T-Rexing 2" filets

smokeydrew

I bought a whole beef tenderloin which I plan to cut 4 2" filets from. My question is, how long to sear, and how long to dwell for the following doneness:[p]medium rare
medium
medium well[p]Thanx in advance,
smokeydrew

mad max beyond eggdome

smokeydrew,
i buy whole tenderloins all the time and i also cut them into two inch thick filets (if you go the dizzy pig website and look at his recipe section, you'll see some pics of how i separate the whole tenderloina and how i do a tenderloin roast). . ..[p]anyway, i have found that when trex 2" thick steaks, i go a full 2 minutes on the sear for each side. . .this is in an egg that is at nuclear temps (i have the dial completely off the scale, so i figure i'm around 900 degrees. . ..then after the rest, when the egg is back to 400 degrees, i figure about 5 -6 minutes per side for medium rare . . i never do these things any more well, but i'd figure about 7 minutes per side for medium and shoot, go as long as you want for well done. . .[p]btw, i treat mine with olive oil, kosher salt and dizzy cowlick. . .yummy. .. . and for a more crusty exterior, try throwing a cast iron pan in the egg, letting it go to nuclear temps along with the egg, and sear them in the pan. . .you'll get all kinds of spitting and flame, but a really excellent texture/sear on those steaks. ..

Car Wash Mike

mad max beyond eggdome,[p]
When I first started posting, I saw a bunch of people applying mustard. Has this been dropped and another method better? Or no one trying any more?[p]I also do the olive oil, kosher salt, CL.[p]CWM

mad max beyond eggdome

Car Wash Mike,
don't know about the mustard. .. personally, can't say i've ever applied to any steaks. ..bet it would be good though. . . .i just love the flavor of olive oil on beef. . .sometimes i'll have a little puddle on my plate to dip bites of steak directly into. . .yumm

Car Wash Mike

mad max beyond eggdome,[p]I love the olive oil also but do remember the mustard thing.
I'm getting ready to order me a bottle of this stuff.
A friend gave me a sample and it is good stuff.[p]CWM
[ul][li]Garlic flavored olive oil.[/ul]

smokeydrew

mad max beyond eggdome,[p]Thanks for the advice. I'm used to medium-rare, so I wasn't quite sure about medium and medium-well.[p]-smokeydrew

TRex

Car Wash Mike,[p]I used to use brown porter mustard on my steaks, but the grocery store stopped selling the brand I liked, so I stopped using it and, well, haven't used it since.[p]It did add something, though - almost like an extra tang or something - not like a mustardy tang, but something.[p]I'll have to try another with mustard next time - it's been a while.[p]TRex

TRex

smokeydrew,[p]Max is right on. I usually do 2" steaks at 90 seconds per side sear and then about 5.5 minutes per side at 400 for medium rare, 6 minutes a side for medium, then, like he said, as long as you want for well done.[p]TRex

Unknown

<p />smokeydrew,[p]Just for reference, this is a 1.75" ribeye seared for 90 seconds per side at 700 degrees and roasted at 425 degrees for 5 minutes the first side and 5.5 minutes the second side. For some reason I wrote down exact times for this cook, so thought this would be a good reference. Shouldn't be much different for a 2" thick filet.[p]I should note, by the way, that I let this steak come up to room temperature for about 45 minutes before searing. I think this step is pretty important - it will take longer to cook if you start with a stiff, cold steak, and the results can often be mushy - at least, that has

LasVegasMac

TRex (P.S.), nice pic, making me hungry. Think I'll use that pic for a desktop wallpaper on the computer at work - with credit your way, of course.[p]LVM

EggMaster

Car Wash Mike,
Why not roast or smoke your own garlic then add to extra virgin bought at Sams or Costco let it sit I would guess for 1-2 weeks then taste and go longer for more flavor if desired. Sure would be a lot cheaper

mad max beyond eggdome

EggMaster,
i had a bunch of those tall lemondage bottles with old style ceramic/gasket tops. . .filled them with olive oil from the big price club bottle, then stuffed in fresh rosemary and sage. .. .made great oil (and great gifts). . .do the same with cloves of garlic, or any other herbs you might have. . .

