My first Attempt at TREX

LizzieSamps · July 2012

Got some ribeye today at Costco! Been seaching and reading about TREX method. Wish me luck about to start her up!

tazcrash · July 2012

Go Lizzie Kick rump! Its really not hard. Just remember you will get some carry over cooking

cazzy · July 2012

Good luck!!

LizzieSamps · July 2012

Yes, we like med rare so will watch the temp closely.

Rich_ie · July 2012

Good luck post some pixs if you have time.

LizzieSamps · July 2012

Oh no! I forgot I had to be somewhere tonight, no egg cooking again!! PP sandwiches tonight! Ribeye Friday night!

Eggdam · July 2012

Here's something I found helpful when you do get around to it. When you preheat the egg leave the lid open. This will allow the grill to get super hot for searing with out heating the dome up. Then when you pull the steaks the egg will come down to temp much more quickly.

danv23 · July 2012

Hell of a tip! Thanks!

Ellis · July 2012

Eggdam good tip, I did some B Backs Sunday, ( Car Wash Mike style ) it took over an hour to bring it down and even at that the lowest I could get was 250 it's XL. Trex is talking about bringing it down in 20 min. What The

troutgeek · July 2012

I just get the egg to 400, put a smaller grid directly on top of the coals, and sear each side of the steak for 90 seconds. That said, the egg will cool from 700 to 400 in about 20 minutes, but 400 to 200 will take much longer. Whiz has a chart somewhere explaining this.

twlangan · July 2012

That said, the egg will cool from 700 to 400 in about 20 minutes,

This has been my experience too. I close both vents to snuff the fire out as quickly as possible. Usually takes about 20 min and I open them up slightly again before opening the dome (also burp it) to prevent a massive flashback.

I like the idea of searing on a grate right on the coals. I might give that method a try sometime.

mountaindewbass · July 2012

I do it backwards. Cook steak at 400 then take off and get egg hot as she'll go. Then sear

Duganboy · July 2012

I do it backwards. Cook steak at 400 then take off and get egg hot as she'll go. Then sear

Reverse sear. I've been doing this for a couple of years and like it much better.

Rubmyrock · July 2012

What are the advantages of reverse t rex

mountaindewbass · July 2012

As far as flavor.. None. I just think its easier to get the egg to 400..cook the meat.. Then allow her to get uo to 700 to sear. I did trex twice before reversing it. It seemed to tak forver to come down from 750 to 400

allitnils · July 2012

I generally sear it at the highest temp possible then use the oven to cook. Temperature in the oven is much easier to control.. And usually find the smoking taste of the egg being completely closed down off putting when infused onto meat.

newegg13 · July 2012

If you're doing the reverse sear method, about how long should the steaks roast at 400 if the goal is medium rare? I'd hate to roast too long and not have enough temp time left to get a good sear.

Thanks for the help!

stike · July 2012

Trex, Xert, hot tubbing, and even leaving the steak out on the counter for a couple hours all have the same goal: uniform cross section of color. ...no overcooked ring around a small core of desirable stuff.

there are a few ways of attacking the problem, but T-rex was probably the first one to be popularized in the BGE community. ion the end, all those methods separate the cook into two parts: searing the steak at high heat and raising the core of the steak to the desired temp gently.

it comes from the now-obvious observation (i say now-obvious, because i didn't consider it back when starting out, and i know many didn't either) that if you try to cook a steak of any decent thickness solely by searing, you risk either an undercooked interior or an interior with a small amount of pink surrounded by a core of over-done. and the flip side being that if you try to gently cook the steak by roasting, you won't get much of a sear. hence the two part cook

Xert can be tricky if you let it get too hot. Xert reverses it, so you can roast then sear. hot tubbing or leaving the thing on the counter basically raise the core temp before the steak goes on, so the steak can sear only as needed, and the interior temp will have a head start. in the case of hot tubbing, or the similar sous vide method, the steak can go nearly 'done', and the sear just finishes it off.

LizzieSamps · July 2012

I am going to shoot for the TREX method over reverse sear. I am afraid of over shooting the temp and ending up with medium instead of medium rare, which is preferred by both of us. Very interesting to see how everyone does it and simply they all just work out and taste great! Gotta love the egg!

booksw · July 2012

This is the trex I made about a week ago and I just love looking at this photo ;;) I did it straight as-directed. The advantage of searing it first is that you have 20 minutes (or more- the timing of the rests is not critical- I think they are "minimum" times) to prep your sides, cook the steak and then during the 2nd rest you can cook your sides in the 400 degree egg. I have now done it this way a couple of times and its a keeper.

Have fun LizzieSamps!

The Cen-Tex Smoker · July 2012

If you're doing the reverse sear method, about how long should the steaks roast at 400 if the goal is medium rare? I'd hate to roast too long and not have enough temp time left to get a good sear.

Thanks for the help!

Gotta use an internal temp thermo (Thermapen or your model of choice). Every steak is different so you are going to ruin some if you don't peek inside :)

JWBurns · July 2012

Lizzie did you get a chance to make your steaks?

5th cook tonight. I did two 10oz Prime filets tonight using that method, they came out alright.

Does the Trex method call for pulling the top fire ring?

I found it very difficult to get the temps down. 550 was the lowest it would go, so, not wanting the steaks to rest over the 20 minute mark, I tossed em on. They came out medium well. Blah. Still exceptional flavor and juicy taste, but still medium well.

I think next time I'll do the reverse method. Also, less salt in the seasoning.

Good luck on your steaks Lizzie!

