Ribeye steak cook for tomahawk66

[wilburpan]

We love our local specialty butcher. They carry prime quality steaks, and are super old-school. You go in and say, “I’d like a ribeye,†and then they ask you how thick. I usually ask for a 1-1/2†steak, and then they take this big hunk of meat and bandsaw off the steak.
 
Last week they had a sale on steaks, about 30% off. So we picked up some boneless ribeyes. I only have a money shot, because it’s still too dark at dinner time here to take good pictures of Smaug in action. (Sorry Dennis! Once Daylight Savings Time kicks in, there will be more pictures.)




 

Tomahawk66 had asked if I could post my method for cooking steaks. I start off with a steak rub that’s equal parts coarse ground black pepper, kosher salt, cayenne pepper, and oregano. For variety, I’ll use ancho or chipotle chile powder instead of cayenne. Sprinkle the rub all over the steak, including the sides. Ideally, I’ll do this an hour before cooking to give the salt a chance to penetrate the meat, but I’ve also sprinkled the rub on and tossed the steak on the grill right away.

 

I’ll start a fire in Smaug with all the vents wide open, and wait until the dome thermometer hits 500-600ºF. I’ve taken to cooking steaks on the main grate. What I do is put the steaks on the main grill, and close the lid. I wait a minute, then flip the steaks. I wait another minute, and flip the steaks again. I keep doing this until I get the level of doneness I want. I go for medium rare, but my wife likes medium well. (That’s her only flaw: she likes her steaks overdone. ) Using a quick read probe thermometer is best for testing doneness, but I’ve been doing this long enough to know that 6 minutes of grilling is about right.

 

Take the steaks off, let them sit for a few minutes before eating.

 

That’s pretty much it!

 

If you want to know why I don’t do the “Let the steak sit and only flip once†method, check out this article on Serious Eats. What I can say is that in terms of minimizing brown meat at the outside and having end-to-end medium rare meat on the inside, it’s hard to differentiate my results from when I’ve done a reverse sear, or from one of my friends who cooks his steaks using a sous vide machine. (He does say that I’m better at using a grill than he is, although he’s a fantastic cook. When we go over to his house to eat, he usually asks if I wouldn’t mind taking charge of the grill. Like I need convincing. )

 

[Gnomatic]

That looks VERY tasty!

[mk1]

Dayum.....

[tony b]

Excellent steak, Wilbur! 

 

Interesting how you've settled into using the Main grate. I use basically the same technique, except on the Lower grate, for most steak cooks. I use the Sear grate when I've done the steak sous vide first and just want a quick sear on the outside. Just goes to show how flexible the KK is for achieving great results.

[DennisLinkletter]

Bam.. it's out of the park...

Homerun

[tinyfish]

Great job Wilbur.

[wilburpan]

Interesting how you've settled into using the Main grate. I use basically the same technique, except on the Lower grate, for most steak cooks. I use the Sear grate when I've done the steak sous vide first and just want a quick sear on the outside. Just goes to show how flexible the KK is for achieving great results.

 

I think I gravitated to the main grate because of my wife. As I mentioned, she likes her steak medium well, and if I was to cook her steak on the searing grate, the outside would be scorched by the time the middle of the steak got to medium well. DAMHIKT. 

 

If I cook a steak to medium rare on the searing grate, I get pretty much the same result as I do on the main grate, except that the outside brown layer is a little thinner. If I was cooking a steak just for me, that’s what I would do, but considering the results I get on the main grate, it’s not like there’s a huge benefit.

[mk1]

I cook mine on the main as well. .....works fine as is seen here!

I will occassionally sear a sous vide steak down low. (not sure I like how that last bit sounds.....)

[ckreef]

I usually do mine on the lower grate but the Reef's all like theirs md rare and can even go on the rare side of md rare. Whenever I've used the main grate when the Sear gets to where I like it the steak is usually more md.

Of course this all has to do with how thick the steak is cut so each time I evaluate the steak and come up with a plan.

Charles - Prometheus 16.5", Cassiopeia 19" TT

[wilburpan]

Charles, do you think that the different size of our grills might have an impact on what we're seeing with cooking steaks on the main grill? For steaks, I generally have a full basket of charcoal, and it's completely on fire when I start cooking. Even if you do the same, my guess is that the smaller basket in a KK 16.5" and a KK 19" means there are less BTUs put out by the fire compared to a KK 23".

Bottom line, whatever works for you works.

[ckreef]

Even if you do the same, my guess is that the smaller basket in a KK 16.5" and a KK 19" means there are less BTUs put out by the fire compared to a KK 23".

