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3. Heat the grill as directed. While the grill is heating, remove the steak from the bag and discard the marinade.

4. Brush the grill grate and coat it with oil. Put the steak on the grill and cook for 8 to 10 minutes per side for medium-rare to medium-done (135° to 140°F).

5. Let rest for 5 minutes before slicing. Cut across the grain in thin, diagonal slices and serve.

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TIMING

Prep: 5 minutes

Marinate: 2 hours

Grill: 16 to 20 minutes

GRILL TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT

• Long-handled tongs

GETTING CREATIVE

• Try this recipe with a butterflied boneless turkey breast; grill over medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes per side, until the meat bounces back when prodded.

KNOW YOUR INGREDIENTS Will the Real London Broil Please Stand Up?

London broil is a scam. Fabricated by meat marketers as a cosmopolitan moniker for flank steak, it has come to mean any boneless slab of meat resembling flank steak—flat and roughly rectangular in shape. Unfortunately, not every meat that looks like flank steak can be cooked like it.

The problem stems from the fact that flank steak is an unique cut of meat. Unlike other tough cuts, which need to be cooked in simmering liquid to soften their tough fibers, flank steak can be grilled just like a more tender loin steak, due to the structure of its muscle fiber.

The tough, thick-walled muscle fibers of flank steak are long and thin and run absolutely parallel to one another. Grilling or broiling does nothing to tenderize them. If you were to try to bite into a perfectly grilled flank steak before it is sliced, your teeth would barely make a dent, but when you slice the steak thinly, across the grain of its fiber, you automatically tenderize the meat.

That’s why applying the name “London broil” to flank steak makes perfect sense. Even though the meat has nothing to do with Britain, it is a budget-priced piece of tough meat that can be broiled just like high-priced cuts. However, a problem arises when that same name is used for other tough cuts of meat.

These days, London broil is more commonly butchered from the round, a cut composed of overlapping layers of muscle fiber that run perpendicular and diagonally to one another. Such variegated graining makes it impossible to slice across the grain with any uniformity, because although you may be cutting across the grain on the surface, you will be slicing with the grain in the next layer underneath.

No wonder London broil has a reputation for inconsistency. The problem is not a matter of good meat versus bad, but rather a question of identifying exactly what meat one is buying. For tried-and-true results, always use flank. But if you’re shopping price and London broil is on sale, make sure you know where it comes from. Then you can take the proper measures to tenderize the steak through marinating or brining.

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Sweet Bourbon Buffalo Skirt Steak with Mint

The skirt is a long, flat strip of meat cut from the chest area of the animal. This area is very well exercised, so the meat is dense and tough, yet full of rich flavor. The key thing to remember about buffalo meat is that it’s quite lean compared to beef. Tenderize the meat with a somewhat acidic marinade and tend the steak carefully on the grill. It can cook to medium-rare in less than 10 minutes. When sliced across the grain into strips, it makes the perfect steak for fajitas.

THE GRILL

Gas:

Direct heat, high (500°F)

Clean, oiled grate on lowest setting

Charcoal:

Direct heat, red hot

12-by-12-inch charcoal bed (about 3 dozen coals)

Clean, oiled grate on lowest setting

Wood:

Direct heat, red hot

12-by-12-inch bed, 4 inches deep

Clean, oiled grate set 2 inches above the fire

INGREDIENTS (MAKES 6 SERVINGS)

1 tablespoon dried thyme

3 tablespoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

1/3 cup bourbon

2 cups water

¼ cup honey

2 pounds buffalo skirt steak

Oil for coating grill grate

¼ cup finely chopped fresh mint leaves

DIRECTIONS