How do you grill a steak directly on charcoal?

You want paleo? This is paleo: meat in fire.

Forget the pan. Never mind the grate. Just take that beautiful thick steak and throw it directly onto hot coals. Yes, on the coals themselves. It gives a whole new meaning to direct heat.

The technique goes by various names: caveman steak, dirty steak, Eisenhower steak. The former president, it seems, fancied himself an amateur chef and, while experimenting with grilling, developed his own take on the method. He liked sirloin, and he liked it thick — about four inches. Which seems reason enough to like Ike.

This is what Eisenhower knew that you should, too: Setting a steak right on the fire gives it a fantastic charred crust and juicy interior. He also knew that it bedazzles dinner guests. And who doesn't love a great parlor trick? I personally like to use a T-bone or a porterhouse, because they look insane on the plate, or a ribeye, because it's the most robustly flavorful cut. I also scale things back to about a third of what the president enjoyed (a metaphor for these diminished times, or simply a better weight for most appetites — I don't know).

To pull it off yourself, do this:

Get a couple of steaks 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches thick. Do not season them.

Start a fire using hardwood lump charcoal, not briquettes (lump burns hotter, and you want call-the-fire-trucks hot).

When the coals are red-hot, spread them to form an even layer. Fan away the ash with a newspaper.

Set the steaks directly onto the coals. For medium-rare, leave them there about 4-6 minutes, then, using long-handled tongs, turn them over for another 4-6 minutes.

Remove them from the fire and use a pastry brush to rid the steaks of any residual ash. If you want, brush a light sheen of excellent extra-virgin olive oil on the steaks. If you don't, skip that step, and just season on both sides with coarse-ground sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Let the steaks rest for 10 minutes.

That's it. Serve one to each guest or cut into thick slices, then eat and swoon.

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Jim Shahin writes about barbecue for the Washington Post Have a question for him? Leave it in the comments or e-mail him. You can also follow him on Twitter.

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