How to cook steak on the BBQ comes down to five moves: preheat hard, salt and oil the steak, sear it over direct heat, finish it over gentler heat, then rest it.
That method works on a hooded gas BBQ, a flat plate and a charcoal kettle. Only the set-up changes.
With summer and a Christmas BBQ menu ahead, this guide covers each set-up and the temperatures that tell you a steak is ready.
Cut choice gets one short section.
How to Cook Steak on the BBQ, Step by Step
The best way to cook steak on the barbecue is a hot sear over direct heat followed by a gentler finish, checked with a thermometer.
- Preheat the BBQ with the hood down until very hot.
- Pat the steak dry and season it, salting your steak well ahead or just before cooking.
- Oil the steak, not the grill.
- Sear over high direct heat, turning when the steak releases easily.
- Move it to the cooler zone if the outside is ready before the centre.
- Check the centre and take it off 3 to 5C below your target.
- Rest it for 3 to 5 minutes before slicing.
So do you barbecue steak on high heat? Yes for the sear, which builds colour and flavour fast, but not necessarily for the whole cook. Whether you call it barbecuing or learning how to grill steak, the principle is the same: high heat for the crust, gentler heat for the centre.
Choosing a Steak for the BBQ
Choose steaks 2.5 to 4cm thick, so the outside can char before the centre overcooks. Scotch fillet, porterhouse, rump and bone-in ribeye all suit the grill, and the best steak for a BBQ comes down to budget, marbling and the crowd.
How to Cook Steak on a Gas BBQ
On a gas BBQ, set up two zones, with the burners on high on one side and on low or off on the other, so you can sear hot and finish gently.
Preheat with the hood down until the grill bars are properly hot, then brush them clean with a grill brush. Hot bars give the steak defined char lines and a smoky edge from the fat dripping onto the burners below.
The hood is your oven. Closing it traps heat, which helps thicker steaks cook through on the cooler side, while thinner steaks are usually seared hood up so they do not overshoot.
Do not trust the lid thermometer for steak. It reads the air under the hood, not the grill bars or the meat, so a probe in the centre of the steak is the only reading that matters.
Thick, marbled cuts need the cooler side most. Bone-in Wagyu ribeye steaks, 350g to 450g each and individually vacuum sealed, are best seared over the hot zone and finished on the low side, where dripping fat is less likely to flare.
How to Cook Steak on a Flat Plate
A flat plate gives the steak full contact with the heat, so it builds an even crust across the whole surface with fewer flare-ups than open grill bars.
Preheat the plate until it is very hot, then oil the steak rather than the plate, which keeps smoking to a minimum. Lay the steak down and leave it alone until a deep crust forms and it lifts cleanly from the steel.
Fatty cuts suit the plate, because the fat collects on the steel instead of dripping onto a flame. To cook porterhouse steak well, stand it on its fat edge with tongs first so the fat renders and crisps.
Most plates run hotter over the burners and cooler at the edges, so use that cooler edge to finish thicker steaks. Scrape the plate between batches, as burnt bits left behind stick to the next steak and taste bitter.
For a richer finish, add a knob of butter, a crushed garlic clove and a sprig of thyme on the cooler edge near the end, and spoon the foaming butter over the steak as it finishes.
How to Cook Steak on a Charcoal BBQ
On a charcoal BBQ, light the coals in a chimney starter, bank them to one side once they are covered in grey ash, sear over the coals, then finish on the cooler side with the lid on.
A chimney starter gets the coals going quickly and evenly, without lighter fluid. They are ready to cook over once a coat of grey ash covers them.
Banking the coals to one side gives you the same two zones as a gas BBQ: fierce direct heat over the coals and gentler indirect heat beside them. Open the bottom and lid vents fully for the sear, since more air means hotter coals.
Once the steak has colour on both sides, move it to the cool side, put the lid on and let it finish to temperature. Charcoal also gives the steak a deeper, smokier flavour than gas.
Steaks of 4cm or more can be started on the cool side and seared at the end, a method known as the reverse sear. That same indirect zone is how smoked picanha on a kettle cooks low and slow.
How Long to Cook Steak on the BBQ
How long to cook steak on the BBQ depends on its thickness, the doneness you want and how hot the grill runs, so let a thermometer, not the clock, decide when it comes off.
Grill bars, a flat plate and charcoal each run at a different heat, so the same steak cooks at a different pace on each. Rather than counting minutes, sear until the steak releases, move thicker cuts to the cooler zone and probe the centre.
| Doneness | Take it off at about | Final temperature after resting |
|---|---|---|
| Rare | 52C | 55 to 60C |
| Medium rare | 57C | 60 to 63C |
| Medium | 62C | 65 to 70C |
| Well done | 71C | 75C |
These are the Cost Cut Meats final doneness temperatures after a 3 to 5 minute rest, with the steak taken off 3 to 5C early because it keeps rising as it rests.
The Food Safety Information Council recommends cooking whole cuts to at least 63C with a 3 minute rest, and its own guide lists medium rare at 63C, medium at 71C and well done at 77C, higher than the eating scale above.
The barbecue advice from Food Standards Australia New Zealand is to use separate equipment for raw and cooked meat, never put cooked meat back on a tray that held raw meat, and cook sausages, hamburgers and chicken to 75C.
Conclusion
Whichever BBQ you own, the method holds: preheat hard, sear over direct heat, finish gently and check the centre.
Rest every steak for a few minutes, then slice across the grain.
Cutting thick scotch fillet steaks from a whole cube roll gives you BBQ steaks at exactly the thickness you want.
