But is there anyway I can duplicate that unbeatable taste in my backyard?



Yes, you can! You can easily grill that perfectly grilled steak -- if you follow a few simple guidelines:

First off everything starts in the market with your choice of the steak. The cut of steak is all important. Lean cuts do not grill well. You want to pick a cut that has good fat marbling throughout. Excellent cuts to choose are the Rib Eye, T-Bone and Sirloin.

Many people like the Fillet Mignon. But I think it has no real steak flavor. There is a reason restaurants always wrap a piece of bacon around it. My recommendation is to stick to the cuts above.

Next, preheat the gas grill or light your charcoal and build a two zone fire. To make a two zone fire with a charcoal grill, arrange the brickets so that the majority are at one side of the grill producing a hot zone of about 400 degrees F and a cooler zone of about 225-300 degrees F. For a gas grill, adjust the flame on one end to high and the other to low.

To check the temperatures of your grill use the hand test. For the hot zone you should be able to hold your hand about 3 inches over the grate for about 1 to 2 seconds before being forced to pull it back. For the warm zone the time should be 7 to 8 seconds.

Remove the steaks from the refrigerator and bring them to room temperature before working with them.

Season both sides of the steak with oil and coat generously with salt and pepper (some will fall off during cooking. You can apply other spices at this time -- but why would you want to?

Place your steaks first on the hot side of the grill to quickly sear the outside and lock in the juices. Cook each side for about three minutes to get the crust color you love. Halfway through each side, rotate the meat 45 degrees to get those perfect grill marks that you see in the restaurant.

Then move your steaks to the warm zone for completing the cooking to your doneness preference.

When the cooking is done, remove the steaks from the grill and, here is the restaurant trick, cover it with butter. Absolutely cover it on both sides. Then, even though it will be hard, let it "rest" for at least 5 minutes. Grilling dries the outside of meats and forces the juices to the center. Resting allows the juices to return to the outside giving you a nice juicy piece of meat.

Serve and enjoy.

Follow these simple guidelines (which work equally as well indoors on the griddle) and you can have that expensive restaurant experience of a perfectly grilled steak at home -- anytime -- for a fraction of the price.