I have to admit that I’d heard of the coulotte steak, but I’d never seen one at a store (or butcher) and had no idea where the hell it came from. But then I spotted a couple out in the wild at my local grocer and decided to see what they were all about. The price was so incredibly low that I couldn’t resist and after I tasted it, I have to ask myself, where has the coulotte steak been all my life?

Before we get into what exactly is a coulotte steak, I wanted to share that we are big fans of non traditional steaks. Sure we love the ribeye, NY strip and porterhouse, but those are really expensive and we grill a lot of steaks. I mean a LOT! Accordingly, we need to save money where we can. And there are a ton of non traditional steaks that taste fantastic:

Like the Flat Iron Steak.

Don’t overlook the skirt. Skirt Steak (in pinwheel form).

The hard to find chuck eye steak is amazing.

What is Coulotte Steak?

Simply put, Coulotte is sirloin. It’s from the sirloin cap which is where it gets its name which comes from the French word Culot which means cap. The sirloin cap has a thick layer of fat that may or may not be found on the coulotte. This cut is known as picanha (or picaña) in South America and is prized for that thick layer of fat. In the U.S. that fat is often cut off entirely as with these. The coulotte steak is also known as sirloin cap steak, beef rump steak, and top sirloin cap steak.

Now that we know what the coulotte is, let’s get after grilling these beauties.

Grilled Coulotte Steak Ingredients

• 2 coulotte steaks, approximately 1.5 pounds total
• Your favorite steak seasoning, I used SPG seasoning
• Salt, optional
• Grapeseed oil, substitute another high flashpoint vegetable oil

These two steaks are fairly different in terms of size. One was about 14 ounces and the other around 10:

I seasoned these with SPG seasoning which is just a blend of salt, pepper and garlic.

And since the SPG has a lot of salt, I didn’t need to add any extra salt:

And don’t forget the sides:

Additionally, give the seasoned coulotte a spritz of high heat vegetable oil. The oil will help keep the steaks from sticking to the grill grates and make for better grill marks.

I used grape seed oil because it has a higher smoke point than olive oil:

How to Grill Coulotte Steak

Season the steaks with your favorite steak seasoning and salt if needed. Spritz with high flash point vegetable oil (I used grape seed oil). Prepare the grill for two zone grilling with hot coals on one side and no coals on the other. The temp at the grill grates above the coals needs to be north of 500F. Sear for about 2-3 minutes then flip over once there are great grill marks and sear on the other side for another 2-3 minutes. Once we get grill marks on the other side, flip back over and rotate 45 degrees and sear for another 2-3 minutes. Once there are cross hatch grill marks on that side, flip over and rotate 45 degrees and get cross hatch grill marks on the other side. At this point the steak is a beautiful rare around 115F-125F. Place on the side of the grill with no coals and close the lid and bake until the coulotte steak reaches your desired doneness.

Light the Grill

Prepare the grill for two zone or indirect grilling which means hot coals on one side of the grill and none on the other. For a gas grill, turn on one burner on one side and leave the rest off. The grill grates over the heat need to be above 500F.

If these were bigger steaks, I would reverse sear them but for me, I’m giddy with a rare steak so I’m just going to sear them and serve.

Slap the bigger steak down over the hot section of the grill:

If I put these on at the same time this skinny one will be done before the thicker one, so I leave the skinny one on the cutting board and get the big one cooking a bit before the long, skinny one goes on:

After 2-3 minutes, and we have good grill marks on the bottom, flip the steak over. I also placed the skinny one on the grill right before I flipped the thicker one over:

Some are wondering why I flipped it rather than rotating the steak 45 degrees and putting cross hatch on one side first.

How to get Great Grill Marks on a Steak

Get the grill grates above 500F and place the steak down on the hot grill grates. Wait 2-3 minutes for great grill marks to form. Then flip the steak over and sear for another 2-3 minutes. When we have great grill marks on the other side, flip over the steak and rotate 45 degrees to get those cross hatch grill marks. After another 2-3 minutes flip, rotate 45 degrees and sear for a final 2-3 minutes. If you sear, rotate, sear and then sear, rotate, sear, the steak will have heavy grey bands around the outside of the interior of the steak. By searing halfway, flipping, searing flipping, rotating, searing, etc, the meat doesn’t take that super high heat on one side for as long and thus less grey bands. There will be some greying, but it won’t be as bad if we do the single flip method.

