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Using chimney starter as a searing grill?

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    Using chimney starter as a searing grill?

    I know Meathead and many others like to use a chimney starter as a grill to sear a steak. I did my normal procedure for skirt steak a couple days ago, salt a couple hours beforehand, oil the steak, then I tried it. I grilled the steak on my chimney starter. The steak tasted burnt, with slight (bad) smoke taste but it wasn't burnt. A little too medium maybe but aside from the grill marks it certainly wasn't burnt. What did I do wrong? Did the oil burn and cause the off taste? Should I not oil a steak when I use this method?

    #2
    Did you by chance put anything on the meat besides oil? Pepper and other seasonings will burn with that kind of heat exposure. Or perhaps were flames actually coming up contacting the meat? Flame contact, when prolonged, will deposit soot and lead to this off taste. That's why flame broiling (think family reunion hamburgers grilled by Uncle Leo) isn't' always what it's cracked up to be.

    If you start with a thin (1/2"-3/4") dry steak, salt only, and only go 2-3 mins max each side, you should be good. If that's what you did then I'm stumped.

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by Huskee View Post
      Did you by chance put anything on the meat besides oil? Pepper and other seasonings will burn with that kind of heat exposure. Or perhaps were flames actually coming up contacting the meat? Flame contact, when prolonged, will deposit soot and lead to this off taste. That's why flame broiling (think family reunion hamburgers grilled by Uncle Leo) isn't' always what it's cracked up to be.

      If you start with a thin (1/2"-3/4&quot dry steak, salt only, and only go 2-3 mins max each side, you should be good. If that's what you did then I'm stumped.
      No pepper, just salt and grape seed oil, but flames were contacting the meat. How can they not make contact using this technique? I used lump charcoal, maybe it wasn't ashed over well enough?

      Comment


        #4
        I'd recommend just using a little less charcoal so the chimney isn't as full. You'll still get all that heat channeling up. I'm not a lump user anymore and have never tried this with lump to know if that is the culprit or not.

        Comment


          #5
          Grape seed oil has a fairly low smoke point, so using it with a very hot fire is not a good idea - it will burn. Here is a page with the smoke point of various oils, (scroll down a bit):

          http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/05/c...it-matter.html

          Comment


            #6
            Alton Brown recommends grilling skirt steak directly on the coals. I haven't mustered up the guts to do this yet.

            Comment


            • Huskee
              Huskee commented
              Editing a comment
              Ugh. This is why grates were invented, Alton!

            • HackingBBQ
              HackingBBQ commented
              Editing a comment
              I've tried this a few of times. It produces a great flavor with low effort. But, you inevitably get some unpleasant grit on the meat. It's like little grains of sand and very unpleasant. I think it's a neat idea and there is some novelty to it but probably something I won't make a habit out of.

            • Potkettleblack
              Potkettleblack commented
              Editing a comment
              Agree with Hacking. Have done it. Enjoyed it. even if I have charcoal, I'd never do it again.

            #7
            Originally posted by RonB View Post
            Grape seed oil has a fairly low smoke point, so using it with a very hot fire is not a good idea - it will burn. Here is a page with the smoke point of various oils, (scroll down a bit):

            http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/05/c...it-matter.html
            Thanks for the link!! I think it's the grape seed oil. I had no idea its smoke point was so low. It also gave me a good idea for stir fry...I just ordered the wok attachment for my kettle.

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            • Nate
              Nate commented
              Editing a comment
              I would put money on it being the oil. It took a similar mistake for me to figure out different kinds oils have different heat recommendations.

            #8
            When we're doing grilling and higher heat stuff we've been going with Coconut oil because of its higher flash point. Olive oil gets nasty if it gets too hot so we don't usually cook with it. I'd concur that it was most likely the oil. We also don't cook with black pepper, it gets bitter. White pepper we use in the cooking part, black pepper in the finishing part.

            Comment


              #9
              Keep the fire away from the steak. That is don't use as many colas in the chimney and let them get white hot. And use Avocado oil. 520 F smoke point. The best in the biz. You can pick up a big bottle for only $10 at Cosco. I use it all the time. Great for searing, sautéing or Stir-fry.
              Click image for larger version

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              Last edited by Spinaker; August 12, 2016, 02:20 PM.

              Comment


              • Spinaker
                Spinaker commented
                Editing a comment
                No idea Potkettleblack

              • Potkettleblack
                Potkettleblack commented
                Editing a comment
                Generally, if it doesn't mention Virgin, it's a third pressing. Less good for flavor, better for smoke point and neutral flavor. I have EV Olive that we never heat. We have cheap olive for saute.

              • Spinaker
                Spinaker commented
                Editing a comment
                yeah it has a neutral flavor. I am guessing its a third pressing.

              #10
              This method is so hot I would skip the oil. I'll bet it is burning it.

              Comment


                #11
                Thanks for the help everyone! I'll need to try out keeping the coals an inch or so under the grates with the help of my slow and sear and the afterburner method to compare. If I use oil (like a skirt steak marinade) I'll be sure to use high smoke point oil, or no oil at all if nekkid and using the afterburner (along with less charcoal in the chimney starter).

                Comment


                  #12
                  I was reading a SE Food Lab post on dry aging and came across this bit on searing with guest Adam Savage.

                  Comment

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