Aged Ribeye for a Saturday. Questions inside... come take a peek.

[ColdFyre]

Gotta write this crap down before I forget... interested in your feedback on the temp carryover later in this post.

I went to my local butcher shop today (The Butchery in Brea, CA. GREAT folks. Far an away some of the best customer service I've ever had.) and decided to splurge since the wife and kids are out of town. I got myself an aged USDA Prime Ribeye. About 1.75" thick.

Anyhow, I let it sit a while at room temp then seasoned it generously with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. (lets face it, if you need more than that on a good quality ribeye, it's prolly not a good cut of meat to begin with ) Lit the coals in my kettle (royal oak lump). I used a lot of coals to get them kinda get closer to the top to make sure I get a good sear. (here is an "after" cook image of my setup. I closed everything off as soon as I was done. Gotta save wood )

Anyhow, I seared it for about a minute on each side and then moved it off to the other side of the grill to finish it off. When I moved it over, I slapped a temp probe in it. I pulled it off at 130 and let it rest. As it was resting, the damn thing kept climbing! Within 3 minutes it was at 141. I'm accustomed to carryover but this is ridiculous! Instead of a nice medium rare, I get a medium steak I paid a premium for.

Don't get me wrong, it still looked and tasted fantastic, but I don't think I'll be getting the aged steak again. I don't think I notice the flavor quite as much as some of the 'steak snobs' out there.

Anyhow, I'm starting to wonder, should I have used less coals and tried to sear the outside a little longer? I was pretty worried about the amount of white smoke coming out of the vents when searing so I didn't wanna keep it on TOO long. I noticed it didn't have the same taste or slight crunch as a good dark-caramel colored ribeye normally has. Maybe try a reverse sear?

 

[Ron_L]

I normally sear for a couple of minute a side, so I guess that means that my fire isn't as hot. The hotter the cook temp, the more carry over.

I also pull the steak at 120 - 125 when I am going for medium rare.

Reverse sear works, too. I would cook it indirect to 115 and then sear.

 

[CT-Mike]

I recently cooked a couple of dry-aged Ribeyes but went about it a little differently. I had the large BGE at 250 degrees with some hickory, and I smoked the steak until it reached 110 degrees internal. The XL BGE was rolling at 700 degrees, for a reverse sear. I put the steaks on, turned 90 degrees after 30 seconds, flipped after another 30 seconds, turned after another 30 for a total of 1 minute on each side.

Even the wife admitted that it was the best steak she had ever had, melt in your mouth tender.

Oops, edited to add that it was smoked until it reached 100 degrees, not 110.

 

[ColdFyre]

I recently cooked a couple of dry-aged Ribeyes but went about it a little differently. I had the large BGE at 250 degrees with some hickory, and I smoked the steak until it reached 110 degrees internal. The XL BGE was rolling at 700 degrees, for a reverse sear......

I wish I had a 2nd grill! (Well, I do have a WSM too... maybe I can crank that thing up for the 1st part then toss it on the kettle to finish)

 

[martyleach]

I really like to do the 2 grill deal when cooking steaks. Quite often I am charring peppers on the egg while I am cooking steaks on the kettle. Easy deal to drop in the CI grates and finish off the steak. Fun too!

 

[mamajamma21]

I have to say, my best outdoor cooking of a high-quality steak was when I used the Alton Brown Chimney Porterhouse method of cooking. It really gave the effect of the high-power broiler a lot of steakhouses use. Problem if you have to be very careful of debris when you put that chimney over it.

 

[kageryu]

I like my steaks rare, but I also like a lot of char on the outside. This poses a dilemma that I normally solve by settling for medium rare, especially if I order from a restaurant.

As far as aged steaks go, I've never bought one outside of a restaurant, but I can tell a difference. The aged steaks have a slight gamey taste that I actually like.

I really like veal scallopini and some of the best I've ever had came from a 'managers special' package that I guess was a few days past the use date. It had some of the best flavor...

-phil

 

[qman]

Two points:
Aged beef will cook faster than unaged, probably because of less moisture.
I noticed you said you observed the white smoke coming from the vents during the sear stage? I assume that means you had the cover on. I never cover during a hot sear. I think that helped drive the heat faster into the center of the steak.

 

[RowdyFred]

I've started buying steaks and dry-aging them myself as it's a whole lot cheaper. Just wrap your steak in about 3 layers of cheesecloth (helps stop it drying out too much) and then place it on a rack over a small tray (I use the rack and tray from my toaster oven - holds 2 steaks comfortably). Put it in the coldest part of your refrigerator for 4 days. Unwrap and prepare as you wish. Save yourself a few bucks a pound and the difference is significant - more tender and meatier flavour. I also do the reverse sear as well - I find that it gives me better control over doneness - fewer overcooked steaks.