Filet of Beef Cooked Medium #6

We all love a good steak.  There are many different cuts of steak.  Each cut has its own fat percentage, tenderness, and price.  Most of us prefer and tender cut of steak grilled to our liking. I prefer a grilled filet mignon. It’s cut from the tenderloin of the cow and is usually the most expensive cut per ounce.  This essay will help you grill the perfect filet mignon that your friends will go crazy for.  Picking the right steak, prepping your steak and grill, grilling the filet, and resting the meat once cooked are all important steps in grilling the best filet mignon.

Picking the Steak:

Picking a quality cut of meat is crucial to grilling the perfect steak.  When shopping for a cut, you will want to consider the grade of the beef. The US grades are prime, choice, and select.  For cooking this steak you will want a choice cut. Prime cuts are hard to find in super markets and select cuts are the lowest quality.  The age of the meat, and the marbling of fat throughout the meat determine the majority of the grade.  Marbling refers to the fat running through the meat. High marbling will result is a more tender cut.  Finally make your selection. Remember to consider high grade and good marbling in your selection.

Prepping for the grill:

We now have a good cut ready to begin the prepping process. You will want to allow yourself a good amount of time for this step.  For best results you will want to let the filet sit at room temperature 45 minutes prior to cooking. This step helps the meat cook evenly on the grill.  Without this step, we might overcook the outside while undercooking the inside. During the sitting time you can sit and watch a football game, prep another entrée, or sit back with a cold drink.  If you are using a charcoal barbeque, be sure to allow time for coals to heat before cooking.  Our steak has now been sitting long enough, and our barbeques should be at a high heat. We are almost ready for the grill, but before we are ready, we must season our steaks.  The best seasoning for a steak is salt and pepper. Other spices may hide the steak’s natural flavor. When seasoning, be sure to generously season both sides while massaging the salt and pepper into the meat.  It’s very important to season our meat moments before cooking.  If we season too early, we run the risk of dehydrating our steak.

Grilling:

Once our meat is nicely seasoned and our grill is nice and hot, our steak is ready for the grill (for those pretty grill marks, rub the grill with vegetable oil prior to cooking).  Gently set the steak on the grill. After about three minutes, gently give the steak a 90° turn.  After another 2-3 minutes, our steak is ready to flip.  It’s important to be gentle when cooking meat. If we are rough with the steak, we can squeeze out a lot of the juices.  Once flipped, do to this side as you did to the other side.  After 6 minutes on both sides, our steak should be a nice medium temperature (pink center, no red). 

Resting:

Resting our steak can make or break this meal.  No matter what cut of beef we are cooking with, we should always let the meat rest at room temperature for five minutes before cutting into it. Resting the meat allows the hot juices inside to calm down and set throughout the meat. If you skip this step, your steak will lack flavor and juiciness.

If you have successfully completed these four major steps, you should sit down and enjoy your steak.