Favorite Way to cook a good steak

[Danblacksher]

I have god a pretty solid offset smoking game, Frying game, sausage making game, hot dog making game, pizza making game, bread making game ect... I can do some good stuff, but I have not been able to take my steaks to the next level. I have tried sous vid, and it was ok not great, and I have a flame thrower to put the crust on. I would like to get a santa maria style grill. I have seen alot of steaks cooked on a kettle style grill. What instruments, and process do you think produces the best steak. Ribeye being my favorite cut. They are good but missing the wow factor.

 

[Gonna Smoke]

Two different flavor profiles, but here are a couple I use...
Pan seared with bacon grease in a hot cast iron skillet to about 125℉, then seasoned with whatever seasoning I'm using while it's resting.

Season first and let it rest. Smoke with maple to about 115℉, then sear directly over the hot coals to maybe 125℉ and let rest.

 

[chopsaw]

in a hot cast iron skillet

Agree with Charles . If you haven't tried the cast iron skillet , you should . I sear in a hot cast iron , then into the oven to finish . Garlic rosemary and thyme in the pan .


Burn some red oak down to coals , and cook the steaks as close to the heat as possible .
The flavor of using all wood really adds to it .
If it's just me , I'll use my Charcoal chimney and a piece of security mesh .

 

[fxsales1959]

I have god a pretty solid offset smoking game, Frying game, sausage making game, hot dog making game, pizza making game, bread making game ect... I can do some good stuff, but I have not been able to take my steaks to the next level. I have tried sous vid, and it was ok not great, and I have a flame thrower to put the crust on. I would like to get a santa maria style grill. I have seen alot of steaks cooked on a kettle style grill. What instruments, and process do you think produces the best steak. Ribeye being my favorite cut. They are good but missing the wow factor.

What they said .. except I'm lazy. Thick ribeye's, I'll SPG them and hour ahead, then stick them in the MES30 @225 with a 1/2 tube of smoking hickory pellets. I cook them to about 115. Meanwhile I get out my big 'ol lodge cast iron skillet and put it on the infrared side burner of the Napoleon. once it's 10 degrees above hell, a spoon full of bacon grease and a sprig of rosemary. Sear intensely about a minute or so on each side. check temp for 135. if not quite there, a couple of minutes back in the MES30 to 135. rarely need the last step. but some are bitchy about medium rare. Optional: pat of butter while resting. Resting is real important.

 

[chilerelleno]

Reverse Sear
Smoke till 100°-110° IT
Then onto either a screaming hot cast iron pan or blazing hot fire.
Cook to desired doneness, which is to say 130°-135° IT.

Or

Sear over a blazing hot straight Hickory or Mesquite wood fire.
Cheating with charcoal is allowable.

 

[schlotz]

Guess my first question is what for you defines the 'wow' factor? I always have the butcher cut my ribeyes a minimum of 1.5", sometimes I ask for 2". Thin doesn't cut it for me, too little time over the heat to get to med-rare. I season and then let them sit on the counter for a minimum of 45 minutes prior to going on the grill. Flavor profiles are highly personal so what spices etc can vary greatly. For me, it's usually kosher salt, cracked black pepper and garlic powder. Grates get lightly rubbed down with a paper towel dipped in olive oil right before the steaks go on the grill. I lightly brush them with kraft italian dressing as they are turned. When done they are pulled and left to rest a minimum of 8 minutes.

 

[6GRILLZNTN]

I've done reverse sear on the kettle, the pan sear with the oven finish , sous vide with the torch sear, in my pellet smoker for a while at 180 then sear it, and the lazy "throw it on the gasser cause I'm hungry" method . I can't say any are my favorite, I guess it's a mood thing.

 

[normanaj]

Preseasoned lightly with spog and smoked in the MES until 115 and the onto my screaming hot Q grill or CI skillet until 125 and then a short rest with butter.For smoke I like to use char/hickory dust.

