Steaks taste best when cooked on the barbecue (BBQ). The fat drips away, it gets seared by the flames and it just results in the most delicious taste – when done right. Read these simple times and you will know how to BBQ the perfect steak every time.

Choose a good steak

Not everyone likes the same kind of steak. My favourite is scotch fillet, you might prefer eye fillet, rib eye or T bone. One thing typically to look for is ‘marbling’ where there is swirls of fat throughout the meat. This fine fat melts while on the BBQ creating a juicy and flavoursome steak.

Properly prepare

  1. Take your steak out of the fridge half an hour before cooking to allow it to warm to room temperature
  2. Pat dry any moisture with a paper towel
  3. Season with salt and pepper to taste
  4. Heat up your BBQ on high heat


  1. Place your steak on the grill and start timing, if you have a lid to your BBQ lower it down
  2. After two minutes flip your steak over
  3. After four minutes flip your steak back over but rotate it 90° so that the BBQ lines now cross
  4. After six minutes flip back over creating the crossed pattern on the first side
  5. After eight minutes remove from the BBQ grill
  6. Rest for five minutes and you are ready to serve and enjoy

Note, cooking times are based off an average to thick steak size and are aimed at providing a medium-rare degree of cooking. Speed up the process if you are looking to achieve a rarer steak. Try to discourage people from wanting their steak medium or well-done as this just dries the meat out and makes it chewier.

If you have a cooking thermometer you are looking for approximately 60-65°C internal temperature for medium-rare. But unless you have a particularly thick steak it is much easier to time your cooking rather than measure temperature.

Tip: Be aware of how fatty your meat is and your BBQ. If you are getting flame ups or burning your steak reduce your heat. Often I will start on high heat for the first 30 seconds to lightly charr my steak then reduce it to medium heat. Small flame-ups that lightly charr your steak add to the BBQ taste, but you don’t want to serve a burnt or black steak.



Tags: , ,

Comments are closed.