How to braai / cook beef fillets

marine1

marine1

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What would be the best way, I know most of you are experts.
Using a built in braai
First is to get coals lit and hot and wait u until the fire has died and the coals are red hot or maybe white im not sure.
I want to make the inside medium or medium well, maybe.
It's easy to get the outside cooked, but how does one get the inside cooked.

How long should one keep the meat on the grill?
Should you close the doors of the braai ?

Any advice please to make the best fillets?
 
marine1 said:
How long should one keep the meat on the grill?
Click to expand...
Until just before it's done to your liking.

Do you have a thermapen or similar?

Should you close the doors of the braai ?
Click to expand...
Shouldn't be necessary for a fillet.

Set up a hot zone and a cooler zone. Brown the fillet on the hot zone then transfer it to the cooler part to finish cooking.
 
bwana said:
Until just before it's done to your liking.

Do you have a thermapen or similar?


Shouldn't be necessary for a fillet.

Set up a hot zone and a cooler zone. Brown the fillet on the hot zone then transfer it to the cooler part to finish cooking.
Click to expand...
Thanks man I can get a thermapen i wouldn't know how to use it though
 
marine1 said:
Thanks man I can get a thermapen i wouldn't know how to use it though
Click to expand...
It's dead easy - just poke it into the centre of the fillet and you'll get a temp. Compare it to the temp on the card that comes with it.

Builders sells instant read thermometers for a couple hundred rand. They're one of those things that every kitchen should have.
 
Reverse sear it in the oven if time is of the essence.

Then just crust it on the hot fire before ready to serve.

And use a thermometer, then you can’t cock it up. Just remember to pull it off about 10 degrees BEFORE the temperature you want and then let it rest up to where you want it.

Ideally one of those that stays in is better, but cost way more.
 
Last edited:
marine1 said:
What would be the best way, I know most of you are experts.
Using a built in braai
First is to get coals lit and hot and wait u until the fire has died and the coals are red hot or maybe white im not sure.
I want to make the inside medium or medium well, maybe.
It's easy to get the outside cooked, but how does one get the inside cooked.

How long should one keep the meat on the grill?
Should you close the doors of the braai ?

Any advice please to make the best fillets?
Click to expand...
Air fryer.
 
20250426_131525.jpg

En papillote with garlic & rosemary for 5 min on each side, to be flash-seared just before serving, with a beurre monté sauce.

Drain the melted butter into a pan, add more butter, and add a touch of salt/pepper, maybe a teaspoon of floor or beef stock to thicken. I used water from the boiled potatoes to make the emulsion, similar to this

Photo is of a ribeye, but same principle.

The key is to keep basting with butter - cut up a large slab of butter into small cubes, keep on ice, and put them on the meat as it cooks.
 
Naks said:
View attachment 1832833

En papillote with garlic & rosemary for 5 min on each side, to be flash-seared just before serving, with a beurre monté sauce.

Drain the melted butter into a pan, add more butter, and add a touch of salt/pepper, maybe a teaspoon of floor or beef stock to thicken. I used water from the boiled potatoes to make the emulsion, similar to this

Photo is of a ribeye, but same principle.

The key is to keep basting with butter - cut up a large slab of butter into small cubes, keep on ice, and put them on the meat as it cooks.
Click to expand...
Are you available for hire to cook? :p That sounds and looks amazing.
 
60-63c inside for medium it says.... always use a digital thermometer unless you know the meat, the temp and time it exactly.

it's a fillet, so hot and just keep turning it every minute or so like a normal steak? if you've already sliced it then it's really short on the fire, on and off in a few minutes max.
 
neoprema said:
Are you available for hire to cook? :p That sounds and looks amazing.
Click to expand...

it was 🤠

Couple of simple things that you can do to improve your steak:
- salt 24H beforehand, put back in the fridge
- very hot sear upfront (almost charred), then low-medium heat
- butter, butter, and more butter. And then some more butter.

 
Stephan Maritz said:
I use a Meater pen for thick cuts of meat. So far they were all perfect.
Click to expand...

Be very careful to hold the aluminium bits when pulling it out, and not just assume the black part will stay in tact.

Recently separated the internals of mine from the external just pulling on the black part.

In fairness it’s not broken and it’s seen a few years of use but I was lucky to have some high temperature gasket maker I’m pretty sure not everyone has in their house.
 
Naks said:
it was 🤠

Couple of simple things that you can do to improve your steak:
- salt 24H beforehand, put back in the fridge
- very hot sear upfront (almost charred), then low-medium heat
- butter, butter, and more butter. And then some more butter.

Click to expand...
OH. So i have a reputation for basically burning any meat i cook into a piece of charcoal :) I'm banned from cooking on the BBQ at home lol.
But i guess i could try that in a pan fried steak?
 
Naks said:
it was 🤠

Couple of simple things that you can do to improve your steak:
- salt 24H beforehand, put back in the fridge
- very hot sear upfront (almost charred), then low-medium heat
- butter, butter, and more butter. And then some more butter.

Click to expand...

The 24H salt and drying on a rack in the fridge is the big ticket and also allows for buying cheaper lower grade meats and making them go much further.

Also works wonders for presentation as the meat is extra red and healthy looking when you bring it out to go on the fire.
 
neoprema said:
OH. So i have a reputation for basically burning any meat i cook into a piece of charcoal :) I'm banned from cooking on the BBQ at home lol.
But i guess i could try that in a pan fried steak?
Click to expand...

I am personally not a fan of the super high heat sear and it’s also a bit more risky but then it also depends very much from person to person and the tools required.

Some people think high heat means 10/10 or 6/6 or whatever your cook top is marked as.

For me it’s when the pan just barely starts smoking which on my Le Creuset enamel cast iron is a 4/6 and my preferred steak pan.

If it’s on the stainless steel then I need to use 5/6.

But butter is your friend but only right at the end otherwise you just burn it.

Reverse sear is the best/safest low risk way to use a pan (well other than sous vide but that’s another conversation entirely) but it only works if you have a thermometer in play.

www.seriouseats.com

Perfect Pan-Seared Steaks Recipe

The best technique for an even crust and deeply flavorful pan-seared steak includes pre-salting your meat and bathing it in butter.
www.seriouseats.com www.seriouseats.com

Reverse sear much like sous vide is also great for timing if you are cooking for a bunch of people and with a thermometer you basically can’t overcook it at all.
 
By now, it's auto pilot ... Best with a roaring fire going, which is the best still.

Roaring fire going, put on the steak.
If there is a fatty side, let that get the flames first.
1 minute 1 side, turn.
1 minute 2nd side, turn.
Start feeling thumb-to-finger tenderness.
Too tenderness, 30 seconds per side and turn... etc if still tender. Salt and pepper.

Let God do its thing.

I have found that the better quality steak, ie Joey's, you can't go wrong.

Edit: Didnt read other replies, sorry.
Pink inside and a crispy fat, cooked on outside.
 
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