 

[MJB05615]

I've done most of the methods mentioned above. I mostly use thick NY Strips. And I agree, thin steaks not worth the time or effort. I like the Cast Iron method Rich chopsaw mentions for a unique flavor. I don't do the reverse sear that much, I feel it doesn't get enough smoke flavor in the smoker for the short time. Lately I've been doing over wood and charcoal on my Chargriller charcoal grill, that's becoming my favorite. Either way I cook it, I am always using Robert's tx smoker Beef Rub he sent out a couple years ago. It's become my go to for everything Beef. Like mentioned above, it's really your personal taste and what you're looking for.

 

[Randy1]

Dales Steak seasoning plus a bit of fresh ground pepper then a grill "hotter than all hell fire and damnation". Oki Joe's Rider DLX 1200 is one of the best searing pellet grills on the market.

Home - Dale's Seasoning is the #1 Marinade in the Nation

Welcome to the home page for Dale's Seasoning, the #1 marinade in the nation! Use Dale's on beef, pork chicken, fish and vegetables.

www.dalesseasoning.com

Warning, do not apply more than a few minutes before grilling. This is powerful stuff.
There use to be a famous steak restaurant in Homewood AL called Dale's This originated from that restaurant.

 

[Danblacksher]

Guess my first question is what for you defines the 'wow' factor? I always have the butcher cut my ribeyes a minimum of 1.5", sometimes I ask for 2". Thin doesn't cut it for me, too little time over the heat to get to med-rare. I season and then let them sit on the counter for a minimum of 45 minutes prior to going on the grill. Flavor profiles are highly personal so what spices etc can vary greatly. For me, it's usually kosher salt, cracked black pepper and garlic powder. Grates get lightly rubbed down with a paper towel dipped in olive oil right before the steaks go on the grill. I lightly brush them with kraft italian dressing as they are turned. When done they are pulled and left to rest a minimum of 8 minutes.

I just mean they are good but not great. I think the missing issue may be I am not getting a very good sear. I might get a weber kettle or something similar, and use it with a cast iron skillet.

 

[fltsfshr]

I usually marinade my steaks in a mixture of Madeira wine, low salt soy sauce, water and a bit of garlic for 3 hours. Then I let them air for an hour.

I grill them close to the coals at high heat for 90 seconds a side. That puts a nice sear on them. I move them to a higher shelf with a half moon clay on the lower rack below them. 4 minutes will give you a rare/med rare depending the the thickness. I take the marinade and throw some mushroom caps or other veggies in and let them marinate while the steaks are airing. I use ziplock bags with all the air out of them to marinate both steak and shrooms. The trick is airing them and letting the meat come up to room temp. I use a Kamado.

 

[mr_whipple]

Funny this should come up. I was going to post a steak cook from a few days ago, but a lack of ambition set in on me. I always reverse sear, but I switch back and for between smoking on the pellet pooper to temp then into ripping hot CI on the gasser, or Sous Vide then into the CI on the gasser. Each way brings some different pros to the cook. The Sous Vide you need a good thick cut, I always ask the butcher for a 2" cut. Obviously no smoky flavor from the SV, but the edge to edge perfection is hard to beat. I just Salt & Fresh Pepper and sometimes a sprig of rosemary or a touch of garlic powder before vac sealing. What changed the other day is I finally tried searing the steak over the charcoal chimney... and man did it come out great. Check this out. Strip into the SV at 129 for about 2 1/2 hours and then onto the grill grate over some cowboy briquettes and a chunk of cherry. I love steak and eggs for supper.

 

[gmc2003]

For most grocery store steaks. I go sear first, and then indirect till I reach temp. For beefier steaks like what your talking about. I'll go the reverse sear route. For seasoning it all depends on what I feel like that day. Usually it's just a simple SnP, but occasionally I'll go with SPOG or Montreal steak. I always use the kettle/Votex combo. For larger steaks the Vortex goes wide end up, and for smaller steaks. It's narrow end up.

