Left the tomahawk out for around three hours before I cooked it. All I did while it was coming to room temperature was season with pink salt, fresh ground black pepper, and garlic powder.
When the moment of truth came, I let the grill get warm for around ten minutes, set my Meater to 140, and went for it. What I was hoping to get was a nice sear on the outside while maintaining a juicy inside. I don’t think I completely failed, but I’d like to do better next time.
So, r/steak. What can I do differently next time? Any and all feedback is appreciated. Please be gentle.
by hammnbubbly
41 Comments
Perfect char
Yeah that char looks beautiful!! Maybe close the vents a little more on the grill to keep the flame ups down but that looks so good truthfully!!
It’s on FIRE
Buddy, your char is great! If you wanted it a bit more rare, repeat your procedure and method exactly the same but just reduce searing time on each side just a little and you shall get the result you desire.
For a first try, this certainly isn’t a mess-up. You’re very close to perfection already…
You mentioned it was the internal temp you were looking for, how do you typically order your steaks (e.g. medium, medium rare)?
As far as the char, it’s the direct flame on a fatty cut. Always a risk with a cut like this on open flame. As the fat renders, it drops into the grill and the flames flair up. On a steak this thick, I prefer to reverse sear or finish in the oven and just use the grill or flat top/griddle for the sear I want.
This is my ideal steak lol
I don’t mind *some* extra char on big thick ass steak like that, but in the future; when you get to the level of char you like, just finish with indirect heat. Like, not directly over the flames. 🙂
One suggestion is to create a two-zone fire, use the cooler side to get it (mostly) to temp, and then move over to the hot side to sear. Part of the issue is that it’s a fatty cut so as the fat renders it drips down and creates a flare-up
You can put it in an ice bath prior to the char to prevent internal temp from getting too high.
Edit: in a Ziploc bag in an ice bath*
Did you trim fat
Looks absolutely delish is this satire 😂 try cooking up some garlic butter and finish it with that might change your life
Keep it moving over an open flame. You can flip it every 30 seconds or so if need be. Also, if you’re at your desired char and not internal, just move it to a spot with no heat and let it finish with indirect heat
Try only salting before you cook, add the other seasonings after or towards the end. Pepper can burn and change its flavor, as can most other spices.
Look up reverse sear. Good for thick cuts.
As others have said, I prefer the reverse sear.
I love the char you got on your steak, but if you’re not happy with it then I’ll double recommend the reverse sear. The reason you’re getting that char is because you’re letting the fire touch it. Using a cast iron with avocado oil is going to get a nice crust, but less char.
As for what happened on the inside? Pull it at a lower internal temperature. It sounds like you pulled it at 140, which is where you wanted it, not realizing that the meat doesn’t immediately stop cooking the second you pull it
Perfect 😍
For a big steak like this I’d recommend reverse searing it.
Cook indirect 250⁰, pull 10⁰ before at temp(pull at 130 in this case), rest 10-15 minutes, sear hot and fast. done.
Also 3 hours is way to long to sit out. Season and let it rest 30 my minutes before cooking. overnight dry bring is best.
For more rare like you want 140 is too high to finish at. Try 135 next time.
Beautiful photo
Flare ups and flames man… if you want more control you need to use a flat piece of iron on your grill… you’ll get more consistent results.
Edit: after reading some comments, yeah you can do indirect heat and all that, but I cook a lot of beef and eat even more than I cook. Open flame is great, but the tradeoff isn’t worth it vs. cooking beef on a flat sheet of iron. At least that’s my opinion. I’m not buying a $150 steak to risk it getting messed up by flames.
Looks awesome. In general, I try to cook the steak taking advantage of the tools at hand, regardless of my preference. A steak cooked following the strengths of the tooling will always be better than one that forces my preference over what the grill wants to do, at least in my opinion.
This tomahawk looks absolutely amazing. In this case I would season it a bit more than usual, so the innards match the chatty outside. Awesome job, mate!!!
What shade of red were you looking for? That’s a decent mid rare-medium. As far as char, just don’t place it directly over flames. You can just move it a bit off to the side of where the flames are and still get a good sear. At the restaurant I work at, we just grill them long enough to get the grill mark on either side then place it in an oven at 375 for about 8 minutes for mid-rare.
Put foil around the bone except for the last 10 minutes or so.
But it looks pretty darn great. Others have mentioned fare up so pay attention to those notes.
Also, if you want 140 as a final temp, pull at like 132* and let carry over take you to 140*. The final temp was probably closer to 150*
Not a bad way to learn!
You did a great job, just don’t sear as long and you will get what you are hoping for
Less time on direct flames and more cooking time indirect heat.
Almost a cremation
I would eat that with my hands
Too much char? I respectfully disagree
Bro this is a fire steak lol
You went doe 140 which is medium well.
Did you account for carryover cooking as well? A big piece of meat like that is gonna carry over 10-15 degrees while resting. Id aim for 120-125 next time and pull it to rest
What’s your address, I will arrive at your house, and kindly take that disaster of tomahawk off your hands….. no charge!
Personally I think 140 is high. I tend to do steak to 125-130 with an instant read. I’ll rest it for a bit when it comes off and the temp will ease up a bit more.
Too much flame
not exactly what you were hoping for???? That steak is perfect 10/10! That’s a mic drop… dude you might wanna give up cooking because I think you’re going to end up frustrating yourself trying to improve on that steak .
looks great! Some steaks are just that color, even when rare as can be. Just depends on the cow.
YUMMY
I’d definitely eat it happily
This looks great.
For bigger steaks like this, I like having a hot zone/cold zone set up. Let it almost come up to temp in the cold zone, finish on the hot zone. Also, closing the grill to manage flames.
That being said, this steak looks delicious no matter what.
Dude, that looks great, medium-rare to medium is actually my preference for fattier cuts like this, the fat is actually rendered. I say great job!
Homeboy accidentally cooked a perfect steak flex?
Thermometer is the king.
People who will downvote are going to say they use some superior method to determine the final doneness (temperature, thank you) of the steak other than the temperature. Think about that.