There are dozens of great cuts of beef out there but none of them are as classic as a nice USDA Prime Ribeye steak. I love flank steaks, hanger steaks, porterhouses, and pretty much every other cut of beef but if I am really craving a steak I will almost always reach for a prime ribeye. And with Prime Day (that big Amazon shopping day) coming up I figured why not do a post on 3 Ways to Grill a Prime Ribeye.
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What is “Prime” beef?
“Prime” is one of the grades on the USDA grading scale. Nearly all the beef you find in the grocery store will be USDA Choice and there is nothing at all wrong with that but the top 5-6% of beef in the US will get that coveted Prime grade. There are grades below Choice as well. You might sometimes find Select and below that there are Commercial, Utility, Cutter, and Canner grades which are almost always relegated to processed meat products, ground beef, or animal food.
Generally speaking Prime beef will have more marbling or intermuscular fat than Choice beef. Inspectors will cut the sides of beef between the 12th and 13th rib and look at the marbling of the meat. The more fat it has mixed in with the muscle the higher the grade. There are other factors as well but that is the simple explanation anyway.
You will from time to time see some really good Choice grade meat that has more marbling than a Prime steak but most of the time a Prime steak will be more tender, have more flavor, and be a better overall steak than Choice, especially if you are talking about ribeyes.
I could write a few thousand words on all the nuances of USDA grading, grading systems in other countries, American Wagyu vs. Prime, ungraded meat, and so on but let’s keep things simple for the time being.
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These three methods to grill a prime ribeye are meant to be used on a charcoal grill but if you only have a gas grill you can adapt most of these methods to work. Just pay attention to when you want to cook over direct heat and over indirect. When you are cooking over indirect just use one burner on your grill and move your steaks to the side of the grill opposite the heat.
#1 – Reverse Seared Prime Ribeye
The reverse sear is easily my favorite way to grill a prime ribeye (or any ribeye for that matter). While you can reverse sear thin steaks I usually like a ribeye that is at least an inch and a half thick to do a proper reverse sear. Snake River Farms sells some prime ribeyes that are 1.5 inches thick. If you are buying a steak at the butcher or grocery store a 1 lb ribeye will usually be around 1.5 inches.
I really need to do an updated reverse sear post and go into a lot of the details but here is the process simplified.
First, you want to slowly bring the steaks up to temperature. On a charcoal grill you will want to light 12-15 briquettes or about half a chimney of lump charcoal and let them heat up and ash over. Make a pile of the hot coals on one side of your grill and put the meat on the other side. If you are using a kettle grill I would highly recommend getting the Slow n Sear accessory. In simple terms it is a charcoal basket on steroids. You can see it pictured above. If you want to throw a chunk or two of wood on the coals be my guest but I am not a fan of the added smoke.
To properly reverse sear you should have a good leave in probe thermometer to properly measure the temperatures of the meat and the grill. The Thermoworks Smoke X4 is my favorite and you can read a full review of the Thermoworks Smoke X4 here. You can of course cook without a thermometer but you will just be guessing at how hot the grill is and what temperature the meat is.
Your grill should be running at 225-250. Get your grill in that ballpark and then put your prime ribeyes on the side of the grill away from the coals. You might need to close down your vents a bit to keep the temperature on the grill in that range and it does take some practice to control the temperature. On a gas grill just turn on one burner and put your steaks as far away from the heat as you can.
The goal here is to bring the temperature of the steaks up to just below your desired doneness. My preference is around 120-125 but since prime ribeyes have so much marbling you can take them to 135 or even 140 and they will still be juicy. But 125 will get you in that nice medium rare range.
When the steaks hit around 70 or 80 degrees internal temperature you will want to flip them over and get some more coals going in your charcoal chimney. You do have a chimney to light your charcoal don’t you??? About 3/4 of a chimney should do the trick.
