Any of you have any good recipes you'd like to share? Particular cut of meat. Particular type of wood to sprinkle on the charcoal. When I get out of this hospital that's the first order of business. I want a kick ass steak.

This works for any cut of steak (my favorite is ribeye) and it is absolutely kick ass. I've even used it on tri-tip. It'll be as flavorful as you've ever made but more tender.

Let your steak(s) sit out of the fridge for an hour to get close to room temperature. About 15 minutes before cooking brush with a little oil then season with salt and pepper; add garlic powder if you'd like but I think that's unnecessary for the nicer cuts. Build your coals so that they are very hot but only on one side of your grill. You need a "cool" side, about 225-250. Cook the meat on the cool side until it's about 110-115 (flip it once but that's not a big deal), then move it over to the hot side and sear it until meat is 130-135 for medium rare, 140-145 for medium. You'll want to flip it on the hot side after a couple of minutes or so. I wouldn't go past medium for good meat - you'll lose a lot of what you pay for - but that's a person preference. Let the meat rest, tented under foil, for 5-10 minutes afterward.

Hardwood lump charcoal is my preference for bbq, but regular Kingsford (or equivalent) briquets are fine for this, as long as you don't get the self-lighting kind. I wouldn't use smoke for good steaks, but I put hickory in my tri-tip and it's great.

I should of known an Owl would come through. I've always heard ordinary Texas steak houses are superior to most of what we have up here. I buy 1/4 of Angus from a local farmer. The type of cow has a good deal to do with it too. The meat I think is better than I get from our local grocer. I'm tying in to one when I get home. Anyone age their steaks in the fridge. I heard that tenderizes the meat good too.

(06-21-2011 05:07 PM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  This works for any cut of steak (my favorite is ribeye) and it is absolutely kick ass. I've even used it on tri-tip. It'll be as flavorful as you've ever made but more tender.

Let your steak(s) sit out of the fridge for an hour to get close to room temperature. About 15 minutes before cooking brush with a little oil then season with salt and pepper; add garlic powder if you'd like but I think that's unnecessary for the nicer cuts. Build your coals so that they are very hot but only on one side of your grill. You need a "cool" side, about 225-250. Cook the meat on the cool side until it's about 110-115 (flip it once but that's not a big deal), then move it over to the hot side and sear it until meat is 130-135 for medium rare, 140-145 for medium. You'll want to flip it on the hot side after a couple of minutes or so. I wouldn't go past medium for good meat - you'll lose a lot of what you pay for - but that's a person preference. Let the meat rest, tented under foil, for 5-10 minutes afterward.

Hardwood lump charcoal is my preference for bbq, but regular Kingsford (or equivalent) briquets are fine for this, as long as you don't get the self-lighting kind. I wouldn't use smoke for good steaks, but I put hickory in my tri-tip and it's great.

I need to learn the proper techniques for charcoal. Grew up on gass grill and bought several of them. My most recent grill (2 years) is a Webber Kettle. I'm lazy and don't have the charcoal experience, so I have used the Matchlight charcoal. Recently, I have taken a look at other charcoals, but haven't gone that way yet.

Really want me a pk grill next.

Graybeard. Are you saying you use charcoal now? I started using charcoal a couple of years back. You have to plan a little more but the taste you get from charcoal is well worth the wait.

(06-21-2011 07:01 PM)Machiavelli Wrote:  Graybeard. Are you saying you use charcoal now? I started using charcoal a couple of years back. You have to plan a little more but the taste you get from charcoal is well worth the wait.

Using the easy lighting charcoal currently. I don't think it is very good for you so I would like to move to either lump or plain charcoal.

My favorite marinade:

Put your steak or pork chop (best taste with this one) in a plastic bag. Add some brown sugar (light or dark, your call) and a bottle of Sam Adam's Summer Ale. Put it in the fridge before you go to work. Cook it when you get home, however you like.

If I'm using a pork chop I like to add a little cinnamon to it and pair it with some brown-sugar/cinnamon apples and balsamic glazed asparagus.

(06-21-2011 06:57 PM)GrayBeard Wrote:  I need to learn the proper techniques for charcoal.

IMO, set the coals up on one side of the grill. You can cook it all with indirect heat, giving you little-to-no grill marks, OR start it on the hot side, charring the lines in (maybe give each side a 45 deg turn to get a nice X on it). Then, depending on how cooked you like it, finish it on the other side of the grill. It might be done to your liking as soon as the grill marks are on it.

I don't care how mine looks, I'm not impressing anyone usually, so I like to touch the meat as little as possible. I flip it after 5-7 min depending on the thickness. I like mine medium/medium-well depending on the cut.

