BG Cooks - Grilling Help Please. :(

[willriker]

Man some of you people need to learn how to grill.

It should never ever take "hours" to prepare a steak. You should never marinade for more than an hour or two, unless you don't want to taste the actual steak, and it should only take like 5 minutes to rub any spices into it. I hate when people marinade for a full day, the steaks always always taste shitty that way.

For a frozen steak I'd suggest either cooking them in the oven or a George Forman, since grilling a frozen steak will just end up badly.

You are right about there being a point where you can over marinate a steak. However it has nothing to do with the flavor imparted to it by the marinade. That is a personal taste preferance, and i find it hard to tell someone that their steak is over marinated due to being able to taste very little of the meat. I have had some teriyaki/and other asian marinated dishes which had very little taste of the beef left behind, but they were fantastic.

You over marinated your steak when the texture of the cut you are using suffers as a result of the marinating proccess. A marinade contains three things Acid(s), Aromatic(s), and Oil(s). The issue is with the Acids. The Acids will cook the meet/poultry/seafood, very slowly. But, in the process the item becomes more tenderized. You marinated your item too long when your item starts to get the texture of a gum. For beef this takes more than a day to occur. For poultry/seafood it takes less and less time. It has nothing to do with the taste >.>

You also always cook them on low heat. Everything I've ever made on a grill (and thats a lot of shit) has tasted better while cooked slow on low heat. All high heat will do will burn the hell out of the outside while not cooking the inside. Some people like them cooked that way so more power to you if you are one of them.

You do not always cook steaks at low heat. That is just as noob as always cooking steaks at high heat. A good rule of thumb, is that the parts of the cout that actually move need to be cooked long and low (barbequed or stewed), or treated with a marinade to help tenderize the meat before hand. On the flip side, is the portions of the cow which do not move often, are best grilled on high heat. If one of these cuts is especially thick, you start the proccess grilling on high heat, then finish cooking in a low temperature oven to prevent burning before the internal temperature reaches the desired point.

I am sure that you enjoy the way you grill, but low and slow is not the way to cook everything. It depends on the cut/grade/and thickness of the meat.

[Mizango]

Wondered when Miz would show up after that.

<3

[Aerides]

BTW to almost everyone:

Marinade = noun,the juice/stuff/sauce etc. (personally I like just a rub of some evoo and fresh ground pepper, maybe some salt).

Marinate = verb, the act of sitting in a marinade.

You marinate the steak in the marinade.

[Klutz]

Basically the only reason I can't defrost before cooking is because I don't get paid until Saturday afternoon, and we are doing the grilling like 2-3 hours after I get my check. So I can't get the money to buy a steak and still have enough time to thaw it. For people that were wondering, lol.

Broke college kid inc.

[Ksandra]

Basically the only reason I can't defrost before cooking is because I don't get paid until Saturday afternoon, and we are doing the grilling like 2-3 hours after I get my check. So I can't get the money to buy a steak and still have enough time to thaw it. For people that were wondering, lol.

Broke college kid inc.

That begs the question of why you are buying the steaks frozen...any store should have them already thawed just in refrigerated state.

If you get them from some awesome frozen place or something, I would suggest throwing that shit in the microwave on the defrost setting. Only takes like ten minutes.

Defrost through microwave > cooking a frozen steak imo, even if thawing naturally is better.

[Correction]

Do you buy your meat at Wal-Mart or something? Surely someone within a bus ride's distance is selling cheap fresh cuts of beef? Just buy some steak rub with your meat, apply it immediately after you get home then pop it on the grill when it's time to cook. You have more time than you think unless you can explain why frozen beef is your only option.

[Eratosthenes]

Basically the only reason I can't defrost before cooking is because I don't get paid until Saturday afternoon, and we are doing the grilling like 2-3 hours after I get my check. So I can't get the money to buy a steak and still have enough time to thaw it. For people that were wondering, lol.

Broke college kid inc.

Huh? Where do you buy steaks that come frozen? Every grocery store I've been to sells their meat refrigerated. Unless yours doesn't have a butcher in it and only offers meat from a freezer, I don't understand why they wouldn't have piles of steaks ready to cook.

Or maybe you're talking about boxed steaks such as No Name. I'd just skip the hassle of those if I had to pick up steaks and cook them the same day and stick with the fresh ones from the meat counter.

[wop]

Huh? Where do you buy steaks that come frozen? Every grocery store I've been to sells their meat refrigerated. Unless yours doesn't have a butcher in it and only offers meat from a freezer, I don't understand why they wouldn't have piles of steaks ready to cook.

Just did a quick search,
http://www.iceland.co.uk/category/vi...ozen+food_Meat

6 steaks for £2

[kazi]

Put it in a bowl/container big enough to hold it, run(trickle, as slow as you can get it) cold water over it for like 30 minutes, if u cant wait 30 minutes to let it thaw, then your going to have to cook it for a good hour or 2 at really slow temperature that will eventually lead to a well done steak.