Process for a larger steak:

Chris

 

[JeffShoaf]

I dry brine with just salt for 6 to 8 hours, then sear and grill over oak. Add a little pat of butter while it rests and then coarse ground pepper just before serving. I keep planning on making and using a compound butter but never get around to it.

I've done this on the kettle and the big Santa Maria/Argentinian grill but prefer the big grill - - the kettle doesn't like an all wood fire, too difficult to avoid dirty smoke with lid on, too difficult to control the indirect heat without the lid. I have a griddle for the big grill and have seared on it but II don't think it makes that much difference so I usually just sear and grill on the v-grates unless I'm planning on using the griddle for something else during the same cook. I also dry age my own meat and slice to 1-1/2" - 2". In the attached pics, I grilled a couple of pork chops with the ribeye and did the veggies in foil down amongst the embers.

 

[tallbm]

I have god a pretty solid offset smoking game, Frying game, sausage making game, hot dog making game, pizza making game, bread making game ect... I can do some good stuff, but I have not been able to take my steaks to the next level. I have tried sous vid, and it was ok not great, and I have a flame thrower to put the crust on. I would like to get a santa maria style grill. I have seen alot of steaks cooked on a kettle style grill. What instruments, and process do you think produces the best steak. Ribeye being my favorite cut. They are good but missing the wow factor.

It's pretty much all about the heat.

You get a grill/pan/cooking surface like 600-650F or hotter and you can get the sear you want.

Next, a steak that is both good enough quality and thick enough for you to get the kind of doneness you want (rare, med rare, etc.). Thin steaks cook through too much too fast.

Finally, seasoning. This is probably the simplest. If getting the cooking surface very very hot, then rubbing the steak with some oil (pretty much any sensible cooking oil works, where something like coconut oil makes no sense) so the sear doesn't turn into burning of the steak.
I prefer Salt, Pepper, Onion, Garlic (SPOG) plus a little Cayenne pepper for flavor NOT for heat.
If you only use a little cayenne you get amazing flavor while not really adding heat. I highly suggest trying a pinch on each side and adding more as you cook more steaks to find your preferred level.

My propane grill will get to 750 before the thermometer maxes out.
I like to get it to 650F or so then throw a steak on.
Steak is minimally 1 inch thick (1.25 inch is better, love 1.5 inch or a little more).
3 min on each side on the hot grill will give me a medium rare steak with a great sear.


Dance around these numbers, and I think and you should start to get very close to what you are looking for. At that point you just dial in on cooking temp, steak thickness, cooking time, and seasoning and you will have this problem whipped :D

 

[Randy1]

For most grocery store steaks. I go sear first, and then indirect till I reach temp. For beefier steaks like what your talking about. I'll go the reverse sear route. For seasoning it all depends on what I feel like that day. Usually it's just a simple SnP, but occasionally I'll go with SPOG or Montreal steak. I always use the kettle/Votex combo. For larger steaks the Vortex goes wide end up, and for smaller steaks. It's narrow end up.

Process for a larger steak:
View attachment 678981
View attachment 678983
View attachment 678985

Chris

Super pictures with very vivid colors.

 

[bill ace 350]

Thick cut, room temp for an hour, salt & pepper.

Screaming hot charcoal, 3 - 3 1/2 minutes per side for medium rare.

 

[Danblacksher]

got a recteq bullseye deluxe headed my way. gets to 1000 degrees so excited about raising my steak sear to the next level!

 

[tpc74]

I've never done a reverse sear though I have heard it talked about, I really don't know what it is.

My best steaks have come on the weber kettle but charcoal is a finicky bitch. Just when you think its ready, it sometimes is not. Then you fight it, get the steak done and 20 min later the charcoal is perfect.

Or sometimes its perfect and by the time your done its lost its heat.

My best steak ever has come from a cast iron pan, on a electric stove of all things, basted with butter until perfect.