(06-21-2011 06:48 PM)Machiavelli Wrote:  I should of known an Owl would come through. I've always heard ordinary Texas steak houses are superior to most of what we have up here. I buy 1/4 of Angus from a local farmer. The type of cow has a good deal to do with it too. The meat I think is better than I get from our local grocer. I'm tying in to one when I get home. Anyone age their steaks in the fridge. I heard that tenderizes the meat good too.

Mach, do you have a Costco near you? There meat is excellent.

(06-21-2011 04:36 PM)Machiavelli Wrote:  Any of you have any good recipes you'd like to share? Particular cut of meat. Particular type of wood to sprinkle on the charcoal. When I get out of this hospital that's the first order of business. I want a kick ass steak.

I use an infrared oven similar to those used at Ruths Chris and Morton's to cook my steaks. The temperature is 750- 775 F

(06-21-2011 06:48 PM)Machiavelli Wrote:  I should of known an Owl would come through. I've always heard ordinary Texas steak houses are superior to most of what we have up here. I buy 1/4 of Angus from a local farmer. The type of cow has a good deal to do with it too. The meat I think is better than I get from our local grocer. I'm tying in to one when I get home. Anyone age their steaks in the fridge. I heard that tenderizes the meat good too.

You'd love Phoenix. When I was there 20 years ago or so, it was steak, steak, steak, prime rib, steak ... fantastic Porterhouse wherever we went and the prime rib bar at Mother Tuckers was fun.

GB - get one of these and don't think of using lighter fluid. Briquets are basically made of compressed wood whereas the hardwood charcoal is wood turned to coal (as I understand it, that's an easy process - wood, pressure, heat, and I think a little lye as a catalyst - so I don't understand why the briquets are more common). You'll tell the difference just standing around them.



I suck at cooking steak, but one of these is fantastic for chicken, brisket, and other meats:



We have a couple of friends that swear by these convection smokers. I have tasted the results, and they were awesome.

Follow I45's advice on the charcoal starter. It's inexpensive and it heats up the coals as fast or faster than the nasty stuff with chemicals or using fluid. The lump hardwood is awesome (burns hotter). The match light type charcoal leaves a taste on the meat you can notice; fluid will do the same. That's the best reason not to use it.

My last grill was a Weber 22" kettle. If you're sticking with it, get these as well:


They allow you to set up for indirect heating with ease and they fit right under the hinged sections of your grill (assuming you got the kettle with the hinged grill; if not I recommend picking one up) so you pretty easily add charcoal and/or wood chips while cooking.

Now going with the Weber Smokey Mountain. Great for smoke and can be set up to grill with direct heat with no trouble...

Allllllllright, follow these instructions explicitly, and you will have tasted The. Best. Flank. Steak of all time.

tl;dr: Marinade flank steak for 24 hours. Cook a flank steak at 400 for four minutes on each side. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes. Serve to applause.



You will need one quality flank steak for 4 light eaters, or two quality flank steaks for 4 big eaters. Two quality flank steaks should run you $20 at Target, $40 at a butcher. I've had success with both, but I have the best flavors with the butcher flank steaks. They also tend to be a little bigger.

Combine the flank steak, lime juice, olive oil and vinegar in a ziplock freezer bag. Any combination of the three will do, but don't over do the vinegar. No need to drown the steak, but make sure the steak can be coated in the marinade. The lime juice and the olive oil flavor the steak, while the vinegar tenderizes. Don't worry, you will not taste the vinegar after cooking. I also prefer a lot of lime juice in the marinade.

Press out as much air as possible from the ziplock, and throw the bag in fridge for 24 hrs. (I tend to do this prep when I get home from work on a Friday for a Saturday grilling.)

One hour before grilling, take the steak out of the fridge and let the steak rise to room temperature.

Heat the grill to 400 and maintain temperature. Leave the cover closed.

Bring your beer, the tongs, the ziplock with the meat, and your favorite cooking spray / olive oil / whatever you use to coat the grill with non-stick to the grilling area.

Take the steak out of the ziplock, while leaving most of the marinade in the bag. The marinade has done it's job, and there is no need to keep it around for later basting or dipping.

When the temperature has settled at 400, open grill and coat quickly with non-stick.

Put flank steak on grill, and watch it for a couple seconds to make sure the marinade doesn't flare. Then close the grill.

Set the timer for 4 min. DO NOT OPEN THE GRILL

Drink beer. Then get another beer.

When the timer goes off, quickly open the grill and flip the flank steak over.

Set timer for another 4 minutes. DO NOT OPEN GRILL.

Finish second beer.

When the timer goes off, collect the flank steak from the grill and transfer it to a cutting board.

Next, tent the steak with tinfoil.

Set the timer for 5 minutes DO NOT REMOVE TENT FROM THE STEAK FOR ANY REASON. You need to allow the muscle fibers to re-absorb the steak juices.

Sharpen carving knife while waiting.

Remove the tent.

