What You Need to Know About Cooking Steak

When you cook on the Big Green Egg, you have unparalleled versatility, and that includes cooking steak.

What’s more, you have many options for cooking steak – it just depends how you like it!

Here’s what you need to know about cooking steak.

Step One: Choose Your Steak

So, what’s your favorite steak? Do you gravitate toward tenderloin, porterhouse, New York strip, or a ribeye? It doesn’t matter which one you toss on your EGG! Each one will taste delicious.

How do you choose? First, think how many people you are eating, how much time you have for cooking, and what cooking methods you can use.

If you buy thicker cuts of steak, do remember it takes longer to cook. You might also need to adjust your cooking methods to reach the internal temperature you’re looking for. Here’s a good rule of thumb:

• For steaks that are one and a half inches thick or thicker, use reverse searing.
• If you’re cooking a thinner steak, use direct grilling or a cast iron method.

Step Two: Internal Temperature Doneness

Doneness Internal Temp

Now let’s look at some options for cooking techniques.

Step Three: Cooking Techniques

Traditional Reverse Sear

For a juicy, tender steak, you want to use a reverse sear method. Set your Big Green Egg for indirect cooking with the convEGGtor at 250°F.

You can then put your steaks on the cast iron grid with the convEGGtor or half moon convEGGtor stone and roast until your steaks reach an internal temperature of 115°F. Use an instant read thermometer to make sure you don’t over cook your steaks.

Put the steaks aside and reset the EGG for direct cooking (without convEGGtor) at 500 -600°F.

Once the EGG is up to temperature, put your steaks back on the cast iron grid and sear on each side until the steak reaches the desired internal temperature.

Reverse Sear Cowboy Style

This method is similar to the traditional reverse sear method. You begin by roasting the steak.

What’s the difference? You finish the steak directly over the coals creating more roasty, nutty flavors. Flip the EGGspander Multi-Level Rack so it’s directly over the coals. This makes it easy to accomplish the cowboy finish.

Don’t forget to sear the fat on the sides.

Reverse Sear Caveman Style

This method is a little more involved. You actually finish your steak directly into hot coals.

The most popular steak for this method is the Tomahawk. This is a ribeye with the rib still attached. The butcher cuts it to the thickness of the rib, so these steaks are generally between two and three-inches thick.

One steak can easily feed four people or more, depending on portion size. The attached rib helps serve as a “handle” for tongs to grab when flipping or positioning the steak.

Before you throw your steaks directly on the fire, you want to brush off any excess ash from the surface of the coals.

To mater this method, you have to control the temperature, timing, and thickness of the steak. The thicker the steak, the longer you can leave it on the coals. As a rule of thumb, one minute per side in the coals usually creates the perfect medium rare steak. Be sure to use heat resistant gloves during this cooking process.

Direct Grilling

This is perhaps the most traditional way to grill a steak.

Set your Big Green Egg for direct cooking without the convEGGtor at 400ºF. Cook the steaks until you reach the desired internal temperature.

You need to flip the steaks to make sure each side is cooked fully. For crosshatch grill marks, place the steaks at a 45° angle to the grid. Then rotate 90° and sear again, flip, and repeat. This leaves a diamond grid that lets everyone know you’re a bonafide grill master!

Cast Iron

Looking for the perfect crust on your steak with just a slight hint of smoke? Use the cast iron skillet (or plancha) method.

Set the EGG for direct cooking without the convEGGtor at 500ºF with the cast iron on the grid.

The cast iron should be searing hot before placing the steak on it. For the best flavor, use butter and herbs such as parsley, thyme, or rosemary. To achieve even more flavor try basting the steak with the melted butter.

Final Thoughts

Whatever cooking method you choose, there are a few things to reminder when cooking the perfect steak:

• Let your steak rest at least 10 minutes for the juices to redistribute through the meat before you cut or serve.
• Slice your steak against the grain for the most tender bite.
• Use a thermometer to measure the internal temperature.
• The best degree of doneness is what you and/or your guests prefer.
• Replace the stainless-steel grid with a cast iron grid for more defined grill marks on the steak.

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