Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

Cooking Steak Question

Marine
Marine Posts: 84
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Got the temp about just over 650 and opened the egg and threw the steaks on the egg. I had seen to sear on one side for 2 minutes and flip it for 2 minutes and then shut dampers until done which was only a couple more minutes. When I was searing I closed the egg (with the dampers open full) The question is: Should I have kept the Egg open during the searing because while some of us thought they tasted good, a couple of us thought they were a bit smokey and I was wondering if it was because it was shut too much during the cooking.

Comments

  • Did you let the smoke clear before putting the steaks on? Thats the usual cause of "too smoky".

    Myself I like tRex style. Get the egg up to thermonuclear temperature 750+ cook 2 inch thick steaks for 90 seconds a side, then take the steaks off and close the egg down. When it gets to 400 put the steaks back on until they are done to your liking. Makes for a pretty fine steak if I do say so myself.

    Doug
  • Rezen73
    Rezen73 Posts: 356
    Did you use wood chips for smoke?

    If not, the smoke might have been the tallow rendering off the steaks and igniting in the coals below. It might be worth trying it again but with a drip pan (or foil) directly beneath the steaks if you (or others, rather) don't like the smokey taste. You can still sear the steaks even with a drip pan underneath, just don't insert the drip pan until you're ready to cook.

    Also, invest in a cast iron grill grate. Makes a HUGE difference, in my opinion ;)
  • thebtls
    thebtls Posts: 2,300
    What Doug said already...sear and REMOVE. Let the fibers 'relax' while you reduce the heat. However, even if you don't reduce the heat, you STILL remove and relax before putting back on to finish. No need to close the lid. I do 1.5-2" steaks on a raised grid, sear, remove, return...all in about 6-8 minutes total cooking time, not counting the 10 minutes I let them relax.
    Visit my blog, dedicated to my Big Green Egg Recipies at http://www.bigtsbge.blogspot.com You can also follow my posts on FaceBook under the name Keep On Eggin' or the link http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Keep-On-Eggin/198049930216241
  • Marine
    Marine Posts: 84
    okay, gonna try that with the lid open. That might be the problem. I was wondering that when I did it. I will also try the 90 seconds at 750+ and then take off until it comes down and put back on...

    when I put them back on at about 400 do you close the lid or cook normally? I have seen both with that now that I have looked around.
  • I close the lid.

    Doug
  • Rezen73
    Rezen73 Posts: 356
    I've done steaks both ways (open lid and closed lid).

    Personally, I prefer the closed lid results.
  • Marine
    Marine Posts: 84
    okay, I thought so but I wasn't sure. I am going to try the Trex and also I am going to do exactly what I did last night but take them off a bit sooner because my wife mentioned that they were probably will be ready earlier but my thermopen hasn't arrived yet and I was just making sure because it didn't take long to cook at all. Man, I love this thing!!!
  • i personally don
    't care for the "sear and dwell" method that's promoted by the CD. i'm guessing you did rib eyes.

    i have found that (especially with rib eyes) closing the vents causes the dripping fat to make soot, and that soot has nowhere to go. ...except onto your meat

    the sear/dwell thing can work with filets, maybe, which don't drip fat really. but for any other steak, i think it gives it a sooty flavor.

    people say things are too "smokey". there's a HUGE difference between soot and smoke though. 'smoke' in generally good, but there can sometimes be too much of a good thing. 'soot' is always bad, and even a little is too much.
  • Misippi Egger
    Misippi Egger Posts: 5,095
    You will find many ways to cook steaks. I will give you what I have perfected. We almost always cook ribeye - cause that's what the wifey likes. ;)

    First - a MUST. I saw you have a Thermapen on order and you will love it, but for cooking perfect steaks, get yourself a Maverick E-73 remote thermometer (Amazon.com). After you sear your steak, insert the maverick temp probe in the side of the ribeye into the middle of the steak. Run the wire out under the dome. It's a good idea to shield the wire from the direct heat of the lump, so I usually lay a piece of foil on the grate between the wire and the lump to make a 'shadow'.

    Ribeye technique:
    TRex - I get my fire "screaming hot" with the dome open. Sear for 90 sec. on each side. Close bottom vent, remove steak and when the coals have settled down, I close the dome and crack the bottom vent. I leave the dome open for one reason - to keep the ceramics from getting too hot and making it hard to get the temp down to 400*. I rest the steak for 15-20 min. while getting the egg stabilized at 400-450*. This is when I season my steak - some rubs will burn during the sear, giving a bad taste. Then back on with the Maverick temp probe in the middle (through the side). When it reaches 125*, I remove the steak, plate it and cover with foil, letting it rest for 8-10 minutes (can prepare sides, salad, drinks, etc. to bide the time while waiting). You can leave your temp probe in and watch it go up another 5-8* while resting. This should consistently give you a great medium rare steak.

