how to grill steak on charcoal

Cooking on charcoal has long been admired by the human race for its delicious flavor components. The smoky flavor that infuses whatever you put on a grill (and your clothes) has been part of cultures globally, going back to the stone age when cooking on fire was discovered. After all, charcoal is wood that’s just been deoxygenized on high heat.

Before getting into meat and cooking it well, I’d seen a myriad of ways to cook on charcoal. Some good, some not great. I’ve seen people dousing their charcoal with lighter fluid, fanning for what seems like hours, charring meat too much and losing their minds when the grill is full and everything seems to be overcooking and ends up dry!

Here are my basics when cooking on charcoal:

• Get yourself a chimney and natural, non-toxic firelighters like all-natural woodshavings or organic firelighter cubes (you can also use paper towel soaked in olive oil)

• Fill up the chimney according to the size of your grill and how much you’re planning to cook (if it’s just 2 steaks.. no need to heat up too much coal)

• Light up the firelighter under the chimney and let the magic happen. The tiny fire from the firelighters will gradually heat up the coals using the air coming through the chimney holes!

• Using heatproof gloves, lift the chimney when it’s heated up the coals and using your other hand, take off the grill grate to put the coals into the grill on one side to create a hot zone. The other side will be your cool zone (place to cook on lower heat).

• Cover the grill and open the vents, letting it heat up. Use a steel wire brush to clean the grates when they’re hot. Oil the grates with a greased paper towel or half of a large onion before cooking proteins on them.

Detailed how-to instructions in Steak 5 Ways section of Steak Simplified, page 113. Pre-order here.

Here’s how to do it:

Photo source: Weber Grills

In my own words, here’s why reverse searing is wonderful:

• You can pre-cook steaks for a party and keep the searing time to a minimum when it’s time to eat

• The final meat slice is uniformly cooked and almost a light shade of pink throughout. Searing and then placing meat in the oven results in a gray band on the exterior of the meat slice and the interior having a more prominent meat gradient to an apple red.

• Higher chance of undercooking meat (especially if not using a thermometer)

• When paired with the dry-brine method for seasoning, results in the most flavor and juicy steak you can make!

How-to video to follow!