Advice Wanted

rosieparisian

Member
Messages
5
Grill(s) owned
  1. BFG
So I got a cheap little charcoal grill a couple of months ago and though I've grilled a lot of things on other charcoal grills I've never made steak on a grill so I was wandering if any of you had some advice? I have 2 two lbs inch and a half thick cut ribeyes that have been marinating for about 8hrs.
 
Get yourself an internal thermometer. Don't be afraid to turn steaks more than once ( old wives tail to only flip once ). Take the temp to 132-135° (medium) let rest 10 mins, put bib in place.
 
What @Wslayer said!

Obviously, a lot will depend on the temperature at the grill surface. To get to the suggested 132-135F internal temp, I would plan on about two minutes per side, then rotate 90° and repeat the process. With a total of 4 minutes per side, you should be close, but a quick-read meat thermometer is a must to get it right.
 
This may be more than you needed but I suggest the reverse sear method. Rub using the SPOG method (kosher salt, ground fresh pepper, onion powder and garlic powder). Instead of garlic power, you can clarify some unsalted butter mixed with browned fresh garlic and take it to the next level. Bring the steaks to near ambient. (Never put cold steaks on a grill.) Place the charcoal on one side of the grill using anything that can safely shield one half from direct heat. Add extra charcoal because you will need it later. Get the grill to about 225-250F. Place the steaks on the side without coal for indirect heating. Get the steaks to around 110-115F internal temp (could take a while with thick steaks but keep monitoring). Grease or spray the grate area above the charcoal (shake the “dust“ off the charcoal to make the coals angry). Put the steaks on the grill and let them sear for 2 minutes, turn 90 degrees and put them on an unused area (still above the coals) for another 2 minutes. Flip and repeat the process. Remove from heat and foil for 10-20 minutes. Get your eat on!!!

If space is a shortage, ignore just about everything above and get the grill to as high a temperature as possible without damage. My sear burners can hit 1100F but for you that won’t be possible. Then read the method on searing above but depending on the grills temp, use a 4-7 minute per “turn” until they get to your desired temperature (usually between 120F for rare to 145F for medium. Anything beyond that is just a shame, haha.
 
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I hope Rosieparisian had a great meal and those steak worked out.

It's surprising how many variations in techniques you can do with a single grill.

One thing about grilling thick steaks is that you are likely to need a way to slow down the cooking a bit. If you have a large enough grill, that can be just having an area of the grill with little to no charcoal burning in that area, or it can be a way to raise the meat high enough away from the fire (Santa Maria grill, etc.)

Keep in mind that if you grill at very high temperatures, very close to the fire, the outside of the meat gets very hot and then permeates into the core of the meat after you remove it from the grill. The higher the grill temperature and closer the meat to the fire, the more the core temperature of the meat will rise during a rest after removing from the grill.

Under seasoning a steak is very common. When I season a steak before grilling, it looks like it has a lot on it. But much of the actual seasoning falls off during grilling as the surface is seared.
 
I hope Rosieparisian had a great meal and those steak worked out.

It's surprising how many variations in techniques you can do with a single grill.

One thing about grilling thick steaks is that you are likely to need a way to slow down the cooking a bit. If you have a large enough grill, that can be just having an area of the grill with little to no charcoal burning in that area, or it can be a way to raise the meat high enough away from the fire (Santa Maria grill, etc.)

Keep in mind that if you grill at very high temperatures, very close to the fire, the outside of the meat gets very hot and then permeates into the core of the meat after you remove it from the grill. The higher the grill temperature and closer the meat to the fire, the more the core temperature of the meat will rise during a rest after removing from the grill.

Under seasoning a steak is very common. When I season a steak before grilling, it looks like it has a lot on it. But much of the actual seasoning falls off during grilling as the surface is seared.
Roanie…,

One thing to consider is that most of the “high end” restaurants cook steaks at higher temps with no problem. Before buying my Lynx I went to 8 of the top 15 steakhouses in the US, 1 in the Ginza district of Japan, and one in Argentina. The only one that did slow roasting was in Argentina. Other observations from my tour included starting with a quality cut of beef. Each restaurant also cook their steaks until it is just under the desired doneness/wellness and let the carry over finish them off. I do A5 Wagyu in 6 minutes at around 1000F to rare-medium rare because the Wagyu fat renders at ~95F. When doing Prime grade ribeyes or T-Bones I leave them on a couple of additional minutes. With my setup, I can incinerate a protein quickly if I don’t keep an eye on it. When properly done, the sear marks and tenderness is hard to duplicate using the slow, reverse sear method.
Just my thoughts.
 
