ddtrane wrote:Screw the gas/propane grills. Go with charcoal. Taste the heat not the meat.
They don't use charcoal at many of the top steakhouses in the country.
I've owned a Ducane propane grill for about 8yrs and love cooking burgers, fish, chicken, veggies, some steak, etc... on it. I have a smoker box that I use (cheap, bought it at Lowes) that I soak various kinds of wood chips in that give the food an even better flavor.
That said, the grill does have ceramic briquettes under the flames. After they get soaked with meat drippings over a season, it makes the flavor that much better when they get heated back up and give off some of that aroma.
However, if I'm going to buy a good center cut filet from my butcher shop, I only cook it one way:
Pan seared, 3min per side, on a 12" pan after letting about 2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil heat up to a faint smoke (generally, on med-high or high setting).
After that, it goes in the oven to finish off for about 3-4 more minutes @ 450 degrees for medium/medium rare. 5min of rest on a cooling rack before eating, tenting some tin-foil over the steaks to keep them hot.
That's how some of the best chefs in the world prepare steaks, and it's so easy to do, comes out perfect every single time and there's no guess work to know if the steak is done or not! That gets the nice searing on the outside and juicy/tender meat that you barely need a knife for. I typically whip up some garlic butter to top it off as well.
If I want to get really fancy I'll ground down some peppercorns, cook them in 5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil for about 10min, let it cool, then rub the steaks with them (pushing the mixture into the meat), allowing it to sit at room temp for about an hour. When the steaks sear in the pan with those peppercorns coating them, wow does that smell good in the kitchen.
