What happens when your fire is too hot (not a ruined cook post)

[Mosca]

It happens. Here’s why an afterburner isn’t necessarily the best.

I did another one of those Allen Brothers Wagyu flank steaks last night. And this is no excuse, but I did it during dead dark, because, well, it’s dark at 6PM now. I loaded the BGE with lump and let it get to rippin’. I put the lower grate in, putting the meat about an inch or so over the coals. I used the "just keep flipping" method, flipping and rotating the meat every 30-60 seconds.

What happens is that getting it right becomes that much harder. Too cold a fire gets a bad doneness gradient in the finished steak, but too hot a fire gets a bad gradient as well! Looking at the photo, you can see that the gray is starting to make its mark deeply into the crust, but the center is still far from medium rare. I was getting readings of 140* in some places, but the center was 115*.

I gave it another 30 seconds on each side and pulled. I can eat it that rare; in fact, it was just as spectacular a piece of meat as it was the past couple times. Better too rare than too well done. But I would have had a better cook with a fire about 100* cooler. Next time I’ll have the meat a couple more inches away.

[Jfrosty27]

Looks darn tasty to me. I like my steak still mooing and fighting back so just right in my book. Nice cook.

[jfmorris]

Looks good, but you have a great point. You don't always need to have your fire blazing hotter than the surface of the sun!

My wife would run screaming if I set something that rare down in front of her...

[tiewunon]

Mosca I have used your set up in the past but added the old el cheapo original BGE extend a grid to gain some height off the lower grate.
I don't think BGE even offers that grid anymore. Probably the worst accessory BGE ever foisted on there owners. Thank goodness the CGS came along for/with viable options.
​​​​​​​I am pretty sure I would have wrecked that flank steak if I was within eatin distance.

[Red Man]

Did you let it rest? I’ve found when using this method that there’s a lot of carryover and the internal temps will even out with a 5-10 minute rest.

[Mosca]

Yep, it rested while I did the potatoes and broccoli. It was just too thin to get any carryover.

I’m okay with it that rare, but I prefer it just off the purple.

[bbqLuv]

high heat faster cook, look really good. Slices from MW, M, MR and Rare.
You Done Good!

[Mosca]

Yeah, but when you do it right, you have a couple end pieces that are medium-well, and the whole rest is medium-rare. A cooler fire gets you there.

Like I said, there’s nothing wrong with the rare parts, and they’re delicious. But I was shooting for medium-rare all the way through, and I was never getting there with that fire.

[bbqLuv]

Wife likes Well done, you know over cook and ruined, Son Med, light pink, and me medium rare. so your cook really fits our tastes.
After 46 years, wife is just starting to eat steaks medium well.
I even tried to be romantic, served my child bride grilled steak by candle light. Did not work, meat still under cook for her, even in the dark. Oh well, such is life.

[Jerod Broussard]

Hotter fire just means more frequent flipping.

[bbqLuv]

No flipping for me. The last time I flipped a steak it got flipped off, then I got flipped off.

[Spinaker]

I have been cooking steaks using the rapid flip method as of late and I really like it. And it is a lot of fun. I just get the fire as hot as possible and let it rip. It is fun to watch that crust slowly develop over time.

[Jerod Broussard]

I like watching the surface you just flipped up changing tones. Glad I got a large gas grill, I can flip that dude all over that dude, always hitting a fresh hot surface.

[Huskee]

I think perfect pink banding only truly matters if you're taking pictures. You can't taste a little grey band or the absence of one. I do agree though that leaning more towards rare than medium-well is a good goal. The moistness and tenderness of the meat is all that matters in the end.