Summer Grilling with Chef Phil

Summer is in full swing and so are the grills at Charlie Brown’s Steakhouse, the classic steakhouse known for its USDA Choice Steaks, Prime Rib, and Unlimited Farmer’s Market Salad Bar™.

Ready to get your own backyard grill fired up? Executive Chef Philip Butler has created the formula for a perfectly cooked steak you can enjoy at all 49 Charlie Brown’s Steakhouse locations. Check out his personal grilling tips for preparing the ultimate steak.

Chef Phil’s Seven Tips to Grilling the Perfect Steak:

• Start-up: Charcoal is the key to flavor, use a chimney style starter with newspaper or an electric starter. No lighter fuel, save that for the car! Chef Phil prefers the chunks over briquettes as they are cleaner and generate more heat.
• Even-it-up: Once all the coals turn white, slightly spread them out. The more spread out, the more even and less focused the heat will be.
• Soak-it-up: Marinating meats is very important especially if grilling leaner meats such as chicken, sirloins and flank steak. Use reduced sodium soy sauce for marinades, as this allows you to increase the marinating time without pickling the meat with too much salt.  Reduced sodium soy sauce does not burn on the grill as much as standard soy sauce.  Vegetables do better with oil-based marinades as they help to retain moisture during the cooking process.
• Char-it-up: Turn the steak over only once as continuous flipping will cause the meat to lose some of its juices and flavors. To get those perfect diamond-grill marks, turn the steak 90 degrees to create this effect.
• Sauce-it-up: Char the meat/vegetables on one side, flip and glaze, close the lid on the grill trapping heat to allow the glaze to stick. Then open the vents to increase the temperature.
• Clean-up: While the grill is still hot, brush the grill grates with a straight bristle steel brush. Chef Phil recommends buying a new brush every season.
• Cool-down and Shovel-it-up: Once the grill is cooled down and there are no burning embers in the spent charcoal bed, remove all ash. Repeat this process every time you use the grill as the ash will choke a hot fire out.

Happy grilling!

For more information, please visit www.charliebrowns.com.