My 16.5" has an extra large lump basket due to the fact that it doesn't have a separate firebox, just thicker main walls down in that area. The integrated firebox of the 16.5" means there is more room down there compared to the 19" with separate firebox pieces. The 16.5" lump basket is grill shaped and is bigger than the 19" lump basket. Without doing any calculations it looks like it would hold just as much lump as a 23" round lump basket but that's just a general observation from seeing cschaaf's lump basket and I could be wrong but it wouldn't be off by much.

The 19" is also a grill shaped lump basket. I think being grill shaped has to do with being table top models as opposed to free standing units. People talk about which way the basket handles should be turned (left/right or front/back). Mine only go in one way.

This probably has more to do with the way I like my steaks more than anything. A decent sear and on the rare side of md rare.

Charles - Prometheus 16.5", Cassiopeia 19" TT

Edited February 25, 2016 by ckreef

[mk1]

I think the steak thickness is important. I usually have 1.5 to 2 inch steaks, and I think the distance helps with uniformity.

[Geo]

Great looking steak, Wilbur. Thanks for posting the recipe.

[churchi]

Killer steam mate. I gotta try this on my KK over the next few weeks. Cant wait!!

 

Would you mind letting me know the best way you have found to get the whole fire pit on fire for this kind of cook? I got myself a blow torch this week so i dont have to use fire lighters and things like that, so i can easily get the fire going in about 20 seconds, just wondering how many places i need to light up?

 

cheers.

[tinyfish]

For low and slow 225f I would light the charcoal in one spot the middle.

For about 350f light in two/ three spots.

For pizza cooks 500f+ light in 4/5 spots.

[wilburpan]

Hi churchi,

 

Here’s how I get Smaug going for high heat direct grilling. I start with a full basket of charcoal, lit in five spots over a fairly wide area, with the lid open and the bottom vents fully open, with the grate off. After five minutes, I flip over the bigger chunks in the top layer of the charcoal a bit. At this point, those chunks are lit on the bottom side but not the top, so I flip them to get the entire piece of lump lit. Then I put the grate in, close the lid and open the top vent as high as it would go. I can hit 500-600ºF in 15 minutes or less using this method.
 
I think that the moving the charcoal around after five minutes helps a lot, because it gets lit coals right at the top of the basket and distributes the fire more quickly than letting it burn on its own. (That’s also why I leave the grate off at first so I don’t have to maneuver a hot grate later to stir up the charcoal.) I’ve noticed in the past that if I’m going for a high temperature, and there’s large pieces of charcoal on the top that are burning only on the bottom side, the unlit portion of the charcoal is preventing heat from coming through. Flipping over those pieces did a lot to speed up the process.
 
I’ve noticed that when my thermometer hits 500ºF, the top surface of the charcoal will mainly be on fire, but the larger chunks will have a dark spot in the middle that isn’t actually burning. Here’s a picture from the Serious Eats website that shows what I mean.
 

 
This looks like a good charcoal fire, but it’s really not at full blast yet. You see those large pieces of charcoal in the middle that still look black? That’s charcoal that’s not burning. I think this acts as an insulator, blocking the fire underneath it, and preventing the temperature from rising higher. Turning those pieces over helps the temperature come up faster. 

 

The other thing that helps is to modify my workflow. With my gas grill, I used to prep the food, then turn on the gas, then wait for the warmup, and then cook. Since getting Smaug, I’ve learned to light Smaug, prep food, do the five minute charcoal flipping/vent setting thing, go back to prepping food, and cook when Smaug was ready. In fact, overall this may be more efficient than what I used to do.

I’ve often said that having a kamado grill is like having a charcoal grill that’s as efficient as a gas grill. This is why. My old gas grill would have to heat for about 10 minutes or so before the grates were hot enough to cook steaks, burgers, or seafood, and it never got as hot as Smaug can get.
  
I know that BBQ is all about patience, and enjoying the process. But as long as folks keep talking about keeping a gas or pellet grill around for quick cooks, I’m going to keep making the point that starting a charcoal fire for high temp direct grilling can be very quick with a kamado grill. Using this method, I’ve consistently been able to hit these temps in 15 minutes, tops. Compared to my old gas grill, I’m losing a whopping 5 minutes of time, but the benefit is that the cook turns out way better. And in reality, 5 minutes won’t break anyone’s schedule. If it does, you should just make ramen for dinner instead. Heck, I’ll lose 5 minutes wandering around my kitchen trying to remember what I was looking for.

[Rak]

Had steak tonight and used the flip every minute or so method...it came out great.  Thank you for the tip Wilbur.  It was even on the inside and still had a nice crust on the outside...just how I like it.

[skreef]

That steak was cooked perfect for me. Rare is the bomb. Awesome finish.

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