The best steaks for an infrared grill are thick, evenly shaped and well marbled — cuts that can take an intense crust without cooking through before the center comes to temperature. A 1,500°F rating describes the burner, not the temperature your steak experiences, but the practical effect is the same: infrared heat sears fast, so the steak's thickness and fat content decide whether it thrives or burns. This guide ranks the cuts by how they behave under infrared heat, explains the thickness and bone considerations, and gives the buying and doneness tips that turn a hot grill into a great steak.
Why cut choice matters at high heat
High heat amplifies the differences between cuts. A steak's surface has only a short window on an infrared zone before the crust overdevelops, so the cut needs enough thickness for the center to survive that window, and enough fat to keep the interior moist while the outside browns. Thin, lean cuts — a half-inch sirloin, a trimmed round steak — char on the outside before the center warms, which is why they frustrate cooks on infrared grills no matter how good the technique. Thick, marbled cuts give the sear something to work with: the crust forms, the fat renders and the center climbs toward doneness at a rate the method can control.
Cut choice also shapes the technique. A ribeye's heavy marbling rewards a slightly longer sear as the fat renders and bastes the surface; a filet's lean center needs a fast sear and a careful pull temperature to stay tender; a strip steak splits the difference with good marbling and a firm bite. There is no single "best" cut — there is a best cut for how you like to cook and eat, and the chart below matches cuts to their behavior under infrared heat.
The cut chart
| Cut | Fat profile | Best thickness | Behavior under infrared | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ribeye | Heavy marbling | 1.5–2 in | Renders and bastes; forgiving | Sear slightly longer for fat crust |
| Strip (NY strip) | Good marbling, firm | 1.5 in | Even sear, clean bite | Pull at your target; rest fully |
| Filet | Lean | 1.5–2 in | Fast crust, tender center | Watch the pull temp closely |
| T-bone / Porterhouse | Mixed | 1.5–2 in | Two textures, bone slows one side | Position the bone side toward cooler zone |
| Tri-tip | Moderate | Whole roast style | Best with gentle stage then sear | Treat as a small roast, not a thin steak |
| Thin cuts (skirt, flank) | Lean, grainy | Under 1 in | Char risk high | Fast sear only; slice thin against the grain |
Read the chart as a matchmaking tool: choose the cut by the thickness you can buy and the crust you want, then adapt the sear to the cut's fat. The chart is general culinary guidance, not a tested guarantee — your grill's real heat, the steak's temperature and the cut's exact shape all shift the numbers, which is why the probe remains the final judge on every cook.
Marbling and grading explain most of what the chart cannot show. Beef that carries more intramuscular fat — the fine white streaks through the muscle — tolerates high heat better, because the fat renders and keeps the interior moist while the surface sears. When you buy, look for the fine, even marbling of a well-graded steak rather than one large fat vein, and remember that grass-fed beef tends to be leaner and can cook faster and drier under intense heat than grain-fed beef of the same cut. A steak's grade and diet are not quality judgments by themselves; they are information about how much fat the sear has to work with, and that is exactly the variable infrared heat punishes or rewards.
Thickness and bone considerations
Thickness is the first variable to control. Look for steaks at least one and a half inches thick for direct infrared searing; at that thickness, the steak can build a crust in the sear window while the center rises to temperature. Thinner steaks are not failures on an infrared grill — they are simply direct-sear steaks with a shorter window, so preheat fully, sear quickly and pull early. Steaks two inches and thicker benefit from a gentle stage first, because a direct sear alone will char the surface before the center catches up; the gentle stage brings the center near target, and the infrared sear finishes the crust.
Bones change the cook more than most buyers expect. A bone conducts heat unevenly and shields the meat beside it, so a T-bone or bone-in ribeye cooks differently on the bone side than on the open side. Position the bone side toward the cooler part of the zone or give it slightly less direct time, and always probe the thickest part of the meat away from the bone. A tomahawk's long bone also changes the pan or grate fit, so confirm the whole steak fits your grill before the butcher wraps it — a beautiful steak that does not fit the grate is a problem no technique solves.
Understand which cooking path each thickness needs before you light the grill. Steaks around one to one and a half inches cook by direct sear alone: preheat fully, sear in short intervals and pull at the temperature. Steaks two inches and thicker need the gentle stage — indirect or reduced heat first to bring the center close to target, then the infrared sear to finish the crust — because no direct sear can cook a thick center before the surface burns. If you only want one method to learn, learn the two-stage one; it handles the thickest, most impressive steaks and produces the crust-and-center balance that infrared grills are known for.
Buying and trimming tips
Buy steaks with even thickness across the whole cut — a steak that tapers from one inch to two inches cooks at two different rates, and the thin end will be overdone while the thick end is perfect. At the counter, ask for a center cut or a steak that has not been trimmed to a wedge, and check the marbling: fine, even flecks of fat throughout the meat predict a juicier infrared result than a lean cut with one heavy fat cap. If the butcher can cut to order, request one and a half to two inches for the steaks you plan to sear.
Trim with restraint. Leave a thin fat cap on the edges to baste the steak as it renders, and score any thick band of gristle so it does not curl the steak, but do not carve away the marbling — that is the flavor and the moisture insurance under high heat. Pat the steak dry and salt it ahead of cooking; a dry surface sears, while moisture steams and delays the crust. Season simply before the sear and finish with salt after, and the cut's own character does the work.
Targeting doneness
Doneness is a temperature, and under infrared heat it is a moving target. Pull the steak a few degrees below your final target because carryover continues during the rest — a thick steak pulled at 125°F can climb past 130°F in the minutes after the sear. Probe the thickest part of the meat away from bone and fat, pull at the number rather than the color, and rest the steak for five to ten minutes depending on thickness before slicing. The USDA recommends 145°F with a three-minute rest for whole cuts of beef; the temperatures below that are personal preference, and the choice is yours between a rare center and the USDA minimum.
Keep a note of what your grill and your favorite cut actually do. The pull temperature that produced your best ribeye, the preheat time your grill needed and the sear time per side become your personal chart within a few cooks. Infrared grills are powerful and unforgiving in equal measure, and the cooks who master them are the ones who treat the thermometer as the source of truth instead of trusting the clock or the crust color.
Where to go next
Once the cut and the sear are consistent, the next steps are technique and variety: reverse searing for the thickest cuts, a picanha cook for a different shape, and the temperature chart to lock in your pull numbers. Big Horn's portable infrared steak grill and the dual-burner 21.2-inch infrared steak grill cover the single-zone and dual-zone formats, and the steak searing grill collection holds the range. Start with a thick, marbled cut, respect the thickness, and let the probe call the finish — the 1,500°F heat does the crust, and the cut choice does the rest.
Product details and prices in this guide were verified against official Big Horn Outdoors listings during the September 5, 2026 review; re-check prices and availability at checkout.
