Friday, March 5, 2021

Green and Black Porterhouse on the Big Green Egg Mini-Max

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I tried something a lil' different with a porterhouse this past week. I dry brined it with black salt and green peppercorns.

Green and Black Porterhouse Steak


Why black salt and green peppercorns? 

 

Hawaiian black lava salt and green peppercorns. If I have to tell you which is which....

  • Hawaiian Black Lava Sea Salt - It is made by mixing activated coconut charcoal with sea water, to create large, flavorful crystals. While there are health benefit claims, to be honest, they sound like a bit of a stretch to me.It tastes like premium sea salt with a slightly smoky finish.  I typically use it as a finishing salt for its dramatic appearance. 
  • Green peppercorns - These are the same thing as black peppercorns, the immature fruit from the piper nigrum plant, only picked earlier than the black ones. The result is a fruitier taste and a milder sting or heat. 

Here is what I did for this steak. 

Porterhouse steak with black salt and green peppercorns
I picked up a thick porterhouse steak, about 24 ounces. It wasn't the best, because it didn't have a lot of marbling and from the crescent on the left side, you can see the strip loin side had a bit of the gluteous maximus in it.

How to dry brine a porterhouse steak
I lightly applied some extra-virgin olive oil and seasoned it rather heavily with the black salt and green pepper.

I dry brined the steak by coating it with salt and pepper for about 6 hours.
I dry brined this steak so I put it on a rack and covered it with a food bag, then placed it in the fridge for about 6 hours.

I decided to sous vide the steak and finish it on the grill, so I vacuum-sealed  the porterhouse steak.


Using the Anova precision water cooker or sous vide.
I put the steak in the water bath (sous vide) at 127°f for two hours. This slow cooks it to a perfect medium-rare and keeps it extra tender.



Porterhouse steak and the BGE Mighty Max
Before searing the steak after the sous-vide, I freshened up the seasoning with some of the black salt and green peppercorns in a pepper grinder.

Searing steak in cast iron on the Big Green Egg mini-max
I got the Mini-Max hot as fire and seared the steak in beef tallow.

Porterhouse steak on the Big Green Egg
That skillet is an 80-year-old Griswold #8 that I refurbished last year,

Grilled porterhouse steak with green pepper butter
I also made a compound butter with the green peppercorns and some fire roasted garlic. I didn't measure, it was about 4 tablespoons of butter, 1 tablespoon of roasted garlic, and a teaspoon of the green peppercorn.

Sliced porterhouse steak
Porterhouse steaks are an excellent choice because they give you a piece of filet and a piece of the strip loin - two steaks in one!

After slicing the steak, I dressed it with the green peppercorn and garlic butter. Oh man!

Crisbee Cream Wood uses food grade mineral oil and beeswax to condition and protect your wooden cutting boards
People often mention the condition of my wooden cutting boards. This particular board goes with us when we cook at food festivals, so it has seen some rough conditions but looks great. That's because once a month I season all of my cutting boards with an oil/beeswax conditioner like Crisbee Cream Wood.

Grilled porterhouse steak with green peppercorn and garlic butter
This was awesomely delicious. I can definitely tell that I used the green peppercorns instead of the black ones. On the other hand, I wouldn't have known the salt was any different. I'll stick to using the black salt as a finishing salt where it does make a difference.

The Offset Smoker Cookbook (Ulysses Press 2019) is my second BBQ book and although it focuses on offset smokers, the recipes are delicious and can work on any smoker.