any tips on grilling a super THICK steak?

[vash]

i kinda blew it tonight. i dont eat alot of meat anymore, but the butcher last night cut a bunch of dog bones on his band saw for me. right before closing, and after he cleaned his saw. i felt i should buy something beside a few dollars worth of random bones. so i ended up with a 2" thick NY strip to share within 3 of us.

i seared it, and then took it off to the side. first i cooked to medium. not the medium rare i targeted. second, there was the thick band of "kinda gray" strata that taste livery to me.

tips? i need a refresher.

[mikesride]

That cut I would make sure it is room temp, grill on high, sear each side 30 seconds then leave grill medium high and cook each side for a further 4 mins....perfect medium rare, add a minute and a half each side and it will be about medium. The purest flavour comes on high heat. Every bodies grill is a little different. Keep the heat up and you wont get that layer of grey....it reminds me of the flavour of the silver skin left on a trout fillet.

[VincentVega]

I put thick steaks in a low oven on a rack until ~100 deg. Then just sear for a few min.

[KaptKaos]

I am sure it's too complicated a process for someone such as yourself. I'll just stop by and take those from you so that no one gets hurt. Ok? Good.

EDIT: Pan sear in a really smoking hot cast iron pan all sides for 2 minutes. Then pan and all into a hot oven (425) for 2 minutes per side. I'd do at least 3 turns on that hunk o'goodness. Meat thermometer is your friend.

[ZOA NOM]

Get a probe thermometer and set it for 135 degrees. Sear 2 minutes on medium high heat both sides, and then put the whole pan in the oven on 375 till the beeper goes off.

[ZOA NOM]

Originally Posted by KaptKaos

I am sure it's too complicated a process for someone such as yourself. I'll just stop by and take those from you so that no one gets hurt. Ok? Good.

EDIT: Pan sear in a really smoking hot cast iron pan all sides for 2 minutes. Then pan and all into a hot oven (425) for 2 minutes per side. I'd do at least 3 turns on that hunk o'goodness. Meat thermometer is your friend.

LOL! Great minds think alike!

[Seabear]

Gray meat comes from steaming, a product of low heat and cool protein. Absolutely bring the steak to room temp or at least on the counter for an hour.
With that steak I woul pre-heat the oven to 450F with an oven proof platter on a middle rack. Heat up the grill to very hot, season the grate, season the meat very well, sear the meat well on both sides, then into the oven for about 8 minutes, stick a thermometer in and shoot for 125F . Let rest for 5 to 10 minutes, uncork a smacking good red, slice steak as desired.

[Pazuzu]

Break all of the rules, and try this...

Take steak. Clean up extra fat, etc.
Pad DRY. I mean, bone dry. Use paper towels.
Mix up a little bowl of salt and cornstarch, equal amounts, about 1 Tbsp each for 2 steaks. You can toss some pepper and/or dry herbs in if you want.
Liberally coat the super dry steak with this "rub". Get every exposed surface covered.
Take steak, put on some sort of baking rack, and toss it in the FREEZER.
Wait 30 minutes or more.
Turn on grill, as hot as you can get it.
Toss nearly frozen steak on grill.
For a 1 to 1.5 inch strip, I do 3 minutes on a side, rotate at 1.5 minutes for hatch marks. Then, back 2 minutes on a side. Don't season any extra, don't flip more than 3 times. Pull it off at 10 minutes exactly, let sit 10 minutes.

Eat.

Never follow "conventional wisdom" again.

The steak will have a killer sear on it, and will be well salted. It won't overcook, because it was so cold when it started. The super duper dry surface (the cornstarch helps) will take a great char, better than a normal room temperature steak.

Take a chance, worse comes to worse you ruin a few strips and curse my name forever, but I bet you won't

[BeyGon]

I only BBQ, almost every night, that steak would go on high to sear the side then turn 90 and sear the cross hatch, then turn over on medium heat until you think it's done the way you like, slow cooked.

[enzo1]

[imcarthur]

I buy strip steak roasts & cut them 2 1/2 - 3" thick. Room temperature, pat dry & season. I have a chili powder/coffee rub that is da bomb (see dinner thread). Heat a cast iron fry pan on the grill for 15 - 20 minutes until it is 500 + degrees. Add a shot glass of oil & sear for 3 minutes per side being careful not to let the temp drop when you open the grill. Remove steak to an unheated pan & put in oven preheated to 325. With a meat thermometer as above. I take it out when it hits 133 & wrap it in foil for 10 minutes for a perfect medium rare. Bias cut the steak & serve as fast as possible & drizzle with any pan & foil juices.

Ian

[red-beard]

First, you want Rib-eye not NY Strip. Also, always cook meat that is room temp. I have an aluminum griddle. Throw steaks onto the room temp griddle about 1 hour before cooking.

On my previous grill, it had a searing burner. It was an gas IR burner that would be 1200-1300 F. Sear on each side for 60 seconds. On a regular grill, go as hot as it will do, or do the pan sear.

