First Attempt Searing Steaks

Alright, well tonight was beautiful so I decided to stop by Whole Foods and pick up a grass fed bone in ribeye. I am trying to lose weight, eat healthier and learn how to bbq all at once, seems counter-intuitive, I know. However, I have been reading about the benefits of grass fed beef vs. corn fed so I have been buying grass fed products, seafood and quite a lot of bison these days. I must say it all tastes pretty good to me. Tonight, I decided to get the Big Green Egg ("Biggie") up to 600-650* and attempt searing the steak and cook some asparagus at the same time. I started the grill using the electric starter, which I actually like a lot, and kept her wide open with the bottom vent and top vent open until she hit 600*. This was the first time I actually saw flames shooting out of the top, I've read about it but never seen it. I was planning on going up to 650* but the higher it went the more it felt like (to me at least) Biggie was going to explode. So I put the ribeye on at 600* (I also don't want to burn a gasket as I am not sure I can ever replace one). I rubbed the steak with some dry rub from fredsmusicandbbq.com and think the rub was good but in hindsight probably should have just used some salt, pepper and olive oil



In order to sear the steak I used a 13" cast iron grate on top of the spider. I really like the Spider and am sure down the road I find it even more helpful. I purchased the Spider from Tom at the ceramicgrillstore.com after I read many good things about it. Talked to Tom when I incorrectly thought a piece of my order was missing and he seems like a really good guy to boot.

So I seared the first side for 3 minutes and burped Biggie and opened her up and flipped the steak. Well it was pretty burned and I was pretty bummed. I seared the other side for two minutes then shut Biggie down and let the steak cook for 4 minutes. After 4 minutes I opened her up and used my newly acquired Thermapen (I must admit the gadgets and accessories are half the reason I like this) and it was showing an internal temp of 170* way more than what I was shooting for. So I took the charred meat off and ate it along with some asparagus that I did at the same time which turned out okay. Where is Bobby Flay when you need him? Probably doing a vegimite throwdown.

So, I burned the steak, what are you going to do. Get better that's what. I'm thinking next time I'll only use salt, pepper and some olive oil to prep the meat, will only sear each side two minutes and will reduce the time the meat is in the grill after I shut it down. I'm thinking 2-2-3? Wish I had pictures to show you all (you all???) the burnt steak but I'll work on that and will get some pics up of my inedlible food in the future. Heading to FL next week so I'll have to ruminate about this cook and will look forward to getting back at it when I return.



"Cherish well your thoughts and keep a tight grip on your booze 'cause thinkin' and drinkin' all are I have today"



Eric

History of BBBQ

So this all sounds a little too "Julie and Julia" but I plan on using this blog to update my progress learning to barbeque. My name is Eric and I am a 34 year old attorney living in Columbus, Ohio with, in the words of Chuck Butler, my beautiful bride, Katherine, and of course our dog, Georgia (she goes by GA). When Katherine and I got married 4 years ago she was an avid chef and had worked in the kitchens of many restaurants around town and did time selling retail at William's and Sonoma. One of our favorite wedding gifts was a Weber Kettle Performance Grill. The generous donee came to our house built the grill (that's right I'm about as handy as a married housewife on one of those tv shows) and cooked the first meal on such grill. Needless to say it was the first and last time that grill saw proper bbq. Katherine and I have enjoyed bbqing and really like sitting on the porch having a beer or glass of wine and cooking out. The only problem is the food never turns out as nice as the company. I've undercooked beer can chicken, burned ribs, started fires, burned my feet, lost my eyebrows, etc... Regardless of all this we decided to make the big plunge and splurge for a big green egg this summer. I hope to chronicle my improvements over time with the egg and will post meals with pictures (if I can figure that out, I'm not too savvy with this stuff; for instance I can't figure out how to indent the next paragraph right now).

Sorry for the length, but the basics are that I hope to use this blog to discuss my attempts to become a better barbequer (is that a word?) and will post cooking details and photos of us using our new Big Green Egg.

"You aint gonna learn what you don't want to know"

Eric