Unrelenting heat, kids runnin’ around at all hours of the
day and baseball in full swing can only mean one thing. Summer is here. And
with summer comes the smell of weekend grillin’ and smokin’! Though like I’ve
mentioned before, here in the 50th, we just seem to have two
seasons, a really hot summer and a hot non-summer so our grills and smokers are
used year round. But for those of you residing in the CONUS (CONtinental US),
this is a time when those grills and smokers emerge from fall and winter’s
hibernation. To grill New York strips and Delmonicos and to smoke brisket and
pork shoulder right? Nope! What if I told you one of the best cooking
applications for the thick steak didn’t involve charcoal or a grill but an
oven? An oven? An oven is just to bake meatloaf! Then what if I told you one of
the best smokin’ applications is to smoke your meatloaf? Trading cooking
places!
Baked Steak
I first saw this on the internet probably on Facebook and
I gave in and clicked the link. I rarely do so on Facebook as you don’t know
where you’ll be taken or what potentially malicious code will be uploaded to
your computer. But that picture of that perfectly cooked steak drew me in.
Especially after I found my favorite cut of steak, the Chef’s cut of ribeye
sold at my local Foodland Supermarket. Basically it’s a thickly cut ribeye
that’s been butchered to remove that ½ to ¾ inch strip of fat that runs about 1
inch into the steak. It’s then reassembled with butcher’s twine to create a
round steak with perfect marbling. And because it was cut to about 1 & ½
inch thickness, it was perfect for the baked application.
For starters, a baked steak isn’t for everyone. It’s the
perfect cooking application for those who love their boeuf rare or medium rare
though it’ll also work with medium. But if you enjoy your steak medium well to
well done, look no further than your grill or stove top cast iron pan. But if
you savor the flavor that only comes with pink to red beef where bovine DNA is
still retrievable, read on. The one word of caution is that the baked
application does take more time than the usual 6 to 10 minutes of grilling.
Anywhere from 35 to 50 minutes of baking then another 15 minutes of rest
followed by 2 minutes of searing. But the payoff is a steak rare, medium rare
or medium virtually the whole thickness of the meat. With the high heat of a
grill, what you invariably get is a steak that’s crusted, then well done for a
millimeter or two then medium well done for another millimeter or two then
medium for another millimeter or two finally medium rare just in the internal 4
or 5 millimeters. With a low and slow, baked steak you get a nice crusted
exterior with a medium rare consistency almost the entire thickness of the
steak!
So you’ve decided that you’re on the baked steak
bandwagon, how do you proceed? For starters, get a steak that’s 1 & ½ to 2
inches thick. Then set your oven to 275 F degrees. You can place the steak
simply on your oven grates but I like to foil line a cake sheet and place a
cooking rack over the cake sheet to support my steak. You then generously salt
and pepper both sides of your steak then place it on the grate and insert a
digital thermometer probe sideways into the middle of the steak and set it for
115 F for rare, 125 f for medium rare and 135 F for medium. Once the internal
temperature hits the desired doneness setting, remove the steak from the oven
and allow it to rest for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, brush a little oil on
both surfaces of the steak and sear in a hot pan (cast iron is preferable) for
1 minute. Turn over and sear the side for another minute. You should now have
the perfect rare, medium rare or medium steak!
Smoked Meatloaf
I first saw this cooking application on one of the cable
food networks. But now that I’ve sampled smoked meatloaf, I beat myself over
the head wondering why I never thought of this cooking application on my own. I
mean, I do my fair share of smoking various proteins from fish to pork to beef
to lamb as well as various veggies but I never once considered using ground
meats. Probably since the cooking grates in my smokers are spaced about an inch
apart. Ground meat will fall right through the grates. It never occurred to me
to use an aluminum pan or tray as the containment vessel. And nowadays, you can
find smoking specific pans with mini perforations that let smoke penetrate the
bottom but don’t allow “seepage” of your meat.
All you need is your favorite meatloaf recipe then either
place it freeform on the cooking tray or pan of your choice and smoke it at 225
to 250 degrees Fahrenheit for 2 to 3 hours. You just want to make sure that
your loaf is freeform, if you place it in a regular 4” by 9” pan only the top
of the loaf will be flavored with that smoky goodness – you want maximum smoke
exposure for your loaf. If you want precise cooking, just use a corded
thermometer with the probe in the thickest section of your loaf and smoke it
until it registers 155 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
Since smoking does take a little extra time, I also add
other vittles to my smoker while smoking the meatloaf like thick cut onion
rings and halved tomatoes for my smoked tomato mayonnaise. You can also smoke
other veggies to create smoky side dishes for your meatloaf. If you’ve smoked
your loaf properly, you should create that nice smoke ring you find in properly
smoked beef, pork or lamb but since the ground meat is a little more porous,
the smoke ring should extend about ½ to ¾ inches from the surface. If you don’t
already have a favorite meatloaf recipe, you can sample my version:
The Gochiso
Gourmet’s Smoked Meatloaf
4 lb ground beef (80/20)
2 pkg Lipton onion soup mix
1 & ½ cups milk
1 cup bread crumbs
½ cup BBQ sauce
4 eggs
Fresh ground black pepper
Salt to taste
Mix Lipton onion soup mix with milk. Add to ground beef
then add the rest of the ingredients and thoroughly mix. Place on an aluminum
roasting pan or smoking tray and shape like a traditional meatloaf. Place in the
smoker with the temperature around 225 degrees and smoke for 2 to 3 hours or
when the internal temperature registers 155-160 degrees.
You can still fire
up the grill
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