Move to a normal grill area set to about 350F. For medium-rare on a 2" steak, I'd go 3 minutes per side. They sell mini meat thermometers. Buy a bunch of these as you are learning your grill. After a few steaks, you'll know the timing.

[T77911S]

Originally Posted by enzo1

HOLY COW!
i was just out in OKC for a month, why was i not invited???

thick steaks, rare to medium rare only. if you want one more done, get it thinner.

i like mine med rare and will eat rare, but i really dont care for thick steaks.

[asphaltgambler]

Originally Posted by Pazuzu

Break all of the rules, and try this...

Take steak. Clean up extra fat, etc.
Pad DRY. I mean, bone dry. Use paper towels.
Mix up a little bowl of salt and cornstarch, equal amounts, about 1 Tbsp each for 2 steaks. You can toss some pepper and/or dry herbs in if you want.
Liberally coat the super dry steak with this "rub". Get every exposed surface covered.
Take steak, put on some sort of baking rack, and toss it in the FREEZER.
Wait 30 minutes or more.
Turn on grill, as hot as you can get it.
Toss nearly frozen steak on grill.
For a 1 to 1.5 inch strip, I do 3 minutes on a side, rotate at 1.5 minutes for hatch marks. Then, back 2 minutes on a side. Don't season any extra, don't flip more than 3 times. Pull it off at 10 minutes exactly, let sit 10 minutes.

Eat.

Never follow "conventional wisdom" again.

The steak will have a killer sear on it, and will be well salted. It won't overcook, because it was so cold when it started. The super duper dry surface (the cornstarch helps) will take a great char, better than a normal room temperature steak.

Take a chance, worse comes to worse you ruin a few strips and curse my name forever, but I bet you won't

I have tried this method several times but the steak comes in 'dry' - as in not juicey inside. Abandoned it for the more conventional way. Maybe I am doing something wrong but I do not think so. I am using a charcoal grill with adjustable grate and thermometer. No luck

[jyl]

For a thick steak. If you have time, place in refrigerator uncovered for a few days or a week. You want it to dry out, to age. Then remove, oil and salt the meat, and let it sit for awhile on the counter. Pre-heat the cast iron pan to as hot as you can, preferably the pan should be getting a gray smoky look. Put the well-oiled steak down on the pan, 2 minutes without moving it, turn steak and put the new side down for 2 min on a different part of the pan (or, hold steak off while heating pan back to high temp), then sear the edges of the steak using tongs to hold it. Goal is a medium dark, almost tree-bark-looking crust with as little cooking of the interior as possible, interior temp of under 120 F makes me happy. If there are hollows that weren't touched by the pan, use a torch to touch them up. Rest steak for 5 min while melting a big pat of butter on it, and you're done!

If someone says that they want their steak medium or well-done, then boil a big pot of water, drop their steak into it, boil it for an hour, and serve - hopefully they'll never come back.

If you actually like them - put room-temp steak in oven, turn oven on and set for 200F, the steak will come up to temp as the oven heats, with minimum overcooking of the outside (that's what creates the icky gray zone just inside the surface). When interior is about 90 F, use probe thermometer, then pull steak out and sear as explained above. Check interior temp, they probably want 130-140 F.

The freezer trick - I do that when stir-frying smaller (bite-sized) pieces of meat, or thinner steaks and chops. The very cold interior doesn't get over cooked, you have plenty of time to brown the exterior. Having the meat very dry is also important, and dusting with flour or cornstarch both helps with that and with browning.

[gr8fl4porsche]

I agree that the freezer trick is reserved for thin quick cooking meats such as a 1/2" ribeye.

When not cooking out on the Weber, I use the smoking hot cast iron pan followed by the oven technique. The oven is the best way to get the perfect temperature.
Remember that it keeps cooking after you take it off the heat.

Golden rule - you can always cook it a little more - hard to cook it a little less.

I have found the keys are to keep it dry to avoid steam and use lots of salt.

[ltusler]

Originally Posted by VincentVega

I put thick steaks in a low oven on a rack until ~100 deg. Then just sear for a few min.

This is called the Reverse Sear. It is the way to go. See amazingribs.com.

[mikesride]

Originally Posted by ltusler

This is called the Reverse Sear. It is the way to go. See amazingribs.com.

The OP was talking about grilling meat I think.....I never do steak in the oven because I have never liked the results.....I will try this method some day when its just far to cold to go outside!
I love what you can learn from this site!!!

[ltusler]

Same can be done with indirect heat on a grill. That site is great, I've tried a bunch of the recipes and not had a failure yet.

[rusnak]

I think that sear in the first pic was not done at a high enough temperature. I also like pan searing for control over the heat. I would press the steak into some black pepper, then sear in a pan that is as hot as you can get. I might go with 375 and 12-15 mins per side, then let it rest for maybe 10 minutes.