Ask any chef what he likes to eat on his night off, and I predict that you’ll hear the same response: a steak. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. After working with food all week long, restaurant chefs like myself crave an easy, delicious dinner that we don’t have to deconstruct to enjoy. In the summertime especially, there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a beautiful steak grilled over a hardwood fire. The ritual of building the fire, the aroma of smoke, and the mouthwatering flavor of grilled beef all contribute to the uncomplicated pleasure of this summer tradition.

如果您曾经在现场大火上烤牛排，那么您就会知道我在说什么。如果没有，请继续阅读。我将为您提供一些简单的准则，从选择正确的剪裁来设置大火，这将为您提供所需的完美结果。

丰富的大理石花纹意味着多汁的牛排

If you begin with good-quality beef and the right cut, your grilled steaks will shine without any elaborate flavorings or tenderizers. The USDA’s grading system gives you a good way to assess quality: beef that’s labeled “prime” is superior; “choice” is runner-up. “Select” is third —I don’t recommend it for a steak. The grading designations are largely determined by the amount of visible fat that’s streaked throughout the muscle tissue, called marbling. Beef that’s richly marbled gets a higher grade; it’s more tender, juicy, and flavorful because the intramuscular fat melts and bastes the flesh during cooking. Also, since fat insulates, marbling provides some insurance against overcooking. Look for small, evenly distributed specks of fat rather than larger and sparser ones.

For this article, I’ve picked three steaks that I love to grill: rib-eye, porterhouse, and flank (which is flavorful and quite lean, so you won’t see rich marbling). See the chart below for specific grilling information about each cut.

A guide to grilling steaks

Serve steaks plain, or dress them up

Each of these three cuts of beef is delicious grilled and served as is, along with a salad and something like baked potatoes or garlic bread. If you’d like to enhance the meal, try pairing the steaks with the recipe I suggest for each cut: Roquefort butter for thegrilled rib-eye, peppery Ancho chile harissa for the烤波特豪斯，或亚洲五质摩擦和芝麻酱烤侧面牛排.

建造火：忘记金字塔

经过多年的专业和后院烧烤，我仍然对开火的细节着迷，我仍然必须注意。

为了灵活性，请始终提供一系列温度（请参阅大火）。如果有爆发，您需要能够将食物移动到周围，并且需要考虑牛排的较厚，更薄的部分。在我餐厅的漫长的厨房般的烤架上，我们总是有一部分煤，在另一个部分达到顶峰，而另一部分正在褪色。您可以通过在烤架的一侧点燃火体并让其“行走”在煤中，从而对后院烧烤架产生相同的效果。当侧面点燃的煤首先死亡时，那些在最后一侧开始燃烧的煤将是最热的。这为您提供了更长的窗口，可以烧烤并更多地控制热量。对于气体烧烤，将一个燃烧器设置为高，另一个燃烧器将其添加到中等地点，并添加一些木片以使其烟熏味。

我结合了硬木原木和块硬木木炭（不是木炭块状）。木炭提供快速，高温，吸烟木燃烧得更慢，并增加了香气和风味。在硬件和美食商店中寻找天然块木炭。您可以通过大自然自己的Charwood的邮件订购Lump Hardwood木炭和硬木块（www.char-wood.com) in Rhode Island.

将木材和煤放入均匀的一层，一旦点燃，就不要触摸它们。每当您与火灾混乱时，您都会改变其完整性，破坏氧气流并将卡路里从系统中敲出。因此，我不建议传统的堆叠煤，点燃煤，然后将其散布的方法。这种金字塔方法还阻碍您获得一系列温度。

The coals should cover an area that’s at least a few inches larger than all the steaks you’ll cook at one time. The grill grate should sit three to four inches above the coals.

要判断火灾何时准备就绪，请查看煤并使用手工测试。当火焰消退和木炭发光，有些灰烬开始出现红色时，火很热，可以用肋眼和侧面牛排。到那时，您应该能够将手握在炉排上方几英寸处，持续一秒钟。此后不久，余烬将被灰烬完全覆盖，这表明他们正在失去热量。这是中等的 - 完美的搬运工。

它很好季节肉香草或香料up to an hour before grilling, but don’t salt them until the last minute. Salt draws out moisture and will dry out the steaks if added too soon. Before putting the steaks on the fire, bring them to room temperature and rub oil on the grill grate.

Flip once and avoid flare-ups

一旦牛排开始，您就无需像过度保护的母亲那样将它们悬停在它们上，但是您需要在必要时准备好兼顾牛排的位置。每个切口的较薄部分，例如搬运工的里脊肉侧或侧面牛排上的锥形端，需要在火中不太强烈的部分停留，以免过度煮熟。另外，如果有爆炸（由脂肪滴入热煤而引起），请将牛排移到烤架的另一部分，直到火焰死亡。除了危险之外，爆炸还可以燃烧表面并在牛排上形成不健康的化合物。尽量不要一次翻转牛排（侧面是例外），因为这会破坏焦糖化和地壳的形成。当您进行翻转时，请使用钳子或另一个不会刺穿肉并让果汁逸出的工具。

Over a hot grill, the steaks will cook quickly, going from very soft (very rare) to somewhat soft with a bit of a spring (medium) to quite firm (well done). Get in the habit of touching the steaks often and cutting into them when you think they’re done, erring on the side of undercooking since you can always cook the steaks longer, if necessary. The steaks will continue to cook a few more degrees once they’re off the heat. And after grilling a few steaks, you’ll know what medium rare feels like without having to double-check by cutting into the meat. One more hint: when drops of red juices appear on the surface of a rib-eye or porterhouse steak (but not flank steak), the meat is medium. So if you see those juices and you wanted medium rare or rare, you’ve missed your chance.