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Butter-Smoked Ribeye


Stone

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Thanks to Shawn at the Virtual Bullet for the idea.

I started with a 3" prime ribeye. Charred it on the chimney.

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Put it on my Weber Bullet, with a brick of frozen Plugra on top:

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Smoked it at 200* to 220* with a little hickory until a center temp of 140*. Foiled it and rested for five minutes:

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Sliced it up:

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And plated it with some sauteed kale:

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Perhaps the most tender ribeye I've had. If you've got filet eaters in your household, try this. It was like butter. Like a prime rib. (I guess it is a prime rib.) Next time I'll skip the hickory, it added an unnecessary sweetness. And I wont rest it in tight foil, which seemed to bring it to medium instead of medium rare.

A damn fine piece of meat.

(Sorry, the photos aren't in imageGullet yet. I'll move them when I have some time.)

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I think it took an hour in the smoker, but I wasn't paying attention. I was lucky to find prime ribeye for about $10/lb.

I smoked a brisket and two chickens the next night.

How did your smoke turn out?

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Stone,

The ribs came out OK (I used cherry and I think next time I'll have to use less), nice smoke ring and they tasted good just a little too smokey for me.

The brisket came out good too, nice smoke ring (I used apple, nice flavor) I used a wet rub and used a little too much cayenne, but the meat itself was nice and moist. But the ribs and brisket could have been a little juicier.

I have to learn how to control the temp better (it went too high), but I think the problem may be that it was a new smoker (or a new user). Maybe this weekend I'll try chicken.

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Stone,

The ribs came out OK (I used cherry and I think next time I'll have to use less), nice smoke ring and they tasted good just a little too smokey for me.

The brisket came out good too, nice smoke ring  (I used apple, nice flavor) I used a wet rub and used a little too much cayenne, but the meat itself was nice and moist. But the ribs and brisket could have been a little juicier.

I have to learn how to control the temp better (it went too high), but I think the problem may be that it was a new smoker (or a new user). Maybe this weekend I'll try chicken.

What kind of smoker are you using?

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It wasn't very smokey, but I didn't use much would. Just a small handfull of chips. The steak definitely picked up a sweet, tangy flavor. I assume from the chips, perhaps just from the smoker, which has definitely developed it's own nose. Am I supposed to wash this thing?

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It wasn't very smokey, but I didn't use much would.  Just a small handfull of chips.  The steak definitely picked up a sweet, tangy flavor.  I assume from the chips, perhaps just from the smoker, which has definitely developed it's own nose.  Am I supposed to wash this thing?

I haven't known anyone anyone to out and out wash their bullet other than just scraping.

If you'd like to have a smokier end product try smoking the ribeye roast and finish with searing. When you sear the meat you seal the juices in and consequently seal the smokey flavor out. In your situation it doesn't really matter how much wood you use, it's not going to be smokey.

edit: talk with your butcher and try to get the eye of chuck roast. I've seen steak labeled "eye of chuck" or "mock tenders" and they're my favorite cut of steak. They're just as marbled and tender as ribeyes but they taste like beef. OK, ribeyes taste more like beef than filet mignons, but chuck eyes actually taste like you're eating beef. Oh, and the best news? They're 1/2 the cost of ribeyes. In Minneapolis I routinely see them for around $5/lb versus $8 - $10 per pound for ribeyes. If I see them in my grocery stores I always pick some up. If I had the roast I'd lost to smoke and then sear it.

Then I'd put butter on it. Cuts like ribeyes have plenty of fat and juiciness (though the fat doesn't go towards juiciness since you're pulling it at medium rare -- the fat hardly has a chance to render) and adding a frozen pat of butter during the smoking is only going to melt it and then waste most of the butter. However the butter that is left over would be smokier with the virtual bullet method than without smoking the butter. And since that method doesn't give smokiness to the meat you're getting what smokiness there is from the butter.

Edited by col klink (log)
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Oy. :hmmm:

Lots of cooks use lots of would ;). It is the ones who use lots of do that really get the job done though, and it certainly looks like you did.

He don't mix meat and dairy,

He don't eat humble pie,

So sing a miserere

And hang the bastard high!

- Richard Wilbur and John LaTouche from Candide

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Just a thought. What about using a chimney starter with a wok? I imagine size compatability and stability would be the main concerns, but tantalizing prospects, I think.

Grueldelux, that is a fantastic idea. I used to have a real wok buy my gas stove was too much of a pansy to do any real cooking. Way to think outside of the kitchen. :wink:

(In my experience more people have a chimney than a butane burner for frying turkeys and fish boils.)

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Grueldelux, that is a fantastic idea. I used to have a real wok buy my gas stove was too much of a pansy to do any real cooking. Way to think outside of the kitchen.  :wink:

(In my experience more people have a chimney than a butane burner for frying turkeys and fish boils.)

That's exactly what I was thinking. Imagine if you could just fire up your chimney starter, head inside to do your prep, heat up the wok to a blistering levels, bring out your tray of prep, wok away. Added benefit: wok smells/fumes kept outdoors. I wonder if you could rig a galvanized bucket to do the job, if you could cut out the bottom and add some vent holes and something to hold the coals. The flared top might hold the wok securely. I'm filing my patent now.

michael

"Tis no man. Tis a remorseless eating machine."

-Captain McAllister of The Frying Dutchmen, on Homer Simpson

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I haven't known anyone anyone to out and out wash their bullet other than just scraping.

If you'd like to have a smokier end product try smoking the ribeye roast and finish with searing. When you sear the meat you seal the juices in and consequently seal the smokey flavor out. In your situation it doesn't really matter how much wood you use, it's not going to be smokey.

edit: talk with your butcher and try to get the eye of chuck roast. I've seen steak labeled "eye of chuck" or "mock tenders" and they're my favorite cut of steak. They're just as marbled and tender as ribeyes but they taste like beef. OK, ribeyes taste more like beef than filet mignons, but chuck eyes actually taste like you're eating beef. Oh, and the best news? They're 1/2 the cost of ribeyes. In Minneapolis I routinely see them for around $5/lb versus $8 - $10 per pound for ribeyes. If I see them in my grocery stores I always pick some up. If I had the roast I'd lost to smoke and then sear it.

Then I'd put butter on it. Cuts like ribeyes have plenty of fat and juiciness (though the fat doesn't go towards juiciness since you're pulling it at medium rare -- the fat hardly has a chance to render) and adding a frozen pat of butter during the smoking is only going to melt it and then waste most of the butter. However the butter that is left over would be smokier with the virtual bullet method than without smoking the butter. And since that method doesn't give smokiness to the meat you're getting what smokiness there is from the butter.

Klink, my local Cub market is carrying chuck eyes for $3.78/lb.

Regarding cleaning out the grill. We have a Weber Kettle. It is 20 years old. There was somewhere on EG where someone thought that their new Kettle was ligther in weight than the old one that they replaced. I think mine must seem heavier because of the build-up. Scrape, yes. Wash? Never heard of that.

Susan Fahning aka "snowangel"
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I'm usually not the captain of obvious, but, you are supposed to wait until the charcoal has turned white before it is safe to cook over/on it. I've heard the fumes that come off the dark coals can be toxic.

"He could blanch anything in the fryolator and finish it in the microwave or under the salamander. Talented guy."

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That's true if you're using lighter fluid or "self light" charcoal but I don't see it as a problem if you're using lump or regular charcoal. But I also wouldn't put what I'm cooking directly on the coals -- I'd build an impromptu grate.

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