With the 4th of July kicking off the summer grill season, I’m here to offer up some great advice to those of you who still have not quite mastered (and I mean mastered) the art of grilling a perfect cut of beef.

I’ve witnessed it so many times. People hovering over their grills, poking the charred meat and wondering, is it done? I’m here to set the record straight. No matter how many grill aficionados want to tell you that the medium rare steak should feel like the padded crook between your forefinger and thumb, I say fagetaboutit. First of all, why the hell would you want to stick your finger on a hot, sizzling piece of meat that is about 2 inches too close to a blazing ring of fire? Duh. You wouldn’t unless you like getting your knuckle hairs singed off onto your expensive ribeye.

These tips were compiled from about 10 years of grilling experience, as I attempted to master the male domain of the Barbeque. Since my own hubby pretty much sucked at all forms of cooking, indoors and out, I had to adapt and learn to do it myself.

Grilling the Perfect Steak, Julie’s Way

1. Start with steak that’s at room temperature. Don’t be cheap about your meat, either. Choose skirt, flank, ribeye, or filet. If you’re grilling a london broil, stop right now. Gross.

2. Get the heat on your grill to the point where you can only hold your hand about 4 inches from the grill for like 2 seconds. (I know. This is another one of those ridiculous and dangerous male grilling tips. I got this one from Bobby Flay’s Boy Meets Grill tv show and haven’t found a better method yet)

3. Use tongs, never a fork, to handle your meat on the grill. Flip the meat when the bottom is really nice and red-brown and lined with those pretty char marks. Don’t poke, press, or move the meat until it’s ready to flip!

4. Here is the real secret. And I do mean secret. I have NEVER read this tip anywhere on the Internet nor have I seen Bobby Flay or any other self described grill master use this method…

How can you tell when the meat is done? Well now that it’s flipped, when the meat suddenly starts to gurgle up red, bloody juice when you haven’t touched or poked it, it’s rare. When that red, bloody juice starts to run pinkish-clear, it’s medium rare and I suggest you get that sucker off the grill immediately! When the juices are clear, the meat is medium. When juices completely cease to come out of the meat, it’s well done and you’ve basically ruined the thing. I have found that this method works the same for any red meat or chicken, either on the grill or in the oven.

(This doneness test came from a great cookbook that I’ve been using for the past 15 years called Master Recipes, by Steven Schmidt. I highly recommend it.)

5. Remember, use tongs to move the meat. Place it on a serving dish and let it sit for about 3-5 minutes before serving or cutting. It will continue to cook a little bit so don’t worry if your steak’s juices are more pink than clear when you take it off the grill.

I haven’t mentioned seasoning yet so let me say that I like to use a healthy sprinkling of store bought steak rub on all sides of the meat before grilling. If your seasoning doesn’t already contain any sugar, you might want to add a little bit of brown sugar to it before rubbing it on. The meat will get a lovely brown glazed color when cooked and the subtle sweetness complements the saltiness of the seasoning nicely.

Remember - Girls can grill better than boys! If you don’t mind your steak being man-handled, then let ‘em do all the work while you prettily sit and sip your icy cold margarita. But me, I’m a control freak and would rather just do it myself.