There is nothing more enjoyable to me than grilling steak after a long week of work. The only issue I've had at times with doing the reverse sear on the SNS is the steak coming out with too much charcoal flavor. I primarily use KBB for charcoal and have tried get the temp up a little hotter so the smoke has less time to penetrate the meat, but am thinking of trying out different charcoal.
Do you guys have any recommendations? I like the flavor of charcoal, but sometimes it overpowers the flavor of my 2 inch ribeye. Has anyone else experienced this? I tried looking around this forum, but haven't seen anything.
Geeze I always go for the gusto, I love they way charcoal and wood leave that smokey taste on meat. I suggest you think about getting a gasser. They do a great job of cooking steaks, what's missing is the smokey flavor. Or perhaps a pellet cooker with a searing option. Again less of a smoke profile.
I'm really not sure any other charcoal would make that much difference but you might want to try lump instead.
Geeze I always go for the gusto, I love they way charcoal and wood leave that smokey taste on meat. I suggest you think about getting a gasser. They do a great job of cooking steaks, what's missing is the smokey flavor. Or perhaps a pellet cooker with a searing option. Again less of a smoke profile.
I'm really not sure any other charcoal would make that much difference but you might want to try lump instead.
Thanks, I do also have a gasser. I do like charcoal, I guess just not as much of an intense smoke flavor on my steak. When doing a much larger steak, like a 3lb tomahawk, it never seems to be an issue. I don't know, maybe I just need to suck it up and get used to it.
I'm not a fan of KBB, too much extra stuff. The competition version is OK, but burns hotter and shorter time than others. My favorite is the Royal Oak food service brand "Chef's Select". I get it at "Cash & Carry", a restaurant / small business focused store.
Some things to try with the KBB:
However you are lighting them, make sure they are totally white / no smoke whatsoever before adding meat.
Give them a bit more air. Open both in and out controls some. Yes, you'll get higher cook temperature, hence shorter time for the indirect cook.
Kind of a pain, but use fewer, hotter coals for the indirect, then start more for the sear.
I suspect that smoke flavor you're not a fan of is combustion smoke from the charcoal. Don't add your steak until the combustion smoke has completely cleared, use NO wood, and you'll get the least smoke flavor possible. If that turns out not to be enough, add a few chips or a small chunk next time to get just a kiss of smoke. Keep adding wood with each cook until you hit the flavor you are looking for.
You might also try some different brands of lump charcoal. It can be a bit harder to get the temps consistent but there shouldn't be any filler like some briquettes have.
Other than that, to echo what others have said, make sure the charcoal is completely lit. Maybe use a few fewer briquettes than normal but give them more air for a bit cleaner burn.
Hard to tell by the natural daylight, but this ribeye turned out awesome! Thanks for the advice guys, I think the main culprit was not letting the original coals get hot enough (I did also add a few more coals than before as well).
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