy all that the steak has to offer. Anything more is just a disappointing end for the cow, not to mention disappointing for you. If you like your meat burned medium or crisp well done, maybe chicken is the way to go for you. Birds have no feelings