Depends on what you want out of your steak. Typically, simpler is better. I buy my ribeyes in the loin and custom cut them myself. About half get a marinade of the day, which can include olive oil, teriyaki, a rosemary or Montreal type blend, maybe some honey, maybe a little lime, maybe some crushed garlic, or a multitude of other seasonings. Keeping it simple is best. Like cigars, you find the blends that suit you best. One of the most important things I think about process of protien management is flip once, the only exception being if you want to make pretty grill marks.

I custom cut my ribeyes and vacuum pack them, if you marinade them, it helps to vac pack them and let them sit in the fridge a bit to let the meat marinade a bit, then freeze. Much better flavor infusion that way, and if your cut is a bit sub-par, it helps to tenderize the meat if you have used a papain based tenderizer or citric. Remember, the citric ingredients also cook the meat slightly, like a ceviche, so be careful there. Room temp before cooking is paramount, as ^^ that guy said. I believe the Ribeye is the King of meats, and try to worship at the temple quite often. Temp is paramount, if you are unsure, get a good probe thermometer and use the rough guides you can find everywhere, remember, as the meat sits off the grill, it will carryover cook, and take that into account when you take it off the heat. Resting is indeed important, and once you get in the groove with the proper temps in cooking, and a short rest, it is heaven.

All that being said, covering up a truly fine piece of prime steak with anything other than salt and pepper, and possibly some butter on the top at the plating is unnecessary.
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Sure. One note about packaged seasonings and rubs (like Montreal). I have eaten many steaks prepped with these and they do taste good, but they are 90% salt. I love salt, but in order to get a stronger spice or herb flavor with these rubs results in over salted foods. Making your own rubs/seasonings results in a better product, but I must admit, if you like the bottled stuff, thats all that matters (and yes, my pantry has about 20 spice mixtures including 3 montreal type blends but I always tend to use them a salt substitute and add non-salt elements to them).

HEre is a great herb rub which I have been using on Flat Iron steaks for a while. For some reason this works extremely well on flat irons, will probably work well with strip steaks too. The other good thing about this is that uses dried herbs:

Recipe:

Equal Parts dried rosemary, thyme and half as much oregano.
Salt and Pepper to taste.
2 clove of garlic per 1/4 cup olive oil.

Crush the garlic into the olive oil. 1/4 cup is more then enough for an entire flat iron. Take herb mixture and RUB RUB RUB into meat. This will break up the herbs and press them into the meat. The amount of rub you want is to get a good coverage but not a crust -- this is aromatic and too much will over power. Unfortunately this is a try it thing but use good judgement. Next, crack black pepper to your taste on both sides of meat, and yes rub it in. Then drizzle both sides with garlic olive oil and let marinade at room temperature for 2 hours (dont worry, unless you house is 100 degrees you are safe). Take the steak out the oil, sprinlke with course salt to taste and grill, let rest 10 minutes and slice against grain.

One more note. You should always oil steak before grilling. Obviously it prevents sticking, but the true value is that smoke is trapped by fat, your steaks will be MUCH smokier. Spraying the grill with oil only results in non-sticking, not the flavor enhancement. Try it, I stand by this:-).

I have never made jerky but make Biltong, a South African dried meat (think drying an entire london broil). I use a special box to dry the meat over 2 weeks, the meat cures for 24 hours. I make 60-80 lbs at a time, I will post some pictures in a another thread soon:-)
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Please open up the patio so we can try your new recipe!:-)
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Montreal. Nothing else necessary.

Although every now and then I do enjoy a steak that has been resting in Mr Stubbs beef marinade.
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