I've been chasing the perfect ribeye for awhile now. Sous vide, then sear. Sear, then sous vide. Lately, using the gasser to reverse sear. Even did one fully in the smoker. All of them had some benefits and while pretty good, weren't quite what I considered to be a "don't bother with a steak house, I'll do it at home" kind of result. While on this journey, I also tried several sources for meat but always the same rib eye in roast form. Costco was my go-to for some time but have had a few underwhelming roasts from there recently - one choice and one prime (on sale). I discovered that my local grocery chain; Stater Bros., offers Certified Angus Beef at some of the locations. One such location was where I normally shop. They didn't carry it every day but would bring in a box of roasts if someone (me) wanted it. So, I ordered up a bone-in CAB rib roast cut into 2-1/2 inch steaks. It was 15.99/lb off-sale and they did a great job of cutting and trimming eight well-marbled steaks and one 1-1/4 breakfast steak. All of the steaks looked fantastic! I repackaged them from the styrofoam boat to the vac sealer and froze all but one. The photos below are not that one, but one of the frozen ones 2 weeks later.
Since it was for Saturday night, I transferred the steak from the freezer to the refrigerator on the previous Wednesday evening to give it plenty of time to thaw slowly. I took it out on Friday about noon and put in on a rack and liberally covered in in Kosher salt to dry brine and back in the refrigerator for 24 hours uncovered.
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I pulled it out at noon on Saturday and gave it some black pepper and garlic powder love and let it rest at room temp for another 2 hours.
I inserted one Typhur Sync thermometer probe and set in on the cool side of the SnS once the coals got to 180 and adjusted venting to achieve 275-300 for the cook.
Once internal temp reached 117, I took out the probe and spun the grate so the steak was getting that coal flame seductively teasing each side for a few 30 second flips then the edges to crisp that fat.
Onto the cutting board with a few pats of compound butter and a foil tent for 10 minutes while the broccoli steams.
And, finally, plated.
Afterthoughts and comments:
The compound butter - 2 sticks unsalted butter, 1 tbsp minced garlic, 1 tsp dried parsley flakes (didn't have any fresh), and the juice of 1/2 lemon.
I did not use any salt after the dry brine, just pepper and garlic powder. I intent to try a tri-tip rub from Costco next week after the dry brine. I'm concerned it might be overly salty though.
I checked internal temp with the mk1 before cutting and after resting and it was 130 from roughly the same spot the probe tip had been during the cook. That would indicate a 10-12 degree rise during rest. 130 is where I wanted it.
There was a slight smoke ring on this steak along with a little bit of harsher smoke flavor. I attribute this to an old bag of Kingsford Pro that may have gotten wet or at least picked up some moisture over time. It did seem to take longer to ash over initially too. Wondering if the coals were smoldering more than they should, causing excessive smoke??
These steaks are huge! I didn't weigh it but will next time. My wife and I ate about half, then the rest with eggs, homemade sourdough toast and hash browns this morning. They were juicy and tender both times.
The bolder flavor of searing over fire is, to me, what a great steak should taste like. The SnS kettle delivered.
Since it was for Saturday night, I transferred the steak from the freezer to the refrigerator on the previous Wednesday evening to give it plenty of time to thaw slowly. I took it out on Friday about noon and put in on a rack and liberally covered in in Kosher salt to dry brine and back in the refrigerator for 24 hours uncovered.
I pulled it out at noon on Saturday and gave it some black pepper and garlic powder love and let it rest at room temp for another 2 hours.
I inserted one Typhur Sync thermometer probe and set in on the cool side of the SnS once the coals got to 180 and adjusted venting to achieve 275-300 for the cook.
Once internal temp reached 117, I took out the probe and spun the grate so the steak was getting that coal flame seductively teasing each side for a few 30 second flips then the edges to crisp that fat.
Onto the cutting board with a few pats of compound butter and a foil tent for 10 minutes while the broccoli steams.
And, finally, plated.
Afterthoughts and comments:
The compound butter - 2 sticks unsalted butter, 1 tbsp minced garlic, 1 tsp dried parsley flakes (didn't have any fresh), and the juice of 1/2 lemon.
I did not use any salt after the dry brine, just pepper and garlic powder. I intent to try a tri-tip rub from Costco next week after the dry brine. I'm concerned it might be overly salty though.
I checked internal temp with the mk1 before cutting and after resting and it was 130 from roughly the same spot the probe tip had been during the cook. That would indicate a 10-12 degree rise during rest. 130 is where I wanted it.
There was a slight smoke ring on this steak along with a little bit of harsher smoke flavor. I attribute this to an old bag of Kingsford Pro that may have gotten wet or at least picked up some moisture over time. It did seem to take longer to ash over initially too. Wondering if the coals were smoldering more than they should, causing excessive smoke??
These steaks are huge! I didn't weigh it but will next time. My wife and I ate about half, then the rest with eggs, homemade sourdough toast and hash browns this morning. They were juicy and tender both times.
The bolder flavor of searing over fire is, to me, what a great steak should taste like. The SnS kettle delivered.
All kidding aside, that is my favorite steak cooked perfectly.
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