This is the foundation of grilling. High heat, quality beef, salt, pepper. No tricks. A New York strip is forgiving and delivers every time.
What you need
New York strip steaks, 1.25 to 1.5 inches thick. Choose steaks with good marbling. Kosher salt. Black pepper, freshly cracked. A meat thermometer. Butter and fresh thyme for basting.
Getting started
Pull your steaks out 30 minutes before grilling. They need to come to room temperature. Season them generously with salt and pepper. Don’t be shy. You need seasoning to get that crust.
Get your grill screaming hot. You want the grates clean and oiled. For a gas grill, aim for 450 degrees or higher.
The cook
Lay your steaks on the grill. Let them be. Four minutes. Don’t flip, don’t poke, don’t move them. You want a hard sear and good grill marks.
Flip once. Four more minutes on the other side. The internal temp should be 125 degrees for medium-rare. A quality meat thermometer is the only way to know for sure.
If you want to finish basting, add butter and fresh thyme in the last minute. Let the steak coast under the butter.
Resting and serving
Pull the steaks off. Let them rest for five minutes. This is not optional. The meat is still cooking and the juices are redistributing. Skip the rest and you lose all that benefit.
While they rest, throw your buns face-down on the grill for a minute to toast them. Serve the steak whole or sliced. Plenty of people like to see the crust intact.
