Steak Emergency!

Kyougu

So I'm having a BBQ in a couple of hours and the friend that was suppose to go with me to buy the steaks has not called me. I haven't been able to get a hold of him, so I'm not sure what's up.

That leaves me, someone who never grills, to buy the meat. So yeah..suggestions? I know there's a butcher shop nearby where my mom's gotten meat before, so I'm probably going to head there. But I have no idea what to ask for..or how much? There will be around 10 people in this BBQ.

Cauld

Ask the Butcher. I prefer ribeyes, but they're more expensive than others. Everyone's going to give you davice about all this stuff, but I say just go to the butcher and hopefully he'll ask questions that you'll answer and will be able to help you. Questions like 10 kids? adults? men? hungry men? etc... and then ask the butcher how to cook it.

Denada

My personal favorites are skirt steak and tri-tip. Both are tasty and easy to cook. They used to be really cheap cuts too, but eventually their deliciousness caught on and now they're a little expensive. Not too bad though.

Tri-tip:

A nice sized tri-tip will run you around $15 depending on the store. It will probably have some fat on one side that you'll want to trim off. Season it with salt and pepper (or whatever you want). Throw it on the grill over low heat until the internal temperature is around 145F-ish. Take it off the grill and wrap it in foil, letting it rest another 10 minutes or so. Delicious. Slice it up into steaks and serve. The pinkest meat will be in the middle, giving you a nice range of done-ness.

Skirt steak:

Around the same price per pound as tri-tip, again depending on the store. You might have to trim it a little as well. Season it the same way, and throw it on over low-heat. Skirt steak cooks fast, so be careful. Five minutes a side will probably be good. Skirt steak tends to cook down quite a bit, so buy more than you think you need. Internal temperature before taking it off the grill should be around 150F, let it rest (wrapped in foil). Cut across the grain when eating so that it isn't chewy.

Bread:
Get a loaf of sweet french bread. Lots of butter, sprinkle on some garlic powder, throw it on the grill. When everything's toasty and you have some nice grill marks, slice it up and serve.

SammyF

Yeah, ask the butcher. I have all sorts of advice for helping you pick out meat in a supermarket but if you can go to a butcher, he'll (a) know more about meat than any of us anyway (even if some of us, ahem, are mean grillers) and he'll also be able to point you at something and say "this is a good piece of meat because."

Whereas I'd just be trying to describe what I mean by "marbled" with words.

In case you're doing the grilling: the secret is to get the grill hot BEFORE you put the meat on. The most common grilling mistake is to put the meat on too early when the grill is only warm. Searing meat locks in moisture and flavor; warming meat dries it out and leaves you with something that chews like shoe leather.

RUNN1NGMAN

Kyougu wrote: »

So I'm having a BBQ in a couple of hours and the friend that was suppose to go with me to buy the steaks has not called me. I haven't been able to get a hold of him, so I'm not sure what's up.

That leaves me, someone who never grills, to buy the meat. So yeah..suggestions? I know there's a butcher shop nearby where my mom's gotten meat before, so I'm probably going to head there. But I have no idea what to ask for..or how much? There will be around 10 people in this BBQ.

Ribeyes and t-bones both grill up well.

BlackbeardonGuitar

Get Ribs...

also for some reason the first time I scanned this post title I thought it was about vampire stakes for some reason, musta been that other vampire thread.

Denada wrote: »

Bread:
Get a loaf of sweet french bread. Lots of butter, sprinkle on some garlic powder, throw it on the grill. When everything's toasty and you have some nice grill marks, slice it up and serve.

I did this once and used the toasted bread as buns for burgers, it was delicious

fuelish

I will vote against ribs. Unless you know what to do it is easy to screw them up. They need prep, like removing the membrane, and really need a long cook time over indirect low heat(or parboiling) to come out their best.

If you cannot find the butcher, buy the second highest price cut of meat. I prefer a boneless cut, moe meat for the money. A bone in cut can end up juicier, but will take longer to cook. Let it rest, out of the fridge, for about fifteen minutes before putting on the grill. Time depends on the thickness of cut and bone presence.

vytrox

SammyF wrote: »

In case you're doing the grilling: the secret is to get the grill hot BEFORE you put the meat on. The most common grilling mistake is to put the meat on too early when the grill is only warm. Searing meat locks in moisture and flavor; warming meat dries it out and leaves you with something that chews like shoe leather.

That is a myth. Searing is still a good thing to do for flavor and texture, but seared meat will lose just as much if not more moisture than non-seared meat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Searing

fuelish

The reason you want to have the grill fully warmed is because leaving the meat on the grill forever, trying to fully cook it low heat, will dry it out. The searing is just part of having the grill hot enough to cook the meat in the minimal amount of time.