What to Buy. How to Cook It. Get It Perfect.
The days are getting longer, the weather is warming up, and that can only mean one thing: grilling season is officially here.
Whether you’re firing up the grill for the first time this year or you’re already cooking dinner outdoors every chance you get, starting the season with the right cuts and a few simple techniques can make all the difference.
Start With the Right Meat
Not all grilling cuts are created equal. Some are known for tenderness, others for rich beef flavor, and a few deliver the best of both worlds.
For steaks, you can never go wrong with:
- NY Strip – The perfect balance of tenderness and bold beef flavor.
- Ribeye – Richly marbled, juicy, and packed with flavor.
- Porterhouse – The best of both worlds with a strip steak on one side and filet on the other.
- Filet Mignon – Exceptionally tender with a buttery texture.
If you’re looking to take your grilling game up a notch, consider these butcher-shop favorites:
- Hanger Steak – Often called the butcher’s steak, known for its deep, beefy flavor.
- Skirt Steak – Bold, savory, and perfect for quick high-heat grilling.
- Flat Iron Steak – Tender, flavorful, and one of the best values in the meat case.
Grilling for a Crowd?
When you’re feeding family, friends, and neighbors, you want cuts that are flavorful, easy to cook, and sure to please everyone at the table.
Some of our favorite crowd-pleasers include:
- Premium Angus Burgers – A backyard classic that’s always a hit.
- Fresh-Made Sausages – Quick to grill and available in a variety of flavors.
- Chicken Thighs – Juicy, forgiving, and packed with flavor.
- Baby Back Ribs – Tender, smoky, and perfect for weekend cookouts.
- St. Louis Ribs – Meatier than baby backs with incredible barbecue flavor.
- Chicken Wings – Great for sharing and easy to customize with your favorite sauces.
- Marinated Beef Skewers – Tender Tri-Tip, marinated beef that’s ready to go from the butcher case to the grill.
The best part? These cuts are affordable, easy to manage on the grill, and guaranteed to keep everyone coming back for seconds.
The best grilling meals start with quality meat. A great cut requires less seasoning, less work, and delivers better results.
Keep Seasoning Simple
One of the biggest mistakes people make is trying to cover up great meat with too many seasonings.
A quality steak doesn’t need much more than salt and pepper or nothing at all.
Here’s a butcher’s tip: you don’t always have to salt your steak before it hits the grill. Salting too early can sometimes draw moisture to the surface, making it harder to develop a great crust. Instead, try finishing your steak with a sprinkle of kosher salt after it comes off the grill while it’s resting. The salt blends with the natural juices and enhances flavor without sacrificing tenderness.
Sometimes the simplest approach delivers the best results.
Master the Heat
Every grill has hot spots. Before throwing on expensive steaks, take a few minutes to understand your grill.
For thinner steaks, burgers, chicken, and sausages, medium to high direct heat works great.
For thicker cuts such as ribeyes, porterhouses, and tomahawks, consider using the reverse sear method. Start the steak over indirect heat and slowly bring it close to your desired internal temperature. Then finish it over high heat for a beautiful crust. This technique promotes more even cooking from edge to edge and gives you better control over the final doneness.
Remember: if you’re looking, you’re not cooking.
How Long Should You Cook It?
One of the most common grilling questions we hear is, “How long do I cook it on each side?”
The truth is that cooking times vary based on the thickness of the cut, the temperature of your grill, and how you like your meat cooked. Still, these guidelines can help get you started:
- 1-inch steaks: About 4–5 minutes per side for medium rare.
- 1½-inch steaks: About 5–7 minutes per side for medium rare.
- Burgers: About 4–5 minutes per side.
- Boneless chicken breasts: About 6–8 minutes per side.
- Chicken thighs: About 5–7 minutes per side.
- Sausages: About 12–15 minutes total, turning occasionally.
Remember, these are only estimates. Every grill cooks differently. The best way to know when your food is done is with an instant-read thermometer.
Our Recommended Final Cooking Temperatures
Use a Thermometer
If there’s one tool every griller should own, it’s an instant-read thermometer.
Too often, great steaks are overcooked because someone relied on guesswork, timing, or the old “poke test.” The truth is every grill cooks differently, and factors like weather, flare-ups, grill temperature, and steak thickness can all affect cooking time.
That’s why we recommend cooking to temperature, not to time.
An instant-read thermometer gives you confidence that your steak is cooked exactly the way you like it—whether that’s rare, medium rare, or well done.
Keep in mind that your steak will continue to cook after it comes off the grill. This is called carryover cooking. For best results, remove your steak from the grill about 5°F before your desired final temperature and allow it to rest.
A thermometer doesn’t just prevent overcooking—it helps you consistently cook better steaks. And when you’ve invested in a great cut of meat, that’s a tool worth having.
Don’t Skip the Rest
This may be the most overlooked step in grilling.
When meat comes off the grill, the juices are still moving throughout the meat. Cutting into it immediately sends those juices running onto the plate instead of staying where they belong.
Allow steaks to rest for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing. Larger cuts may benefit from even more time.
A little patience goes a long way toward a juicier, more flavorful steak.
Make This Your Best Grilling Season Yet
Great grilling isn’t complicated.
Buy quality meat. Keep the seasoning simple. Cook to temperature. Let it rest.
Whether you’re cooking burgers on a weeknight, grilling chicken for the family, or serving thick-cut ribeyes at your next backyard gathering, these simple techniques can help you achieve steakhouse-quality results at home.
The grill is hot. The season is here.
Now all that’s missing is what’s going on your grates.
Stop by Prime Time Butcher and let our butchers help you choose the perfect steaks, burgers, ribs, chicken, and grilling favorites for your next cookout. Not local? No problem. We ship our premium meats nationwide to the lower 48 states, making it easy to enjoy butcher-shop quality whether you’re grilling in New York, Florida, Texas, California, or anywhere in between.
We’ll make sure you start grilling season the right way.
