Question about exact process for cooking steaks

Unknown

Hey Guys,
When cooking steaks, once you get fire up to desired temp for searing,
(750 deg.) and you put steaks on for initial sear, do you put them on and close the top and open daisy wheel all the way? Or do you keep lid open and flip steaks after a couple of minutes and only close to dwell. Any help would be appreciated. [p]Thanks,
Big Boy

Seth

Big Boy,
Close thetop,but be careful when you open it back up. Even if you have the daisy wheel on and open,you could get a flashback if you were to open it real fast.
Happy steaks,
Seth

JimW

Big Boy,
I let the fire roar with no top and the bottom vent wide open. A 1 1/4" rib eye takes about 3 minutes a side for rare. I don't dwell at all.
JimW

Washog

Big Boy,
I close the top and remove the daisy wheel. Depeding upon how thick your steaks are, I sear for 3 minutes max a side on steaks that are an inch thick. Then I flip the steak back to the side that I did the first sear, shut everything down, and dwell for 4 minutes for medium.

Bordello

Big Boy,
When I have company I do Filet mignon about 1&1/2inch thick. I like about 550°, put steak in and close the dome, cook about 3 to 4 min. and then flip close the dome for the next 3 to 4 min. and then I close the bottom vent only and let it dwell for a couple of min. Before I burp and open the dome I will open the bottom vent and I can hear the flame fire up again. [p]Whenever I'm using a temp. over 400° I use a long (almost to elbow) heavy glove and burp the egg a few times before opening the dome. (I open the dome about an inch and close it and repeat about 3 or 4 times to prevent the flashback.[p]Cheers,
New Bob

Jeff J

Big Boy, Pretty much all cooking is done with the top closed on the egg but your daisy wheel setting and bottom vent vary depending on your cooking method. I cook using the "T-Rex" method, I take daisy off, bottom wide open, 1 1/2 filet (steak type,size changes all these figures) I sear around 800 3 mins side, then off for 20 min, close vent and daisy, steaks back on at 400 till done. I never had much luck with the dwell method. Have fun.

Shelby

Big Boy,
I cook my steaks around 5-600*. I've found if I go to 750* or so, a 3 min sear leaves too heavy of a char/burned flavor for me. At 5-600, I cook 3 mins per side then dwell for 3-4 more. With 1 1/2" ribeyes, they'll be rare enough for me.[p]As has been said, cook with the dome closed. To reach 750* temps, you will need the daisy wheel off and bottom vent wide open. Also, be sure to start with plenty of charcoal as to get to the higher temps requires a lot.[p]Good luck and good eating. Pizza here tonight!

mad max beyond eggdome

Big Boy,
i've tried just about all the ways listed here (or some variation of them), and IMHO, i thought the trex method the best. ..last week had some choice sirloins about 1 1/2 inches thick. ..kosher salt and peppered them, put them on at 750 (w/ a chunk of lumber) for about 1 1/2 minutes per side. . .pulled them and let them rest for 20 minutes ...closed down the vents. ..after 20 minutes dome was about 400. . .put the steaks back on w/ all vents closed for about 5 minutes per side (a little too long as it turned out as they ended up medium. . should have gone about 3 minutes per side for medium rare). . .[p]the whole family agreed, best steaks yet on the egg!!!. . .[p]oh yea, and don't forget to either open the vents wide for about 15 seconds before opening the lid (you can't believe the rush of smoke out the chimney when you do that, otherswise that rush will be up your arm). ..[p]while we liked this method the best so far, we also enjoyed other methods. . .[p]enjoy

Kip

Big Boy,
TRex method, while a bit more time consuming, is definitely the best. He will email you his "dissertation on steak" if you request it.[p]Kip

The Naked Whiz

<p />Big Boy,
Gee, all these responses and nobody posted a link to my flashback movie? :-) I guess you knew I would...[p]Personally, I think the easy way is to let her rip, bottom vent open, no daisy wheel and sear for 2-3 minutes per side. The length of time depends on how much sear/crust/black/burnt you want the outside. You do the sear with the lid shut so that you keep the searing heat up there. After the second side is seared, close the bottome vent, put the ceramic cap on the top and dwell until done to the point you like. You will probably have to experiment a little to get the timing just the way you want. A good reason to go to sam's and buy one of those big trays of thick steaks. When the dwell time is over, then you go watch my video on flashback:[p][li]Flashback Webpage[p]Ok, so you should watch the video before you try your first steak. It should, however, put the fear of flashback into you so you don't forget to vent the egg before you open it up.[p]The slightly less easy way (only because it takes more time) is to sear both sides, then let the steak rest for 20 minutes, then finish at 400 degrees or so. As many have already told you, check out TRex's method.[p]TNW

The Naked Whiz

The Naked Whiz,
There is another method you might want to try. Everytime I have seen someone post this method, every last one of them said they had something else like a chicken for backup in case it didn't turn out, but not one of them used the backup. This is really good for impressing your friends at a cookout. Instead of searing the steaks on the grid for 2-3 minutes, you sear them directly on the coals. Just toss them on the red hot coals for 2 minutes per side. Then take them out and either do the dwell on a grid, or let them rest and then dwell. Everybody will think you're nuts, but it really does work. [p]TNW

Bordello

The Naked Whiz,
I will have to try this, do you have any problem with ash when removing them from the coals??? About what temp. do you use??? I use 550° or so on the grill or sometimes an extended grill if I don't want a lot of char.[p]Cheers,
New Bob

ravnhaus

Big Boy,
I light my coals and get them burning good and let the temps get up to 350° - 450°, throw on the meat for 3 to 5 min per side depending on thickness, and then eat.
I don't go for the high temp sear method as I don't like the bitter carbon aftertaste.
The only thing I ever dwell on is my expanding waistline.
[ul][li]Steak[/ul]

The Naked Whiz

New Bob,
When you put the steaks on the coals, there is only one temperature and that is HOT! You want the coals to be completely burning and red hot. You may get a coal to stick to the meat when you pull the meat off, but you can knock it loose with the ash tool or something. I put the steaks on a platter so I can put the grid in, and then put the steaks on the grid and close things up for the dwell. It's not much different from the vanilla "sear for 2/3 minutes and then dwell" method. It's just that you are searing directly on the coals.[p]TNW

Bordello

The Naked Whiz,
Thanks, I will give it a shot, if it works well for me I will be able to "WOW" my company. I like to do strange things so it sounds fitting for me.[p]Regards,
New Bob

The Naked Whiz

New Bob,
Also note that you should use the longest tongs you have. Reaching down into the fire can be challenging. I'd hate to have you toss some steaks on and then 3 minutes later find that you your tongs are only 6" long (no comments, dammit) and you just have to watch them burn up because you left your asbestos suit at the cleaners....[p]TNW