Grill a Perfect Steak for Your 4th of July Barbecue

Ask any red-blooded American the best way to grill a steak and they're bound to have an immediate answer for you. If you're really lucky, like million-dollar lottery winning lucky, they'll give you the right answer.

If you're like me, you've been to countless barbeques and 4^th of July celebrations where everyone was hyped about so-and-so's steaks and when that slab of meat finally landed on your plate you were sorely disappointed. It was either over-cooked, all gristle, or raw. The self-appointed chef asked you how you liked it and you lied, "Great! One of the best I've ever had." And so the lie perpetuates.

Grilling steaks for some men is the equivalent of the lady whose family has always told her what a wonderful voice she has and she believes it. As a result we all have to endure singing from people who don't realize they couldn't carry a tune in a bucket and steaks from people who have no taste buds.

There's not much hope for the tone-deaf, but for you guys who are starting to wonder about your grilling skills, I'm ready to share the simple secrets that will endear you to your family and friends and have your wife asking you to grill out at home instead of taking her to a high dollar steak-house.

The first step is to acquire good steaks. Bone in will get you the best flavor and tenderness for your buck. 1 � inch or slightly thicker T-Bones or porterhouses are perfect. Expect to pay about $15 or more each for decent steaks. Buy them the day you are going to grill them. Put them in the refrigerator. DO NOT freeze them and don't buy frozen steaks. When meat freezes and thaws, the tiny cellular constructs within get broken and you end up with a dry hunk of shoe leather that's had all the juice boiled out of it.

Here's big secret number one: use a charcoal kettle grill. I like Weber's classic 18 inch kettle grill. The kettle shape is designed perfectly to channel the heat evenly around the items on the grill and quick cooking at high temperature. They aren't expensive; you can still get them for less than a hundred bucks. If you're using a gas grill go read someone else's article, this is for a purist grilling audience, not some wimpy gas grill frenchie chefs.

Load that grill up with enough charcoal to cover the bottom evenly and light it up. While you're waiting for the charcoal to develop an even gray ash coating (which will mean it's time to throw the steaks on), let's prep those meat slabs with the little magic touch that the fancy chop houses don't want you to know about. Pull your steaks out of the fridge and sprinkle Lawry's seasoned salt or just plain kosher salt on both sides. Not too much, just a good one or two pinches per side. That's all you need to bring out the full flavor of your steaks. Don't go doing something stupid like smearing butter or olive oil on them. All you really need is the salt, but if you're a pepper fan, this is the perfect time to sprinkle on however much fresh ground pepper you like. If you didn't believe me and you went ahead and added some other type of seasoning, too bad. You just screwed up some perfectly good steaks and you may as well go broil them for half an hour and listen to your cousin's horrible interpretation of "Wind Beneath My Wings".

If you're still with me in this grand quest and are sticking to the script, here's what you do next: Open the lid of the grill, toss the steaks on, and close the lid. Don't waste any time and don't raise that lid again for two minutes.

Tick-tock, tick-tock.

Two minutes up? Get your spatula ready, this is no time to be fumbling around. Now, open the lid and flip those steaks over a quick as you can without screwing anything up or getting burned, then get that lid back on there fast! Good job. Now keep an eye on that watch and go two more minutes. We're talking a total time for those babies's to be on the grill of 4 minutes, not a second more or I'll be very disappointed in you. This is timed exactly for medium to medium rare 1 � inch steaks. Done? Grab a platter and a wide roll of aluminum foil. Open the lid, yank those steaks off the grill and completely cover the platter with aluminum foil, creating a nice tent over your steaming hot steaks. Let it sit four minutes while everyone grabs their plates and dresses out their baked potatoes.

Once everyone is sitting with their plate in front of them you can take the platter around and fork a steak onto each plate. You won't have to ask them how they like it. You'll know when they start slapping you on the back and asking you what you're secret is. You can smile wickedly and tell them it's an old family recipe or you can point them to this article. It's up to you whether you take the credit or give me the kudos. I'm just in it to rid the world of relatives and friends (yours or mine) who are grill-challenged.