The BBQ is the best and worst place for grass-fed Irish beef. Best because the smoke and char complement the earthier, more complex flavour of grass-fed meat in a way that grain-finished beef can't match. Worst because an Irish summer and an impatient cook are a dangerous combination — leave it too long and grass-fed beef dries out faster than its more heavily marbled counterpart.
Get it right, though, and there's nothing close to it.
Here's the full ranking of cuts for outdoor grilling, from best to worst, with notes on how to handle each one.
S-tier: the cuts that were made for this
Bavette (flank steak)
Best for: feeding a crowd, sliced thin · Value: excellent · Difficulty: medium
The BBQ cut that most people haven't discovered yet. Bavette is a large, flat muscle from the flank — intense beef flavour, open grain, excellent over direct charcoal heat. Marinate for 2–4 hours in something acidic (red wine and garlic, buttermilk, or even a beer-based marinade), pat dry before it goes on the grill, cook over high heat for 3–4 minutes per side to medium-rare, rest for 5 minutes minimum, slice against the grain thinly on an angle.
It feeds four people for the cost of a supermarket sirloin and it tastes better on a grill. This is the one to serve to guests who've never had a proper grass-fed steak — the flavour-to-price ratio is revelatory.
Flat iron
Best for: individual portions, quick cook · Value: very good · Difficulty: easy
The flat iron is the best-kept secret in Irish butchery. Cut from the shoulder blade and separated from the central sinew by your butcher, it's tender enough to eat without any marinade, flavourful enough to hold its own against the smoke, and substantially cheaper than sirloin. Cook it exactly as you would a sirloin — screaming hot direct heat, 2–3 minutes per side, medium-rare, rest, slice against the grain. This is the one for a weeknight grill when you want steak-quality results without sirloin prices.
A-tier: excellent on the grill, with a little care
Sirloin / striploin
Best for: the centrepiece, occasions · Value: moderate · Difficulty: easy-medium
The benchmark grass-fed steak. Brilliant on the grill, with the fat cap crisping and basting the meat as it cooks. The rule with grass-fed sirloin on a BBQ: don't walk away. High heat, 3 minutes per side, internal temperature checked at 52–54°C, off the heat. It will carry over to medium-rare as it rests. Don't try to cook it medium or above — it's not worth what happens to the texture.
Ribeye
Best for: anyone nervous about grass-fed drying out · Value: expensive · Difficulty: forgiving
The most forgiving grass-fed cut on the grill because of its higher intramuscular fat. It copes with slightly more cooking time without catastrophic moisture loss. Still cook it to medium-rare, but the margin for error is wider. A thick-cut ribeye (3cm+) on charcoal, with a brief rest, fat basted by the flames as it cooks, is one of the best things you can put on a plate.
Skirt steak
Best for: tacos, wraps, informal sliced steak · Value: very good · Difficulty: medium
Like bavette, skirt is a working muscle with big flavour and open grain. It benefits from a marinade, needs high heat and short time, and must be sliced against the grain or it'll be like chewing rope. On the grill it chars beautifully. Outstanding as a fajita base or sliced thinly over a summer salad.
B-tier: solid, with conditions
Fillet / tenderloin
Best for: special occasions, guests who want the "best" cut · Value: expensive · Difficulty: high
Fillet is tricky on a BBQ because it's so lean. The forgiving part of cooking fillet — the fat — isn't there. You need to be extremely precise about temperature (use a thermometer, do not eyeball it), and you need to pull it off the heat at 50–52°C internal, no higher. A properly cooked grass-fed fillet on charcoal is beautiful; an overcooked one is an expensive mistake. If you're feeding a crowd and grilling multiple things, fillet is the last thing to put on.
Thick-cut burgers (chuck mince)
Best for: casual BBQs, kids, feeding numbers · Value: excellent · Difficulty: easy
Ask your butcher to grind chuck fresh for burgers. Grass-fed mince is leaner than grain-finished, so you want a 70/30 ratio if possible — ask for it specifically. Fat equals flavour and moisture; lean-only grass-fed burgers on a grill can come out dry. Form the patties loosely, make them thick (2cm+), and resist the urge to press them with a spatula — you're squeezing the moisture out. Cook to 70°C internal for food safety. A well-formed grass-fed Irish burger on a good grill, with cheese and good bread, is the simplest argument for buying direct from a butcher.
C-tier: not the natural habitat
Topside / silverside
Too lean and too large for direct grill heat. Can be slow-cooked on a kettle BBQ (indirect heat, lid on, 160°C, long time) but this is specialist territory and there are better cuts for the same result. Leave these for the oven.
Shin / stewing cuts
These cuts need time and moisture to break down their collagen. A grill provides neither. Don't put shin on a BBQ — it'll be dry and tough before the collagen has had time to do anything useful. These belong in a pot on the lowest heat you can manage, for hours.
BBQ tips specific to grass-fed Irish beef
- Get the coals right before anything goes on. Grass-fed beef needs proper high heat to sear quickly. Wait until the coals are white-grey and the grate is screaming hot before the first piece goes on.
- Use a thermometer. The line between perfectly cooked and overdone grass-fed beef is narrow. A probe thermometer takes the guesswork out.
- Pat steaks dry. Even after a marinade, pat the surface dry before the grill. Wet meat steams; dry meat sears.
- Don't move it constantly. Put it on, leave it, flip once, leave it, off. Constant moving lowers the grate temperature and inhibits the crust.
- Rest everything. At least 5 minutes for individual steaks, longer for anything thicker than 3cm. Cover loosely with foil.
- Season generously. Grass-fed beef can take more salt than you think. Season at least 30 minutes before cooking, or just as it goes on the grill — not in the middle.
The one thing to do this summer
If you've never cooked bavette on a charcoal grill — marinated, dried, seared hard, rested, sliced thin against the grain — do it before the summer ends. It's the most affordable argument for the flavour superiority of Irish grass-fed beef over anything in a supermarket, and it's genuinely impressive served to people who've never had it.
Ask your local butcher for bavette or flank. If they look at you blankly, find a better butcher.