Tips for cooking steaks on an XL BGE

Tier1Terrier

I'll be cooking 3 steaks on my XL BGE this weekend. I want to chat the steaks on the outside with a medium-rare inside. How do you do work with all that space inside?  Do you use a lot or little coal?  Do you lump the coal to one side  and cook partly over the coals (to sear) and then away from the coals to finish? Any tips on cooking the perfect steaks would be greatly appreciated. 

On on a side note, I plan on picking up a half size cast iron grid for my XL for this cook. 

Tier1Terrier

I meant 'char' not 'chat' lol

Photo Egg

First off, congrats on the XL.

If you buy the half cast iron all you can do is lay it on top the stock 24" or remove the stock 24" and only have half a grate to cook on. You can lay any size cast iron grate on the stock 24" that you can find at a discount store or home depot and save some cash. Or use a cast iron skillet instead to sear. You will find the skillet useful for other cooks on the Egg as well.
You can push the lump to one side on the XL and create a hot side and a warm side. Sear and slow roast to the temp you like or roast first then sear.
Much of this depends on how thick your steaks might be. A 1" steak, after resting on the counter for a good hour, will almost be cooked after a good sear. A thicker steak would take longer. No right or wrong way...just lots of ways to cook a steak depending on how you like your steak. 

jimithing

I'm a big believer in letting steaks come to room temp before cooking them.  Especially on a thicker steak.  It's much easier to get an even medium to medium rare like this.  On thicker steaks if you don't do this you'll end up with a rare middle and over cooked outside.

One of the reasons I got the XL over the L was the ability to really do dual zone cooking without going vertical.  So I pile charcoal on one side and get it ripping hot.  Depending on the thickness of the steak and how hot the grill is I let it go indirect for a little while.  Then move it over the coals and start getting that char.  Again, depending on your steak and temperature of the grill you may want to just put it straight over the coals and not do any indirect.  There are too many variables to give you a formula.

One other thing - if you want the steaks closer to the fire so they char faster you might want to look into a spider from the ceramic grill store.  You can put a cast iron grate on the spider and get some really nice marks.  Probably won't help you for this weekend but something to think about for the future.

fishlessman

TREX, REVERSE SEAR, HOT TUB METHOD....try all three. thin steaks i like the hot tub and sear, thick steaks 1.25 thick or larger i prefer trex over reverse sear and i only coat with salt
TREX
http://www.nakedwhiz.com/trexsteak.htm

REVERSE SEAR, SUBSTUTUTE BGE FOR OVEN IN RECIPE
http://www.food.com/recipe/reverse-seared-steaks-521042

HOT TUB METHOD
http://tribe.grilldome.net/discussion/2385/boil-your-steak-first

Ozzie_Isaac

I am an outlier on this board.  My favorite steaks are done simple.

Standard grate height, room temp steaks with salt, pepper, garlic.  I get egg up to 500 dome +/- 100 deg.

Then I plop the steaks on and flip every 30-45 seconds.  I like rare side of medium rare so I pull at 115.  Rest for 10min in tented foil.

Then I eat.

Only better steak I have had is Sous Vid and crazy hot sear.

Jstroke

Caveman, right on the coals. Try one ahead of time but I promise they are killer. Just like when you cook in the woods. just kosher salt

1move

I like mine simple without much of sear this and that.
I get the XL or MiniMax up to 550*F and when the temperature is steady, I take the room temperature steaks rubbed with some Montreal Steak Spice and throw it on for 2 minutes (timed)
Flip it and time 2 minutes again
Then I flip it one last time and time 2 minutes again with all the vents shut for a medium rare 1" to 1.25" thick steak. I call this the "Resting stage"
For a medium 3 minutes during the "Resting stage"
For a well done 4 minutes during the "Resting stage"

pgprescott

I'm with @Ozzie_Isaac. I don't go nuclear on my steaks. I flip 3 times for a cross hatched marking and rest and serve. I like reverse sear for large roasts and such but don't find it a requirement for great steaks on the egg. I like Rare to mid rare so I buy thick cuts 1 3/4 - 2". You will find many spectacular steaks done many different ways in this forum. 

Mdlrat

Montreal over night but not too much. 500+ on grill. 3 min per side and cook till desired temp. Room temp before grilling