TABELIAAUTHENTIC RECIPE
Bistecca alla FiorentinaFlorentine T-Bone Steak
- Total
- 1 hr 15 min
- Difficulty
- ★★★☆☆
- Serves
- 4 servings
- Prep 45 min
- Cook 30 min
A thick T-bone grilled over hardwood charcoal embers, rested for 10 minutes and finished with salt and olive oil: a Florentine meat dish prepared outdoors.
AUTHENTICITY SCORE
Authenticity Score
This is the standard recipe, exactly as it’s made where it comes from — the highest Authenticity Score possible. Substituting ingredients changes this score; the app shows exactly how, ingredient by ingredient.
Ingredients (4 servings)
100Authenticity- Thick-cut beef T-bone steak1200 g4–5 cm thick; remove from the refrigerator 45 minutes before cooking
- Coarse sea salt8 g
- Black pepper2 g
- Extra virgin olive oil20 ml
- Lemon1 pieceCut into wedges; serve alongside if desired
Method
Take the chill off the thick steak
- 1 Take a 1200 g beef T-bone steak, 4–5 cm thick, out of the refrigerator 45 minutes before grilling; place it on a clean tray and cover it.
Ready when
After about 45 minutes, proceed when the surface has lost some of its chill.
Tips
Start the charcoal and prepare the finishing ingredients during this wait.
Light the hardwood charcoal
- 1 MeanwhileStart the charcoal while the steak loses its chill.
- 2 Set a charcoal grill level in a well-ventilated outdoor area where charcoal cooking is permitted.
- 3 Follow its manual: place solid charcoal firelighters on the charcoal grate and set a chimney starter filled with hardwood charcoal above them, then light them.
- 4 Without a chimney starter, arrange the charcoal on the charcoal grate and light it with charcoal firelighters according to the grill manual.
- 5 Open the air vents and allow about 20–30 minutes for the charcoal to ignite throughout.
Ready when
Proceed when all the charcoal has a thin ash coating, glows red between the lumps, and the firelighters have burned away.
Caution
Never use charcoal indoors, inside a tent or in a garage.
Follow the manual for fuel quantity and ignition.
Use heat-resistant gloves to handle hot equipment.
Tips
Use hardwood charcoal. A chimney starter is optional.
Arrange the embers and an escape zone
- 1 Wear heat-resistant gloves and use charcoal tongs to move the glowing charcoal over about 2/3 of the fuel bed, leaving the remainder empty.
- 2 Fit the cooking grate and heat it thoroughly for about 5 minutes. On an adjustable grill, aim for about 10 cm above the coals; otherwise use the manufacturer’s fixed position.
- 3 Pat the steak dry and prepare long food tongs and a probe thermometer.
- 4 Cut 0.5 lemon into wedges and set aside 8 g coarse salt and 2 g black pepper in small dishes.
- 5 Put 20 ml extra virgin olive oil in a finishing vessel.
Ready when
Proceed when the coals have a thin ash coating and a red glow, with no flames touching the meat.
Caution
Keep charcoal tongs separate from food tongs.
Do not salt or oil the steak before grilling.
Tips
Embers are red-hot coals whose flames have subsided. The empty area allows the steak to escape flare-ups.
Sear both sides over the embers
- 1 Lay the steak flat on the cooking grate over the charcoal and, with the lid removed, grill one side for about 5 minutes.
- 2 Turn with long tongs and grill the other side for about 5 minutes.
- 3 If dripping fat causes flames, move the meat to the empty zone and return it after the flames subside.
Ready when
Proceed when both sides have a deep brown crust and release from the grate without force.
Caution
Do not pierce the steak with a fork or press it down.
Sustained flames will burn the surface black.
Tips
Cooking time varies with thickness and charcoal heat; judge the crust together with the center temperature in the next step.
Finish with the bone facing down
- 1 Stand the steak bone-edge down on the grate, supporting it with long tongs, and cook for about 5–8 minutes.
- 2 Insert a probe thermometer sideways into the center, avoiding the bone, and check both the fillet and sirloin.
- 3 Remove the steak once the center reaches about 48–50°C. If the crust is ready but the center is still too cool, finish briefly at the boundary with fewer coals.
Ready when
For rare, aim for 48–50°C in both centers, measured away from the bone, before proceeding.
Caution
Keep the steak supported with tongs so it does not fall.
48–50°C indicates a rare finish; it is not a temperature that guarantees food safety.
Tips
Use an intact thick-cut steak; this rare method is not intended for reformed, injected or mechanically tenderized beef.
Rest the grilled steak for 10 minutes
- 1 Transfer the steak to a clean tray reserved for cooked food and sprinkle with 4 g coarse salt.
- 2 Cover loosely with foil and rest for 10 minutes.
Ready when
Proceed after the 10-minute rest.
Caution
Do not reuse an unwashed tray or board that held raw meat.
Remove the bone and slice
- 1 Move the steak to a clean board and cut along the bone to detach the fillet and sirloin.
- 2 Slice each across the grain into pieces 1.5 cm thick and arrange beside the bone on a large plate.
- 3 Sprinkle the cut surfaces with the remaining 4 g coarse salt and 2 g black pepper, then drizzle with 20 ml extra virgin olive oil.
- 4 Add the lemon wedges at the side.
Ready when
The finished plate should show the brown crust and rosy interior, with slices arranged beside the bone.
About this dish
Florence stretches along the Arno and is both a city of Renaissance art and a city of meat cookery supported by Tuscany’s livestock culture, including Chianina cattle. Bistecca alla fiorentina is a thick bone-in steak that symbolizes this connection to place.
The word bistecca is said to derive from the English “beef steak.” One theory holds that it spread through contact with British travelers visiting Florence in the 18th–19th centuries. Today, trattorias around San Lorenzo and grill restaurants outside the city serve it as an emblem of Tuscany’s celebratory table.
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