Roanie…,

One thing to consider is that most of the “high end” restaurants cook steaks at higher temps with no problem. Before buying my Lynx I went to 8 of the top 15 steakhouses in the US, 1 in the Ginza district of Japan, and one in Argentina. The only one that did slow roasting was in Argentina. Other observations from my tour included starting with a quality cut of beef. Each restaurant also cook their steaks until it is just under the desired doneness/wellness and let the carry over finish them off. I do A5 Wagyu in 6 minutes at around 1000F to rare-medium rare because the Wagyu fat renders at ~95F. When doing Prime grade ribeyes or T-Bones I leave them on a couple of additional minutes. With my setup, I can incinerate a protein quickly if I don’t keep an eye on it. When properly done, the sear marks and tenderness is hard to duplicate using the slow, reverse sear method.
Just my thoughts.
SZ, don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating slow roasting a steak. I don't do that. Just that I was pointing out that the "carry over" is greater with higher temperatures.

I build a mesquite lump charcoal fire, in a 10x4 round perforated steel basket, let it get glowing orange, with the cast iron grate setting directly on the charcoal basket. Orange is somewhere in the 1400F or above range. This is in a komado style grill, where I add a chunk of mesquite wood on the side of the fire and also close the lid to get a kiss of smoke. With mesquite, it doesn't take much. With some of the thicker steaks, I may have to move the steak up or to the side of the fire after searing, if I'm trying to get it to medium rare or medium. The dome temps of the closed komado will be in the 500F range, but with opening and closing the komado, it's changing all the time.

Another observation is that many, maybe most restaurants will over-cook my wife's order of a "rare" steak with the carry over. I do it often as well. We had steak a few nights ago and I ended up pulling it when the core was in the 90s to get her rare core. She's had many waiters "council" her on what "rare" means, because they think she doesn't know and or possibly few people order rare these days.

BTW, I'm envious of your experiences in all those great steak houses. I've had some good ones too. The old Laury's (originator of the seasoning) in downtown L.A. was pretty good, and of course the big chains like Mortons, Ruth's Chris, Mastros etc. are usually consistently good. But finding a great one that isn't a dress-up affair and $100+ plate and is local is a challenge. Moreso, these days, with the inflation we've had.

I haven't been to the Ginza since I was a young lad in the 60s. I read it has changed quite a bit. Lived in Japan for 7 years of my youth. My mother is from southern Japan and my wife's family is of Japanese heritage, although she was born here. We had planned to return, but the disaster they had put that on hold. Closest we came was a layover at Narita airport on the way to Bejing about 15 years ago.

20210506_195916.jpg
 
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SZ, don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating slow roasting a steak. I don't do that. Just that I was pointing out that the "carry over" is greater with higher temperatures.

I build a mesquite lump charcoal fire, in a 10x4 round perforated steel basket, let it get glowing orange, with the cast iron grate setting directly on the charcoal basket. Orange is somewhere in the 1400F or above range. This is in a komado style grill, where I add a chunk of mesquite wood on the side of the fire and also close the lid to get a kiss of smoke. With mesquite, it doesn't take much. With some of the thicker steaks, I may have to move the steak up or to the side of the fire after searing, if I'm trying to get it to medium rare or medium. The dome temps of the closed komado will be in the 500F range, but with opening and closing the komado, it's changing all the time.

Another observation is that many, maybe most restaurants will over-cook my wife's order of a "rare" steak with the carry over. I do it often as well. We had steak a few nights ago and I ended up pulling it when the core was in the 90s to get her rare core. She's had many waiters "council" her on what "rare" means, because they think she doesn't know and or possibly few people order rare these days.

BTW, I'm envious of your experiences in all those great steak houses. I've had some good ones too. The old Laury's (originator of the seasoning) in downtown L.A. was pretty good, and of course the big chains like Mortons, Ruth's Chris, Mastros etc. are usually consistently good. But finding a great one that isn't a dress-up affair and $100+ plate and is local is a challenge. Moreso, these days, with the inflation we've had.

I haven't been to the Ginza since I was a young lad in the 60s. I read it has changed quite a bit. Lived in Japan for 7 years of my youth. My mother is from southern Japan and my wife's family is of Japanese heritage, although she was born here. We had planned to return, but the disaster they had put that on hold. Closest we came was a layover at Narita airport on the way to Bejing about 15 years ago.

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Roanie,

I realize this is a smoking meats with RecTeq’s forum but it sounds like we’ve definitely tread upon the same turf. Are you by chance a “brat” (i.e., military dependent)? I also agree on the carry over as it can make “mice or men” out of any good cook’s potential. Have you tried a reverse searing a whole hog on your rig? Seems like to perfect way to crisp up a skin. My road rig isn’t as big but its is a lot of fun. This was last year’s NFL is back cook. When I visit the NC property this winter I am going to try a whole/full calf that’s around 250 lbs.

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