eeeeek.....Delmonico Disaster???

Unknown

*SIGH* My first egg failure happened last night. In a down-pour and the dark of night, I tried to prepare 6 scrumptuous delmonico steaks. Each were about 1.25 inches thick and probably about 10ozs. I seared them at 650-700 for about 2.5 mins per side and let them dwell for another 3. When I did the sear, he coals were flaming heartily. By the end of searing side 2 of the beef, I had a roaring blaze going. Closing humpty for the 3 minute dwell did nothing to reduce the flames. When the steaks were taken off the grid (I would have said "done" here instead of "taken off the grid", but that would grossly understate the condition of the meat) most of them were tougher than shoeleather and a few were charred black.[p]What should I do next time to prevent this?[p]Thanks,
E1

JimW

Eggcitable One,
If Delmonico steaks are ribeyes by another name, I cook them for 3 minutes per side at 650F +/- with no dwell time. This will give you a nice rare to medium-rare steak for 1.25 inches thick. There will be a nice light char on the outside.[p]With a large or medium, you can expect some flareups, particularly when you turn them. Closing the dome will normally extinguish the flames. With the small, you might get a little more char because the coals are so much closer to the meat but it's still just fine.[p]I don't use the dwelling technique for two main reasons. First, I like my steaks pretty rare and the dwelling serves to cook them beyond my taste. Second, we like the light char you get by cooking them straight up and then pulling them off.
JimW

higb

Eggcitable One, sorry to hear about that one.[p]I had a similar experience yesterday. It turned out OK in the end though. I bought a nice London Broil, 2" thick. There was a good flame going when I put it on at 700F. I did about three minutes on a side, trying to keep it away from the flame a bit. I didn't shut the thing down completely for a "dwell", I just put the daisy wheel on (full-open) and closed the bottom vent to 2-3 inches. That seemed to keep the temperature to 400-500F and pretty much stopped the flames for me. I flipped it a few times, and took it off when my polder burned out :-(. I was using foil on the cable, but I guess it was the metal bit not in the steak that got overheated. Anyway it turned out pretty well. It might have been just a little rare. Maybe I should have done the regular "dwell", but I was worried that the steak might be too thick for that. (?)[p]
Steak and potato burritos tonight.

Tim M

Eggcitable One,[p]You don't have to dwell - often after the searing -- its done! I don't do ribeyes often but if they are less than 2" you are going to have to rush it because they cook fast since they are heavily marbled. I do filet mignons about 90% and I get the 2"+ ones (6-8 oz). They can do 4 min per side easily but not ribeyes (aka delmonico). Keep a record of what you did last time so the next time you can change it to see if that works better for you. My records are at the link below. Enjoy!![p]Tim M
[ul][li]-Tim's BGE Cookbook - etc[/ul]

RhumAndJerk

Eggcitable One,
I am curious about one thing, were you searing the steaks with entire dome open or just no cap?[p]If you were searing with the dome open, then this would account the amount of flame. When making steaks on the small even with the temp at 750, the flames are just noticeable. However, when the dome is lifted, watch out.[p]The thing to remember when searing is to use the radiant heat from the coals and walls and not direct heat provided by flames touching the meat (a little helps). Also, the egg always cooks best with the dome closed.[p]Hope this helps,
RhumAndJerk

Unknown

RhumAndJerk,[p]Thanks to you and the others for your replies. You asked about whether I had the dome open or just the cap. I had only the cap open and kept the dome closed as quickly as I could after turning the steaks.[p]Regards,
E1

Unknown

RhumAndJerk,[p]Thanks to you and the others for your replies. You asked about whether I had the dome open or just the cap. I had only the cap open and kept the dome closed as quickly as I could after turning the steaks.[p]Regards,
E1

RhumAndJerk

Eggcitable One,
Maybe you should check the calibration of your thermometer, it may have been hotter than you thought.
Other than that, I am out of ideas.[p]Hope this helps,
RhumAndJerk
[p]

Unknown

RhumAndJerk,[p]Thanks again for the suggestion; however, I calibrated the thermometer just about a week ago.[p]Regards,
E1[p]