Phone post: Bone-In Ribeye Steak on the Big Green Egg

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My absolute favorite time of the year for sports is the college basketball tournament.  This year, three teams that we root for are top seeds which makes it even more enjoyable. Carolina had a late tip-off so I grilled this thick, bone-in ribeye for Alexis and I to split.

It was a straight-forward cook, but here are the details for my grilling-nerd friends. 

The bone-in ribeye steak weighed in at just under 1 1/2 pounds.  I patted it dry, lightly oiled it with some peanut oil, and then seasoned it with our finely ground NMT Umami Steak Seasoning recipe.

Ham with Dr Pepper and Apple Bourbon Glaze

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We smoked a couple of hams over the holidays, and this one was a solid winner.

I started with a smoked boneless ham.  This particular one was an applewood smoked ham packed for Sam's by Smithfield.  I like these or one of their Smokehouse Reserve hams when Sam's has them. They don't stock them all of the time but when they do we grab a few.

I lightly wiped it with a little peanut oil, perhaps a tablespoon, and then seasoned it heavily with Gentry's Ham Bone BBQ Seasoning.  This is a new rub, at least it is to me. It is a sweet rub with the warmth of cinnamon and all-spice that pairs perfectly with ham.

I smoked it with more applewood on a large Big Green Egg.  I was using a spider rig/stone/drip pan combo. No particular reason for that versus a plate setter, it was just what I had nearby. I'm using Craycort grates as usual. I went at 275°f for about 1 hour and then foiled it for the second hour.

While the ham cooked, I made a thin glaze of more Ham Bone, Dr Pepper, and Jim Beam Apple.  Alexis picked up that miniature at some point, and it seemed like a good use here.  You could probably just use any bourbon, but the apple flavored bourbon worked well here.

Dr Pepper and Bourbon Ham Glaze

Ingredients

How To Replace A Gasket On A Big Green Egg Kamado Grill

Once upon a time, back in 2010, we bought Egg #2.  It had virgin ivory ceramics inside and the felt gasket was unblemished.

Six years later, the heavy grilling, smoking, and being hauled around to BBQ contests have taken their toll.  The gasket was toast.  Actually it was beyond toast, this gasket was....no more.   

Yeah, it's beyond time to replace this gasket.

Gaskets are the weakest point of a kamado grill.  They function as a seal between the top and bottom pieces of the ceramic grill.  They are made of things like felt, Nomex, and rubber.  Eventually, most of them fail.  Egg #1 lost his gasket within the first year and I ran it gasket-less for years.  Using a kamado without a gasket isn't the end of the world but they work a lot better with one.

My Grill Dome gasket has had over a year of very heavy use and it is surprisingly intact.  But it has gotten compacted and pretty inflexible so it doesn't provide much of a seal if I have thermometer cables running into the kamado.  I think I'll go ahead and replace it too but it has held up well.

When it comes to replacement gaskets, check with your kamado manufacturer first for their recommendations and whether or not they cover the gasket under warranty (most won't).  

So here is where I tell you don't do what I do, because technically the woven fiberglass gasket that I use is NOT approved by any kamado manufacturers that I know of and it is NOT certified as food safe. This is the thing....I'm not cooking my food on the gasket - I'm cooking it on the grill. 

Step 1 - Get your stuff!

For me, the only gasket that I will use is a Rutland stove gasket. I heard about them from a lot of people who swore by them on the kamado forums. The bottom line for me is that I have never had to replace a Rutland on a kamado once I have installed one. 

The specific model I use is a Rutland 95W-6    (3/4" x 1/4" x 7') .  This is a flat gasket, not the rope style.  You can buy them online from Amazon but I got all three of these items from Ace Hardware in Knoxville.   Note that the gasket is much thicker than the original one on the kamado.  You will only be installing it on the lower rim.  The rim of the dome lid will stay bare after this replacement.

Instead of using the cement provided with the gasket, I like to use Permatex Copper gasket maker.  It's the same stuff we used to seal around the lower vent on other kamados with good success.

The best tool for cleaning off the gasket, grease and adhesive residue left by the first gasket is a drill mounted 3M Paint and Rust Stripper. 

Step 2 - Take that kamado apart!

The first thing you have to do is secure the spring loaded hinge.  These have stored energy so be careful when handling them.  If you kept the retaining pieces (white pieces on top) you can use those.  These were my neighbor's and they didn't fit this older Egg so I used 2 heavy duty zip ties on each side like this.