[willriker]

Oh, i thought you had the steaks on hand already.

If you have to go for a frozen one, place it in an air tight bag (remove the air from the bag). This will protect the steak from all of the very bad things water does to meat. place the steak in a pot with cold water. put something on the steak to keep it submerged and turn the tap on just strong enough to cycle the water.

This is the second best way to thaw a steak. It will not cook the meat during the thawing process. The water will not destroy the meat. And your meat will never go above 40 degree celcius. Best of all, it shouldnt take more than 30 minutes to do.

[Mizango]

That begs the question of why you are buying the steaks frozen...any store should have them already thawed just in refrigerated state.

Precisely. The only steaks ive ever seen frozen are the ones you get from those shitty trucks that ride around town. Any local grocer should have fresh thawed steaks that are ready to be thrown on a fire.

[Stiker]

Basically the only reason I can't defrost before cooking is because I don't get paid until Saturday afternoon, and we are doing the grilling like 2-3 hours after I get my check. So I can't get the money to buy a steak and still have enough time to thaw it. For people that were wondering, lol.

Broke college kid inc.

Buy a steak already thawed or defrost in a microwave. Any grocery store should have some cheap family pack of steaks if you don't want to go the butcher route in a store. The cuts aren't as good, but if your on a budget, you aren't going to be wanting to shell out cash for prime cuts anyways.

[Stumblingdrunk]

Dead to me.

Q_Q

[ferigor]

Buy a steak already thawed or defrost in a microwave. Any grocery store should have some cheap family pack of steaks if you don't want to go the butcher route in a store. The cuts aren't as good, but if your on a budget, you aren't going to be wanting to shell out cash for prime cuts anyways.

I'm pretty hard set against thawing anything in the microwave. A quick google found me something that explains it better than I would.

The microwave oven provides an alternative for thawing your steaks, although it is our least recommended method. If you choose to thaw your steaks in the microwave, keep the following in mind: Leave meat in wrapping, do not puncture, watch carefully as the outer portions will thaw first. Standing time will complete thawing in the center. Meats thawed in the microwave will lose more of their natural juices, and therefore the final product may be drier and less tender than when thawed in the refrigerator.

Running cold water (Don't use hot water) would be your best bet if you have to thaw it. I'm with everyone else though, if you are cooking it the same day go buy a fresh steak.

[Stiker]

I'm pretty hard set against thawing anything in the microwave. A quick google found me something that explains it better than I would.

I agree completely. I tend to always thaw my meats out in the fridge well in advance; however, if I happen to need to thaw something quick, it heads to the microwave. Most of the time, I'm cooking for myself, so I'm the only one that ends up paying for the loss of flavor.

[BardonGaruda]

There's a distinct possibility that we'll see a "BG Medical: Food poisoning help" thread after the weekend.

[Cairthenn]

cocked

Lol. Honestly that's what I though the thread title was.

[Daydreamer]

<--- Professional chef.

Thawing your steak under cold running water while the steak is in a plastic bag with all the air taken out and sitting submerged in a container is the recommended way, and easily what I would do in a restaurant...if I ever for some ungodly reason had to use frozen steak. You don't have to use the plastic bag to keep it in, but it tends to make the steak taste kinda funny.

Also, to say the same thing the other people have. Why are you buying a frozen steak? The only time I could ever even see buying a steak and then freezing it for home use is if the market had an amazing sale. If you're getting paid, buying a steak, then cooking right away, why don't you just buy a fresh cut of meat that has never been frozen? It's pretty damn easy this day n age.

As far as throwing a frozen steak on the grill - don't.

[Kirin]

Havnt seen it mentioned, but since everyone else seems to be covering thawing procedures...I have a tip for cooking procedures:

Place your thumb against your other four fingers on your dominant hand as if youre pinching something, but keep the muscles relaxed. Poke the padding of the "pinched" thumb + finger with your other pointer finger. Pending on the tightness of the muscle on the hand with the "pinch", you can gauge temperature fairly accurately.

Rare-Med Rare: Pointer + Thumb
Med Rare - Medium: Middle + Thumb
Meduim to Medium Well: Ring + Thumb
Med Well to Well: Pinky + Thumb

This is a bit easier for me than relying on guesswork or a thermometer and it gives the same results for the most part.

[Kerberoz]

So much blasphemy...

first of all, what cut are you talking about? Frozen "steaks" aren't good for much of anything. I assume if you're grilling you want a strip or porterhouse? Any grocery shop should have at least Choice in the refrigerated section. Go to a place with an actual butcher if you can. Bring that shit to room temp before you cook and don't overcook it. Steak past medium rare is burnt. Marinating is for mexican dishes and crappy meat.