Trex some NY strips - what went wrong?

Hillbilly-Hightech · December 2010

OK, so I got a couple New York Bone-in Steaks from Costco. On the package it said "grilling steaks" (I kid you not).

Anyway, tried the Trex method, but the results seemed overly charred / burnt on the outside.

I got the Egg up to about 700 (it got up that high then sort of stayed there for awhile & I was afraid it wouldn't go any higher so I went ahead & seared @ that temp).

I prepared both steaks by letting sit at room temp for about 1/2 hr or so (basically while I fired up the Egg & got it to temp). Then, about 5 minutes before putting the steaks on the Egg, I smoothed around some olive oil, then applied DP's "Raising the Steaks" on one, and DP's "Red Eye Express" on the other.

Then, I seared both for 90 seconds, then flipped & seared for another 90 seconds.

Then, while doing the "resting" I tried getting the Egg back down to 400 (was taking wayyyy longer than would've happened in 20 minutes for the rest). So, luckily, I had been soaking some mesquite chips ahead of time, so I basically took the bowl of mesquite chips (with the water) and poured it over the coals. This dropped the Egg to about 400 relatively quickly.

Then, I applied a little more of the rubs, and put back on the Egg until they reached Medium (~150 or so) - was actually going for Medium Rare but my remote temp probe didn't alert me until AFTER they had past the 145 temp!!.

So, my questions:

1.) why did I over char / burn the outside? :(

2.) How in the world do you get the Egg to cool down from 700+ degrees to 400 in only 20 minutes?

And finally, this is the finished product (was still edible, albeit a bit charred)

P.S. I also must've burnt the gasket, cuz when I tried to reopen the Egg after the rest, the dome was stuck to the base!!!

Thanks,
Rob

crghc98 · December 2010

I'll just give you my opinion...others will have theirs....

Olive Oil - relatively low smoke pt and probably helped with the charring.

Temp - I actually never sear at those temps because it does take awhile for the egg to come back down...try dropping the grate lower to get the food closer to the coals, rather than heating up all the ceramics, or better yet roast first/sear second, then you can just open er up at the end.

I will try hot tubbing next, where essentially the only thing left will be to sear the steaks and rest, no roast needed...maybe I would go lava on that...

fishlessman · December 2010

i gave up with timing the sear, i just sear til they look good. also i dont like burnt pepper so i put the pepper or rub on right after the sear. the longer the eggs up to searing temps the longer it takes to cool down, you need to get it up to temps faster and i dont worry much if it takes longer than 20 minutes to cool down, thats just an extra beer

stike · December 2010

1.) char is from nailing those seasoning with high direct heat.

i don't season a direct steak at all besides salt (it's a rock, essentially, and the only seasoning maybe that won't burn). you can add the rub during the rest, and it will gain some color from the second part of the cook.

2.) when T-rexing, you should toss the steaks on the second the egg is at super high temps, dont give it any time at all to sit there and gain heat in the ceramic.

then shut the egg down within a millimeter of it's life

it should drop quickly.

don't let it sit there burning at 700 for a while to get a "good fire". because you'll never get her back down.

last... half an hour on the counter won't give you any real bump. try an hour or more. or maybe hot tub. and if you hot-tub, then sear only, or you may overcook it.

Misippi Egger · December 2010

Hillbilly,

Good pointers from Stike.

Here is what I have learned about cooking steaks...
First, we eat ribeyes (wife's preference), so the higher fat content is even tougher to deal with than strips.
(I now sear on a spider/CI combo, but used to sear at the grid level)

1) hot tub to get steak to 80-90* internal before the cook
2) No marinades and no seasoning except coarse salt
3) Do NOT close the dome after lighting the lump - don't let the dome ceramics get up to the full 700* temp.
4) Sear for 90 sec per side, then remove to a plate.
5) Close the bottom vent for a couple of minutes to tame the fire somewhat, then close the dome and crack the bottom vent- adjust more if needed to get to 400-450*.
6) During the rest, as the meat starts to relax a bit, add your seasonings and work into the juices.
7) Back on to finish for 10 minutes or so.
8) if you want medium rare, I pull at 125*, seal in foil on a plate and rest for 8-10 minutes. You can leave the temp probe in, but it will drift up to 135ish during the rest.
For medium, pull at 130 and then rest.

You will have friends claiming you make the best steaks around!

eenie meenie · December 2010

Clark, I think that is an excellent point about keeping the dome open until after the sear to help lower the temp in the egg.

RedBag · December 2010

Were they that charred after the sear? Or did that occur while you were finishing the cook? I sear 90 sec a side and have almost no char. If it occurred during the sear than it’s the rubs. As the others have said don’t apply until after the sear. If that heavy charring occurred during the finish then the fire was still way to hot, hot enough to continue searing. Do your self a favor and make/buy a raised grid. I made mine and it is a full 5 inch’s over the regular grid. I usually sear at 700+ temps and then finish about 10 minutes later. My Egg is generally still in the 500 degree range but because I am so far over the coals there is no more searing. Works great with almost no char.