Hillbilly-Hightech · July 2012

found it very difficult to get the temps down. 550 was the lowest it would go, so, not wanting the steaks to rest over the 20 minute mark, I tossed em on. They came out medium well. Blah. Still exceptional flavor and juicy taste, but still medium well.

I think next time I'll do the reverse method. Also, less salt in the seasoning.

Good luck on your steaks Lizzie!

I too, have difficulties getting my Egg temp back down in any reasonable amount of time.

So, FWIW, I (and a few others) have a smaller grate that we just throw on top of the coals & sear the steaks like that. Then I remove the steaks & allow them to rest, while I remove the smaller grate & put in the default grate & work to get the Egg temp to what I want it to be (usually ~350-400 for roasting the steak). It's also during this resting period that I put rub on the steak.

Then once the temp is stabilized, I put the steak back on, & roast till it gets to the desired temp.

That way, I don't have to worry about getting the Egg up to really high temps, then trying to get it to come back down (I did that when I first got the Egg & first started searing steaks, but after the first time when it took me about 2 hrs to get the temp to come down from 750 to 350, I said the heck w/ that)!!

Anyway, just throwin another option out there...

HTH,
Rob

newegg13 · July 2012

If you're doing the reverse sear method, about how long should the steaks roast at 400 if the goal is medium rare? I'd hate to roast too long and not have enough temp time left to get a good sear.

Thanks for the help!

Gotta use an internal temp thermo (Thermapen or your model of choice). Every steak is different so you are going to ruin some if you don't peek inside :)

I have a thermo, so i will know when pull in the end. But because I want to try the reverse sear, I'm wanting to know how long the initial roast should be. Any thoughts on that?

Duganboy · July 2012

If you're doing the reverse sear method, about how long should the steaks roast at 400 if the goal is medium rare? I'd hate to roast too long and not have enough temp time left to get a good sear.

Thanks for the help!

Gotta use an internal temp thermo (Thermapen or your model of choice). Every steak is different so you are going to ruin some if you don't peek inside :)

I have a thermo, so i will know when pull in the end. But because I want to try the reverse sear, I'm wanting to know how long the initial roast should be. Any thoughts on that?

Most "eggsperts" who do this will tell you to go about 20 degrees below your desired temp. So if you were going for med rare which is 135, you would want to pull from the roast at 110-115, temp will rise some during the sear, and then some more during the rest. Like all other cooking, your experience will tell you and you've just got to do it to get the experience.

newegg13 · July 2012

If you're doing the reverse sear method, about how long should the steaks roast at 400 if the goal is medium rare? I'd hate to roast too long and not have enough temp time left to get a good sear.

Thanks for the help!

Gotta use an internal temp thermo (Thermapen or your model of choice). Every steak is different so you are going to ruin some if you don't peek inside :)

I have a thermo, so i will know when pull in the end. But because I want to try the reverse sear, I'm wanting to know how long the initial roast should be. Any thoughts on that?
Most "eggsperts" who do this will tell you to go about 20 degrees below your desired temp. So if you were going for med rare which is 135, you would want to pull from the roast at 110-115, temp will rise some during the sear, and then some more during the rest. Like all other cooking, your experience will tell you and you've just got to do it to get the experience.

Thanks!

Aviator · July 2012

Just do it the trex way.

After sear remove the daisy wheel and put on the ceramic cap, close the bottom vent completely.

Temps will fall. Unless you have an enclosed egg.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · July 2012

Yeah, you do the sear with the dome open so the egg does not heat up. I'm with HH- when I do Trex (which is rare) I throw a small grid on the lump with the dome OPEN, then shut it down after the sear. I don't really use this method anymore (I sous vide) but you don't want to heat up the ceramic when you do the Trex sear so leave the dome open.

JWBurns · July 2012

Yeah, you do the sear with the dome open so the egg does not heat up. I'm with HH- when I do Trex (which is rare) I throw a small grid on the lump with the dome OPEN, then shut it down after the sear. I don't really use this method anymore (I sous vide) but you don't want to heat up the ceramic when you do the Trex sear so leave the dome open.

Heck why not just go primal, and skip the small grid altogether? I'd like to try that method sometime with a lessor cut of meat and see how it goes.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · July 2012

Yeah, you do the sear with the dome open so the egg does not heat up. I'm with HH- when I do Trex (which is rare) I throw a small grid on the lump with the dome OPEN, then shut it down after the sear. I don't really use this method anymore (I sous vide) but you don't want to heat up the ceramic when you do the Trex sear so leave the dome open.
Heck why not just go primal, and skip the small grid altogether? I'd like to try that method sometime with a lessor cut of meat and see how it goes.

It works. Done it plenty of times with fajitas. better to brush the coals real quick first but you can knock off any ash after if you want. I just like the grid because it keeps things a little cleaner. That's the only purpose for it.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · July 2012

If you're doing the reverse sear method, about how long should the steaks roast at 400 if the goal is medium rare? I'd hate to roast too long and not have enough temp time left to get a good sear.

Thanks for the help!

Gotta use an internal temp thermo (Thermapen or your model of choice). Every steak is different so you are going to ruin some if you don't peek inside :)

I have a thermo, so i will know when pull in the end. But because I want to try the reverse sear, I'm wanting to know how long the initial roast should be. Any thoughts on that?

Like Dugan said, it's not time, it's temp. Pull a little before your desired temp and then do the sear. Time is irrelevant in all your cooks once you have an internal thermo.

Howdy, Stranger!

Forums

My first Attempt at TREX

Comments