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

Cook #2, NY Strips!

So last Thursday (Valentines Day) I assembled the Large BGE and cooked Garfunkel Chicken - it turned out great.  In fact, since I cooked two chickens we had leftover chicken on Friday night.  The kids came home from college this weekend and they brought friends.  I decided to try NY strips on the egg. 

I bought 8 steaks, ranging from 1.5 - 2 inches thick, from Costco.  I pulled them out of the fridge an hour or two before I started the egg.  I was/am worried about destroying the gasket, even though I know it is probably inevitable.  So I fired the egg up and left the dome open for 30-45 minutes.  By this time the lump was roaring.

Right before I was ready to take the steaks to the egg I coated them with olive oil, kosher salt, ground pepper, and a little Montreal Steak Seasoning.   I was curious how hot the grate was so I decided to shut the dome and get a sense of the temp.  The dome gauge headed past 500 degrees pretty quickly so I opened it back up and put the steaks on.  I seared them for about 90 seconds on each side then took them off.

I throttled back the vents and and the egg almost immediately started cooling down.  I waited 5-10 minutes until the temp was about 350 degrees and I put the steaks back on for 4 mins per side.  I was shooting for 400 degrees but after loading the grill with 8 good sized steaks, I only got to around 350 degrees before my 4 mins was up.  I tuned the steaks and went for 4 minutes again. 

I checked the temps (thermapen) and they were around 110 degrees.  I left them another 5 mins, checked again and they were right at 120 degrees.  I took them off and they sat for 10 minutes before we sat down to eat.

The steaks were perfect.  A big hit, and my gasket survived!  I've got two cooks under my belt and am planning my cooks for this week already.  I am going to do burgers for sure, and I'd like to do a low-and-slow. 

So far I have been very impressed with the ability of the egg to respond to relatively small vent adjustments.  And the Thermapen takes a lot of the guesswork out of it - I love that thing.



Ringgold, Georgia

Comments

  • Chubbs
    Chubbs Posts: 6,929
    Great looking steaks and I love your eagerness. Thermopen was a great investment. Expecting a lot more pics and posts from you. Well done.
    Columbia, SC --- LBGE 2011 -- MINI BGE 2013
  • The steaks look great. Sounds like you hit a homerun!

    Louisville, GA - 2 Large BGE's
  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
    Depending on how you start your Egg, the dome doesn't need to stay open very long. If you are using something that produces an open flame, like a starter cube, drop the dome when its flame goes out. I use a weed burner, and close the dome immediately. Just leave the daisy off and the bottom vent wide open till approaching the dome temp you want.

    Glad to read the steaks were great, and I must agree, a thermapen is one of a cook's best friends.

    When you do a long lo-n-slo, don't fuss too much about the dome temp. The difference between something cooked at 250F and 275F is very small. Usually just a small amount of time. I spent a long time, months in fact, trying to get a dome of exactly 250. I can usually do that now, but when I finally realized a stable temp anywhere between 240 and 260 produced the same results, my Egg cooks became much more relaxed. The sweet spot for temperature is fairly large for 'Q.
  • Looks like some good eats.
    Huntsville, Al LBGE
  • henapple
    henapple Posts: 16,025
    Looks great....doing well. Keep posting.
    Green egg, dead animal and alcohol. The "Boro".. TN 
  • Steaks look perfect, great job!
    LBGE
    Go Dawgs! - Marietta, GA
  • A-Baum
    A-Baum Posts: 29
    I'm also a big fan of searing steaks, but I like to do it last after some indirect so you have as little gray meat around the edges as possible.  I cook over indirect until the steaks are about 100-105 degrees.  Then I throw them over 400-500 degrees direct coals until they are 120 and then I pull and rest.