As a professional chef, I have been taught the perfect way to prepare a steak. I even have experience in grilling a chuck eye steak and I would like to share my wisdom with you!
In this post I will show you how to prep, season, grill, sear, and baste your steak. Prepare to enjoy the best grilled chuck eye steak recipe you have ever tried!
Yes, chuck eye steaks are great for grilling. You might have heard them referred to as a poor man’s rib eye and this is exactly what they are!
Both these steaks are takes from the chuck primal. The only difference is that the chuck eye steaks are taken from the 5th rib while the ribeye steak is taken from the 6th to 12th ribs of a cow.
In fact, the chuck eye steak contains a bit of the longissimus dorsi muscle, a major component of rib eye steaks. This is why you will find that the beef chuck eye steak taste is quite similar to that of ribeye.
More to the point, like ribeye, chuck steaks can also be grilled on a charcoal or gas grill.
This is a personal decision – the thing about chuck eye steaks is that they are not as nearly as tender as ribeyes.
Marinades often contain vinegar or some citrus element that help to break down the tissues of the meat. These work to make the chuck eye steaks a bit more tender.
This marinade is enough for two 8 ounce chuck eye steaks. So, if you wish to make a greater quantity of grilled chuck eye steak, then you should adjust the amounts accordingly.
Combine all the ingredients of the marinade in a bowl. Make sure that the salt is completely dissolved.
Place the chuck eye steaks in a glass baking dish or in a Ziploc bag. Make sure that there is enough room in the dish for the steaks to be placed in a single layer.
Pour the marinade over the steaks and cover. If you are using a Ziploc bag, squeeze all the excess air out of the bag before sealing it.
Let the steak marinate for between an hour to 4 hours.
Take out of the marinade, pat dry, and cook chuck eye steak.
If you aren’t a fan of marinating your chuck eye steak, then there is an alternative. This is dry brining.
All you have to do is to sprinkle kosher salt all over the steak – about half a teaspoon of salt per pound should be enough.
Then, place a wire rack in a baking sheet. Arrange each chuck eye steak on the rack and place the sheet in the refrigerator, uncovered. Leave it here for between 30 minutes to 12 hours.
If you are dry brining the steaks for less than 4 hours, then add some black pepper into the mix as well.
Before grilling the chuck eye steak, pat dry the steak with paper towels.
Take the chuck eye steaks out of the refrigerator about an hour before they need to be grilled.
Season each chuck eye steak with salt and pepper liberally.
Preheat your charcoal or gas grill.
For a charcoal grill, preheat the grill to medium heat. On a gas grill, set the temperature to 450 degrees F.
Brush the grill grates with oil.
Place each chuck eye steak on the grill. Grill chuck eye steak until the internal temperature reaches 110 degrees F.
Flip the steak over halfway through.
In the meantime, heat a cast iron skillet. Add the butter, garlic, and herbs.
Take each grilled chuck eye steak off the grill and place in the cast iron skillet. Turn the heat to high.
Cook the grilled chuck steak until the internal temperature reaches 130 degrees F.
Then take each grilled chuck eye steak out of the pan and place on a plate. Wait for 5 minutes before serving.
Have you realized that you don’t really find beef chuck eye steak at your local grocery store very often? Even chain stores don’t always stock chuck steak.
This is because only two chuck steaks can be taken from a single cow. Most stores don’t bother having chuck steak as a result.
All hope isn’t lost, though. Your local butcher is much more likely to have chuck steak so ask around. At the very least, you may be able to find a butcher who has a direct connect to a farmer.
Putting in an order with your butcher will make it easier to find.
These days, of course, you are much more likely to find chuck steak at an online retailer. Just make sure that you are use a well-known and safe platform.
When looking for chuck steaks, look for ones that are around 1 1/4 inches to 1 1/2 inches thick. Anything that is less than an inch thick is just too thin and you will likely end up drying out your grilled chuck eye steak.
It is just as important to not get a chuck steak that is too thick either. You will find it difficult to cook evenly and it is likely that your chuck eye steak servings will end up being too much for just one person.
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Believe it or not, taking out your chuck steak about an hour before it needs to be grilled can make all the difference.
See, if you put a cold chuck steak on the grill, then it is going to take longer to cook. More importantly, it is going to cook unevenly.
So, if you want the perfect grilled chuck steak, then make a note to take the meat out beforehand.
