Can You Cut A Steak In Half Before Grilling?

Can You Cut A Steak In Half Before Grilling?

Grilling steak is not as complicated as people normally perceive it to be, as long as you’re well informed on how to spice it up and the perfect amount of time to leave it on a grill, you’ll definitely have an amazing grilled steak. But is it a good idea to cut your steak in half before grilling? 

Yes, you can cut a steak in half before grilling, this is an amazing technique to adopt because it ensures that you end up with tender, juicy, and perfectly spiced steak. As long as you cut it right, you’ll enjoy an amazing steak.

It’s exhilarating to know that if you’re craving some homemade steak and you have the ingredients and steak available as well as a grill, you can have a perfectly grilled steak ready in less than an hour- thirty minutes to be precise. This promises a relaxing day outdoor if you see the need.

Having tender, juicy, and well-spiced steak is the dream, and it’s a breeze to achieve this with high-quality steak and the right instructions being followed. However, can you cut your steak in half without anything going wrong?

Steak Explained

A steak is a type of high-quality beef that is known for its thick, fleshy, and muscle-filled feel.

Steak is usually firm and could be cut from meat or fish in a thick and perpendicular way towards the muscle or spine of the fish or meat. Steak is usually boneless and filled completely with meaty flesh.

Steak is also known as red meat and its lack of bones makes it much easier to quickly cook it over high heat.

Roasted meat on the gas grill on barbecue grill outdoor in the backyard, grilled steak meat
Image: Envato Elements

Can You Cut A Steak In Half Before Grilling? 

Grilling steak is one of the best days to go ahead and treat yourself, whether you’re a professional when it comes to grilling steak or you just do it once in a while when you feel like a high-end meal is due, you should get familiar with a few ropes to make the best out of the experience.

A recurring characteristic of steak meat is its thick fleshy feel that makes it tricky for a grill to easily reach every end of the meat, this could also make adding spices uneven if you’re not a pro with spicing huge pieces of steak.

This is one of the reasons why some persons would rather opt for cutting their steak before grilling, you’re probably wondering if this is a reasonable option and how your steak would turn out afterward, well it is!

Cutting your steak before grilling is indeed a wonderful idea because this allows your steal grill faster and it is well cooked because all parts of the steak are penetrated by the heat from the grill.

Cutting your steak in half before cooking is also a great way to get spices into every corner of your steak. A well-spiced steak is an entire point of attempting homemade steak, you can spice it up as you would prefer to, and cutting it half first makes the job of spicing steak easier and more effective.

When you cut steak before grilling it, you are ensuring that there are fewer muscle fibers in the end product and this makes chewing the steak easier and more enjoyable.

How To Cut Steak In Half Before Grilling

It’s one thing to be made aware of the fact that you can cut your steak before grilling instead of waiting till it is ready to cut it in half, and it’s another thing to know just the right way to cut your steak in half before cooking.

Below are some simple steps to follow while cutting your steak in half before cooking ; 

1. Defrost your steak

Get your steak out of the freezer and defrost it by keeping it sitting at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour, depending on how frozen it was before you took it out. Never attempt to cut your steak in half before it defrosts completely as you could ruin it.

2. Get a sharpened steak knife

You should not just use any knife you come across in the kitchen, a dull knife will have you stuck in different parts of the steak while cutting through and it would take a long to get the job done. This is why you should ensure that you get a sharpened steak knife for the job.

Can You Cut A Steak In Half Before Grilling?
Image: @vladyslav.levin via Twenty20

3. Locate the grain and cut against it

It is very important to cut against the grain of the steak to avoid spilling the juices in your steak or ruining its shape.

Cutting against the gain also ensures that you get the tender and juicy steak you were initially craving. The grain can be located by taking note of the pattern in which the connective tissues are pointing and cutting against it, instead of along it.

Frequently Asked Questions 

Can you cut the steak into strips before cooking?

While cutting your steak in half before cooking is a great idea, cutting them into strips is not advisable. It is best to cut your steak into strips after you have finished cooking or grilling them, doing it before grilling or cooking defeats the entire idea of a steak being cooked while thick and fleshy. Cutting your steak into strips and not cooking it immediately could also make it discolored and lose flavor.

Should you stab a steak before grilling?

No, you should not stab your steak before you grill it. Some people believe that stabbing your steak is a way to make it tender and allow spices to penetrate better, but instead, all the delicious juices are lost in the process of stabbing your steak.

How long do you let a steak sit out before grilling?

You should let your frozen or cold steak sit for about half an hour before you proceed to season it and place it on a grill.

Summary

When there’s steak at a table, we all know that automatically makes it a fancy dinner.

However, you can not always waltz into a restaurant all dressed up when you feel the need to eat some good steak. That’s why there’s an option of grilling your steak at home, as long as you follow the right steps and prep your stick correctly, you’ll end up with amazing grilled steak in less than an hour.

While you’re figuring out what to do right when grilling steak at home, if you ever wonder whether cutting up your steak before grilling is a good idea, then the answer is Yes!

Cutting your steak in half before grilling gives you juicy, tender, and perfectly grilled steak.

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