Once your steaks hit your target temperature take them off the grill and let them rest for a couple minutes on a rack. They won’t look great at this point but we will fix that with a good sear. Take your chimney of hot coals and dump them in your Slow n Sear or on top of your already lit coals. The goal here is to get a super hot heat source so you can get a good sear quickly on your steaks. If you want to pull a total baller move just throw your cooking grate on top of your chimney.
Place the steaks right over your super hot coals and flip your steak every 15-20 seconds. The goal here is to get a nice sear on your steaks without the temperature of your steaks going up too much. It might take a few flips to get the sear to your liking. My preference is a pretty crusty sear. By flipping every 15-20 seconds you should be able to avoid charring the steak which would result in a bitter flavor. I would guess it will take you about 2 minutes to get your steaks to a good sear level but this is all preference at this point.
Pull your steaks off, let them rest for about 5 minutes, and then serve. Some people like to dig in right away while the steak is hot and not bother with the rest. You will see more juice on your plate if you don’t give the steak a rest but that isn’t too much of a problem if you just let your potatoes or rice or bread or whatever soak up that juice.
The result will be a beautiful steak with edge to edge pink rather than a thick grey band of meat on the outside and then some pink in the middle.
#2 – Front Seared Prime Ribeye
Another totally valid way to grill your prime ribeye is to do a front sear. The process is similar to a reverse sear but just flipped. You start the steak over the hot coals and sear it and then move it to the cooler side of the grill to come up to temperature.
Load up your charcoal chimney and get your coals lit. Dump it in your grill and sear the steaks flipping every 15-20 seconds. Once they get some good color move them over to the side of the grill away from the coals and let them come up to your desired temperature.
There are advocates of both the reverse sear and the front sear and they both have their merits. One of the downsides I see of the front sear is you will have a super hot grill that you will have to cool down to gently cook the steak after the sear. That isn’t a deal breaker by any means though. Just close down your vents a bit after the sear and the temperature of the grill should drop fairly quickly.
A couple advantages of the front sear are: 1 – you only have to light one batch of charcoal vs doing it twice on the reverse sear and 2 – you can bring your steaks up right to your desired temperature without the danger of them getting too done during the searing process.
Play around with both the reverse sear and the front sear and see which one you like more.
#3 – The Just Keep Flipping Ribeye
The Just Keep Flipping method has been proselytized by Jess Pryles over the past couple years and it is an awesome option for grilling ribeyes.
As you might guess when using the Just Keep Flipping method you flip your steaks often throughout the whole cook. Light up some coals, dump them in your grill, and throw your steak on right over the heat. Flip the steaks every 20-30 seconds until you get a good sear on the outside and get the interior to the proper doneness. You will be greatly aided if you have a good instant read thermometer like the Thermapen to take the temperature of your steak.
I like the Just Keep Flipping method for thinner steaks that are under an inch thick. It will work for thicker steaks as well but I think this method excels with the thinner steaks.
It might take a few cooks to get a feel for how hot you need your coals, how far away from the coals you want your grill grate (if it adjustable on a grill like the Kudu Grill), how many flips you need, and so on.
With the Just Keep Flipping method you might run into some flare ups and flames if you have a nice, fatty prime ribeye but that is OK. Just move your steaks off the heat to the cool side of the grill for a few seconds and let the flare ups subside. Then throw the steak back on and flip often.
The Just Keep Flipping method is more hands on than the other two methods but that can make the cooking process a bit more enjoyable as well. And you could skip the grill all together and just throw a grate over a campfire or firepit after the wood has burned down to coals and cook right there.
Whatever method you use to grill your ribeyes make sure you start with a good cut of meat. Any ribeye will do for these methods but if you are wanting a really good steak I would recommend a prime ribeye from Snake River Farms. The flavor of the SRF steaks is a huge step above what you will get at most grocery stores. Costco sells prime steaks at most locations but I have never been impressed with the flavor of their meat. It seems a bit bland and watery compared to the steaks I have had from Snake River Farms.
So grab a nice steak and try one of these 3 ways to grill a prime ribeye.
