great steaks?

phillip w

tommorrow im gonna grill some porterhouse steaks what temp should i do them and for how long for well and med rare? what kind of seasonings should i use i want to impress some friends we are having over who have never of the BGE.

Doug

phillip w, I've had fantastic results covering both sides of the steak with yellow mustard follwed by a nice rub (JJ's is excellent) let that sit in frig for a couple of hours then remove from frig and let it comes to about room temp before EGGing it. Load the EGG up with lump and get it up to about 700 degrees. Sear the steak about 3 minutes each side then completely close tpo and bottom vent and let that baby go on the grill for another 3 minutes. 9 minutes total...for a med. rare steak and a little more at the end for well done. Fasten your seatbelts and be prepared for the steak of a lifetime!! By the way, as everyone says, you will NOT taste the mustard. Good luck!

Mike Oelrich

Doug,[p] One of the easiest and most rewarding things you can cook on your BGE is steak. The basic method is very easy and involves searing the steaks on both sides, then letting them finish cooking in a shut-down BGE. (It is interesting to note, here, that the searing does not really help to seal in juices - rather, it browns the outside of the meat and gives you the wonderful flavors resulting from that browning). Simply take a slab of your favorite beefsteak and sprinkle it on both sides with some seasoning (cracked pepper and kosher salt, e.g.). Let it sit out to come up to room temperature while you crank up your BGE. Fill the firebox full of lump charcoal and ignite in the manner you're accustomed to. Give the fire a few minutes to get roaring. Once the temperature in the dome has been above 700F for a couple minutes, open 'er up and throw on the steaks. Don't worry if they're kissing the flames, it'll be OK. After about 3 minutes, flip the meat over. Sear for another 3 minutes. Next throw a cap on the top and shut the bottom vent completely. The dome temp will begin to wander down. How long you let the steaks sit in the Egg from this point depends on your personal taste for doneness and the thickness of the meat. A good rule of thumb to get you started is that a 1" thick steak will need another 3-4 minutes to get to medium rare. In the interest of all those out there that are a bit attached to their arm hairs, a small caution must now be given. Do not, I say again, DO NOT, open the lid right on up at this point. If you do, you'll be met with a miniature version of a scene from that movie "Backdraft". Open the top vent, then the bottom vent, then burp the fire a bit by quickly cracking open and shutting the lid. Now that it's safe to open 'er up, do so and remove your masterpieces. [p]

Tim M

<p />phillip w,[p]The advice you have gotten from Mike and Doug is good. You didn't mention the thickness of the steaks and it makes a difference in times you cook on each side. I prefer thick 1.5-2" steaks and the times mentioned will work great. If you get the 3/4" steaks, 3 min on each side and a "dwell" of 6 min will produce a well done steak - so eggspierment with times to suit your tastes. [p]Pictured are two filet mignons done at 700 for 3-3-5. Yummy
Tim

Nature Boy

<p />phillip w,
The steak on the right is rubbed with mustard, and dusted with hickory molasses charcrust. The one on the left just a simple cracked pepper seasoning, but I stuck in freezer for 2 hours, and thawed at 180-200 over heavy mesquite smoke. Removed after it thawed (30 minutes) and brought egg up to searing temps.[p]Both were seared at 700 plus, 2-3 minutes a side, then dwelled in a closed egg for another 4-5 minutes. Both had unique qualities, and were exceptional.[p]Good luck!!

MAC

Nature Boy,
MAN ! ! ! Look at the cross hatch grill marks and the pink interior. Your a real artist. Thats i. This is eatable art.[p]MAC

Nature Boy

Tim M,
Dem are some big filets! From a good butcher???
They look pretty tasty.
NB

MAC

MikeO,
He knows of which he speaks. Been there, Done that. And once you have you'll never forget it.[p]MAC

Nature Boy

MAC,
Thanks. All in good fun and great eats!!
Rotating the steak after a minute increases the appearance of the presentation quite a bit. Adds depth! And you can fool people into thinking you know what you are doing![p]Cheers.
NB

Nature Boy

MikeO,
Nice thorough and clear post!! Great job.
Help me out on the searing part though. I thought searing helped seal in the juices. Why is this not true??

Thanks
NB[p]You just missed getting a taste of that picnic last night!

MAC

Nature Boy,
Aint no fooling about it You KNOOOOOOOOOWS what you are doin'. Got to stop, as I am drooling on my key board.
GRRRRR.....ATE MEAT And nothing beats a good steak.[p]MAC

Tim M

Nature Boy,[p]They are from Ackerman-Cooke mail order meat. This stuff is good - way past those Omaha steaks!![p]http://www.ackermanandcooke.com/index.asp
But that site has a problem now for some reason its asking for a pasword. I am sure it will be fixed sometime soon. The meat is shipped fresh - never frozen and its great!![p]Tim

Mike Oelrich

Nature Boy,[p] I read the statment in Cookwise and had the same reaction you did. However, Ms. Corriher referenced another book called "The Curious Cook" by Harold McGee, so I picked it up and put it on the "to read" pile. He did experiments where he tried different methods of cooking and determined that the weight of water lost by a piece of meat was not really affected by searing (though he quotes studies from the 1930s in which the evidence showed that searing, if anything, slightly reduces moisture in the meat). His explanation deals with the fact that the mositure you lose when you cook meat isn't moisture that's free inside to begin with. It is bound by proteins. When heated, these proteins break apart and recoalesce. Also, the protein tublues shrink. Due to these factors, moisture is squeezed out. Most meat is sliced across the grain, so there are open protein tubules all over the surface. Searing may close some of these off, but due to the chaos caused to the proteins, moisture still escapes as the tubules shrink. I'm not able, at this point, to recreate the exact scientific explanation, but the end result was that doneness was the determining factor in retained moisture rather than searing. However, searing does add immensely to the flavor of the meat due to the Maillard reactions -- the interactions between amino acids and sugars at high heat that are normally associated with browning. So sear for flavor, and watch cooking time for moisture.[p]MikeO

Nature Boy

MikeO,
I feel both satisfied and educated after reading that expalnation. Thanks for explaining it so clearly. It makes total sense.[p]Maillard Reaction. I like it. Is it pronounced May-lard??[p]Also nice to know that even if searing doen't hold the juices in, then the egg sure contributes something with its ability to hold moisture.[p]NB