Page 20 - DEC2021 Digial Issue: Barbecue News Magazine

Meathead, AmazingRibs.com
By now, you probably know that the secret to great steak flavor, perfectly cooked in- terior, and a great dark brown all-over sear. We know the interior is most juicy and tender in the 130 to 135°F range, medium rare. We also know there is a chemical re- action called the Maillard reaction that alters the surface proteins, amino acids, and sugars to amp up the flavor and turn it dark brown.
In previous articles we have discussed techniques for getting the interior perfect. Here are four offbeat methods that work amazingly well for searing: The Afterburner Method, the Vigneron Method, the Caveman Method, and the Stripsteak Method.
The Afterburner Method
One night about 15 years ago I was grilling some 3/4-inch ribeyes. I started some char- coal in a chimney to toss on my trusty Weber Kettle because I wanted max heat for that great whiskey colored exterior.
It was dark, and when I looked at the chim- ney, I noticed it looked like the afterburner of a fighter jet. Long blue and red flames. So I put a cast iron frying pan on top and read the temp in the pan with an infrared laser thermometer. 800°F! I took the pan off, put a wire rack right on top of the chimney, and tossed a steak on.
Perfect dead on sear, deep mahogany brown, in less than three minutes per side and cooked perfectly to medium rare in the center! I dubbed the technique, the After- burner.
Above you can see me cooking some 3/4 inch ribeyes on the afterburner. Thanks to Rob Lusk for the great photo, taken on steak night on the AmazingRibs.com Pitmas- ter Club Meat-Up in the Bahamas in 2017. I now use this method for searing
steaks cooked sous vide and the method has gotten so popular several companies are making grates that fit on top of a chimney like this one.
Now keep in mind that cooking at these high temps, what I call Warp 10, is not right for all steaks. It works best on quick-cooking steaks 1/2 to 3/4′′ thick. Anything thicker and it will burn them before the center cooks. It is ideal for skirt steaks for fa- jitas. Think about the last time you cooked skirt steaks. Take your choice: Gorgeous exteriors and well done interiors, or pink interiors and tan exteriors. The secret is that the afterburner puts massive amounts of heat on one surface cooks it so quickly that the interior doesn’t get too hot. Remember, meat is about 75% water and water heats slowly. At lower temps the heat progresses through the surface to the interior, and by the time you have a good dark sear on the outside, the inside is overcooked. That’s the problem with fajitas. You have such a tasty piece of meat in the skirt steak, but the center is almost always grey. Nevermore.
A few tricks: You will need only half a chimney of charcoal. Make sure you pat the meat dry first otherwise it will steam the surface. In fact, if you want to paint the sur- face with a little oil, that will help crisp it even more. Sorta fries it. When the meat is on, move it and flip it every minute or so because the wire grate can brand the meat with some serious black grill marks, too black. Also, flipping it allows energy that starts to build up on the underside will bleed off into the cooler air after you flip, rather than progressing deep into the meat. It will be done in just 2 to 3 minutes per side, so make sure you have all the side dishes cooked before you put on the meat. For slightly thicker steaks, you can cover them with a metal bowl so the meat will cook from the top by convection.
A few skeptics on social media have expressed concern that the metals in the chim- ney could produce dangerous gases. Not to worry. Although the temp is high, it is nowhere near the temps needed to produce dangerous gases. Others say the flame can cause bitterness. That's only if you burn the meat. Move and flip the steak often and the meat won't burn. I once used the afterburner method to serve 500 chefs.
They all raved about it.
Postscript: I’m a huge fan of the Food Network’s Alton Brown, and in a 2010 episode titled “Porterhouse Rules” he attempted to duplicate the extreme heat that steak- houses use to broil steaks with heat from above. He took a chimney, fired it up, lifted it, dusted off the grate, placed the steak on the grate below, placed the chimney above the steak, cooked for 1 minute, flipped the steak and repeated. Well I tried this and, as AB warned, the steak got a light dusting of ash and a coal fell onto it. Sorry, AB, my method is better. I can flip the steaks often on top, and there is no ash.
The Vigneron Method
Then there is a method I call the vigneron method. I learned it when visiting wineries in Bordeaux, the French region that makes red wine perfectly suited to steaks.
In the winter vineyard owners prune away most of the branches, called canes. They then have huge piles of grapevine wood, most of it about the thickness of a pencil. During the fall harvest the vignerons, the grape growers, take a big stack of dried canes and set them on fire. The canes quickly burn down to a glowing mound, and workers grill
meats over the scorching hot embers. The flavor is exquisite.
In many states in the US, grapevines abound wild in the woods and grow on fences along the roadside. You can harvest grape cuttings there. To insure a steady flow of grape wood in my backyard, I planted five Himrod vines (the best green table grapes I have ever tasted). I get enough fruit for a few snacks, some juice, and some raisins, and enough wood for about three cooks. I’ve also used this vigneron method with twigs from my neighbor’s cherry tree. Of course he expects to be fed in exchange. You can use cuttings from any fruit or hardwood.
To start, I take out the bottom grate from my Weber Kettle and open the lower vents. I crumple two sheets of newspaper and put them in the bowl. Then I stuff as many dried vine prunings as I can fit on top of the paper, all the way to the level of the upper grate. On goes the top grate. I light the paper through the bottom vent holes, and the whole thing goes poof in about two minutes with very impressive 5 foot flames. I once came close to melting the television cable running overhead.
Within a few minutes I have glowing white hot embers. But the embers are gone in a hurry because the canes are about the size of kindling. I’ve got a window of about 15 minutes between the time the flames disappear and the embers go cold. I wait until I can no longer see yellow flame. Then I scrub the grate and on goes the meat. To see some flank steaks I cooked this way, check out my step-by-step video on YouTube here https://youtu.be/X1odk4CckFA .
Steer away from poultry, though. In France I had small butterflied quail cooked over grape wood, but when I tried it at home with Cornish game hens, the birds com- pletely blackened. The skin is too fatty. Even though they’re smaller than standard broiler chickens, game hens have skin that's too thick to cook quickly. I've learned to use the vigneron method primarily with flank steaks. They are about the right thick- ness, under 1 inch, and beef loves heat and smoke. I pat the surfaces dry so they don’t steam and use my “Meathead’s Amazing Smoked Red Meat Seasoning and Dry Brine.” Never any marinades because they just steam the meat.
I leave the lid off, turn the meat every minute or so, and the steak is usually done in less than 10 minutes. The burning fruitwood creates temps in the 800°F+ range and gives beef a fine flavor.
Caveman Steaks
Here’s a showstopper. A bit of a parlor trick, but I know you will want to try it. Start with lump charcoal or wood, and once you get your fire down to glowing embers,
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