Summer is grilling season, and this year, we’re throwing everything from crab cakes to grilled peppadews on the barbecue. But when it comes to meat, you don’t have to limit your time cooking outdoors to classic burgers and hot dogs. Even fancier proteins can have their time on the grill — and instead of going to a fancy steakhouse and sitting in a stuffy dark room for hours, spend that time barbecuing your filet mignon in your sunny backyard instead.
Perhaps the trickiest part of cooking steak is knowing how long to leave it on the heat. If you overdo it, your meat will be tough and dry; but if you undercook it, you can wind up with bloodier beef than you’d like. If you want to cook a one-and-a-half-inch filet to medium rare, you’ll want to barbecue it for about 10 minutes total, flipping halfway through. For medium, go for between 10 and 14 minutes; and for medium-well, aim for 14 to 18 minutes. If you’re one of those scarce rare steak lovers, however, you’ll only need between six to 10 minutes in total.
Adjust grilling times according to thickness, method, and desired doneness
With the timeframes listed above, we’re assuming your grill is turned to high heat — whether it’s gas or charcoal — meaning it will typically clock in at around 450 degrees Fahrenheit. You’ll want to place your steak over the hottest flames for the times we mentioned. After it’s seared, however, you may need to move it to an area with lower heat for a few minutes so that the insides can come to your desired internal temperature, and you can use a meat thermometer to measure this (or try out Gordon Ramsay’s tip for checking for doneness). A rare filet mignon is done when it reaches 125 degrees Fahrenheit internally. From there, add 10 degrees for each ring of doneness (medium-rare is 135 degrees Fahrenheit, for example).
If your steak is thinner than an inch and a half, you’ll need to adjust slightly by shaving two to three minutes off the recommended times above. And if you’re using a drip pan (aka not placing your beef directly on the grill), set your barbecue to medium heat, cover your filet, and add about 12 to 15 minutes of cooking time for a medium-rare steak. In this case, however, you don’t need to flip. It may take a little experimenting to get it exactly right, but with these guidelines to go by and a meat thermometer in hand, you’ll be well-prepared to make a grilled filet mignon.
