Who doesn’t love steaks? They are probably one of the most sumptuous foods out there. Whenever you smell it while cooking, it just makes you hungrier. Taking the first bite is very satisfying as your wait is finally over, and you’ll be able to eat deliciously cooked steak.
A Pellet grill is a very common tool for cooking steaks. It makes the steak more delicious, so many homeowners buy one. They can cook their steak with their pellet searing grills and enjoy cooking the meat.
The most challenging part of cooking steak is the process itself. Many people are confused about whether they should flip their steak on a pellet grill or not. Some even wonder when to flip it or if there’s an actual effect on the steak. The simplest answer is yes, we need to flip steaks, but that depends on certain elements.
In this article, we’ll answer all these questions and help you cook better, more delicious steaks.
When To Flip Steaks?
When cooking steaks, one thing affects the entire process – the temperature. Remember that smoking the meat slowly doesn’t require you to flip the meat on a pellet grill. For instance, if you’re grilling ribs or brisket at around 225ºF, leaving it steady on the grill will do excellently.
On the other hand, meat that is cooked at a high temperature on your pellet grill needs flipping. If you’re planning to serve burgers, you need to set the temperature to 450ºF, which is high and will require you to flip the meat.
One of the most common indirect cooking techniques is smoking meat with the temperature set to low. This allows the air around the meat to cook it. If you choose to flip the meat, the effect is almost nothing at all – as if there’s no change. If you flip it often, you’ll only tire yourself and, in fact, could destroy the flavor. Imagine a world without flavor; that’s how it’s going to taste like.
When Smoking low in low Temperatures, Don’t Flip it!
Smoke is one of the cooking techniques used by many steak lovers. This means they set the temperature low for long hours to smoke the meat. The process is straightforward. You just need to make sure that there’s enough power on your pellet grill and that its hopper has enough pellets to last the entire process.
As mentioned above, there’s just a little effect on steaks that are cooked slowly. This means it’s totally fine to leave it until it’s fully cooked. You can let your pork shoulder or brisket sit in your pellet grill for long hours or until it’s ready.
You can add a spritz of apple cider vinegar to the pork shoulder in between the cooking process to retain its moisture. All other techniques can be done to keep your steak juicy and put additional flavor, but one thing is for sure, there’s no need to flip it.
Flip the Steak When Cooking in High Temperatures
People usually have an image where if the temperature is high, the cooking process will be faster, or the food can easily get burned. We can’t deny this fact because it’s possible for both of them to happen. Yet again, this depends on the type of meat and what you’re trying to achieve.
When cooking burgers, you need a high temperature, but that doesn’t mean the inside will still be raw. Since it’s set on high, you need to flip it regularly to ensure that it won’t get burned or overcooked.
This is similar to when searing steaks; you need to set your pellet grill’s temperature to 450ºF and flip it often. Otherwise, you’ll burn the meat quickly.
The heat from the pellet grill is in the bottom part and produces smoke that goes up to the meat. The wood pellets are burned in that area, creating heat and smoke. This means that the meat facing down will cook much faster.
This is different when cooking slowly as the low heat slowly gets through the meat, allowing the air to cook the meat on all sides. So when searing steak or cooking burgers or any other meat that requires high temperature, don’t hesitate to flip it.
When Searing Your Steak, Flip It!
Searing is a process where you add a layer of flavor to your steak. For beginners, it may look like it’s burned. However, the outside gets its dark color because of the added flavor. Contrary to what many believe, searing makes your steak more delicious.
This process requires high temperatures and continuous monitoring and flipping. Yes, you need to flip your steak when searing, even with any other meat, unless you are cooking low and slow. So when you sear, grab your slippers and flip your steak when searing.