Help with 22.5" OTG, Steaks and Charcoal


 
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TristanH

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Picked up a new grill on the weekend... she's a beaut, but I need some help...

Tried doing a couple of rib steaks last night. Fat ones. About 2.6lbs total. Went with Weber's recommendations in their little booklet. ~50 briquettes, vents full open, direct heat. Went even longer than recommended time-wise and probably cooked for 10 mins total.

When I took the steaks off they weren't quite a grilled or seared as I would have imagined. There were light grill marks, but I thought the outside would be more charred. Also, they were much rarer in the middle than expected. Parts looked straight up rare when I was expecting closer to well done (for the wife's sake
icon_wink.gif
) I think I want higher heat.

50 briquettes was only about 3/4 of a Weber rapidfire chimney. I did reuse some briquettes, but I'm pretty sure I had at least the equivalent of 50 briquettes. Royal Oak Charcoal. Is it normal for 50 briquettes to only fill 3/4 of the chimney?

When I spread them out, it was only about half the grill worth, if that, of a layer about 1 briquette thick.

Any advice here? More briquettes? How would you get higher heat? How do people on here do this? Do I just need to cook these fat steaks longer?

They tasted pretty good, but I want to master this thing!

Thanks for any advice!

Tristan
 
Try using a full chimney and put all the coals on one side of the grill. You mentioned 2.6 pounds - is that per steak? If they were really thick, you might try searing for a few minutes per side, then moving off the coals and finishing indirect. Or, get daring and try the "reverse sear". Roast indirect at a low temp with vents only opened a tad. Take your steak off and open the vents wide open. Once that temp gets up there, throw the steaks back on for a quick sear.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by JimK:
You mentioned 2.6 pounds - is that per steak? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Nono, that was total. I'm not a lion haha.

I had the steaks out for over 30 mins, so they were getting up to room temp.

I'll try a full chimney next time... hopefuly that will do it, but I feel it will take more!

Thanks for the replies!

Tristan
 
Get yourself a meat probe thermometer. Pull steaks to 5 to 10 degrees early and let rest under a tent of foil. Temp will increase while resting.
 
For steaks, I want very high heat, so I go with at least a full chimney. I bunch the coals up tight so that some are pushed up well over 45º vertical.

For large steaks like those, I usually do - 3 minutes, flip, 3 minutes, flip+rotate 45º, 1 minutes, flip+rotate 45º, a final 1 minute, and then rested under a foil tent for 10 minutes. This usually gives me a nice Medium-Rare to Medium.

I don't like stabbing steak with a probe - I don't want it to 'bleed out'. I use the 'Hand Test' for doneness - http://www.meninaprons.net/arc...ss_the_hand_tes.html


BTW, here's how Alton Brown does a 24oz Porterhouse to Med-Rare in 5 minutes - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5tytP4Do-A
 
Travis, when I do steaks on my Weber grill I put 3 bricks under the coal grate. This raises the grate as much as I want and gets it nice and close to the grilling grate. Make sure you grilling grate gets good and hot before putting the meat on and you should have great grill marks. Also make sure the meat is dry when putting on as to reduce steam effect and cooling of the product and cooking grate. Oh you are right , more coals should create higher heat as well.

Mark
 
The old Weber books described a method of high heat grilling whereby you put the coals in the middle of the charcoal grate, between charcoal rails or baskets This will give you a 3 layer fire, plenty of heat for searing. You can move to the side to finish indirect if needed.

You'll note the inserts on Weber grill grates are in the middle. Use this method for those products.
 
I brush with EVOO and rub with garlic powder - produces nice grill marks (is this cheating?) and everyone loves the flavor of the steaks.

Tim
 
Per the Weber iPhone App - for a Rib-eye;

1.5" thick go 6-8 minutes direct heat (450-500) turning once + 4-6 minutes indirect heat
2.0" thick go 6-8 minutes direct + 8-10 minutes indirect
 
For steaks I use a full chimney of coals. I pull the steaks out of the fridge as soon as I light my chimney. Rub w/ canola oil and kosher salt.

Once lit, I pour the whole chimney on one half of the grill. I clean the grates and wait for the grill to get super hot.

I do about 4-5 minutes each side and I fan the coals while they're on for extra heat.

I do the feel test to determine doneness, but usually its 4-5 minutes per side.
 
One suggestion not mentioned is take that weber pamphlet, sprits with a little cooking spray, place in the underside of you chimney starter, light to start your fuel. Then try any of the procedures suggested.

For thick cut steaks you might be interested in the reverse sear.

Good luck!

Gary
 
To me, it might take a while to be able to cook a steak using time as your guide. There are a lot of variables.

Get a meat thermometer, and touch the meat as you watch the internal temp go up. Soon you will be able to chech for doneness without the thermometer. As you become more consistant with your fires, you will be able to also use time as a guide.

I build a big fire, full chimney. I pour the burning coals on top of any leftover coals and usually add a few more unlit. Open all the vents, and let 'er rip.

The only thing I used to time was time between flips ( to make it cook evenly inside ). Now I just guess and cook till the outside looks pretty and the inside is done the way I want. Good luck, and have fun.
 
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