How to Cook Medium-Rare Steak
Ask any chef how they prefer their steak prepared, and almost all will respond with “medium-rare” as the preferred level of doneness for a good steak. The majority of a medium-rare steak’s center should be pink with a hint of red, and it should be warm throughout. The top and bottom should be caramelized to a dark brown color and have good grill marks. The sides should be well browned. The middle of this steak’s firm surface should give slightly (it will quickly rebound).
Place a steak on a hot grill for 5 minutes for a 1-inch piece. Turn the grill and cook for an additional 4 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 130 to 135 F (55 to 57 C).
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How Long to Grill Sirloin for Medium Rare and Medium Doneness
Generally speaking, sirloin steaks are thinner than ribeye steaks, about 1 inch. Typically, a 1-inch sirloin takes 4-5 minutes on each side to cook to medium rare, or 5-6 minutes to cook to medium.
What’s the Best Steak for Grilling?
You really can’t go wrong with any cut of steak when grilling one, to be perfectly honest. But if you’ve never cooked a steak or used a grill before, it can be challenging to get a perfectly cooked steak. Every steak cut is unique in terms of size, thickness, and texture, so grilling ribeye steak will require a different technique than grilling a much thicker steak, such as filet mignon.
Your grill may also be problematic due to the fat content of the steak. Despite the fact that steaks with more fat tend to be tastier and more flavorful (the fat tenderizes the steak), they can also be riskier to grill. As fat drips off cut steaks, grill flare-ups can happen. With cuts like the rib eye, which are renowned for their marbling, this is particularly typical.
That doesn’t preclude you from grilling them, but you’ll undoubtedly want to take extra safety measures. By using our helpful grilling advice for steak, you can learn how to cook a rib steak, a T-bone, or a flat iron on the grill.
One thing all steaks have in common is that they require some preliminary preparation. To ensure that it is at the right temperature and prepared to cook the ideal steak, your grill will as well. Before you begin, get ready and learn how to avoid the most common grilling mistakes.
Next, ensure that your steak cuts are at room temperature before grilling them. By doing this, you can achieve a more even cook and get the inside to the desired doneness without charring the outside.
Then, oil and heat your grill, making sure the grates are greased so the steaks can turn without getting stuck. To get the amazing sear you want on your steaks, turn the grill to high heat and let it warm up first.
The length of time needed to cook steak on the grill will largely depend on how thick the meat is. You can grill both thin and thick cuts just fine, but you’ll need to adjust the cooking times to get the desired doneness, which is again a personal preference.
Use a meat thermometer for thick steak cuts and a timer for thin as a good general rule. A timer can assist in getting an accurate temperature reading from a steak that is 34 of an inch thick or less. However, a meat thermometer can provide you with a more accurate indication of your steak’s level of doneness to ensure it’s done right.
Depending on thickness, you should grill your steak for 4 to 6 minutes on each side for a medium-rare doneness. Aim for closer to 5 to 8 minutes on each side for medium cooks. However, starting with the shorter grilling steak time and then checking with your finger to see if it might need a little more time is always preferable to letting it cook for a few extra minutes. If necessary, you can always cook something a little longer, but you can never regain the tenderness that comes from overcooking.
A medium-rare steak will slightly spring back when you touch the center of it, but it will still feel squishy. A medium cook will be more springy than squishy. If all else fails, you can always slit your steak in the middle to check the color, but this should only be done as a last resort.
Making use of the finger and palm trick is a preferable choice. Put your middle finger’s tip on the end of your thumb. Prick the fleshy area of your palm beneath your thumb with the index finger of the other hand. Your medium-rare steak should feel like this (a medium steak will feel like the fleshy part of your thumb when you touch your ring finger to it).