Next, I loosen the 2 band bolts like this until they are completely loose.  Carefully lift the dome lid off and set aside.  Then remove the bands.

Step 3 - Lose the old gasket - or what is left of it.

Pull off the old gasket and remove as much as possible using a small putty knife.

Then I use the 3M Paint and Rust Stripper on the rims of the top and bottom.  You shouldn't have to press down too hard, let the drill do most of the work.  As always, wear safety glasses when using power tools.

I want the rim to be totally clean of dirt or debris like this so the adhesive can stick to it.

Step 4 - Apply the new gasket.

Next, I apply a zig zag bead of the Permatex all the way around the rim of the base.  Then immediately start installing the gasket.

You will see the ends are slightly frayed.  I have found the more you play with them the worse they get so I leave it alone.  I start this on top of the base rim at the back where the center of the hinge would be.  Notice that I'm wearing gloves...fiberglass makes me itchy. 

Work your way around the rim laying the gasket on top and slightly pressing down into the Permatex. The inner edge of the gasket should be just inside the inner edge of the rim, it should not protrude into the cooking area.

When I get all the way around to where it started, cut the excess gasket off with a pair of sharp scissors so that the gasket ends flush with itself.  There will be a little fluff from the two frayed ends.  I press what I can down into the Permatex and the rest has never been a problem for me.

Once I have the gasket lined up to my satisfaction, I place the dome lid on top and let the adhesive cure for at least one hour.

Step 5 - Put it back together.

Once the gasket has cured, it's time to put the the bands back on.  I line the handle back up with the bottom vent and then secure the bottom band by tightening the bolt just enough to hold it in place.

Finally it's time to put the dome lid back on and make sure it is aligned dead center.  These guides from Big Green Egg make that a little easier but I've done it without them.  Just look straight down and make sure it is centered.

Once aligned, I tighten both band bolts.  First,  I press up lightly on the upper band and tighten the bolt just enough to hold it securely in place.  Stop there and double check that your alignment is still good.  Then I finish tightening the lower bolt. I don't have a torque wrench so I just tighten it until I see the bolt start to bend.  Then I finish tightening the top band the same way.

Finally I do the "dollar bill" test to make sure that I don't have air gaps anywhere in the seal.  Just stick a dollar on the gasket and shut the lid.  Try to pull the dollar out and you should feel resistance.  Do those spot checks all around the kamado.  If it just slips out without effort, you've got an alignment issue.  Loosen the bolts, re-align the dome, retighten and try it again.

Ready to go back into the grill rotation. I'll use it a few times before its next BBQ competition in about 2 weeks.

Standard FTC Disclaimer:  I received no compensation for this post and paid full price for the supplies mentioned.

Reverse Seared Tri-Tip and GrillGrates for the Mini-Max

I about fell over in shock last week when I was strolling through my local grocer and they had a case full of tri-tip.  Big tri-tips.  Of course I bought one.  This isn't a recipe post but here's what I did with this tri-tip that inadvertently wandered East of the Mississippi.

Beef tri-tip reverse seared on a kamado style grill.  That means we slow roast it for even cooking and then blast it with searing heat close to the coals.

I was exaggerating there a bit, but 10 years ago, I almost NEVER could find beef tri-tip in Knoxville.  This is because this was a regional specialty with it's epicenter in Santa Maria, California in the 1950's (Field Guide to Meat pg 66).  According to Green, as recently as 2005, many meat packers still sent all of their tri-tips to the California region and as a result, it was not always easy to find in other parts of the country.  But like with all regional BBQ, several factors (more mobile society, popularity of food television, and Internet) have spread these specialties across the continent and suppliers are starting to respond to the more globalized demand.  

Traditionally, tri-tip were seasoned simply with salt and pepper - maybe garlic and a few other seasonings.  Then they are cooked over coals from red oak on a Santa Maria style grill - meaning it has a food grate that can be raised or lowered over the wood coal.

Example of a Santa Maria style grill by Norcal Ovenworks.  You control the direct heat on the food by raising and lowering the food grates.  Picture courtesy of Norcal Ovenworks.

I don't have a Santa Maria grill.  If you have a charcoal grill with a charcoal tray that moves up and down like the Char-Broil 780 Charcoal Grill, you can start off with the tray lowered and then bring it close to the coals to finish off.   

Today I was using a kamado grill using the reverse sear technique.  This lets me get the tri-tip a perfect medium rare from one edge to the other and then sear it to get the Malliard browning in the crust.  

