- Aug 12, 2016
- 11
- 10
Hey all,
I know this is a smoking meat forum, but I'm pretty sure we're all grillers as well. I'm a big fan of using a chimney starter to get a super hot sear on steaks, and I recently tried a modification that might have gone wrong. I usually use a small cooking grate over the top of the chimney for the "afterburner effect", but this time I wanted to try an iron skillet. I was after that steakhouse-like crust that a flat surface would provide. I basically planned to put a pre-seasoned Lodge skillet over the top of the chimney, get it up to 900+ degrees, and then sear the Filet for a few seconds.
A torrential downpour aborted my experiment, but after extinguishing the chimney, I noticed a collection of black soot on the bottom of the pan. I was using a half-full chimney of lump charcoal (Rockwood). You can see the soot here:
The soot came off really easily, and I didn't notice any flaking of the pan. Still, I'm just a bit concerned about safety. As much I love trying new things and experimenting, obviously I don't want to put anyone's health at risk.
Is there anything inherently unsafe from a food perspective about what I'm doing (I'm not worried about knocking it over, starting a fire, etc)? Any thoughts on what the results might be? A cooking grate works well for the ultimate grill marks, and I would think a flat surface would provide the crust I'm looking for.
Thanks in advance.
Todd
I know this is a smoking meat forum, but I'm pretty sure we're all grillers as well. I'm a big fan of using a chimney starter to get a super hot sear on steaks, and I recently tried a modification that might have gone wrong. I usually use a small cooking grate over the top of the chimney for the "afterburner effect", but this time I wanted to try an iron skillet. I was after that steakhouse-like crust that a flat surface would provide. I basically planned to put a pre-seasoned Lodge skillet over the top of the chimney, get it up to 900+ degrees, and then sear the Filet for a few seconds.
A torrential downpour aborted my experiment, but after extinguishing the chimney, I noticed a collection of black soot on the bottom of the pan. I was using a half-full chimney of lump charcoal (Rockwood). You can see the soot here:
The soot came off really easily, and I didn't notice any flaking of the pan. Still, I'm just a bit concerned about safety. As much I love trying new things and experimenting, obviously I don't want to put anyone's health at risk.
Is there anything inherently unsafe from a food perspective about what I'm doing (I'm not worried about knocking it over, starting a fire, etc)? Any thoughts on what the results might be? A cooking grate works well for the ultimate grill marks, and I would think a flat surface would provide the crust I'm looking for.
Thanks in advance.
Todd