Steaks

[mwemaxxowner]

I'm just curious, when y'all do steaks on the KC Combo and reverse sear, do you like to sear on the smoker side with the sear plate open, or sear on the griddle side?

I've only done steaks once so far. I smoked until close and seared it on the gas side with the griddle plate. Next time I want to try searing in the smoker and compare.

 

[Cowboy1955]

I sear off to one side of the grill
Then move them over to smoke

 

[Jimsmokes]

I sear over charcoal/wood.

 

[mwemaxxowner]

I don't have a charcoal grill or a wood burner. I just have a KC Combo.

 

[mwemaxxowner]

I seasoned these last night, they've been resting in the fridge overnight, and they'll go on the smoker later today.

 

[MikeInFla]

Can’t wait to see pics when they are done!

 

[mwemaxxowner]

These steaks were at 100+ degrees in no time. The smoker was set on 225. I figured out today with my new Bluetooth thermometer that it runs about 20 degrees warmer than the Pit Boss displays. So actual temps were 245 give or take.

I think next time I want to smoke first I'll go straight from the fridge to the smoker and not let it rest at room temp for a bit.

I think they'll be good but a steak purist would say they're over done. I smoked them a bit long because I wanted to try to get some smoke flavor. They were probably 110 average when I pulled them off and 130-140 when I finished the sear. Plus rest time.

I seared them while basting in a bacon grease that I combined with garlic and thyme, then topped with finishing salt and butter when I pulled them. So I doubt they'll be dry. Be eating them soon when th smoked potatoes finish up!

 

[Steve In Pa]

I sear over charcoal/wood.

That seems to be the way to go in my case. With my vertical anyway. Haven’t done that yet though.

 

[mwemaxxowner]

I repeat, I don't have anything else besides my KC Combo. I don't have room for, nor am I looking for, anything else. I want to dial in on what I can do with what I have. That's why I posted in the KC Combo forum.

 

[Jimsmokes]

I repeat, I don't have anything else besides my KC Combo. I don't have room for, nor am I looking for, anything else. I want to dial in on what I can do with what I have. That's why I posted in the KC Combo forum.

Well if I had to choose between my sear plate on my smoker or sear on my griddle. If it had a bone in it I'd open the sear plate. Boneless I'd go with the griddle and a press.

 

[mwemaxxowner]

That's an interesting take that I haven't considered.

I like to baste with thyme or rosemary and garlic while I sear it on the griddle.

I wonder if I just hit the top with a dollop of compound butter when I sear on the smoker if it would give me a similar effect.

The steaks were very good!

Next time I'm shooting to find thicker steaks, and start them straight from the fridge so I can get more time under smoke. I'm also going to try just the "S" setting rather than 225 during my smoke period.

The recipes I rustled up stated I should take about 45 min to get to my 100-110 temp before searing, but I barely made it 20 min and then I was trying to jump through some hoops to stretch it out (turned temp down, opened the grill to let some heat out, spritzed, and decided to take IT a bit higher before searing.

They were good though and that's what matters! I prefer a steak at medium rare, the rest of my crew gets heebie jeebies if they see too much red or pink so they like medium. These all turned out medium but if a steak is still juicy I'm fine with that.

I think that's why I like medium rare so much. The Chef can err on my steak a little either way from M.R. and I still like it. Rare and medium are fine for me.

I need more salt for a better crust, but I have some horror stories in my past ruining some good steaks by way over salting so I'm trying to sneak up on that little by little.

I've also over peppered and over cooked. I had given up on grilling a good steak or at least an expensive steak until I got the pellet smoker. I find it so much easier.