Instead of using a plate setter for the indirect piece, I used GrillGrates as the indirect piece with a homemade raised grate over that.

Side view of the raised grid.  This is also useful without the GrillGrates for "raised direct" cooking when you want the food to have less radiant heat from the coals and more heat above reflecting off of the ceramic dome.

You can buy various raised grids that are very good.  But the cheapest and easiest is making your own.  The Naked Whiz has great instructions for making your own.  Here I used 3" bolts which seemed to fit perfectly in the BGE Mini-Max.

My tri-tip was YUUUUGE!  They are typically 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 pounds but this weighed in at 3.5 lbs.  A lot of that was because it was untrimmed.  I pulled off the fat cap, trimmed the silverskin, and cleaned them up a bit.

My dry rub was simple - 1 teaspoon each of kosher salt, season salt, and black pepper.  One half teaspoon each of dried parsley, dried oregano, and granulated garlic.

Using a controller for just an hour cook????  Yes!!!!!  First, I just found out that the Flame Boss comes with an adapter for the Mini-Max so I had to play with it.  But more importantly, using a controller for the reverse sear gives you a kick ass advantage when it's time to bump the heat up.  That forced air gets your kamado from low/slow to "holy BLEEP that's hot!" in a flash.  I can't believe I've never thought about that before now. DUH! 

For those of you that don't know, a controller is a small computer controller (typically a PID) that has a temp probe in the cooker and a fan attached to a grill vent.  The computer keeps checking to see if your grill/smoker is at the temperature you want.  If not, it turns the fan on, stoking the fire and raising the temp.  There's a lot more to it than that but that's the short version.  Our BBQ team chose the Flame Boss 200 for our competitions but there are several other good units out there too.

I didn't use any wood other than the lump coal.  I'd like to say that I at least got oak lump...but I just use what I had on hand.  I ran the kamado at 225°f at the upper grate level for right at 1 hour.  I pulled the tri-tip off when it hit an internal temp of 126°f.  The plan is for it to coast up about 5-7°f while resting, putting it in the medium-rare range.  

A Word About Reverse Searing

That's one thing I see that a lot of people seem to miss about the reverse sear.  As originally developed by Chris Finney, the reverse sear meant for the meat to rest after the roast until it's internal temperature has finished rising and actual begins to fall.  Most people I see are slow roasting the meat and then searing just as soon as they can get the grill temp north of 500°f.   I think the resting until the internal temp begins to fall is an important part of the process and produces superior results.  

I threw some asparagus (toss in oil, salt, garlic, pepper) on to cook while I seared the tri-tip.

I used Adam Perry Lang's "board dressing" concept and drizzled the cutting board with reduced balsamic, quality olive oil, some herbs, Hawaiian black salt, garlic and pepper. 

The board dressing mixes with the meat juices as you slice and....oh muh gawd! The reason that I have no plated pictures is because we stood at the cutting board and ate it, dredging it through all of that flavor.  It was that good.

On an Instagram pic of the raised grid set up, a follower asked 

"Ok I see you have a cast Iron grate and a top grill. What is the middle thing called and where did you get it. We have a large Egg and just purchased this one curious"

That is a set of GrillGrates.  They are an aftermarket product for just about any grill you can buy that does a lot of things:

1. prevent flare ups, 
2. creates amazing grill marks,
3. provide more even heat distribution, and
4. converts more of the grill's energy to infrared heat.

I saw someone refer to them as a "fad" two weeks ago in a Facebook group.  Well, that "fad" has been going on for over 5 years and keeps growing.  I've been to a few SCA steak cook-offs in the past year and the vast majority of these competition teams are using GrillGrates regardless of the grill they are using.  The proof is in the results.

I think they are a nice accessory for a large kamado grill but for the Mini-Max, I think it's almost a necessity with the coals being so close to the grill grates.  Either that or using a raised grid to add some distance, my sister likes using a Woo rig for that.  

The GrillGrates in my Mini-Max. They make them for just about any grill.

Several folks noticed the different shape and asked about it.  For the BGE Mini-Max, most of them use this model of GrillGrates which is for the Cobb Grill and is the one that appears on the kamado page.  .

I wasn't sure, so I contacted owner Brad Barrett, and he recommended that I get the set for the Smokey Joe.  I think either works fine, just whichever is your preference.  I really like the fit of mine.  The biggest difference is with these fitting snugly, they don't move around when you are trying to scrub them on the grill.

