Help me up my steak game

[PBCDad]

Hey everyone,

Since joining this forum, my cooking skills have gone way way up and I've gotten great results on almost everything I cook (not always consistently, but that's another story).

However, the one thing I haven't gotten to where I like it is grilling steak. I feel like I've been trying the methods people share here, but it always comes out tasting burnt. I was going to get some Porter Road ribeyes out for Valentine's, and I really don't want to ruin them.

Current process:
- Dry brine if I remember / know when I'm going to cook it
- Light 3/4 chimney, dump into SnS
- Put grill grates above SnS griddle side up, let preheat and clean
- Take steak out of fridge, brush with high temp oil if I have some
- Salt right before grill if not dry brined
- Put on grill grates
- Flip every 30 seconds to 1 minute, generally looking at my watch so it isn't too long
- When outside is dark, check temp. If not at temp yet, put on indirect heat

I learned not to put fresh cracked pepper on before grilling because that burned. Am I just cooking too hot? Am I leaving it on too long? It seems like any color coming from this process just tastes like carbon. I'm also worried about pulling at the "right color" this week because it gets dark early here and it is hard to tell the real color from a flashlight.

[learning pellets]

Strongly suggest practicing "reverse sear".

[Rob whatever]

Step one: get thicker steaks.

[Panhead John]

Thicker steaks…mo betta.

[klflowers]

What rob and panhead said

[RonB]

First, ya need some light so you can see what you are doing. Try a headlamp or a bbq light. Rechargeable means not worrying about batteries.

Whether you front or reverse sear, don't let the steak turn black. If you reverse sear and you get the bark you like before it comes up to your temp, take it off and rest for a bit, and then put it back on the indirect side until it reaches temp.

[RonB]

Color is measured on the Kelvin scale. Daylight is ~ 6500 K. You can find flashlights that put out light at 5000 K, (incandescent bulbs are less than 3000 K as far as I remember). A 5000 K flashlight will show colors more accurately.

I should mention that K has nothing to do with lumens...

[gboss]

Color temp is only part of the equation. You need a light with a high CRI. Something 90+ CRI with a neutral temp of around 4000K-4500K is what you are after.

[gboss]

http://zebralight.com/H600Fc-Mk-IV-18650-XHP502-Floody-4000K-High-CRI-Headlamp_p_218.html

[Panhead John]

With the SnS insert, you don’t need the grill grates, those amplify the heat, too much IMO. Sear right over the SnS without the grill grates. The temps right over screaming hot coals is gonna be 900* - 1000*. At least that’s what the temps were above my vortex when I used my Infrared thermometer…SnS should have similar temps.

I’ve reverse seared 1” thick steaks before, just for not very long on the cool side. Came out fine.

EDIT: If you sear your steak over the SnS, I’d only fill it about half full, it will still be plenty hot for a good sear on the steak without burning it. Ditch the Grill Grates for your steak when using the SnS.

[Panhead John]

PBCDad. I bought a set of Grill Grates and sold em to Troutman after 2 uses. They’re great don’t get me wrong, but they’re mainly beneficial for gas grills or Pellet Poopers that don’t give you as much heat as charcoal or wood can. I don’t have either, just use charcoal.

[fzxdoc]

PBCDad
The nice thing about GGs is that for steak, you can use them with the grill side down so you get a solid Maillard reaction across the surface of the steak--not just on the grill mark stripes. Using an infrared thermometer shows they get pretty doggone hot over my SnS--hotter than when used on my gasser.

Kathryn

[gboss]

Listen to this man. Grill grates with charcoal can easily be way too hot for conduction for a sear. There was another thread a while back about getting an IR gun to measure surface temps for searing because you really can get it too hot.

[Steve R.]

"...check temp, it's still 10* below, sear a few more seconds, all of a sudden it is at 150* internal."

I think when you check it and it's 10° below, you're probably done cooking at that point, especially with a steak that is < 1" thick. There will be some carryover cooking that happens after you take it off the grill that will get you pretty close to your target temperature.

[Rod]

I reverse sear 1" steaks all the time. I don't see why it wouldn't work for 3/4". All the sear is meant to do is give that glorious crust. So if you slow cook to an IT of 115 you'll only need to sear about 2 minutes per side in 1 minute intervals (or maybe 30 second intervals for 3/4"). Definitely let rest after it checks close to target temp and then re-check before putting back over searing heat.

[Rob whatever]

Why not just get thicker steaks?

[PBCDad]

I may be going overkill on the sear. Logically I should know that maybe getting a slightly better sear is not worth burning the steak. Maybe one day I'll learn.

Rob whatever does a thicker steak help prevent burning during searing? Seems like I would have the same problem. SWMBO doesn't like thick steaks and they are harder to find, but I may try to find some anyway next time.

[Panhead John]

PBCDad A thicker steak does not prevent burning. The burnt part is usually just the surface of the steak, but can go deeper. Taking it off the sear sooner, or flipping more often will prevent burning your steak. A thicker steak just tastes better to most people because of the extra "rare to medium rare" meat available with each bite.