Cut the flank steak across (perpendicular to) the grain.

Serve and enjoy the accolades.

Hope your hospital stay is short and you get back to great health, Mach!

All of this is very interesting! ! ! Use of Angus beef is probably the best start to anything "Beef". We are members of both COSTCO and Sam's Club. In our locale, Sam's features Black Angus Beef exclusively. We used to get our beef only from COSTCO, until Sam's made this move. Now, we get other things at COSTCO...but the beef always comes from Sam's Club.

Here's a link you may like to browse through. While steak is the subject, a Tiger that lives in San Antonio is featured in this link that is a great B B Q chef. Note, he's using a cooker manufactured in Texas...New Braunfels I believe.

Here's the link: http://tripstigers.com/ Go to Football -click it. Go to Tailgate Food - click it. Look at all, but go to "Dry Rub and Basting Sauce" - click it. Read away and enjoy !! Note the cooker too.

You'll like all the entries by Kpigout .. I guaaaaarranteeee !! Try those Jalapeno Poppers !! WOWEEEE!

That steak thing:
Charcoal only - Get Chef's Delight if you can. (Made with Oak and Hickory only) Charcoal- There IS a difference. Read about it here.
http://www.bbqbackyard.com/profiles/blog...ur-bbq-bad

Use that chimney to start . NO STARTER FLUID Newspaper only at bottom of chimney.

Other methods on here are very good. I learned a long time ago to get the steaks about 1 1/2"-2" thick. Trim them. NO MARINADE. Let coals turn
gray. Adjust your fire grates to be about 4-5 inches from cooking grates. Season with s & p , if that's your choice. I do use Montreal Seasoning from COSTCO. Put steaks on and TIME 'EM. 7 Min. side one . Turn and 6 min. on that side and off. Use tongs... no forking of steaks.

ENJOY !

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/food/don-...toViewer=1

I thought New Braunfels smokers were a thing of the past or were bought out, but they were one of the best to get at a reasonable price. I think the smoker we have is a New Braunfels that came from my Dad and I reconditioned (repainted).

One rule of thumb I heard long ago was that you could tell how well done a steak is by pushing down on the meat with your thumb and comparing it to the muscle between your thumb and forefinger when you make a fist. When you make a fist with your hand, I think a rare steak is comparable to your muscle when you thumb is inside your fingers. It's well done when it's like your muscle when your thumb is outside your fingers. If you're getting your knuckles burnt on the grill, you should give up on this method as I think you've missed the point. The idea is to never cut into the steak whilst it's on the grill or before it has rested. It will be ruint.

Mach - I hope as well that you're fully recovered from whatever put you in the hospital. I didn't want to encroach on your privacy, but was surprised you were there. Enjoy your steak!

(06-22-2011 12:15 PM)I45owl Wrote:  One rule of thumb I heard long ago was that you could tell how well done a steak is by pushing down on the meat with your thumb and comparing it to the muscle between your thumb and forefinger when you make a fist.

The problem is that this is imprecise: Too much variability due to thickness of cut, type of cut and the fact that you have to do this a lot to really get it down consistently. And doneness fits a pretty narrow range. I use a thermometer (instant read for steaks, leave-in for thicker cuts). The only way I can really be certain. One little hole doesn't lose enough moisture to notice. I find that having an oven thermometer on the grill is also helpful when cooking indirect.

(06-22-2011 12:15 PM)I45owl Wrote:  I thought New Braunfels smokers were a thing of the past or were bought out, but they were one of the best to get at a reasonable price. I think the smoker we have is a New Braunfels that came from my Dad and I reconditioned (repainted).

I went to Academy at lunch - New Braunfels is now a brand of Charbroil, and much lesser quality that what I've got (disregarding the deteriorating wood handles and pipe frame.

Get strip and ribeye steaks at Sam's all the time... they are the best quality I can find in Dayton without paying a HUGE price (and these are generally on par with the more expensive butchers).

Weber has a great "Canadian Steak Seasoning," although I also like almost any Montreal steak seasoning as well. A little bit of spiciness makes it even better.

As someone said above, cook with indirect heat. It allows you to cook to your taste without charring the outside of the meat.

I also like to marinate the steaks in teriyaki marinade. I've tried a lot of the so called "outback steak seasoning" recipes on the internet, none of them are as good as their actual seasoning.

(06-22-2011 12:39 PM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  The problem is that this is imprecise: Too much variability due to thickness of cut, type of cut and the fact that you have to do this a lot to really get it down consistently. And doneness fits a pretty narrow range. I use a thermometer (instant read for steaks, leave-in for thicker cuts). The only way I can really be certain. One little hole doesn't lose enough moisture to notice. I find that having an oven thermometer on the grill is also helpful when cooking indirect.

I could never get the whole touch deal down either... I keep a kitchen thermometer around myself.