New user questions about Trex Steaks

Unknown

I am the proud owner of a large egg as of Christmas '03. I have cooked steaks twice now (NY Strips and filet mignon)using the sear 3 each side and dwell for approx. 4 min. method. I have been thrilled with the results.[p]According to Trex you should leave the dome open to sear, but when I have shut the dome after placing or turning my steaks I notice a drop from around 700 to slightly below 600. If you leave the dome open aren't you dropping the temp. significantly?[p]Secondly, what is the your opinion on the necessity Trex's method of waiting 20 minutes before cooking after the sear?[p]Thank you for responding.[p]

JSlot

Congrats on your new Egg, Maggie! I sear my steaks with the dome open and I don't usually rest them as a lot of folks do. I can't tell that much difference, so it's not worth the extra time to me, alhtough others seem to notice a significant difference. As for losing temp by opening the dome, yes, you lose the radiant heat from the dome, but the temp of the fire below the food is as hot or hotter and that is what you are concerned with when grilling at higher temps. Good luck and keep posting those results and questions![p]Best Regards,
Jim

mad max beyond eggdome

biglabmaggie,
i do trex all the time. . .and swear by it. . . i close the dome during the sear (and i only do 90 seconds per side), in the belief (right or wrong) that the extra radient heat from the dome helps in the overall sear process. . .now if you believe trex, the 20 minutes helps get that muscle (which the sear has made tighten up so much) to relax, resulting in a more tender finished steak. . .i don't know about the science behind it, but i do know that my steaks are more tender with the rest than they were without it (or i may just be dreaming). . .also, the 20 minute rest really allows your egg to get down from the high temps to about 400 degrees and then the dwell portion really allows you to get some good smoke into the steak as well. . .all this in my most humble opinion of course. . .[p]like everything else here in eggland, there are a multitude of opinions. . ..keep buying good steaks and try them a variety of ways until you find the one that is best for you. . .

Unknown

mad max beyond eggdome,
I've tried all the techniques including some I made up myself and this taking it off 20 min and getting down to 400 in the BGE is the "no fail" method in my book. It for sure gets rid of the most common mistake I was making using recommendation in the BGE book of: "cook - flip, cook - flip, close vents take out in 2 to 6 min", which seemed to produce overcooked steaks over half the time, which when over cooked tasted like a spungy roast beef or something. The tip I think most important in the cook then remove 20 min method is to really be sure you got a truely 750 hot egg to sear in first , make sure you got a good bed of hot coals and not just a bunch of fire starter heat goin on.

mad max beyond eggdome

Chet,
yep, your experience has been pretty much like mine. . .the only two beef things i don;t do the high temp sear with is flank steak and hamburgers. . .i find that dwelling flank steak really leaves it mushy, so i just grill it direct in the 450 - 500 degree range until done, and with burgers, i like to do them direct at around 400 degrees. . .by taking a little longer to cook them at lower temps, it really lets the egg do its magic on them. . .nicely done, but still juicy inside, and they really absorb the flavor of the dizzy cow lick, which we absolutely love on them. . .

Unknown

mad max beyond eggdome,
I forgot to mention the last bit of info that made me know fer sure this was the best method. Proly, no one else has someone to cook steaks for that like to ruin em on purpose, i.e. buy thin & cook hell out of em , but my wifey does. So the proof is in the fact that even all those med rare I overcooked for myself and at same time had what I thought was the best bet for her...she didn't like em and even wanted me to stop cooking them on the BGE and go back to using the gas grill. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it all out from here. And soooo, I had my New Years Eve 1 3/4" Strip & her 3/4" strip was to her own honest opinion "perfect".

mad max beyond eggdome

Chet,
my wife has become a trex convert. . .of course, like most women, she has no concept of the difference between 2 inches and 10 inches (man, i'll bet we get some reaction to that statement). . .but this is why i now buy whole tenderloins and whole sirloins, so that i can cut them the way we like them. . .i'll bet your bride will come around eventually and get religion. . .

Unknown

mad max beyond eggdome,
Man, that was a goodern, hehehe. I'm buying whole from now on too, fact is I was just a sittin here thanken bout the rest of them in the freezer and wondering why I had to go and freeze em all anyway. proly skeered my colestral is going to get high about now...I mean , Hey , I've just ate everything under the sun in triple portions for goin on two weeks straight .