blackened strip steaks -- 5 pics

Sandbagger

<p />Yep, somewhere down there are two beauties doing their thing. A little Cowlick, cracked pepper and kosher salt, that's all! Oh look, there they are.....[p] [p]I gotta tell ya, you sit there taking in the great aromas, just wanting to save these little guys, because you know they are burning. An excruciating 2.5 minutes later and finally, time to flip.[p][p]Another 2.5 minutes, a long 2.5 minutes, and then upstairs for the finish. I finished them on the grill and in the pan. [p][p]Add a little clarified butter on top and man, now you’re talking delish. About one third of mine never made it to the plate. The steak had a very good texture, flavor and surprising to me - very tender, more tender than the Friday night Trex steak cook. Both steaks did not run much juice when blackening, finishing or cutting. Don't know why that is.[p][p]Here are a couple thoughts about the cook. First the pan is about 1 inch above the lump and went into the egg when the egg thermometer hit 500 degrees. It sat there for a good 30 minutes before I started. Second, the 14 inch pan in the 16 inch diameter fire ring made this cook very easy. No worries about dealing with heat or much flame. The pan acted as a heat sink and barrier. Third, surprisingly the upper part of the egg stayed in the 350 to 400 degree range, dome thermometer, for almost the entire time. Fourth, I used the guru to feed the fire during the complete cook. [p]I did my daughter's steak about one hour later and surprisingly the pan looked greyer, hotter. I let her steak go 2 minutes per side.

I can't wait to try other meats, chicken and fish....stay tuned. tom

Unknown

Sandbagger,
look great...what kind of pan did you use

mad max beyond eggdome

Sandbagger,
looks great tom!! . ..i never thought to use my wok ring to hold a pan like that. . .i'll have to see if my cast iron pan fits in the wok ring likes your's did (i'll bet it will work fine). . .how long for the finish once you moved it "upstairs"?. .. . from the looks of the pic you simply left your searing pan in the bottom to act as your heat deflector.. ..and you said the upper part of the egg stayed in the 350 -400 range ... is that how you finished???[p]

Clay Q

Sandbagger,
Very nice steak cookin!!! Reminds me of classic pan seared steak from some of the best steak houses. Your first pic has a mystery feel to it then the second pic reveals the steaks,---- great shots![p]You have a perfect setup and method. Is your pan cast iron? Glad your using ghee, I use it for my high temp pan frying. Great for fish.
Have fun and keep us updated- I'm a sponge head when it comes to exciting methods of cookin.
Clay

Sandbagger

mad max beyond eggdome, The wok ring is too big to fit down in the fire ring. I rolled a new ring and welded 4 little feet (1 inch tall) on the ring. The feet sit on the firebox's top edge and wedge against the fire ring's side wall. [p]The cast iron pan stayed in the egg while finishing upstairs. I didn't feel like messing with a hot pan. In fact, it is still there as I type. I want to see what it looks like after cooling down with the egg.[p]I am really amazed how easy this was and how much heat that pan absorbed. I did not even need the gloves when using my long tongs to flip or remove the steaks. [p]This is going to be fun to experiment. I wonder if that pan is still hot enough to cook a couple sunny side up eggs this morning....LOL[p]tom

Sandbagger

ClayQ, The pan is a Bayou Classic Cast Iron 14” Reversible Round Griddle with the two side handles cut off. See my earlier thread. Now I am on a search for blackening mixtures. I used the butter after the steak left the egg. I did not want to chance the burn butter taste or flame. Call me chicken....maybe blackened chicken....hmmmmmmm. tom
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edbro

Sandbagger,
A bit off topic but is the char from a cast iron sear the same as char done with flame as far as the cancer causing properties are concerned? My wife has me concerned about all the talk of BBQ'ing being risky for cancer. Now, I'm not about to give up grilling but I do try to watch the charring if I can. I'm just wondering if the char from a pan sear is the same as from flame.

BabyBoomBBQ

Sandbagger,[p]Try this one:
CasaBP Blackening Rub[p]2 1/2 TBS Paprika
1 3/4 TBS Kosher Salt
1 TBS Fresh Ground black pepper
2 TBS Garlic Powder
1 TBS Onion powder
1 1/4 TBS Dried Oregano
1 TBS Dried Thyme
1 tsp Cayenne pepper