Cooking a good steak

Louisiana Redneck · August 2008

Good afternoon,

I am in a situation I don't know how to deal with. I have mastered pulled pork, spare ribs, chicken, cornish hens, pork loins, and almost anything else cookable on the Egg, BUT steaks just don't come out tender. I swear I am almost tempted to use my old weber just for steaks. I am very good cooking them on the weber and that is the only thing that I would cook on it. That is just breaking the EGG CODE. It is like, god forbid, boiling ribs before smoking them. It just should not be done. I have tried many different ways but I swear I just can not cook a good steak medium anymore or since I got the egg.(3 years ago.) Please anyone, help me out. I need a simple way of cooking steaks. Searing is not necessary, but I have also tried that. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

BENTE · August 2008

this should help

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/trexsteak.htm

Grandpas Grub · August 2008

Without knowing what you are doing or how you are doing it I would ask do you have a Thermopen or a good food thermometer and as important are you using it?

Thermopen made a big differece in my results.

There the question of meat, temps and on...

If you can cook good steaks on other cookers they should come out better on the egg.

Others will jump in with their thoughts.

GG

FlaPoolman · August 2008

Like GG said the thermopen is an almost must have. I'll still fire up the kettle but just for the memories. Try to mimic the distance from the coals and the temps on the weber as a starting point and adjust from there. Once you nail it the kettle will used only for nostalgia. Steaks were the hardest for me also but now the only choice is TRex? Hot Tub? or Reverse sear?
Good luck in the pursuit of perfection, the journey is the fun part.

The EGG

the kettle

Fire Walker · August 2008

Tender steak is not a result or method of cooking it is the quality and cut of meat. Take your always tender Porterhouse steak for instance 1.5 to 2 inches is the prefered thickness. cook at about 300 degrees direct untill the internal meat temp is around 120 degrees, take the steak off, foil tent and rest bring Egg up to 600 + degrees, Salt and pepper, throw steak back on for about 60 seconds for the sear.

FireWalker

db · August 2008

TRex? Hot Tub? or Reverse sear?
What difference in the end results have you noticed between the three?
I talked to a guy today who sears at around 650 for 45 seconds, 90 deg turn for 45 seconds, flip for 45 seconds, 90 degree turn and place the ceramic cap on and shuts the intake. Wait 6 to 7 minutes and claims a perfect medium rare (1.5 inch steaks).

Chef in the Making · August 2008

I normally cook either Delmonicos or Porterhouses. I also ask the butcher to cut them to 2 inches thick but never less then 1 1/2 inches. Anything less and they cook to fast and end up over done. I will apply salt and pepper mixed with olive oil and sometimes I will add fresh herbs. I let sit for about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes and then place on the gill.I do not TREX as some others do but I do grill them between 450 and 550 degrees. I sometimes go as high as 600. I cook them only to medium rare as beyond that i beleive they begin to dry out. I do use a thermopen to test for temp but I am not advers to cutting into them to ensure they ar not over cooked

Make sure you let them sit for 5 - 10 minutes before you serve them.

duluthjacket · August 2008

Are your steaks coming our over cooked or under cooked? I've used the method on the BGE video (90 seconds a side at about 600, then close everything up for a few minutes, depending on the thickness of the steak) and the TREx way, and both have worked out well. I'm too cheap to buy a therma-pen, but I have a Weber cookbook that is pretty good on giving times based on thickness and how you like your steak.

Keep trying - its all about the journey.

Pyro · August 2008

The BGE website has a video of Kevin Rathbun cooking rib-eyes on the BGE. You can see it here: http://biggreenegg.com/videos/ribeyes.html - I find it necessary to have the steaks out for 30 to 45 minutes before starting to cook. I like my steaks done a little more than Kevin, so I use a 2 minute 30 second time on each side and then the same 2:30 after I close up the egg. The Cast Iron grate will improve the looks of your steaks - make certain to give it time to warm up.

Dan Morgan of The Morgan Ranch (rated for best Wagyu beef by the WSJ) recommends adding sugar to your other spices to improve the crust. You can also improve your results by buying his steaks, Given the price of Wagyu, this must be reserved for special occasions, and then only after you are sure of your technique!

WADoug · August 2008

I haven't mastered anything yet, but you know the Egg is forgiving. My best meals have been ribeyes, chicken and salmon. I'm new and very careful of very hot temps. I did some good ribeyes at 450-500 on regular gill. Then, I got a CI grill and that made a big difference. I've cooked several at 550-600 (Large BGE), 2-3 mins per side, they will be rare and have good grill marks (not fancy). I shut down the vents and wait a bit, about 450 and put them back on for 2-3 min. For us, they were great, better than my attempts with the Weber - which I thought were great steaks. I have also had good ribeyes on a Traeger, totally indirect at about 450, probably 6-8 min total, not much sear but very good meat. I don't really use a temp probe, I can feel the doneness, a nice semi-soft push tells me they are done. Maybe your Weber steaks were just great, but I find it hard to image a steak cooked better than on the Egg.

Davekatz · August 2008

This is how I do all my steaks anymore and it seems to work pretty well:
Sizzlin’ Steaks

It's a combination of good meat, good prep, control cooking, and letting the meat rest.

fishlessman · August 2008

are you getting your steaks cut between 1.5 and 2 inches thick, and what kind of steaks are you cooking. something ive noticed with the trex and its been mentioned before is that after the sear and rest, the third step of roasting is impotant in that different temps yeild different results. roasting at 400 gives a firmer result than roasting at 325/350 on a raised grid. some would call the lower roasting temp mushy, but others might find it more tender. and something else to note is that if you have a thermapen, the temp you take it off the grill can make a big difference between different steaks, ribeyes i take off the grill at around 127/130 and sirlions about 5 degrees lower in temp. i also find i dont like pepper on a steak during the sear stage, ill just salt sear, and then add the rub during the 20 or so minutes while it rests waiting for the roasting step

Jersey Doug · August 2008

I have pretty good luck with thinner steaks at lower temperatures. Tonight's cook will be 1" rib eyes on the CI grate down on the fire ring of the Small with the dome somewhere between 450º and 475º. I do the same thing in the Large with the same 13" CI grate down on the Spider. Four minutes on the first side, four minutes on the second side, five minutes tented under foil produces a nice medium rare with beautiful grill marks.

I realize that by admitting I cook steaks this way I am blowing any street cred I might have had :-)

Cooking a good steak

Comments

Categories