New York Strip

I-SIG

joe6pak wrote:

I back up I-SIG, (aka the silly rookie). The big green egg is a great grill for cooking steaks. With 12 to 15 minutes of cooking time, I can have a 1.5 inch thick steak a juicy med-rare. With a good cut of quality meat, it will be one of the best steaks you have ever had. The BGE is also a great low and slow smoker. This past weekend I cooked a 8.5 pound pork butt roast for 22 hours. When it was done, it was hard to get off the grid as it kept falling apart. I have fixed ribs, pork chops, burgers, and turkey and it was all very good. I have had this grill for about 5 months and if it gets stolen I would not hesitate to pick up another. It is more trouble than a gas grill grill, but IMO worth it.

Thanks, joe. I have one of the mini-eggs, so doing things low and slow is much more difficult. My dad has cooked Boston butts for 18-24 hours, with the BBQ guru assisting, and our results are always similar to yours.

Something about the BGE just makes everything taste better.

Wes

joe6pak

Wes
I got a BBQ guru last month. That thing is a really cool item. Well worth a few dollars!

Have you ever checked out the BGE forums and BGE users websites? That is one group of fanatical grill owners.

I-SIG

Joe,

My dad (also named Joe) really likes his guru. So do I when I'm home in GA.

I've been over there a few times, but nothing major. My dad sends me stuff from there fairly regularly. Those guys are always cmoing up with some new technique, product or recipe, among other things.

Wes

irishaz

How anyone could insult an Angus piece of beef with a marinade is beyond me. Kosher salt and cracked pepper...nothing else is needed. My kids always ask for ketchup, A-1, ranch....That is why they get the no-name petite sirloin.

By the way, I hesitatingly picked up a Weber gas grill last year. I was a vehement charcoal user and swore I would never use anything else. I still use my barrel smoker for brisket, ribs and such, but I never even fire up the regular Weber I own. Gas is about 5 times faster, more convenient and doesn't mask the taste of the meat, no matter what it is. I also think that with the new higher end gas grills, you can finally get the type of temperature you need for a good sear (>600). If you haven't tried one recently, I think you should. An added bonus...the grill marks are out of this world if you oil the grate first.

JMHO....

By the way, I just moved to Minnesota. Any Polkies up here?

joe6pak

irishaz.
How is a gas grill 5 times faster? Have you ever used a kamado style ceramic cooker like a Big Green Egg? These kamado style cookers will kick a gas grills **** everytime. I guess my Weber Genesis gas grill was a little more convenient, however the last time I used the Weber was the day before I took delivery of my Big Green Egg. The Weber has not been uncovered since.

irishaz

Joe,

For starters, a gas grill is a breeze to "fire" up. Even if you have mastered the secret of perfect performance from a chimney starter, you are still looking at about a half an hour before you are even considering being ready to cook. Now, what if you haven't mastered the secret of the chimney starter...and use....dare I say it...lighter fluid. Nothing like the flavor of a gas pump on your steak, huh? Now, once you make it past starting the grill, let's not overlook the contents of the charcoal. I, for one, have used lump charcoal for the last few years, but most people go with the big King (Kingsford). Have you ever taken the time to investigate the "binders" that are used in most charcoal briquets? Suffice it to say that all charcoal is not created equal. If you can find it, BGE charcoal is quite good, but it still imparts the flavor the charcoal on the meat. Have you ever wondered why it is that when you go to a nice restaurant (Flemings, Morton's, Sullivan's) they don't use charcoal. If anything, they might use hard wood, but never charcoal. In my opinion, it's because gas is tasteless, more consistent and easier to deal with.

Last but not least, I have to be honest and say that I really don't miss the "after-effects" of charcoal. The stinging red eyes, the aroma, the black soot under my fingernails, oh the memories that brings back.

All kidding aside, I think if I had more time and was cooking for just myself, I might invest in a BGE. They seem to be extremely easy to use and I have never heard a bad review regarding their performance.

Happy grillling all...the weekend is here - Finally!

joe6pak

irishaz.

