Grilling 101

Before you grill, visit our Grill-At-Home Store and buy perfectly aged Certified Angus Beef® steaks. For a tender steak, choose our filets. For rich, juicy flavor, choose our house speciality, the New York Strip. For the richest steak flavor, the Cowboy and Tomahawk cannot be beat. And, for the best of both worlds, try our Texas T-Bones and Porterhouses, which are half filet, half strip.

Here at the Taste of Texas, we are quite partial to the simplicity of grilled steaks served sizzling with garlic butter. While it sounds easy, there is an art to grilling and serving the perfect steak. There are several things to consider before purchasing your dinner.

We've found four components of a great steak - marbling, trim, aging, and preparation. Account for all four and we guarantee it will be love at first bite.

Marbling refers to the white flecks of fat interspersed throughout the beef. Marbling contributes greatly to a steak's flavor, juiciness and tenderness, and is the major factor in the USDA grading system. Higher quality beef has more marbling.

Trim refers to the cut of steak. A well-trimmed steak will have the proper amount of fat for cooking that particular cut of meat, and will have all gristle trimmed away for you. We very closely monitor the trim of our steaks, resulting in a consistently great experience every time.

Aging: Beef is aged to release its full flavor and to develop tenderness. Our steaks are aged in a state of the art system for 40+ days, fully two weeks longer than our competitors.

Salt Your Steaks: An hour before grilling, remove the steaks from the refrigerator, season with a salt-based rub and leave out to slowly rise in temperature. Salt will help flavor the meat and retain the natural juices during grilling. However, salting more than an hour in advance will toughen the meat.

Clean Your Grill: Light the grill to high, close the cover and burn off any residue remaining on your grill grates. With a stiff wire brush, thoroughly clean the grates.

Build Your Fire: If you are using charcoals (we love hardwood charcoals) pile the lit and ready coals on one side of your grill. If you are using a gas grill, turn one side to high or medium-high and the other to medium-low. Have two temperature sections of the grill will allow you to achieve a browned crust and slowly bring the steaks up to temperature.

Oil Your Grill Grates: Using an oil-soaked rag or heavy duty cooking spray, generously oil the grates of your grill. This will prevent sticking and aide in browning.

Make Cross Hatches: Place the steaks directly over a high or medium-high flame for two minutes. Flip to the other side for two minutes. This should produce noticeable grill marks and a browned crust. After two minutes of high heat for each side, rotate the steaks 90 degrees and move to the cooler section of the grill to slowly come up to the desired internal temperature.

Check for Doneness: The grill cooks at the restaurant know the doneness of a steak by its feel, but the only fool-proof method is to take the internal temperature using a meat thermometer. Below is a chart of temperatures and corresponding doneness. (Be sure to take the temp in the thickest part of the steak).

Temperature Doneness
A 125°-130° Rare
B 130°-135° Medium Rare
C 135°-140° Medium
D 140°-150° Medium Well
E 155°+ Well