How to grill steak for the best taste and texture, no matter the cut

So if you want to splurge, it is essential to learn the best approach to grilling – the keys to a steak that melts in your mouth, with a tasty and crispy exterior.

Before you go to the store to select your meat – and certainly before you fire up your grill – take a moment to brush up on the best cuts, the best methods, and the myths that could stand between you and your best steak.

Whether you’re working with charcoal or a gas flame, you should make sure to remove excess build-up on the grates of your grill – ideally after grilling, so you don’t have to deal with it the next time you want to cook over a flame open .

If you are using a gas grill and need to clean it before cooking, turn the heat up to high for 15 minutes with the lid closed, then turn off the gas and open the lid. A few passes with a grill brush or aluminum foil rolled between a pair of tongs should do the trick and get rid of any unwanted food particles and grease.

If you are using a charcoal grill, be sure to clean the ash catcher and cool the charcoal before lighting it. Later, with all the air vents open, preheat the grill for about 15 minutes, until it reaches a temperature of about 450 degrees, then use a grill brush or tongs and aluminum foil to clean.

First: the meat itself. No matter the flavors you have planned for your seasoning or marinade, they must involve salt, which can also have a tenderizing effect on steak and other proteins when applied in advance. So you may want to salt your steak a day in advance and let it rest in the fridge; in this case, less salt will go a longer way. Or you can salt just before you put it on the grill. In “The Food Lab”, chef and food writer J. Kenji López-Alt suggests salting meat more than 40 minutes or less than three minutes before cooking. Anything in between, they warn, will leave too much moisture on the surface and reduce the chances of getting the sear you’re looking for with a grilled steak.

There are many great premade marinades and seasoning mixes available, and you should feel free to get creative with the spices you have on hand. If you want to lean on a recipe, consider a marinade with brown sugar or red wine and herb-infused oil. Or go heavy on the cracked pepper. Or try apricot preserves.

And whether you marinate or season hours in advance or just before grilling, be sure to pat dry your steak just before it’s time to grill. That keeps steam from forming when the meat hits the hot grill and makes a better crust.

Conventional wisdom says that a steak should be at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes (or more), to slowly approach the temperature at which you serve it, thus promoting a more even cooking.

Steven Raichlen, a cookbook author, TV host and grilling expert, said he takes his steaks straight from the fridge to the grill. He even worries about the slim chance of encouraging bacteria growth, and said it’s a myth that steaks should sit at room temperature before cooking. (At Serious EatsLópez-Alt conducted an experiment that confirmed Raichlen’s approach: he left a steak on the counter in his 70-degree kitchen for 20 minutes, and the temperature in the center of his steak rose less than 2 degrees.)

For the belly cuts – these are thinner options, like the flank, the skirt, the flap and the hanger – preheat your grill to between 450 and 550 degrees. The final cooking time will depend on many factors (the exact temperature of the grill, the thickness of the steak, your desired doneness), but for a medium-rare belly cut, aim for about 10 to 12 minutes. You can flip the meat once, after about five minutes, but Raichlen recommends more frequent flipping. He said he recently started searing steaks three, four or even five times to get a better crust without burning the meat.

If you like the look of criss-cross grill marks, turn your steak 90 degrees between flips. And be sure to keep the heat high and the grill top open all the way; There is no need to worry about losing heat with these thinner cuts, because you rely on a high and direct flame to cook. Plus, leaving the lid open allows you to turn the steaks more frequently and keep a close eye on the speed of the cooking.

As for cooking: Use an instant-read thermometer, and always pull your steak when it’s eight to 10 degrees cooler than your desired final temperature, regardless of the cut. (A medium-rare steak will register at 135 degrees, medium at 145 and medium-well at 150.) Don’t worry about piercing your meat with a thermometer or even a fork. This won’t dry out your steak, Raichlen said.

With the cuts of the belly, there is a caveat: Sometimes they are thin enough that it is difficult to get an accurate temperature reading from the center. In this case, try it finger test, which compares the firmness of the steak to the meat under your thumb. Touch the tips of the middle finger and thumb of one hand together. With the other hand, press the flesh under where your thumb meets the palm. This is how a medium-rare steak should feel.

After your steak has rested for about 10 minutes, slice it, making sure to cut against the grain, which will make the meat easier to chew.

Prime cuts, such as New York strip, rib-eye, and T-bone, are typically more than an inch thick. They’re also often more expensive, Raichlen said, and “inherently tender,” and grilling them poses a unique challenge: It can be difficult to cook noble cuts to your desired internal temperature without burning the outside.

Instead of focusing on searing, your best bet is to turn your grill into a kind of convection oven and cook the steaks, to begin with, over indirect heat.

Start by preheating your grill to between 250 and 300 degrees. Any hotter, and you’re at risk of overcooking. Place your steaks on the grill and close the lid, which will trap the hot air and cause it to circulate, helping the steak to cook evenly. This will prevent you from ending up with a steak that is undercooked in the center and burnt on the outside.

Cook the steaks until they reach an internal temperature of 100 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. The time for this will depend on the thickness of the meat, but it should be in the ballpark of 25 minutes. Next, take the steaks off the grill and let them rest for 10 minutes while you turn the grill heat up to high, between 450 and 550 degrees. Then drag the steaks back on the grill and fry, flipping at least once, until the outside is dark brown, with a black crust in spots, and the internal temperature lands where you want for your preferred level of doneness. This should take about five to six minutes for a medium-rare steak.

There is another opposite method that is easy to try if you work on a gas grill with multiple burners: the “sear and slide” technique. (It is possible to sear and slide in a charcoal grill, too, but the installation is a little more complicated.) Start by placing one side of your grill at high heat and the other at medium/low. Place your steaks on the hot side, frying like a cut of belly, until you get the level of crust you want. Aim for about a minute per side. At that point, check the internal temperature to get a reference point, then slide the steaks onto the medium/low side of the grill (at which point you can turn off the flame on the hot side). Cook, flipping occasionally, until they have reached the internal temperature you are looking for.