Steak Help

Everyone has their own favorite steak, Fillet Mignon, Ribeye, T-Bone, or Porterhouse Steaks. I've recently tried hanger steak, but for me Porterhouse is still my favorite.

The secret to cooking ant steak is a very hot source of heat as to cook the outside and leave the interior to your liking (Rare, Meduim-Rare, Medium) without over=cooking it and making it dry and chewy...

I would stick with what you like.
Sometimes you can get a good deal on a whole fillet , you just have to trim it up and cut to the size of your liking.

Any steak can sing if you follow IamMadMan's advice re hot source.

If you're a lean steak guy, you'll find filet/tenderloin will usually be the most tender common cut, and sirloin will be the most "beefy" flavor common cut, and not too much toothier than a filet, if cooked carefully and on the rare side.

There's others and exceptions, but those are a safe rule for what you'll find at most stores.

Personally, I'm a ribeye guy, ESPECIALLY the fatty parts with a good char outside and gooey rare inside!

Ribeye guy here.

If you like filet but don't like the cost you can buy other cheaper lean steaks and then tenderize them. Some techniques like heavy salting or using a Jaccard can produce a great steak out of an otherwise not so great cut.

How many people are you feeding. If you have champagne tastes but are on a beer budget there are some cuts that are on a more budget friendly side, but have great flavor and tenderness.

If you like something on the leaner side, but don't have a big budget. Try flat iron steaks. They have great flavor and tenderness, but they don't cost anywhere close to a filet mignon

If you are cooking on a small charcoal bbq, Id keep it lean (sirloin). Cooking a ribeye over a hard to control heat source usually ends up in a fiery mess, in my experience.

I agree with aawa..Flat Iron steak is delicious....cook it hot and fast. I cook mine to a medium rare
If you over cook it you will not be able to chew it...think shoe leather..IMO.

Filet Mignon on the Cobb Grill

I think I would just stick to what you like for your camping trip. Like others have said, filet mignon can be had fairly inexpensive if you cut your own out of a whole beef tenderloin. I cut up two whole tenderloins last week and got 34 nice filets and my final cost each was $5.40 for my 4.5 to 7.5 oz steaks. Here is an example of a couple of these steaks cooked on a small charcoal grill like you plan to use.



To prep, I wrapped each steak with two pieces of pre-cooked bacon and then added a good steak rub about 45 minutes before the fire and left them on the counter top to warm up.



Brought the grill up to about 620 degrees measured on the Grill Grates and cooked the two steaks. They were on the cooker for 10 minutes.





I plated the steak with a baked potato, tomato and cottage cheese salad, a cornbread muffin, and some mushroom sauce.





Really made a nice meal and of course could be easily duplicated at a campsite.

I love a good filet, but as others have mentioned, it is time/heat sensitive. 500+ sear and then rely on your thermo pen to bring to correct IT.

Sounds like you deserve a little luxury so I'd go with the tenderloin. I buy one whole and then cut it up for steaks after trimming. The trimmings I grind up into burgers, best burger you can have if you like them on the lean side.