Flipping Meat

[Casey1505]

When barbequeing beef products (steak, ribs, burgers), I have always held the belief that the meat gets turned one time and one time only. I was told one time that it holds the flavor and juices in better. I have no proof or evidence that this is indeed true, but I will do my best to avoid flipping a second time. Maybe it’s a habit, or a superstition, or an OCD.

Any thoughts (on the “flip once” thread, not the possible OCD thread )? Thanks

[lieu]

Every time you flip, you pour off the liquids that had accumulated on top. I heartily agree with the flip once policy and wish more steaks would adopt it.

[Zenpea]

Can you get double sided barbeques, I wonder?? Then you wouldn’t have to flip at all… Maximum juice containment, minimum fuss, reduces the cooking time.

Of course, gravity and thermodynamics might need to be ‘amended’…

-James

[Dante]

From The Home Association

1. Flip Early, Flip Often. This is the big shocker. It was hard to imagine doing this at first, and when I told people, they thought I was crazy. Think about it this way: you want a juicy steak, right? Or juicy chicken, or hamburgers, or whatever. The juice is nothing more than the blood in the meat. When you put the meat on the grill, there is more heat below the meat than above. The heat forces the liquid up, through the meat. Ever see a big pool of liquid on top of the steak when you lift the cover off the grill? It’s been on too long. You don’t want it to come out of the steak, you want it to stay in the steak. So you flip every four or five minutes. Sometimes I flip every two or three, depending on what else I’m doing. Flip it before any liquid has a chance to escape out of the top. Repeat often. Flip, flip, flip. It really works. And if you think this takes a lot of time and concentration, you’re right. There’s time enough for socializing later. Do you want to grill an excellent steak or not? Okay, then. Concentrate.

From the California BBQ Association

The steak will “grab” the grill when it is first put on – as the carmelization begins, the cooking juices will stick to the grill – but when the grill “releases” the steak (after a minute or two – but use the “release” test, not the clock), then flip it. Continue to flip the steak after the grill releases it for a number of times, depending on the thickness of the steak and how rare they should be. When done, the steak will have a deep brown, carmelized color, with darker brown stripes from the grill, but it will not be charred or blackened.

From various posters on That Home Site, there’s
this. More than you ever wanted to know…

[Ringo]

I’ve always been of the flip once school, when you see the first blood spots appear on top.

Dante’s “Flip Early, Flip Often” cite contains the following:

So you flip every four or five minutes.

Frankly, that would amount to flip once for me. How long are you going to leave a steak on the grill, anyway?

[Casey1505]

Rare to medium rare.

Might as well bake it after that…