Car Wash Mike

EggMaster,[p]Because I didn't know how,[p]But I will give it a try.[p]Thank you.[p]
CWM[p]

Car Wash Mike

mad max beyond eggdome,[p]I feel so blessed to have the wealth of knowledge available to me.[p]You guys are great.[p]I learned more about cooking (bbqing) in the last 12 months than last 30 years. Crap, now you know I'm over 40.LOL [p]CWM

EggMaster

mad max beyond eggdome,
To smoke garlic just take the whole bulb cut the top off to expose the top of the cloves and roast/smoke until the cloves will squeeze/become sorta mushy. Then take any bottle with a top or cork and pour in the oil with a fair amount of garlic. Easy as pie
P.S. You can buy a terra cotta garlic roaster for not a lot of $$. Have fun.

mad max beyond eggdome

Car Wash Mike,
i know what you mean. ...between the egg and this forum, i am a 100 times better cook than i was 2 years ago. . .i do more things better, have learned lots of new things, and some tricks/ideas to make old standards better than ever. . .and its usually the simple things that turn out the best. . .

EggMaster

mad max beyond eggdome,
One day I'll catch up with my wife and be a real undiplomaed chef.

TRex

LasVegasMac,[p]Cool, that's funny, my dad did the same thing on his computer at work. I guess both of y'all are gluttons for punishment - it would give me hunger pains looking at steak on my screen all day.
:-)[p]Cheers,[p]TRex

mad max beyond eggdome

TRex,
based on your original timing of 90 seconds per side for a 1 1/2 incher, i've found that 30 seconds per half inch is a good rule of thumb. . .i've done a lot of 2 inchers (and i know this cause i've been buying whole loins at price club, measuring with a ruler and slicing the steaks myself, so they are very consistent thickness), and at 2" thick, i find that 2 minutes gives a great sear, and sets the steak up for the rest and dwell. . .and i've made sure to have the egg at 800 degrees minimum (usually higher). .the couple of times i've seared at lower temps (say around 600 - 650) cause i was too rushed to wait, the steaks needed a longer dwell period, and they tended to come out a little bit mushy. . .[p]so make sure you are searing at hot temps, its really important to the entire trex method. . .

TRex

mad max beyond eggdome,[p]You know, I think I'll try my next sear at 2 minutes per side to see what happens - I guess I've done that already a couple of times by mistake, but next time I'll do it on purpose and see if I can tell any difference. Of course, I should also note that I almost always sear on the Mini, on which 90 seconds per side is probably equivalent to 2 minutes per side on say a Large or Medium due to the closer proximity to the heat. [p]I'm glad to see you've had the "mushy" experience (not b/c I'm glad your steak was mushy, but because it helps validate the mushy theory)- I think it comes as the result of a dwell that is too long. Like I said above, starting with a steak that is too cold can cause this problem, and, like you say, searing at too low a temp could possibly cause the same thing. Maybe this is an interesting factoid to add to a revised writeup of this cooking method.[p]Max, thanks for your helpful research and all you do for the forum. I do hope to meet you one of these days (maybe at the next Texas Eggfest??? Hint-hint)[p]TRex

mad max beyond eggdome

jason, so long as continued research means lots of red meat, i'll experiment the beejesus out of my eggs (big grinning thing). . .. its funny, i've had my best results trexing on my large (more so than my small) yet i consistently read of folks like you and wess b and others who prefer searing steaks on smalls and minis. . .i guess its what you get used to and what you prefer. . ..[p]yea, i was hoping you would've been in hotlanta. . .either me and the spawn coming to austin, or howabout you coming up here to waldorf in may. . .visit the nation's capitol and all that good stuff. ..

TRex

mad max beyond eggdome,[p]I'd love to make it to Waldorf . . . . it would make a nice change. I hated missing Eggtoberfest this year - that whole job thing sucks sometimes.[p]Austin or Waldorf? I guess we'll see.[p]Cheers,[p]TRex[p]PS How about both?