Awesome steak!!!


 
M

Matt Sanders

TVWBB Pro
I just grilled the most awesome steaks I've ever grilled last night. I didn't even need A1, which I've used with pretty much every steak I've eaten since I was 8. It wasn't the cut of meat- a rather pedestrean strip- it was the method, found here:

http://www.amazingribs.com/rec...eakhouse_steaks.html

I pretty much followed his program. It worked great on my CharGriller, which is barrel shaped and has movable charcoal grates. Here's what I did:

1. Lowry's on the steaks 2 hours in advance, rewrap and put in fridge.

2. Remove from fridge 1/2 hour in advance, and dust with sea salt.

3. Royal Oak lump on one half of grill, no grates above the charcoal.

4. Put steaks on other half of grill (indirect cooking) with lid closed for about half hour or a little more. Twice I tossed a handful of Oak/Pecan chips on the coals (hence, why I left the grates off during this part).

5. Raise the charcoal grate as high as it will go, and put cooking grates directly over the coals (about one inch above the coals).

6. Slick a thin coat of vegitable oil on the steaks, and sear the steaks directly over the coals. Keep the lid up (or off), and don't let the steaks sit too long in one place. The idea is a deep brown all over, not grill marks. This only takes about 5 minutes including both sides. You want the coals blazing hot for the sear.

Since Weber grills' grates don't raise, He suggested propping them up with fire bricks.

Steaks were awesome. I cooked to medium/medium well, for my wife's sake. I think they'd be even better at medium rare.
icon_eek.gif
 
seems a bit conservative.

go ahead and liberally salt the steak a couple of hours before cooking and leave it on the counter. Warming the steak to room temp will help with cooking and activates some enzymes that will start to tenderize the meat. You may grow some surface bacteria, but they should be controlled by your HH sear. Don't probe the steak until you've seared it.
 
No need to worry about bacteria. Salt is a natural inhibitor. Been cooking my steaks that way for years. Great every time. Although now i only use the touch method to check for doneness.
icon_biggrin.gif
 
Matt,

Not knocking your way since I've never tried it, but it seems kind of complicated. Read through this thread and anything else you can find on reverse sear. I can say that I'll never go back, nor will I ever order a steak in a restaurant again.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">go ahead and liberally salt the steak a couple of hours before cooking and leave it on the counter. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I should mention to blot any moisture and to rub again with salt and pepper before grilling. The surface can end up being wet, and that moisture will prevent browning.

I went with this method a couple of days ago on some monster, prime, dry aged steaks, and they grilled up perfectly.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Read through this thread and anything else you can find on reverse sear. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'm still not sold on the RS. I can't figure out how you would hit your target temp.

I sear first, and when that's to my liking, I go to indirect and focus on my target temp. I never cook a steak under an 1" thick and try to get it as warm as I can before grilling.

I feel like if I RS, I have a chance of overshooting my target temp while searing.
 
Thanks for the feedback, guys. I think I will let them sit out for the two hours next time.

And I'm pretty flexible on doneness, as long as it's tender. I like the reverse sear, since once you start that, you don't really have to control the fire's temp- just let 'er rip. I don't think the extreme high heat sear (like with blazing lump charcoal) raises the internal temp much. The meat simply isn't on the heat long enough.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by j biesinger:
I'm still not sold on the RS. I can't figure out how you would hit your target temp.

I sear first, and when that's to my liking, I go to indirect and focus on my target temp. I never cook a steak under an 1" thick and try to get it as warm as I can before grilling.

I feel like if I RS, I have a chance of overshooting my target temp while searing. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

That was my fear when I first read about it in the Best Dang Steak thread. It seems like the main objective of RS is a more gradual heating first to keep the meat in the temperature window between 100 and rare the longest, so I've finished with a very quick sear while the steaks still feel very rare. I may be too conservative with the amount of time on the cool side, but I really don't know how to tell or what temp to shoot for before searing. I will say that I haven't taken a temperature on a steak in years, but I've gone 4 for 5 in not going past rare since trying RS. Dumb luck, maybe? There's definitely something to it because the steaks have been phenomenal.
 
I think for true real medium rare on say a 1.5 inch or so steak is going to be about 130, maybe a degree or two less, but no more. That's what they go by at Shula's (told by one of grill masters), one of my favorite top tier steakhouses. That's the finish temp.

So normally you would pull at about 120 and let rest figuring a 10 degree carry over temp.

I just did a reverse sear on two 17oz ribeyes. They were both just about identical. I grilled them indirect at about 260-ish. I pulled one at 115 and one at 120 and let them rest for about 20 minutes while I got the fire hot. My probe said 512, but I don't know about that. I can tell you it was seriously hot.

From there, I put both on at the same time and seared both sides for about 2 minutes each side.

After the sear, the 115 read 127 and the 120 was 131. Both steaks were fantastic and I honestly will admit I doubt I could tell the difference between the two... so clearly a couple of degrees shouldn't make or break anything.

I think the real advantage of the reverse sear is that you get a much broader band of your goal temp throughout the steak... not just the very center. I'd say there was your normal grey medium-wellish ban only intruding on the first 1/8 inch of the steak if that.

Unfortunately, I didn't take copious notes nor pics because I got started on the Cab Sav a bit early, but that was the general summary based on what I wrote down. I try to keep a pretty accurate journal of stuff for my own ease of things so next times, I'll document it blow by blow.

To the OP, do whatever works for you. If you love the way those steaks came out... stick with it... perfect it... and enjoy the **** out of it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top