    Enjoy !
  • Ripnem
    Ripnem Posts: 5,511
    Clark,

    Have you ever tried running your wire out through the daisy? :huh:
  • Marine
    Marine Posts: 84
    sounds great. thanks. i am loving this forum as much as my egg. very helpful.
  • Marine
    Marine Posts: 84
    I have also seen some run the wire for the sensor for the internal temp of the smoker through the egg thermometer hole.
  • Marine
    Marine Posts: 84
    how do you cook yours. just normal at a lower temp until done?
  • well... my point was that closing the vents and letting the steak stew in a cloud of dripping fat smoke is NOT the way to do it, despite what the DVD says... hahaha

    heat is not your problem, it's the dying fire burning your dripping fat



    i hot-tub or trex them
  • Marine
    Marine Posts: 84
    Definately gonna try this. Sounds good. i am also going to get a castiron grate too. got to pace myself with the toys to go with it lol....
  • Ripnem
    Ripnem Posts: 5,511
    That would be if they are measuring the 'dome' temp with the 'pit' probe. (but you probably knew that)
  • i'd be careful. the exhaust gasses are at dome temp... probes can STB at anything decent over 400 or so, no?
  • You'll love the thermapen as well. I use mine almost every cook and have bought 5 more for friends and family. Great tools.

    Doug
  • Ripnem
    Ripnem Posts: 5,511
    I've heard 400 too. I use the t-pen for most everything but the lower slower stuff, that you can 'wonder off for a while' type cooks.
  • Marine
    Marine Posts: 84
    yup. waiting on that in the mail now....Thermapen just got here an hour ago!!!
  • Marine
    Marine Posts: 84
    right and I had wondered that when I opened it after it had been closed up because it was smokey. that must have been it. I just wanted to get to the bottom of it before the next ones... Still wasn't bad steaks but always trying to improve.
  • Marine
    Marine Posts: 84
    yeah, that is what I want the probe remote thermometer for. so I am not anchored to the egg for the whole long low cooks
  • Ripnem
    Ripnem Posts: 5,511
    Sounds like you just need a skid a lump, Hugh Jass freezer and a vacuum packer. :laugh: then rage war on slow moving animals
  • Misippi Egger
    Misippi Egger Posts: 5,095
    Over the years, I have 'toasted' 2 sets of Maverick wires (the silicon-coated ones). Both times it was clearly a screw-up on my part as I let them be exposed to high direct heat. I have recently ordered a couple of their hi-temp probes that have metal-braided wires. I make every effort to shield the wires from direct heat by either snaking them across an indirect piece, like a platesetter leg or using some foil as a barrier. No to say I won't slip up an forget again (especially when adult beverages are involved). :ohmy:

    I have better success getting into the middle of the meat by inserting my probe into the side of a steak rather than coming from above - just me, I guess!

    Good luck and post some cooks for us to drool over... :woohoo:
  • like you said, still not bad. to be honest, i cooked them that way for a few times because that was the official method and i was following directions. and like you said, still pretty good. far far better than off my gas grill by comparison.

    but what happened (and what will happen to you too probably) is i developed a far better understanding and taste for what was happening than i ever even thought about when cooking on the gasser. hell. i never knew what a strip steak was versus a ribeye, etc.

    once you get the BGE and start paying attention (which is what happened with me), i started to notice and appreciate differences. i think we did filets once and the flavor was less sooty, and the lightbulb went off over my head.

    interesting how the egg can make you consider things more than you may have back when grilling was just, push a button, toss on the meat, and flip flip flip.

    i never would have imagined how many different ways you could cook a steak, or how many different types of steaks there might be... wet aged, dry aged, grass fed, etc. etc.

    opened up a whole new level of understanding for us. still have a long way to go, but it's fun trying new stuff
  • Okay, I've worked at Morton's and The Capital Grille, not to mention several other high-end steakhouses including some here in Chicago.

    I don't know about all this searing, resting, and then cooking at a lower temp. In steakhouses, all steaks are grilled under a heating element that is always well over 1000F. In my opinion, it's pretty hard to get too much char, especially if you're only cooking up to a MR or MED. I sear beef at 600+ for 2-3 minutes on each side depending on thickenss and cut and then rest under foil for 10 minutes. And I never leave the lid up.
  • searing and resting is only one way to cook a steak in stages.

    basically, one part of the cook is a sear, the other is a roast.

    searing a steak "at 650" ion the egg is really searing at 1100-1200 or better, the air temp isn't cooking the steak so much as the direct radiant heat of the lump. those elements in a steak house are 1000, just like the lump.

    at morton's, i've seen the steaks on the counter at room temp. that's one way to eliminate the 'rest' portion of some of these methods people mention on the forum. instead of leaving a steak out so that it can go on at "room temp" (which isn't possible when you leave a steak out on the counter for anything under an hour or so, unless it's thin) some here will hot-tub the steak first, raising the internal temp just as letting it sit out would do, only faster and even higher (to 100 internal sometimes)

    a warm steak means you can cook it by searing only.

    but if you have a cold steak, cooking by searing alone will give you too much well-done around the exterior surface if you try to get the internal temp to (say) medium-rare by searing alone.

    it may seem odd that people are resting steaks, or hot tubbing, or reverse searing, but they are achieving the same result the "great steakhouses" do: they obtain an internal temp and exterior sear separately. roast first, then sear, sear first then roast, raise the internal temp by letting it sit out for a long time, raise the internal by hot tubbing.... six of one, half a dozen of the other
    . same result: desired sear and desired level of internal "doneness"
  • Yeah, I hadn't thought it through like that. I always set my steaks out an hour before grill time.