Last Night's Dinner Was Off The Chain!! (pic heavy)

Bojangles

My caring wife ran by the butcher on Sunday while I was watching my Miami Dolphins get whipped like a masochist-on-Valentine’s-Day.

Good meat eases the eternal pain of being a Dolphins fan, she knows that.  I asked her to bring home some 2" thick bone-in ribeyes with the bone frenched.  I was angry about the loss, and in need of a serious reverse sear.  My first ever reverse sear.  She returned with the goods, but said the butcher didn't want to french them for some reason or another.  No matter, I'd do it myself... but once I unwrapped them and saw how huge and delectable they were, I couldn't bring myself to cut into them either.

I was tempted to get these bad boys onto some burning lump right away, but she announced that she'd like to cook shrimp scampi with linguini and a salad.  No matter, the monster ribeyes could enjoy a dry-brine overnight.  If all went well, I'd be enjoying them during Monday Night Football when my team's bitter rival the New York Jets would be experiencing a soul-crushing defeat on a National stage.  It takes real will power to wait patiently when I have cuts like these in the fridge, I'm sure you guys can relate.  I hit them with a generous coat of kosher salt all over, wrapped them up, and caringly tucked them away for the night in the fridge.  "Good night little fellas."

Last night I raced home from work, I'd been tempering the anticipation all day.  I'd had my wife pull the cuts out at 3:45pm to let them slowly get closer to room-temp.  I unwrapped them and I may have made an audible "ahhhhh!" sound like when someone opens a treasure chest in a cartoon, we'll keep that between us.  I applied a thin coat of EVOO, a bit more kosher salt, and then I fine-ground some peppercorns over the tops and bottoms.

Lickin' my chops, I set outside to fire up my large BGE, my chosen vessel for this ever-important task.  I had some used lump in there, perfect, I sorted through it, got rid of the ash, and made sure all the air holes were free of debris. I re-stacked the lump, as to provide generous air flow. I inserted a starter cube and fired her up.  I set the plate-setter in (legs up) for an indirect cook, and put the grill on top.  I didn't need the Maverick for this cook, but I figured "what the hell?" and set it up anyway.  Now to play the waiting game....

I was already enjoying one of my new favorite beers, and noticed the wife had set out some spicy cheeses.... "don't mind if I do"…

I also found some corn my wife had set out, I pulled back the husks, removed all the cornsilk, pulled the husks back forward and gave them a heavy rinse.  With the Egg up to temp (350) and stabilized, it was time to get to business.  I threw the cuts on and inserted the Mavericks meat probe through the side of one.  I placed the damp husks of corn on the grill directly over the 3 air gaps on the platesetter.  This is where the fun starts.

 shut the lid so the magic could begin to happen.  Pretty soon the aromas became quite nice, intoxicating even, and that's when The Kiddo and The Hound showed up... Funny how that always happens like clockwork when the Egg gets going.

After some time I opened the lid to check internal temps of the two steaks that didn't have probes in them.  I'd hit 84-85 degrees, and my ultimate goal was 120 (before the reverse sear) so I decided to give all the steaks and corn a flip.

With the dome closed again, it was time to get going on some other sides.  My wife already had baked spuds going in the oven, but some wilted baby spinach and some griddled whole mushrooms would be a nice touch.  I was planning on doing the sear on my Blackstone gas griddle anyway, so I fired it up.  

I know, I know, I know what you're thinking... "propane?!"... "a non-caveman sear?!?!"... "a non-Egg cooking device?!!!"  THE HORROR, THE BLASPHEMY, THE DISGRACE…. 

Bear with me though, please.

I got the Blackstone scorching hot and threw on the baby spinach with some EVOO, garlic, and soy sauce.  I set the whole mushrooms next to that, poured some red wine over them and covered them with a pot lid.

I ran back over to the Egg to check my steaks.  I’d overshot my 120 mark by 3 degrees on one, the other two were dead on 120.  I pulled the ribeyes and the corn.  I de-husked the corn and then went back to the griddle to pull the baby spinach and mushrooms.

I threw the ribeyes onto the inferno-hot griddle and proceeded to sear away.  Sweet mother of mercy they smelled good.  I flipped every 90 seconds, 3 times, and pulled them off to check internal temps.  

