A stop off at the local Sam’s Club and sixty dollars later, I came away with three cuts of meat – two USDA Prime ribeye steaks, and a tomahawk ribeye. A lot of steak to cook for the weekend, but I did it. Now lets look at it! You can use the in-site links below to pick your cut and read about it.
Prime Ribeye Steaks | Tomahawk Ribeye
I try to post a new smoke every week. With every new post, comes dozens of photos with each. I share these with a number of people, all of whom I hope feverishly visit my site. Buddy was coming over for food, drinks, hockey, and decent-to-poor conversation, so I went the ribeye route.
Full disclosure: I didn’t take many pictures for this one. Each of the Prime/Tomahawk smokes were completed late – plus winter hours – the photos didn’t turn out good. Hopefully you find the essence in each, even though they were all pretty much smoked the same way.
Prime Ribeye – Prep Table
I went with the beautiful USDA Prime cuts for this one. Sam’s Club actually had a hell of a selection, choice and prime alike. I admit, I go with ‘Choice’ 9 times out of 10, but I splurged and went with Prime.
To go along with my favorite pastime, I grabbed the “Spirit of America”. Never had it, but being the devout American Patriot that I am, we’re doing it right.
Prime Ribeye – The Process
Bought these on the way home from work on a Friday, and they went from the store cooler, to the car, to the cutting board. I mention this each time, but I’ll say it again – get the meat to room temperature. The problem with Friday cooks is that I’m rushed. It’s already 5pm+ and I have a masterpiece to create.
I let the guest pick his seasoning. You know I have a hell of a selection of rubs from sweet, to heat, to savory, garden, and everything in between. Both complimentary (and expected), my rub was chosen as the winner (or as Mrs. ForensicBBQ aptly named it – Meaty Bits Beef Rub).
I like to go low (temp) and slow (long time) when smoking, but I/we were hungry. Similar to the rub, I let the guest pick the wood. With a little discussion, mesquite was chosen, and mesquite was smoked. Got The Bull fired up to 225 degrees and it was time to shine.
After about an hour – maybe a bit longer – it was time to get that sear on it. Guest preferred a medium smoke, so we compromised on somewhere near 140 degrees internal. I grew up on a well done steak. I was introduced to rare in college and found that medium-rare is the perfect steak. To each their own – but I’m right.
I factor in about 10-20 degree change when I prepare the sear. I pulled these specific steaks off around 115 degrees-ish, took them inside, tented them in foil, and then cranked The Bull to FULL. For those RecTeq owners, you know ‘FUL’ gets you past 500 degrees. Add the GrillGrates, and we’re talking HOT.
There’s ideas behind limiting the flip, getting the grill marks to look pretty.. I don’t really care for any of that. I’ll attempt the pretty hash-marked look, but it’s about the internal temp. I’ll poke it with my ThermaPen until I know it’s perfect and then pull it. I’ll flip it a dozen times if I need to – equal sear is more important than the presentation, I don’t care.
Prime Ribeye – The Result
You can see the result of the multiple flips and the grill marks. But what you should be looking at is the consistency of the sear. It is evenly cooked all around and all the way through. We called this a “heavy medium-rare” because it was more done than I prefer, probably less than what he preferred, but the compromise was a delicious result.
I can not overstate how good the “reverse sear” steak is. When I was first introduced to the idea from a local restaurant, I was hooked. After attempts on a propane smoker, propane grill, Blackstone griddle, and finally RecTeq – the answer was simple for me. RecTeq smoker with GrillGrates accomplished everything I needed.
I wish I had a cross-section cut to show (Thanks Wolf for calling me out for not supplying it). I’ll throw the blame on the Spirit of America. The plates were clean which spoke volumes. It was a great smoke.
Tomahawk – Prep Table
While shopping for the Ribeyes, this one was nearing expiration and was offered at a discounted rate. I’ve never smoked one, and thought it would be a good time. After that steak I made a day or two prior, I didn’t really NEED another steak, but was happy to entertain the idea.
This thing took forever to get to room temperature. It’s a beautiful cut, no doubt a novelty – but I was excited for the result. I didn’t mention it in the above post, but when removed from packaging, give it a rinse and let it set. After a considerable amount of time on the counter, it was time to throw a season on there.
Tomahawk – The Process
I used the same Meaty Bits Beef Rub on this as I did the Ribeyes. This is a perfected (my opinion) blend of coarse black pepper, kosher salt, garlic powder and onion powder. I like making my own largely because I cut back on the salt. I like to taste the meat and not a salt block.
I want that beautiful sear on all sides, so dump some rub on the cutting board and get them edges coated. When you select the perfect rub/seasoning, you know how it’ll complement the meat. You know what’s expected, and you’re attempting to achieve that result.
I took this one a bit slower. Again, for those RecTeq owners, I put this one on “Lo” and used the same mesquite wood as before. Lo puts me at about 180 degrees. I love that it displays “Xtreme Smoke” and it does bellow the smoke. I didn’t know how long this one would take.
I assumed a bit longer than the steaks – due to size – and it was about accurate. We aren’t cooking for time, we’re cooking for temperature. And now that I was looking for that perfect medium-rare, on a considerably larger cut of meat – I had some considerations.
Going back to my 10-20 degree range (from end of smoke to end of sear) – I knew the cut would play a little weird. It was a thick-ass piece of meat that needed a little extra attention. I let it take on the smoke until around 115 internal temp. I guessed this would put it right at 135 (high end) of a medium rare on my estimation. But it was also a big ass cut. The big ass cut also had big ass edges that needed attention.
So I pulled her at 115. Took it back inside and fired up the pellet smoker to 500 degrees plus, as usual. Got them GrillGrates nice and hot and threw it back on there.
What would usually be 1-1.5 minutes each side and then random flips to ensure even cook, I kept it on for 2-2.5 minutes each side until about 130 degrees. I then grabbed that bone handle and seared the edges. Having the pellet smoker’s lid open, while trying to stay fired at 500+ degrees in the winter time was a struggle for it’s computer, but I effectively hit 135. And brought it in.
Tomahawk – The Result
I don’t remember if I mentioned it in the previous Ribeye steaks above (and no, I didn’t scroll up to check) – Let your meat rest for 10 minutes. It’s hard to take in all those beautiful smells, but you’ll thank yourself for it when you slice into it. I had just come off those ribeye steaks, so I took this one easy.
I sliced these up and made about 2″x1″ slices. This was done on a Sunday, and I knew I’d have lunch for some of the week. Side note: Microwaving this (any?) smoked, reverse-seared steak brings the work-vultures around. The smoky smell permeates the office and everyone has to know what the heck you just did in that microwave.
An absolutely beautiful pink, a great peppery crust. I don’t know if my buddy from Friday will read this, but I did this one WAY better than I did the individual steaks. As hesitant as I was with anything new – I still love finally taking a knife to the meat and seeing the result. Sure, I know how to cook it, I know the internal temp is right. I’ve done it before. But it’s still the thrill of seeing what you’ve done that makes it worthwhile.
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