Now, make sure that you don’t leave it out for longer than an hour as there is a risk of the meat spoiling.
As you will see from this chuck eye steak recipe, I have kept my seasoning to a minimum. In fact, the only seasoning I have used is salt and pepper.
The reason that I have done this is because like rib eye, chuck eye has that gloriously beefy taste to it. I want to make sure that flavor profile stands out and so I avoid overwhelming the meat with other ingredients.
Of course, if you do want to use a dry rub, then you certainly can. I would still urge you to stick to basics like garlic powder and onion powder and to use smaller quantities.
With grilled chuck steak, you have two options. You can either baste the stakes in butter and herbs or you can serve your steaks with a pat of herbed butter.
The path that you choose depends on two things – how good are you at multi tasking and how much flavor do you want to infuse your chuck eye with.
Basting your steaks can take some practice and skill. It also means that you have to prep the cast iron pan and other ingredients while still keeping an eye on the steaks on the grill.
If you feel like this is too much hassle, then stick with the herb butter.
In case you want the beefy flavor of the chuck eye to be front and center, then it is best to serve the meat with a side of infused butter.
On the other hand, if you think that your steak could do with some jazzing up, then basting is the way to go.
Add all the ingredients to a bowl and mash and mix together until the ingredients are evenly dispersed throughout the butter.
Scrape all the compound butter into plastic wrap and seal tightly.
Once the steaks are cooked, place a pat of butter on each steak before serving.
This is my favorite herb garlic butter recipe, but there is no need for you to stick to this. There are a lot of different combinations that you can try including chili herb butter. It is all about using the flavors that you feel will complement the steak best.
It can take a while to get the hang of grilling steaks, especially for this grilled chuck eye steak recipe.
Now, if you are basting the chuck eye, then it is important to grill the steaks on a medium high heat. This is because you will be cooking it on high in the cast iron pan later on.
You will need to cook the steak to an internal temperature of 110 degrees F. This should only take a few minutes.
Therefore, place the steak on the grill for about 3 minutes and then flip it over, monitoring the internal temp all the while.
When it hits 110 degrees F, you need to transfer it to the prepped skillet. Cook until the internal temp hits 130 degrees F.
If you are not basting the steaks, then method is a little different.
Here, you will need to create two zones on your grill. One zone will have direct heat and the other zone will not.
With a charcoal grill, this means piling up all the charcoal onto one side of the grill – this will be the section with indirect heat.
With a gas grill, turn on the burners on the side on – this will be direct heat and leave the burners in the middle off – this will be indirect heat.
Start off by placing the steaks on direct heat for a few minutes per side. Leave the steak there long enough for each side to have grill marks etched into them.
Then, move to the indirect heat until the internal temp reads 130 degrees F. Make sure to flip the steak over during this time.
Take off the grill and then rest.
I know that the easiest way to grill chuck eye steak is to watch the clock. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to grill steaks according to time.
This is because there are so many factors at play here. The temperature on one grill is always going to be lower or higher than the other. You are also dealing with steaks of varying thickness.
This is why the best way to cook chuck eye to perfection is to use a meat thermometer. This is something that you should do when you sear the steaks, cook them on lower heat, and when finishing the steaks off in the skillet.
Place the meat thermometer into the thickest part of the steak to get an accurate reading.
If the steaks are of a similar size and thickness, then they should cook at a similar rate. Still, make sure that you check the internal temperature of both steaks before you take them off the heat.
Now, with other steaks you may be able to cook the meat rare but this isn’t the case with chuck eye steak. As it is a little tougher, it has to be cooked for longer. As such, you will need to cook it to medium rare.
I like to take the steaks off the heat the second they hit 130 degrees F. Remember that they will continue to cook for a while afterwards and you don’t want them to be overdone.
It doesn’t matter if you cook the steaks right. If you fail to rest them then all of your hard work will be lost.
When you give the steaks about 5 minutes to rest, they are able to absorb any moisture that has been lost, allowing them to become nice and tender.
See, when meat is heated, the tissues contract, forcing out moisture. When the steaks begin to cool again, these tissues relax and reabsorb this moisture.
Trust me, this 5 minutes makes all the difference.
This is a complete guide to grilling chuck eye steaks. Once you give this method a whirl, it is sure to become one of your favorite chuck eye steak recipes. Sure, it can take a minute to get the hang of but after you master it, it is going to be a breeze to make.
