How to Make the Perfect Surf n Turf on Your Grill?

Surf n Turf is the perfect blend of beef and seafood. When done right it is one of the most amazing dishes you can cook or eat. Making Surf n Turf on the grill isn’t tricky if you are prepared from the start.

Equipment needed:

1. BBQ Grill, charcoal, gas, or pellet
2. BBQ tongs
3. ChefsTemp Finaltouch X10
4. Cutting board
5. Chef’s knife
6. Kitchen shears

Ingredients:

1. Bone-in ribeye steak
2. Lobster tail
3. Baking potato
4. Butter
5. Sour cream
6. Kosher salt
7. Black pepper
8. Minced or pressed garlic
9. Parsley

Recipe:

Preheat your oven to 375°F (191°C), take your potato, drizzle it with cooking oil or olive oil, sprinkle with kosher salt and put in the oven for one hour.

It only takes one hour to bake a perfect potato. Next, we will prepare our lobster tail and steak for the grill while our potato is baking.

First, we will take a pair of kitchen shears and cut through the lobster shell starting at the front and stopping just before the tail. Once you have your shell split, take a chef’s knife and cut through the tail so that it stays connected at the tail gills, but the rest of lobster tail is split completely through. Next, you will turn it meat side facing you, drizzle with olive oil, and then season with kosher salt and pepper. Once you have it seasoned, then set it back in the refrigerator until you are ready to grill it.

Preparing the steak:

Take your steak and season it on both sides with kosher salt and black pepper. I have stated this before, if you buy a quality steak, the only seasoning it needs is salt and pepper. Once you have it seasoned on both sides, heat up your grill. Steaks need to come up to room temperature before you grill them. When they are at room temperature, they cook more even, the temperature readings are more concise, and the meat has had a chance to relax and get loose, this makes for better grilling.

Once your grill is hot, place your steak on the grill and grill mark it. The steak will need twice as long as the lobster tail to cook. Lobster needs to be cook at a high heat temperature so that it will get cooked thoroughly because you will leave it in the shell to help protect the meat on the grill. Once you have your steak grill marked and flipped baste it with some melted butter infused with garlic and parsley. This will help keep it moist and tender. After you turn your steak place your lobster on the grill meat side down, and get it grill marked. Lobster cooks pretty fast, and your target temperature is between 135°F-140°F (57°C-60°C), this is the optimal temperature for your lobster. Your steak should be cooked to 135°F (57°C) then pulled from the grill and allowed to rest for at least 5 minutes. The thicker the steak is, the longer it needs to rest to get up to temperature.

Now that we have looked at the steak and lobster, went through the process of preparing and grilling them, and getting them ready to be served, let’s talk about what is happening and how time and temperature affect the outcome of making the perfect Surf n Turf.

Grilling a steak and lobster is not as hard or daunting as it seems but monitoring the time and temperature are critical especially with the lobster tail. Overcooking the lobster will make it tough and tasteless. It is critical that you take temperature reading in several places and when the tail reaches between 135°F (57°C) and 140°F (60°C) it has reached the perfect temperature and needs to come off the grill. You have more flexibility with the steak, you can cook beef to any degree of doneness that you prefer, but at least cook it to 125°F (52°C) before pulling it to rest. It is important to rest steaks, from 5-20 minutes depending on how thick the steak is. The thicker the steak, the longer it needs to rest.

One of the other things you will be making is clarified or drawn butter. This is a process where you separate the fat from the milk solids by heating it gently and allowing the milk solids to sink to the bottom of the pan. You will want to add minced or pressed garlic and parsley to the butter as it is melting to infuse the butter with the flavors. You cold also use thyme, rosemary, or any other herbs you prefer along with the garlic. You will need this for a couple of reasons, the first is that you will want it to dip the cooked lobster into, the second is as a basting sauce for the steak and the lobster. The clarified butter will help them stay moist and tender during the cooking process and infuse some wonderful flavors into the steak and lobster.

With your baked potato, usually one hour at between 375°F (191°C) and 400°F (204°C), depending on the size of the potato should get it done. For a baked potato the internal temperature you are trying to reach is 210°F (99°C), this ensures the potato is completely done, and the potato when served will be fluffy and full of flavor. Many cooks make the mistake of wrapping a potato in foil and baking them. This traps moisture in the potato and what you get is a steamed potato instead of it being baked. By lightly coating the skin with oil, and then seasoning with kosher salt and baking the skin gets crispy, has a wonderful flavor and the middle of the potato is perfectly cooked and becomes light and fluffy.

Let’s review and summarize:

Steaks and lobster are great items to grill. It is important to monitor the time and temperature of both with your ChefsTemp Finaltouch X10 instant read thermometer, and make sure you reach the optimal temperature, and you will have the best Surf n Turf you have ever experienced.