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Help Dad Perfect His Grill Skills this Season
Special to The Truth
The seasoned griller
commands an arsenal of experience and recipes, all having
been painstakingly passed through the generations and
perfected over time and temperature. The origin of these
tasty traditions usually can be found in family, and the one
often deserving the credit is dear old Dad.
Southern grilling guru
Fred Thompson, author of the new book Williams-Sonoma
Grill Master a collection of back-to-basics tips and
recipes, recalls the influence of his father as early as
nine years old. “Every Saturday night my father grilled
rib-eye steaks. I wanted to keep up with daddy so I hung
out at the grill,” he says. “I was fascinated with what my
father could do.”
This BBQ season, honor
delicious tradition and light that fire!
Take a page out of
Thompson’s book and learn the secrets to grilling the
perfect steak:
• Buy good meat: Grass-fed
and grass-finished beef tastes better and has a bolder
flavor that holds up particularly well against the lick of
the grill’s flames.
• Simple seasoning:
Sprinkle steak liberally on both sides with salt and pepper
when you take it out of the refrigerator. Brush steaks on
both sides with a little olive oil (not extra virgin). This
facilitates the heat transfer, so you can get an evenly
browned crust and a delicious steak house flavor.
• Timing is important:
There’s nothing worse than a rubbery, tasteless overcooked
steak. Professionals use touch to gauge doneness, and so can
you. Touch your index finger to your cheek. When the meat
feels this way, the steak is rare. Touch the tip of your
nose. That firmness equates to medium. Your forehead is well
done. “But please don’t go there,” says Thompson.
• Let it rest: If you cut
into a piece of beef as soon as it comes off the grill, you
will lose precious juices. Give the proteins in the steak
the opportunity to unwind a little bit from the heat they
have just experienced. Let most steaks rest at least five to
10 minutes to give the juices time to redistribute evenly
throughout the meat.
• Goes great with: Skip
the steak sauce. A pat of plain or compound butter is the
perfect finish.
Even experienced grillers
need new tips, tools and tricks to perfect their steaks,
ribs and dry rub techniques. Consider gifting dad or the
grill master in your life a successful grilling season with
“Grill Master.” Grill tips, BBQ recipes and information
about the book can be found at www.WeldonOwen.com.
“There’s a mystique that
happens with smoke and flame that you just can’t get any way
else, and it’s pretty simple to create,” says Thompson.
Courtesy StatePoint
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