Picanha (Finally!)

[Rich G]

I've been threatening to cook Picanha since Jerome D posted up some mouthwatering pictures back in 2014. I finally got around to it last night.

I hit the local butcher and picked up a 4.5lb Australian Wagyu "Coulotte" roast. I trimmed a bit of the fat, but left a good covering, then removed the silver skin. I sliced the roast with the grain into four, thick "steaks", and fitted two each on skewers. The chunks of meat then got a very healthy dusting of sea salt, and were left to sit for about and hour or so. I prepped the 26" with a chimney of charcoal, for an indirect cook, and off we went. The thermometer was hovering around 425, and I rotated/flipped the meat every 10 minutes. After a bit over 20 minutes, the little one was done, and about 4 minutes after that, the larger pieces were done (I actually feel I could have pulled then all off earlier, but, well, I didn't!)

The meat rested while I got some sides together, and then I sliced it all up against the grain for serving. This was the most butter tender, and beefy tasting "steak" I have had in quite some time. I made up a batch of chimichurri to go with it, which was a great foil to the richness of the meat. I ate pieces with and without the chimichurri and loved it both ways.

I wish it hadn't taken me so long to do this cook. If I can find a source of more realistically priced picanha, I will put it in the regular steak rotation.

Some pics......

Sliced, then skewered:

Off the grill to rest:

First "steak" sliced:

Platter o' meat:

Thanks for looking!

Rich

 

[Jeff Boudman]

Looks perfect!

 

[CaseT]

Oh yeah that looks awesome! Widh I could find it affordably here. The butcher wants $35/pound!

 

[Rich G]

Oh yeah that looks awesome! Widh I could find it affordably here. The butcher wants $35/pound!

I hear ya, Case! At those prices that's a once in a very long while (or never) kind of thing!

I'll tell ya, though, I need to play with salting steaks more, as I think that contributed to the lovely color on those "steaks"!

R

 

[Cliff Bartlett]

That is some gorgeous looking meat Rich, both before and after. Looks perfectly cooked and I know it was delicious. I liked your technique with the skewers. I've seen some recipes that suggest shaving the meat off in very thin pieces directly off the rotisserie rod, putting back on the pit and repeating several times.

 

[Brad Olson]

Really nice, Rich!

I'll tell ya, though, I need to play with salting steaks more, as I think that contributed to the lovely color on those "steaks"!

I'm a big fan of advance salting and will often go 24+ hours between salting and grilling - the strip steaks I'm doing tonight were salted Monday.

 

[Rich G]

I've seen some recipes that suggest shaving the meat off in very thin pieces directly off the rotisserie rod, putting back on the pit and repeating several times.

Thanks, Cliff. The slicing off the rotisserie rod is generally how they do it in a churrascaria, BUT, if you do that, you should slice your Picanha roast ACROSS the grain when making the "steaks" for the spit......that way, you will be slicing the correct direction when you cut it directly off the spit. That seemed like way too much work to me, so I just went the skewer route, sliced with the grain, and then across the grain for serving.

Let us know how yours turns out!

R

 

[Bruno]

LOOKS AMAZING!!

 

[russ olin]

Dude, you nailed those Picanha steaks. OUTSTANDING!
I have one from Snake River Farms I hope that it comes out as good as yours.