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The Seven Secrets to Grilling the Perfect Steak

The Seven Secrets to Grilling the Perfect Steak

When Steven and Barbara traveled to Spain for the wedding of their friends Terry and Mikey, they met some old friends in San Sebastian: Matias and Inaki Gorrochategui. The father and son team own the Casa Julio restaurant in the Basque town of Tolosa (and another in Madrid). When it comes to grilling steak, there are none better, and here you see them in action at their portable grill.
Note secrets
#1 use a grill with a large vent at the bottom, so you get plenty of air and blast furnace heat from the fire and
#2 outfit your grill with a sloping grate, so the fat drains a drip pan not the fire.
Of course, the real secret to great steak

#3 is the meat–in this case bone in rib steaks cut about 1-1/4 inch thick from grass-fed steers. (Grass-fed beef is a bit tougher than American beef, but it has a rich, almost oily (but in a good way) mouth feel. There are exactly two ingredients in Matias’ recipe: steak and salt. The latter secret
#4 is huge, pyramid-shaped crystals of Spanish sea salt and it’s applied by the handful after the steak goes on the grill.

# 5 involves a bit of knifesmanship. A slit is made through the fat at the edge of the steak (but not the meat itself), which keeps the steak from curling.

Also important secret
#6 is grilling the meat the right distance from the coals–in this case about 6 inches from a screaming hot “2 Mississippi” fire.

The last secret
#7 is to make sure to position yourself near the grill, so you get first crack at the steak after it comes off the fire.
Sorry about the necktie folks. SR was at a wedding.