[glitchy]

This is just me, but I prefer to skip the SnS for front sear and just keep flipping methods. I light a 3/4 to full chimney and when it’s ready I dump it in, then use my charcoal rake to pile it over 1/3rd of the grill so they’re around 2 deep. Then I throw on the steaks over the coals and flip every 30-60 seconds. When they look how I want them, I move them to the other side and close the lid until they get to temp.

When I use the SnS, I find it too easy to get the burnt taste versus just a nice crust. I’ve also decided that courser rubs tend to taste burnt more than finely ground rubs. I think a lot of it is differences in tastes. When I’m doing flanks for fajitas I do like a little more char than just eating a steak by itself.

[FireMan]

Does a great steak have to be grilled? Why are you so involved with the grill grates for steak?
I question "oiling" of the steak?
Forget the oil process, park the grill grates. Watch your temp. A problem I had repeatedly was I brought the temp to close to what I desired & ended up blowin thru the desired temp. Keep it simple
Reverse sear is cool, I don’t have patience for it. I cook em in a skillet. Get it rill hot with plenty of duck fat or butter & bathe the suckers til 110-115. Pull em, they’ll get higher by themselves in the temp dept. Don’t forget to flip once in awhile in the bathing process.

[Rob whatever]

Grill grates provide less Malliard reaction, thus, less flavor. Skillet for the win every time.

[PBCDad]

FireMan I thought oiling the steak was a Meathead trick, instead of oiling the grates. Nonstick and helps heat conduction.

Do you essentially fry your steaks in duck fat? I thought butter burned too soon to do that, but duck fat may be a good option.

[FireMan]

PBCDad , I will guess Meathead is talking on the grill. I’ve gotten to do it in a skillet, hence the duck fat is the oil. If you just have to use oil, use avacado or pure olive oil & no seed oil, such as canola or palm, soy etc. The properties are destructive to the human body.
I will also go to flippin it frequently on the IR burner on my Napoleon.

[shify]

Ditch the grill grates and do the same thing on the regular grates above the coals

[58limited]

I have found that the best steaks I've ever made have been in a cast iron skillet. Get it HOT, sear both sides for about 3 minutes each or until the color is where you want it, then into a 450^o oven for about 5 minutes or until about 120^o-125^o - carry over will get you to medium rare. Then, you can make a sauce out of the pan leavins.

[Panhead John]

One of the main reasons I like the reverse sear method best, is that I like some smoke flavor in my steak. I’ll use my vortex in the rear of the kettle about 1/2 to 3/4 filled with hot coals. Then I’ll put one or two hickory chunks on top of the coals and let it start to smoke some before adding my raw steak to the opposite side of the vortex. I’ll then close my vents top and bottom to about 1/4 open. I want the heat to stay low and the smoke to really fill the kettle. After about 10-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the steak, I’ll then put my steak directly over the vortex flipping at least every 30-45 seconds or so. I’ve always gotten a great crust without burning that way.

[Rob whatever]

The smoke flavor on a reverse sear is awesome. It’s ruined all restaurant steaks for me.

Rob

[STEbbq]

I am a little surprised no one has suggested dry brine, sous vide for 90 minutes at 129, rub, oil, then sear.

[PBCDad]

No sous vide here, no plan to get one. I know they are great, but I've spent enough time and money on equipment that I should be able to cook a steak right without buying something else.

[STEbbq]

Replace sous vide then with smoke it at 250 until 120 then.

[barelfly]

As I read through, I’m saying SV to 120 or so and finish in CI. Best steak ever! And here it is!!!

[DavidNorcross]

I try my best to keep it simple. Pat dry, salt and pepper right before cooking. Cook indirect or in my case on the pellet cooker to 100 or 105 then sear in butter with a sprig or two of fresh rosemary. Thanks to HawkerXP I now have a carbon steel skillet and it is fantastic for searing steaks.

[HawkerXP]

Glad you like it!

[PBCDad]

Thanks everyone. Sounds like in my quest to get the ultra hottest sear humanly possible I've gone overboard. I also found a previous post by Mosca that speaks to my problem - conductive heat at 1000* will burn the steak. I will either shoot for 500* on a conductive surface (griddle or skillet) or half a chimney in my SnS, and pull them sooner.

I welcome any additional advice, and I'll make sure to circle back after the cook.

[Mosca]

You read these blogs and articles and books and videos on how to cook a steak, and they all say "get that rip-roaring fire as hot as you can", but all that stuff was from when gas grills couldn’t sear a hot dog unless you put the lid down. Now we can all reach 1000*. I’ve had those steaks 1” over the coals in the BGE, I had to wear elbow length gloves to get close enough to flip them. In the end, no matter what we read, we learn by eating burnt steaks.

[fzxdoc]

I agree. Rip roaring hot ain't all it's cracked up to be.

Kathryn

[Mosca]

fzxdoc Right, huh? Someone wrote that phrase back in the 1980s, and everyone else just copied the wording. But the definition changed, back in the ‘80s rip roaring hot was getting your gasser to 500*, that was MAX HEAT. Now it’s 1” over lump, or an afterburner of charcoal, or an infrared sear burner, or throwing the steak right on the coals. 1000* is easy.

I learned the hard way, but it’s an expensive lesson. Steaks ain’t cheap.

[cashelton]

Something that helped me, watching SCA videos on YouTube.