Holy Camoly, looking for advice!

[A.O.]

So the wife stepped up the other day and bought a great looking Cowboy steak!! I've cooked lots of steaks in my day but none like this guy, its big , thick, and beautiful!! So anything to be done to make it extra special? I always brine my turkeys and chickens, is there anything I can do with this guy prior to cooking it Saturday night other than dry aging it.... I cant wait that long!

And anything special when cooking it? Better on my Kamado or Weber classic kettle grill?

Thanks guys.

 

 

[Golf Griller]

That looks delicious. The advice that I've seen and that I've done is to treat it like a small roast and either sear it before or after smoking it.

[len440]

I cook mine on my Kamado with a grate at it's highest level and a 1/2 deflector plate underneath it at about 325-350 ( kind of roasting it) turn and flip every so often till about 10-15 degrees below doneness. Remove and cover . With a gril as close to the coals as possible open both vents wide open for 15 min. till a good hot fire is going them slap that bad boy back on and grill the rest of the way. This puts grill marks on ( we eat with our eyes also) and adds a slight char crust on it. Since it already rested it's ready to eat off the grill. This is just one of many ways. What's your address so we can all come down and help you eat  it!

[A.O.]

Thanks, South Carolina... BUT... you will have to bring a chainsaw and some work gloves! Work , then eat!

And I like your rest then sear method, but I always thought sear first to keep in the juices.. but I never cooked one like this bad boy either.

[MikeRobinson]

I'd start by dry-brining it: lightly salt (and pepper) both sides, starting today.  You might use a salted spice-rub that you really like.  Keep it in the fridge in a glass tray covered with foil or shrink wrap, sealed tightly.  Let it brine and "rest" and take up flavors for several days.

 

Your Kamado will give you the control that this beauty deserves.

 

When cooking it, use an external-reading meat thermometer to guide doneness – take it off 10ºF below target and "tent" it in aluminum foil.  The meat will gain the remaining temperature from residual heat.  (Keep the thermometer in place to observe.)  I'd lock-in the firebox temperature around 300ºF or maybe even a bit less ... "low and slow" effect so that all of the meat comes up to target smoothly at the same time.

 

I'm not much for "sear," but when someone wants that I do it on my kitchen stove in a cast-iron skillet using a high-temperature oil such as coconut oil.  In this case you might want to sear the outsides – both sides and edges – before putting the steak on the grill to help hold in the juices.  (Your meat will not taste like coconuts.)  This steak is well-marbled and will have a lot of delicious juice.  Set the vents carefully and watch them closely because that fat will hit the fire and burn hot.

 

Then – invite the rest of us over for dinner! 

[A.O.]

42 minutes ago, MikeRobinson said:

I'd start by dry-brining it: lightly salt (and pepper) both sides, starting today.  You might use a salted spice-rub that you really like.  Keep it in the fridge in a glass tray covered with foil or shrink wrap, sealed tightly.  Let it brine and "rest" and take up flavors for several days.

 

Your Kamado will give you the control that this beauty deserves.

 

When cooking it, use an external-reading meat thermometer to guide doneness – take it off 10ºF below target and "tent" it in aluminum foil.  The meat will gain the remaining temperature from residual heat.  (Keep the thermometer in place to observe.)  I'd lock-in the firebox temperature around 300ºF or maybe even a bit less ... "low and slow" effect so that all of the meat comes up to target smoothly at the same time.

 

I'm not much for "sear," but when someone wants that I do it on my kitchen stove in a cast-iron skillet using a high-temperature oil such as coconut oil.  In this case you might want to sear the outsides – both sides and edges – before putting the steak on the grill to help hold in the juices.  (Your meat will not taste like coconuts.)  This steak is well-marbled and will have a lot of delicious juice.  Set the vents carefully and watch them closely because that fat will hit the fire and burn hot.

 

Then – invite the rest of us over for dinner! 

Oooo, another reason to use my famous home made rub! Yay..

And dry brine from now till Saturday? Rinse it off to cook or no?

Direct heat then, no deflectors?

[jark87]

Lots of good advice already offered, but I’ll still offer up my .02. Dry brine for 24 hours. I like to put the salted steaks uncovered on a rack in a pan so that there’s good airflow all around.
 

Definitely go with your Kamado. My preference is to cook indirect at 250° until 20° below target. Both my wife and I like medium to medium rare+, so I cook to about 120°. I no longer use a probe while cooking steaks, as we primarily cook roughly the same size and cut each time, but I’ll use an instant read thermometer about every 20 minutes to keep tabs. A thick 10 oz. filet usually takes about 40-60 minutes.

