How to BBQ steak
Barbecuing meat is not hard, but we are always intrigued when people who usually never cook (dudes of a certain age mainly; just sayin’), are suddenly experts once they’re armed with a barbecue, a silly apron, a beer, and a few sharp cooking implements. So move over steak stabbers and over-turners; your time is up! Our LSC resident BBQing expert is here to show y’all how it should be done. And it’s simple.
1. Season your steaks well, and brush with a neutral oil; we used 400g scotch fillet. This is enough to feed 2-3. If you’ve got more diners, simply cook more steak!
2. Load your charcoal onto your barbecue (If your BBQ has a flat surface then build your charcoal into a pyramid). We used Samba Coco Shots briquettes, made from coconut shell. They have a large fixed carbon content and minimal ash content, allowing for high cooking temperatures and longer burn time. Which makes them fairly economical.
3. Light your coals, then burn them with the barbecue uncovered for about an hour, or until they are well ashed-over.
4. Place your steaks on the BBQ, then cook for 12-15 minutes, TURNING ONCE (for the love of Mike, do not keep turning them over), until they register 54C on a meat thermometer for medium rare. Or, cook them longer if you like (#sadface; if you cook steaks past medium, they expel juices and dry out).
5. Remove your steak from the heat, then rest it for 5-10 minutes. This gives time for the juices to relax back into the meat; if you cut into the steak straight away, all that lip-smacking goodness will run out. The internal temperature of steak rises 2-3°C during resting, so it does continue to cook a little.
6. Slice, then serve with mustard, tomato sauce, salsa verde… whatever works for you.
Stages of steak cooking:
Rare – cool red centre 52°C
Medium-rare – warm red centre; peak deliciousness, in our opinion. 57°C
Medium – warm pink centre. 63°C
Medium-well – vaguely pink centre. 66°C
Well done – no pink. Little juiciness. Your steak is dead. Zero judgement. 71°C