After 2-3 minutes, flip the thicker steak and rotate it 45 degrees so the grill grates run across the current single hatch grill marks. Also, I like to sprinkle a bit more seasoning on during the searing process. Not a lot. Just a dusting:

The skinny steak is looking great:

We need to talk about that skinny steak. If we do cross hatch on two sides of that steak, it will be overcooked to my liking. So I’m going to single hatch it. But do it on all four sides.

Thus, when I flip my thicker coulotte steak I will roll the thinner one on it’s side.

Thinner coulotte on its side:

Perfect grill marks on the thicker steak:

Ready to Serve

Once I have single hatch grill marks all the way around the skinnier steak and cross hatch on the top and bottom of the thicker coulotte, the Thermopen tells me the steaks are done:

If you want your steak cooked more than this, place the coulotte steaks on the side of the grill with no direct heat and close the lid and bake the steaks to your desired doneness. This chart might help:

Steak Temps

• Rare Steak Temp: 120F-125F
• Medium Rare Steak Temp: 130F-135F
• Medium Steak Temp: 140F-145F
• Med. Well Steak Temp: 150F-155F
• Well Done Steak Temp: 160F or more, but seriously, just order the chicken

I’m ready to pull the steaks off the grill:

So how did I do? After a few minutes of rest time, I sliced the skinny one:

And while that coulotte looks fantastic, the thicker one looks even better:

Yeah, that’s just pretty:

Grilled Coulotte Steak Recap

I was floored at how great the coulotte was. Indeed, out-of-this-world good and half the price of a ribeye or strip. I could load my freezer with these and be content for a very long time. Scroll down below the recipe card to see more pics from this and me eating some coulotte. Seriously, find these locally and all of them in the case.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below or send me an email.

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Grilled Coulotte Steak

An explanation of exactly what the coulotte steak is, where it comes from and how grill the coulotte to perfection including how to get great grill marks

Course Entree, Main Course, Steak

Cuisine American, American Fare, Beef, Steak

Keyword #Grilled, Andria's Steak Sauce, Bacon Wrapped Grilled Cheese, Cap Steak, Charcoal, Charcoal Grill, Coulotte, Coulotte Steak, Coulotte Steaks, Coulottes, Great Grill Marks, Grill Marks, Grilled Coulotte Steak, Grilled Coulotte Steaks, Grilled Steak, Medium Rare Steak, Medium Rare Steak Temp, Medium Steak Temp, Medium Well Steak Temp, New York Strip Steaks, Perfect Grill Marks, Picaña, Picanha, Picanha Steak, Rare Steak Temp, Sirloin, Sirloin Steak, SPG, SPG Seasoning, Steak Temps, Well Done Steak Temp

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Servings 2 People

Ingredients

• 2 Coulotte steaks Approximately 12 ounces each
• Your favorite steak rub We used SPG season
• Salt optional
• High heat vegetable oil We used grape seed oil

Instructions

• Coat the steaks with the seasoning and spritz with a thin coating of the vegetable oil
• Prepare the grill for two zone/indirect grilling with one side hot and the other side cool. Temps at the grill grates on the hot side need to be above 500F
• Place the steaks on the hot side and allow to sear for 2-3 minutes
• Flip the steaks and allow them to sear on the other side for another 2-3 minutes.
• Flip the steaks back over and rotate 45 degrees so the grill grates run across the single hatch grill marks we created earlier
• After another 2-3 minutes flip and rotate again and complete the cross hatch grill marks on the second side
• The steaks will be rare after searing. If you want the coulotte steaks to be cooked more than rare, then place the steaks on the side with no direct heat and close the lid to bake them to your desired doneness
• Remove from the grill and let rest for 3-5 minutes and serve

Video

This is what someone who is absolutely amazed looks like:

The post Grilled Coulotte Steak first appeared on GrillinFools.

Author information

Scott Thomas

Scott Thomas, the Original Grillin’ Fool, was sent off to college with a suitcase and a grill where he overcooked, undercooked and burned every piece of meat he could find. After thousands of failures, and quite a few successes, nearly two decades later he started a website to show step by step, picture by picture, foolproof instructions on how to make great things out of doors so that others don’t have to repeat the mistakes he’s made on the grill.

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