To Make A Better-Tasting Steak, Use Ina Garten's Grilling Hack

Ina Garten is a trusted friend to her many fans, since she makes it so much easier to put tempting and tasty meals on the table. She's shared how to make a classic roast chicken, one of the dishes Ina Garten's known for, which is stuffed with aromatics. And Ina Garten's simpler way to cook beef short ribs is another of her ultimate main course recipes. Now, the Barefoot Contessa is giving the lowdown on grilling perfect steaks — and just like Miami real estate, it's all about location and heat.

Garten showed in a recent Instagram video that the secret to grilling steak just right every time is cooking it over both direct and indirect heat. Fire up the grill and move all the coals to one half of it. (For a gas grill, turn on the burners just on one side.) Put 1 ½-inch thick steaks directly over the coals and cook for exactly two minutes on each side of the meat — Garten uses a timer — then move them to the half of the grill without coals. Cover the grill, and leave them eight more minutes for rare, or 10 minutes for medium. Take them off and wrap the plate in foil, allowing them to rest for 10 minutes before digging in.

Garten learned the hack from Mark Lobel of renowned NYC butcher shop Lobel's, who also gave her the dry rub recipe she likes to use. She admitted to previously being intimidated by grilling steaks because she was afraid they'd overcook, and since we know the Contessa buys quality, it would be very good steaks ruined.

The technique Ina Garten described is called two-zone grilling, which is having one side of the grill with direct heat from the flames below, and the other side with indirect heat that doesn't have fire under it. The goal is to sear the steak with the direct heat, then let the inside cook to where you want it over gentler indirect heat without having to worry about it being overdone. This method is meant for thicker cuts of meat; thinner steaks will cook inside quickly enough over direct heat. Garten uses New York strip steaks — one of the best cuts of steak for grilling.

Two-zone grilling can also be used for reverse searing, which is basically the opposite of what Garten did — but with the same goal. The steaks are put over the indirect heat side of the grill first, then moved to the direct heat over the flames near the end to develop a flavorful sear and do the last bit of cooking.

The other important component to Garten's steaks (along with avoiding the mistakes everyone makes when grilling steak, of course) is the dry rub recipe from butcher Mark Lobel. It's made with brown sugar, coffee, chipotle chili powder, granulated garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. The steaks are rubbed with olive oil and sprinkled all over with the spice blend, then refrigerated for at least two hours before hitting the grill. Now that you know Ina's perfect steak formula, try it yourself during summer grilling season.