 

Once at temp, I pull and let them rest for about 10 minutes while I get Kamado up to searing temp - anything 600°+ will do. I’ve actually been using the sear burner on my gasser for convenience, but as you know, the Kamado does a great sear! If you have the divider and conquer system, I’d recommend the next to lowest tier. The lowest tier is too close to the fire for me.
 

Here’s where I have a couple of variations. I either let the steaks rest in a garlic and herb butter bath, making sure they get plenty of butter on each side; or I coat the steaks in a mayo and apple cider vinegar based sear sauce. Either option produces a great, sizzling sear, best served right off the grill after searing about 1 minute per side. An enhancement to the butter bath is to let the butter melt with the garlic and herbs in a pan on the grate while you slow cook the steaks. You’ll get some smoke flavor in the butter that way.

 

The results will rival the best steakhouse! Enjoy that tomahawk!

 

[jark87]

BTW, here’s my last filet. The reverse sear lets you end up with only the very outer edges seared, leaving an edge to edge cook of the steak at your desired temp. Cooking hot and fast tends to leave about 1/4” edge overcooked, IMO.

 

[A.O.]

7 minutes ago, jark87 said:

Lots of good advice already offered, but I’ll still offer up my .02. Dry brine for 24 hours. I like to put the salted steaks uncovered on a rack in a pan so that there’s good airflow all around.
 

Definitely go with your Kamado. My preference is to cook indirect at 250° until 20° below target. Both my wife and I like medium to medium rare+, so I cook to about 120°. I no longer use a probe while cooking steaks, as we primarily cook roughly the same size and cut each time, but I’ll use an instant read thermometer about every 20 minutes to keep tabs. A thick 10 oz. filet usually takes about 40-60 minutes.

 

Once at temp, I pull and let them rest for about 10 minutes while I get Kamado up to searing temp - anything 600°+ will do. I’ve actually been using the sear burner on my gasser for convenience, but as you know, the Kamado does a great sear! If you have the divider and conquer system, I’d recommend the next to lowest tier. The lowest tier is too close to the fire for me.
 

Here’s where I have a couple of variations. I either let the steaks rest in a garlic and herb butter bath, making sure they get plenty of butter on each side; or I coat the steaks in a mayo and apple cider vinegar based sear sauce. Either option produces a great, sizzling sear, best served right off the grill after searing about 1 minute per side. An enhancement to the butter bath is to let the butter melt with the garlic and herbs in a pan on the grate while you slow cook the steaks. You’ll get some smoke flavor in the butter that way.

 

The results will rival the best steakhouse! Enjoy that tomahawk!

 

Seems a long time to cook a steak, but I've never done it this way either.. and you say 10 oz's, this one is 2 1/2 pounds! How long is that going to take?

And another suggestion on the rest/reverse sear.. thanks.

[A.O.]

1 minute ago, jark87 said:

BTW, here’s my last filet. The reverse sear lets you end up with only the very outer edges seared, leaving an edge to edge cook of the steak at your desired temp. Cooking hot and fast tends to leave about 1/4” edge overcooked, IMO.

 

Nice steak! about perfect how I like them! 

Thanks for the explanation as to WHY the reverse sear, makes sense!

[jark87]

9 minutes ago, A.O. said:

this one is 2 1/2 pounds! How long is that going to take?

I’ve never cooked a single steak that large, but I think thickness is a big factor. If it’s around 2” thick, I would bet you’re still looking at around an hour. I’ve cooked up to 6 10 oz filets at a time and it didn’t take any longer than cooking 2. 

[len440]

AO

If this is your first thick steak it might be best to put a temperature probe in it just to be on the safe side, and you guys are making me very hungry and thinking about a steak for Saturday. 

Jark

Nice looking filet

[A.O.]

7 minutes ago, len440 said:

AO

If this is your first thick steak it might be best to put a temperature probe in it just to be on the safe side, and you guys are making me very hungry and thinking about a steak for Saturday. 

Jark

Nice looking filet

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing, if I put the probe in I have a better chance of not killing it.

 

And it does look good, cant wait to cook and eat it!

[Boater]

When you do cook it, share the results (virtually, of course) 

[MikeRobinson]

Your external-reading food thermometer – mine cost $35 at Home Depot and it's wireless(!) – should be your only god when cooking. It will tell you the temperature within the heart of the meat and the temperature within the firepot ... which you don't have to open in order to read it.

 

I politely opine that "searing," which is inherently a high-temperature process, is inconsistent with the very-temperature-controlled, fairly low-temperature (300-350ºF) cooking process that I have become used to.  I don't ask my kamado grill to do both.  "I don't do it that way."  My opinions otherwise are neutral: I cannot speak to anyone else.

 

With regards to "rinsing it off" ... you will find that it doesn't matter. The meat will not taste "salty."  (Nor should you use "much" salt.)