TheDirtyBurger · December 2010

I only season with kosher salt and cracker pepper. I let it sit out while I fire the egg up.

I only do 45-60 seconds a side depending on the steak's size and how much char you like. I like a nice crust.

Take off, rest in foil and like the other said almost completely shut the egg down (having 2 eggs helps too).

Then I finish on a raised grid at like 400* for 5-15 minutes (again depending on size and desired internal temp).

Hillbilly-Hightech · December 2010

wow - thanks for all the replies - I will definitely use the advice & learn from it in order to perfect the method for me.

As far as the "char" - that did indeed occur after the sear. In fact, I remember reading on TNW's site where he said not to worry about the flames climbing up over the top of the steaks (so I didn't)...

However, not being combative - but if you guys are saying to NOT season until AFTER the char - then I would recommend revising the article on TNW's site because it talks about putting the seasoning on 5 minutes prior. So if someone new to the Trex method were reading it & following the directions verbatim (like me) - that would send them down the wrong path.

Another thing - you guys are saying to NOT let the ceramic get up to 700 degrees - ok, I can see the logic in that - but then how do you know what temp you're at when getting ready to sear? If you leave the dome open, you won't know when it reaches 700???

And can someone please explain the "hot tub" method in detail, when to use it (it seems to be used prior to putting the meat on the Egg the first time)?

Also, some are talking about searing afterwards - what's the difference?

Thank you all for the advice - it's good to know that one can become a much better cook w/ the help of all you guys!! :P

Photo Egg · December 2010

"if it takes longer than 20 minutes to cool down, thats just an extra beer"

I like the way you cook.

highpress · December 2010

HH,

hot tubbing is a method used to raise the internal temp of the peace of meat before you sear it/cook it, so that the steak cooks evenly and uniformly throughout the entire thickness of the steak. this way you don't end up with an outter ring of "done" and an inner area that is medium rare. I only use it on real thick steakes, 1.5 thick at least. Basically stick the steak in a zip locked bag in a bowl or sink, fill with hot tap water, about 100-105*. Keep it in their for half an hour. steak internal temp (going off memmory, double check me) is usually around 85* before searing/cooking. Once you take it out of the bag, season, and then sear. Search "hot tub" or "hot tubbing" you should find some results.

FWIW, i don't sear at 700*. I go 600-650. 45 secs, rotate, 45 secs flip, 45 secs rotate, 45 secs remove. This should produce nice cross hatch and a nice "crust". Sometimes i let it go for a full 1 min for rotating/flipping. FWI, i sear with the dome closed. always.

others mentioned this, don't let your ceramics heat up. soon as temps hit 700 or 650 or whatever, get your steaks on and stear searing. you should be done searing in just a matter of minutes. then close your vents and put your rain cap on. 15 or 20 mins later you'll be at 400 or so. then i like to put on a raised grid and finish roasting if necessary. Sometimes, you may not need to, depending on how thick your steak was and how warm it was when you seared it.

Not sure why yours was so charred. i always season prior to searing. sometimes evoo (some say this is bad, old habits die hard) S&P, or a DP rub like Cow lick or BBBR.

Also, that steak looked just fine to me. They'll get better, relax and enjoy!

most of these were done with the methods i described above:

stike · December 2010

flames are a LOT colder than the lump. flames do not cause blackening at all, despite our love affair with seeing flames dancing around a steak.

the blackening was from direct exposure to the lump, not the flames.

Hillbilly-Hightech · December 2010

"...despite our love affair with seeing flames dancing around a steak"

Yes, it was pretty cool to see those flames dancing, I thought that was a pretty good pic I took out there during the sear

Anyway, thanks to everyone for the advice, for the description of "hot tubbing" (I've since looked it up on the forum & understand the concept a lot better now - I think the "technical term" is "sous vide")...

Oh, and Highpress - yeah, the steak actually tasted pretty good - but the outside was charred a bit much for my taste, and the GF didn't like that much char - it had a "burnt" taste to it - so I think both of us don't like it charred that much.

Anyway, I'll take the "lessons learned" from this cook & apply it to the next one & post the results when the time comes...

Thanks to everyone who responded!!
Rob

stike · December 2010

hot tubbing really is a different thing than sous vide. but they share enough similarities that they are occasionally conflated

Mud Pig · December 2010

Definitely the olive oil most likely. Use vegetable next time. Likewise, a good method I like to use is throw in a platesetter after the sear, and back it at 35o indirect for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Carolina Q · December 2010

maybe too much sugar in the rubs? I don't oil my steaks, usually just S&P, but sometimes a rub too. I usually add everything before the sear yet mine never turn black like that. I have a 9" CI grid that I throw on the coals for the sear. Add the normal grid after that, let it come up to temp for a few minutes, then add the steaks for the roast. No 20 minute wait. Dome temp doesn't have to get above 400° because the lump is plenty hot when you're searing way down there.

Trex some NY strips - what went wrong?

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