tony b

They should be called "Elvis' Paradise!"

Nice use of the basket splitter for a simple, small, short cook!

First, my bad, forgot the pics! Got busy entertaining my guest and dropped the ball. But, to the steaks, nice cut of beef. Good marbling and grilled up nice. Similar to sirloin, but a tad more "beefy." One tidbit, cut on the bias across the grain. It is slightly more tender that way. I had a touch too much red wine vinegar in the marinade, but overall nice flavors. Will back off the vinegar and add more soy sauce next time (or maybe some gochujang). It was marinated overnight. Cooked as planned at 350F dome, 400F at lower grill, with red oak - 10 minutes total (flipped every 2 - 3 minutes). Came out a nice medium rare in the middle. If I read correctly, this is a single muscle cut from the interior of the chuck, so about 3/4" thick is a big as it gets. Just wish is was a tad thicker. Overall, I'll buy it again.

My local supermarket just started getting these. I was not familiar with this cut and none of my cookbooks, including my Lobel's Meat Bible, had anything about them. Good old internet to the rescue. New cut from the chuck primal courtesy of the Beef Check-off Program. So I'm going for it after checking them out in the butcher's counter. It's a nicely marbled cut. Internet says to marinate them and grill over medium-high heat (400F) medium rare (130F). Have 2 marinating in red wine, red wine vinegar, EVOO, soy sauce, fresh garlic, Vidalia onion, fresh thyme and rosemary, dried bay leaf, salt and course ground black pepper. Will toss on the grill tonight - lower grill, 350F dome, with red oak. Will post follow-up pics and tasting notes.

Good one!!

Now it's turned into a Viagra joke!

Reasonable guess, Porkchop. I was thinking pineapple, myself.

Porkchop, that is just sick, man! Seriously, seriously sick!!

And here I was afraid to make a "boner" joke about Porkchop's post about "can't beat meat on the bone."

Sauce looks "chunky." So what's in it??

Classic, Porkchop!

Will definitely look for the lardon next visit to TJ's. Unfortunately, the closest one to me is in Des Moines (150 miles), so I don't go very often. But when I do go, I generally load up. Love their pre-marinated carne asada. And, usually several cases of 3 Buck Chuck!

Great looking pics! We just got local sweet corn this weekend, so had to throw an ear on the grill. My favorite part of summer, along with homegrown tomatoes! I did a pork loin to go with, but didn't take any pics; struggled to get the cook done in between showers! Seems like the rain is unrelenting this summer!

Great advice, normstar. Last tri-tip, I was going for just good sear marks and a medium center, not trying to develop a crust. I have to remember that this is a different cut of beef from the usual steak cuts and needs roasting, not just high temp grilling. Thanks again!

There's always Dizzy Pig's Red Eye Express, if you're looking for a good coffee based rub. I've never thought about using garam masala as a BBQ rub, but it makes good sense. I have done Sate seasoning from Penzeys before. Love it as a chicken and pork rub. Just discovered their Berbere rub - nice Moroccan flavors (sort of like a Ras El Hanout) with a nice heat to it. Huge Penzeys fan - most of my spices in the pantry, outside of my BBQ rubs, come from them.

Good Luck, Susan. I know how lucky I am to have a great butcher at my Farmers' Market. I just tell him what I need and he gets it. Sure, I'm paying more than at the local supermarket, but it's better quality and I get exactly what I want. So worth it!

Blasphemy! There's ALWAYS room for good Q. But that picture doesn't look AWESOME! Serious Q going on there. I saw Bobby Flay do a show from the Salt Lick. He says it's his favorite Q spot in the whole country. High praise indeed.

I have a second fridge in the garage (mostly for beer!), but I've been putting my fruit woods in the veggie bins. Fruita doesn't say to cold store the hard woods (oak, hickory, etc.), just the fruit woods. Thanks for the tip, Normstar. Will do my next one direct on the middle/lower grate. What temp? Somewhere in the 350-400F range?

My bad, it's actually referred to as "Santa Maria" style. It's tri-tip steak, rubbed with a nice garlic, lemon pepper rub, roasted and quick seared over red oak. There is even a specific Santa Maria style grill - with a chain drive to raise/lower the cast iron grate to control the cooking temperature. The KK does as good, if not better job, using the main grill and lower sear grill on a reverse sear cook. Look for the recipe at amazing ribs.com. I'd post the link to it, but can't with the new forum software and it's too long an address to type in manually!

So tempted to make an off-color joke about that last statement, Porkchop, but I'll refrain in the name of Forum Decorum!

Their red oak staves rock for doing steaks "Santa Monica" style. You will be happy with them.

Me, three!

Seeing that rib reminded me of the episode of BBQ Crawl the other night from Black's (near Austin), known for their humongous beef ribs. Check it out if you can while you're there - www.blacksbbq.com.

"Dem Bones" - too demmed funny!!

Yes, welcome! Like dstr8 said, PICTURES - Both food and new grill!