Searing steaks

[Amphoran]

First Extreme steak cook

Last night I (hypothetically, sorry, no pics) did my first Xtreme temp steak cook, and all went well, but a very strange thing (I think) happened.

I ran the KK up to 750 degrees, the seared the steaks on the lower grill, (shutting the lid during the sear). This required keeping the draft door open a half inch or so.

When I shut the damper and the draft door for the dwell, smoke came POURING out of the gas burner door. It was fully shut, but I could slow the flow of smoke down a bit by pushing on the teak knob.

Is this normal? It looked like a two-alarm fire. The temperature WAS dropping during the dwell, and the fire did eventually die out, but I expected that both dampers would shut tight. There was a LOT of moisture in this smoke, because it was condensing and running down the side of the KK, which is now a sooty mess.

Is this a sign of a slightly warped gas door? Do I need to try and make a high temperature silicone gasket for that door? Any tips or similar experiences would be great.

Thanks,

Mike

[ThreeDJ16]

Re: First Extreme steak cook

Last night I (hypothetically, sorry, no pics) did my first Xtreme temp steak cook, and all went well, but a very strange thing (I think) happened.

I ran the KK up to 750 degrees, the seared the steaks on the lower grill, (shutting the lid during the sear). This required keeping the draft door open a half inch or so.

When I shut the damper and the draft door for the dwell, smoke came POURING out of the gas burner door. It was fully shut, but I could slow the flow of smoke down a bit by pushing on the teak knob.

Is this normal? It looked like a two-alarm fire. The temperature WAS dropping during the dwell, and the fire did eventually die out, but I expected that both dampers would shut tight. There was a LOT of moisture in this smoke, because it was condensing and running down the side of the KK, which is now a sooty mess.

Is this a sign of a slightly warped gas door? Do I need to try and make a high temperature silicone gasket for that door? Any tips or similar experiences would be great.

Thanks,

Mike

FYI, thanks for pulling this old thread up and since it is not a recipe I moved it to techniques.

Now, could there be some ash or something blocking the gas door? While smoke is naturally going to leak out some in the extreme situation you are creating, but should not be pouring out the gas door. Mine seals pretty tight.

BTW, one of the big advantages of the sear grill is so you can cook directly over the fire and not have to get the entire grill up so hot. Usually I get a fire going, leave the lid open (top damper shut) and the bottom damper pulled out a inch or so. Then either start the steak on the sides while the fire comes up and sear directly in the flame to finish. The other method I use is to sear first and drop the lid to dwell to desired temp. My preference is the first as that leaves the fat more crispy. Either way is fast and the outside of my grill barely has time to warm (except that damn handle - ouch, ouch ouch if you forget your glove). Oh yeah, and no smoke pouring out.

-=Jasen=-

[Firemonkey]

pull your gas door out, and make sure there are no ashes in the frame area. Mine tends to spill a little ash out into the track if I open or bump the gas door. If you dont clean it out, it wont seal completely.

Remember, these are machined doors and frames, there are no gaskets so you need to keep them free of debris for a tight seal.

I usually sear like DJ, with the lid up and the sear grill down on the lump basket. I heat the grill to about 475 for about 30 minutes. Then i open the lid and open the gas door a few inches to get a the lump raging. I sear the steaks for a couple minutes a side, put them on the main grill, and then shut everything down to dwell. That way I can dwell at reasonable temps, since the whole grill is not heated to sear temps. It takes much longer to lower the temp than bring it up after its heat soaked.

...And yes, the metal handle can get hot after being above the open heat for a while!

[Amphoran]

Yes, I definitely had a pair of welding gauntlets on!

I let the fire build to raging heat, but as soon as the dome temp hit 700, I opened up the lid and tossed in the steaks, and shut the lid. Top damper was open about an inch and the damper door about a half inch.

After a couple minutes, I popped open the lid, flipped the steaks with tongs, and shut it again. Throughout this time, the temp stayed in the 700-750 range.

At the end of the second side sear, I spun the top damper down tight and pushed in the lower damper. This is when smoke started pouring out the gas door, which had never happened before. Over the next four minutes or so, the dome temp came down to about 450, then I spun the upper damper open a couple of turns, waited a half minute, and carefully opened the lid (no flashback!)

The steaks were excellent.

This morning, I took the gas door out and looked - no chuncks of anything that I could see, but the frame around it was greasy/sooty. The door is definitely NOT warped. I cleaned everything up, and put the door in and it looks tight. I'll have to test it again in a few days..

Now, what is the reason for keeping the dome up during the sear? By putting it down, the handle didn't get hot.....

Cheers!

Mike

[ThreeDJ16]

Yes, I definitely had a pair of welding gauntlets on!

I let the fire build to raging heat, but as soon as the dome temp hit 700, I opened up the lid and tossed in the steaks, and shut the lid. Top damper was open about an inch and the damper door about a half inch.

After a couple minutes, I popped open the lid, flipped the steaks with tongs, and shut it again. Throughout this time, the temp stayed in the 700-750 range.

At the end of the second side sear, I spun the top damper down tight and pushed in the lower damper. This is when smoke started pouring out the gas door, which had never happened before. Over the next four minutes or so, the dome temp came down to about 450, then I spun the upper damper open a couple of turns, waited a half minute, and carefully opened the lid (no flashback!)

The steaks were excellent.

This morning, I took the gas door out and looked - no chuncks of anything that I could see, but the frame around it was greasy/sooty. The door is definitely NOT warped. I cleaned everything up, and put the door in and it looks tight. I'll have to test it again in a few days..

Now, what is the reason for keeping the dome up during the sear? By putting it down, the handle didn't get hot.....

Cheers!

Mike

Well, I probably could have cooked my steak twice in the time it took you to get the grill to 700 and definitely used half the charcoal. I don't shut mine as it is a quick process and I want to watch it like a hawk (hate to overcook it and opening/shutting messes with what little beer drinking time I have while cooking said steak). When the flames reach the sear grill, it is time to cook.

Does your gas door area leak smoke during low and slow? Using a Guru to blow in air during a low and slow is the time I see the most smoke leakage (as I shut down my top damper almost closed to let the Guru do the work). If you do not see smoke at that time, then maybe due to the intense heat of building the 700 degree fire, the door expanded slightly (temporarily).

-=Jasen=-

[Curly]

I always leave the lid shut too.

[dub]

Lid? Shut.

600-650F for 3 min. a side (flipp-ed once-d)works for me, but I usually have 1.5" and under thick steaks and I like 'em bellerin' rare.

When I really want 'em scorched,am short on coal,or in a hurry I'll build a smaller fire in the LumpSaver and use it to hold the small upper grill, and I'll cook 'em on that. The meat sits about 3-4" up from the coals.

dub(guess I'll hafta dwell cook someday if someone wants one a little bit more done)

[Amphoran]

Clearly, there are many good ways to sear a steak!

I had never seen any smoke leakage from the gas door before.

It is true that the entire charcoal basket was red hot - you could clearly see the glow through the front damper door, but when everything was cooled down the next morning, I'd estimate that less than a pound of charcoal was actually burned.

I'll keep experimenting, try all of the techniques that have been mentioned here, and see what works best for us.

Thanks all, for all the help!

Mike