Side view of the GrillGrates.  Yes, it looks like a heat sink if you are into computers, stereos, or other electrical components.  It kind of functions that way too.

Here you can see the GrillGrates after being seasoned.  I grilled a taco seasoned chicken breast (350°f x 4 min a side) and then sliced it up.  We put it on two burritos with lettuce, tomato, sour cream, cheese, taco sauce, and avocado ranch dressing.

You can also flip the GrillGrates for a griddle, although, I prefer just using one of my cast iron inserts or a skillet for that.

So that is what GrillGrates are for those that didn't know - a set of high performance grill grates that stop flare ups, give great sear marks, and converts heat from coals to infrared heat (for a great article on grilling thermodynamics, check in with AmazingRibs). They can fit just about any grill because the company will cut them to custom lengths.

[Standard FTC Disclosure]  GrillGrates and Flame Boss are equipment sponsors for Nibble Me This but we would not use these if we didn't like them.  We use them because they work.  

Salsa Verde Cremosa - Creamy Green Sauce for Fajitas, Nachos, etc

How in the world I have made it until now without having this easy and fast recipe is beyond me. 

I love Tex-Mex and Mexican dishes because they often use up leftovers and are easy to whip up in 30 minutes or less.  My usual go-to condiment for those is a fire roasted salsa, red or green.  This weekend my sister was visiting and mentioned a Salsa Verde Cremosa that Julio E posted on a Facebook forum.  We started looking up recipes and found that many folks use different things for creating creamy salsa verde, such as cream cheese or avocado.  I fired up my Grill Dome kamado grill, modified my salsa verde recipe, and within 20 minutes had my new all time favorite condiment for Tex-Mex foods. 

Like the name implies, it's got the flavor of salsa verde with a fantastically creamier texture.  You can use any chiles that you like in place of the jalapeno or serrano.  For example poblano chiles are only about 1500 Scoville units and would be good for a milder sauce.  I find that usually one of each (jalapeno/serrano) is a good mild heat but you can add up to 3 each to really get it hotter.

Salsa Verde Cremosa
inspired by Julio E.

Ingredients

• 1 pound tomatillos, husks peeled
• 1-3 jalapeno chile
• 1-3 serrano chile
• 1 large onion, peeled and quartered
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• 1/4 cup chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 avocados, peeled and seed removed
•  1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
• Kosher salt to taste (we used about 1 tsp)
• ground black pepper to taste (we did about 3/4 tsp)

Instructions

1. Preheat your grill to high heat (500° or higher)
2. Roast the tomatillos and chiles until charred and blistered, 5-10 minutes.  Grill the onions until you have defined grill marks on the sides.
3. Place the chiles and tomatillos in a medium sized bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Allow to sit for 5 minutes, which will steam the veggies and loosen their skins.
4. Slice the chiles in half, remove the seeds, and roughly scrape off the outer skin with a knife.   Remove the stem core from the tomatillos and scrape off the outer skin with a knife.  Don't worry about this being perfect, you want some char in this for flavor.
5. Place the tomatillo, chiles, onion, garlic, cilantro, chicken stock, and lime juice.  Pulse several times until you get a salsa consistency.  If you get it too watery, just simmer it in a small sauce pan until thickened, about 5-10 minutes.
6. Add the avocados, sugar, and pulse a few more times until smooth and creamy.  
7. Season with salt and pepper. 

You can char the veggies in a roasting basket such as this.

Or you can grill them directly on the grill grates like this.  I'd like to say I planned this so you could see examples of each, but honestly, we had to run to the store for more stuff so the veggies got cooked in two batches.

There's not a lot to show after this since it all just goes into a blender but here's some of the stuff we ate with it.  I marinated a skirt steak with 2/3 cup oil, 1/3 cup lime juice, and a tablespoon of my Fajita Rub.  I grilled some bell peppers and onions on my Grill Dome at about 450-500°F. 

Then grilled the strip steak for about 3-4 minutes a side.

After a long day of cleaning out the BBQ trailer, this was a great quick meal.

For the quesadillas, I had some beef brisket left over from a practice cook.  I put about 1/4 cup of chopped brisket, 1/4 cup of shredded cheese, and 1/4 cup of leftover peppers/onions on a tortilla.  Then I pan fried that in shallow oil for about 1 minute per side until golden brown.

I love this stuff by itself on chips or as a condiment for dishes like these.  The avocado takes an already good salsa and takes it over the top.  If you're not into making your own, I guess you could add avocado to store bought salsa verde, but I definitely prefer the homemade version!