I do not use starter fluid, and I do not use briquets. I start the lump with a Bernzamatic torch using MAPP type gas. Mapp is hotter than propane. The torch part is really fun in a manly sort of way. Nothing like a few beers and a torch to kick off a cookout! I hold the flame on 2 or 3 spots in the lump pile for around 30-45 seconds each spot. Then I close the dome on the BGE and 10 minutes later the temp is 300, 15 minutes 550-600, and a few more minutes 750. O.K. now it has been around 20 minutes since the fire was started and I toss in some wood around the edge of the fire, put the 1.75 inch steak on the grill, close the dome and listen to the meat sizzle. 3 minutes, turn, 3 minutes, turn, close all air vents, and cook for 5 to 8 minutes more and your done. All this works out to about 35-40 minutes from start to end. That is a whole lot faster than "a half hour before you are even considering being ready to cook."

To keep my finger nails clean I use gloves when I handle the lump. I have no problem with the smoke and my eyes. I really don't understand your complaint about the aroma. I like the smell of sizzling meat. Damn! Telling this story has made me hungry. I need to go get into the freezer and get out some steak to thaw out.

I can't comment about anything concerning the resturants you mentioned as I have never been to any of those places.

Well, for whatever the type of grill being used, lets just hope that the weather stays acceptable for some weekend cookouts. For me that is anything above zero and not raining.

I-SIG

irishaz wrote:

If you can find it, BGE charcoal is quite good, but it still imparts the flavor the charcoal on the meat. Have you ever wondered why it is that when you go to a nice restaurant (Flemings, Morton's, Sullivan's) they don't use charcoal. If anything, they might use hard wood, but never charcoal. In my opinion, it's because gas is tasteless, more consistent and easier to deal with.

Last time I checked, you can't get smokey flavor unless you use wood, be it charcoal or raw hardwood. (The problem with the raw hardwood is that it tends to make things flame up really easily when using the techniques Joe and I describe.) Perhaps you can argue that for simply the taste of the meat, cooking on gas is the way to go. Long before mankind new what hell propane or natural gas was, we cooked our meat over wood. Now that is what a truly natural taste is about, connecting back to man's earliest days roaming the planet.

irishaz, perhaps you need to come on over to my place one Saturday or Sunday to enjoy some SDA's and steaks off the BGE since you are also in Tucson. We can get steveinaz, BIZILL, avelanche fan, and Courtney over. Since you are in Tucson, perhaps you haven't made it by Lil' Abner's for a steak. Beats anything I've had from Sullivan's, Fleming's or Ruth's Chris.

Wes

irishaz

Wes,

I did live in Tucson for quite a few years and I did make it over to Lil Abner's. In October, I moved to Minnesota for my job, but I would have loved to get together. Grilling and beer are two of my favorite hobbies. Lil Abner's does make a mean steak, but they use hardwood as you mentioned. Hardwood is definitely the way to go if you are going to use an open flame. Flare ups are just something you have to deal with when you are using charcoal, hardwood, etc. and grilling with the top off or open. When you are "grilling" with the top closed, in my opinion you are "roasting". The grill becomes nothing but an upside down broiler with smoke flavor. Grilling is over an open flame.

I will tell you that since I went over to gas, I was able to put away the squirt bottles I used to use to fight off flareups. A gas grill's flare ups are nothing. I used to use the "3-zone" method for charcoal grilling, but since I only had the 22 1/2 in. Weber, I found I never had enough cooking space and I would have problems with consistency in the heat. Granted, the food usually tasted good enough, but inevitably something would end up needing more time or getting charred. Gas allows me to have a consistent, tasteless, efficient method of grilling that generates 600-650 degrees of heat to provide an excellent sear. Once the sear has taken place, I can easily turn my gas grill into a 3-zone surface by regulating the heat for each burner. The final benefit is the increased cooking area on a rectangular gas grill. The circular charcoal grills provide excellent convection, but are limited as far as space. With 5 kids, that was a constant battle I had to fight whenever I wanted to cook dinner for everyone at the same time. I have seen the Big Green Eggs over at Barbeques Galore and the one's I saw had the same cooking surface issues as the Webers. If I was going to smoke a brisket, they might be the ticket, but for burgers, chicken, steaks, etc. I will stick with gas.

Joe - when I mentioned the aroma in my earlier post, I was speaking of the charcoal smell that attaches itself to your clothing, hair, etc. You can use gloves to take care of the fingernails, grill upwind to take care of the eyes, but you can't help the smell. Some people love it I'm sure, but I could have done with out it.