By the Luck of the Irish I nailed that heavenly perfection that is 135 degree flawless medium-rare on all 3 cuts.  

I started heading inside with all the fruits of my labor.  My wife had uncorked a bottle of one of my absolute favorite Italian reds and poured it into a decanter.  This woman is always two steps ahead of me.  

I let the steaks rest a bit whilst we plated the goods. We then dressed the corn and potatoes.  The steaks were so big they needed their own plates…. "first world problems”, as the saying goes.

Now the moment of truth…. I cut into one, anxious to see the results of the reverse sear.  What I found inside was the exquisite glory that is wall-to-wall medium rare.  No gray anywhere to be found.  Just velvety medium rare wrapped in a charred brown crust.

Why on Earth anyone who knows the technique would do anything but a reverse sear instantly became a mystery to me.  Every single bite was eyes-roll-in-the-back-of-your-head good.  Around this time I saw the Jets get robbed of a call that should’ve gone their way.  Pretty soon they went on to suffer a rough loss, reminding me that there is, in fact, a Football-God.

Everyone, including The Hound, enjoyed the spoils of the Egg’s bounty last night.

Life is good.

DMW

=D>
Nicely executed and told!

Eggcelsior

Very nice. Great handle, too. Reverse sear wins again!

Cookbook_Chip

This was like reading the best Penthouse forum - on meat!! Or perhaps even a Tom Woolfe novel. Every sentence made me smile. And drool.

TTC

Brilliant on every level.

Dobie

As a Jag fan I know your pain. Cook is almost as awesome as the view from your back yard.

henapple

Nice

NPHuskerFL

Awesome gourmet meal with a great chronological pic storyline. :-bd

SmokeyPitt

That is an excellent looking meal.   Your yard and view is beautiful as well.  What part of the country are you in? 

grege345

As a JEtS fan it burns me to say ya know what forget it

lkapigian

^:)^ My cooks are boring

Gman2

Gotta love bone in ribeyes!! Nicely done. Great wine to boot!!!

Ladeback69

Looks very tasty and I have yet to find the time to do a reverse sear. I was going to do t-bones Sunday as well as I watched my Chiefs beat your Dolphins, but everyone was hungry so I did my normal 2 minutes a side, shut vents and let sit 5 minutes. They were perfect medium. M y kiddo doesn't like when his steak has char on it. Don't know if he is going to like a reverse sear or not.

JRWhitee

Nice job, perfect cook and all my favorites. Eggcellent.

Phatchris

Awe-some Cook!!!

anzyegg

Truly awesome cook, pics, and read!

shtgunal3

Dude, that is AWESOME!!!!! I've been wanting one of those griddles. Great cook and post.

SteveWPBFL

Bad to the bone!

Hibby

Very impressive. Cooking is cooking. Who cares what you're doing it on. Great cook!

buzd504

That looks like a great meal.

I'm curious about salting overnight?  Do you notice any effect from effectively "brining" your steak?  I've heard you don't want to salt for that long, but what do I know.  Is there a difference?

nolaegghead

That's what I'm talkin' about!  Fantastic feast, brother!  (damn, now I'm starting to talk like @SGH!)

cook861

nice cook and pictures thank for the ride 

Tjcoley

Very nicely done.

ChrisgrillsSTLMO

Huge props for the steaks/sides, but even bigger props for the wine choice
^:)^

Hope you have a couple more bottles of that in your cellar, it is a beauty.

Cheers!

SGH

@Bojangles‌
A job very well done my friend. Excellent looking food, excellent pics and par excellent documentation my friend. Solid from start to finish.
Just a note: Me and that dog would be wrestling over that bone
Allow me the honor sir. For a job well done and presented I proudly offer the:
SGH

bcsnave

Nice looking reverse sear..looks tasty..

 

I am going to have to try that

cazzy

That view though. =P~

mcmac

Nice doc on the cook! You're not kidding... those steaks look perfect!

Not to mention, any steak that requires its own plate is bound to be a winner.

OmahaOne

cazzy said:

That view though. =P~

You are right about that. The view of that dog getting every morsel of that bone was very impressive!

jcaspary

Awesome cook, awesome documentation, and awesome view!!!!! What more could be said. I am also interested in hearing about how the dry brine works.

GeorgeS

Wow! =D>