Fat ribeyes on the Weber Summit Charcoal

[ruralcooking]

Yesterday was payday, so I went out and bought some boneless rib eye steaks from the local butcher. I didn't bother to check Meathead's piece on steaks before I went, and ended up getting one about two and half inches thick and weighs 520 g, or about 18 ounces. The other is about two inches thick and weighs a bit under 15 ounces. This will be for two adults and two children, so it should be more than enough.

Now I'm just wondering whether they are too thick, but I guess in accordance with Meathead's approach, I will just keep low and slow until the temperature hits 110°F or 115°F, then move it to direct heat. I will of course be using the Slow 'n Sear for this. Planning to serve the steaks for tomorrow evening, so I will dry brine tomorrow noon (no need to brine overnight?), with less salt than I did last time. I won't use a rub or a sauce with this. I will probably put some pepper on our steak, but not on the one for the kids.

Slightly nervous, as this was an expensive purchase and I don't want to screw it up!

EDIT: Was wondering about Meathead's advice to perhaps not keep the lid on during the indirect part of the cook. It will be chilly (about 40 or 45° F) here tomorrow evening, so wondering if I can get away with closing the lid and may be shooting for a slightly lower indirect temperature of maybe 190° F instead of 220° F or something?

RC

[RonB]

Those steaks are very thick, so I'd dry brine them now to give the salt time to penetrate.

You may want to go back and re-read Meathead's article. He sez to leave the lid off for the sear - not the low part of the cook.

Great lookin' meat BTW.

[ruralcooking]

Right, dry brine early, gotcha.

[Psinderson]

I would definitely leave the lid on for the indirect as RonB says. The goal is to get the meat up to temp which would be very hard to do with the lid off. Once you move to searing, take the lid off and let those babies sizzle!

There is a significant difference in thickness so the thinner one may be up to temp a bit before the other one. You can maybe put the thick one on first, but it would be a guess as to how much sooner.

[ruralcooking]

You're right, and if I had been thinking I would have asked for two the same thickness. Momentary loss of reason I think.

[EdF]

Yeah, but you'll do fine! If I were making my typical wild guess, I'd put the thicker one on about 15 minutes ahead of the other (assuming 225-250F indirect).

[Psinderson]

Methinks your wild guess EdF is pretty accurate...👍

[DWCowles]

Beautiful steaks!

[FireMan]

That’s a fabulous looking tape measure, oh, & the steaks look pretty outstanding to. Can’t wait for finished product.

[texastweeter]

cook COWBOY cut ribeyes all the time, they are bone in and almost a roast. smoke roast them, then finish them off with a sear on a flattop/griddle or screaming hot grill.

[ruralcooking]

It was all going so well until I did a last check with the Thermapen, slid the steaks off onto a plate and boosted the heat. For some reason I had become obsessed with getting the Weber Summit Charcoal hot enough, to the point where I had actually prepared half a chimney of glowing coals on the side. I pulled off the grate and poured the red-hot briquettes into the Slow 'n Sear with a maniacal laugh.

"MOAR HEAT! MUWAHAHA!!" I roared into the night sky, and a cloud of sparks rose up from the briquettes and swirled around me, making me feel like some ancient god of fire.

Sadly this was as good as it got, because one of the sparks ignited the right sleeve of my micro fleece, with a little bright flame and a puff of smoke. I gave an undignified squawk and leaped away from the WSC, shedding clothes as I went. No permanent harm was done, other than a perfect little hole in the right sleeve of my top, right near the cuff. And another in my self-esteem.

As it happened, this was the only problem in the whole cook - the direct heat of the Slow 'n Sear was just too high, because I had too many red-hot briquettes in there. I left the steaks for about 20 seconds before I realized they were burning. So, the outer crust was a little bit darker than I wanted. Nevertheless, it was well received by the family and it tasted exceptionally good. They were juicy and deeply meaty.

Didn't look that bad either, although there is clearly room for a less aggressive bark. On the whole, another success for the boy Meathead, who is proving quite talented in the recipe department.

EDIT Incidentally, I put the thicker steak on 15 minutes before the thinner one, as suggested by EdF above and that worked out well.

[EdF]

Just a little collateral damage to what looks like a very fine meal!

[DWCowles]

Looks good to me

[JeffJ]

You definitely didn't screw them up.

[kamadoRob]

Those look great and tasty!