World steak championship cookoff on Food network

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Smokey Al Gold

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Anyone watch this? I'm not saying they're doing it wrong but these guys are cooking their steaks at lower temps it seems. One team complained because their pit was running hot at 450. Most of the therms you see on the pits are around 300-350. They also are cooking on huge pits where the coals are pretty far below the meat. The steaks they turned in just didn't seem to have much caramelization on them or grill marks if any color at all. Some even put them in covered foil pans and let them steam in the pit for a while. I'm just wondering is this how steak competitions are? I usually do them pretty hot and fast for a nice crust. Just curious good steak houses really sear the steaks and I know that caramalization creates great flavors. Watching this made me wonder how the steak comps are done.
 
That has me wondering too... I like to throw a nice thick ribeye in the smoker at 180F for about 1.5 hours then on a 500F grill for 4 minutes a side. All it needs is some salt and peppa and a cold beer.
 
I like my steaks cooked hot and fast over a mesquite fire. Salt and peppa to taste. Steak sauce is an insult to a good steak.
 
I use the Finney Method for all my steaks. Put em on my Primo @250 til the steak reads about 118. Wrap it in foil, open the vents, get the grill to 500+ then a quick sear. After my first time doing them with a Reverse Sear, I've never turned back.:thumb:
 
I've never done a steak comp but my guess for the low temp is to expose the meat to more smoke. Those steaks sure look good though!
 
jagardn said:
I use the Finney Method for all my steaks. Put em on my Primo @250 til the steak reads about 118. Wrap it in foil, open the vents, get the grill to 500+ then a quick sear. After my first time doing them with a Reverse Sear, I've never turned back.:thumb:
Click to expand...

That's more or less how I do mine on a kettle grill. I add a wood chunk or two and lightly smoke the meat on the cool side, then finish with a hot sear. I also do it the same way fro tri-tip. Nothing better!
 
I usually sear first then finish indirect for really thick steaks and use wood chunks for smoke. I always cook with wood chunks now. Most of these guys weren't doing a reverse sear most were just a regular steak without much caramelization cooked over a medium low temp. I know there's lots of ways to do this I just thought it was odd they didn't really sear their steaks considering one of the judges said that was part of the judging criteria. Guess I'm going to have to go show them how its done :heh:
 
I've always felt that if you have to put any sauce on the steak, then you are not happy with the way the steak tastes. :heh: :thumb:
 
You need to remember the teams are also feeding the public, assuming that was Magnolia Arkansas. Approximately 5000 steaks. Blossomfestival.org I think.
 
I recall drbbq cooked this contest a few years back...

Jorge didn't attend with Ray at a steak comp ?



my guess is this steak comp is similar in ways to comp BBQ in that appearance is a factor.. so a super charred exterior probably won't go too far.

I also recall reading once that the rules require the steaks to be cooked to "medium" doneness.
 
I was there with him the last two years. It's a fun event. Entry is $100, they provide the meat, charcoal, and ice.
 
I never heard it called the Finney method, but I do something similar. Heat it up slow offset on the kettle at around 250-275, and finish over the coals at over 500 for a minute each side. I don't use foil. Awesome stuff.
 
Some of those guys cook hundreds of steaks for the public but only one steak gets turned in for judging, so you never know what they really did or if those teams were any good. I know one team that brings a big offset to cook most of their steaks and a Big Green Egg to cook the serious ones. The big offset would probably be the thing the TV guys would focus on.
You have to cook at least 30 steaks and we did that on a couple Eggs. I used a cast iron grate to make kickass grill marks and we finished pretty high the first year and middle of the pack the second year. It's a lot of fun.
 
drbbq said:
Some of those guys cook hundreds of steaks for the public but only one steak gets turned in for judging, so you never know what they really did or if those teams were any good. I know one team that brings a big offset to cook most of their steaks and a Big Green Egg to cook the serious ones. The big offset would probably be the thing the TV guys would focus on.
You have to cook at least 30 steaks and we did that on a couple Eggs. I used a cast iron grate to make kickass grill marks and we finished pretty high the first year and middle of the pack the second year. It's a lot of fun.
Click to expand...

You know that really makes sense now. I guess most of the footage is what they are doing for the public as opposed to the actual steak that gets turned in. There have been several local steak cook offs and I've really thought about trying it so all this info really helps me get a better idea of how things work. It looks like alot of fun which is why I love grilling and bbq'ing to begin with. I really need to get the cast iron grate for my kettle.
 
I always cook my steaks between 300-350. It takes a little longer but to me it really helps get an even cooking of the meat.
 
HHpepper said:
I like my steaks cooked hot and fast over a mesquite fire. Salt and peppa to taste. Steak sauce is an insult to a good steak.
Click to expand...

What he said. The only thing I would add is garlic salt or rub with garlic.
 
The reverse sear method is one that I have used for top sirloins, slow at first and then blasting it at the end. The reason that seems to work so well is that by searing it first, and then putting it in "the dwell" as they say tends to not cook the steak evenly all the way through. At least that's been my experience.

Lately, there has been some talk of the "hot tubbing" method which works very similiar. You have your meat in a vacuum pack, in a tub of hot water. When the meat temp reads 110-125 (depending on how you like them cooked) they're pulled and seared immediately giving you an almost perfect steak. Charred on the outside and the inside is the same from the middle all the way out to the end. My only complaint about this method is the steak spends very little time on the grill itself. But damn those things are perfect that way.

I should really start taking some pics.
 
I've cooked twice in the Georgia Great Steak Cook-Off (GA state championship) & finished 1st runnerup both years. The first year, appearance hurt us. I got the grill too hot & scorched instead of seared the turn in steak. This year, I got the fire right & had some nice cross-hatch grill marks. 3rd thru 10th were all bunched with less than 2 points separating #3 & #10. We were 6 points ahead of #3, but the GC kicked our butts by 8.

I cooked on a CG Super Pro with most of the charcoal bedded up on the right half of the grill. I seared our 2 turn in candidates then moved them over the cooler side to finish cooking. I'm practicing the reverse sear method for next year. The winner did a reverse sear type method. He smothered it in a wine/mushroom sauce to start, then seared it at the end.

Most steak comps furnish the steaks & the teams have to cook extra steaks for the organizer to sell. That is mostly what you see cooking on the show. there was a show about a steak cookoff in Texas & that one showed more of the teams cooking the comp steaks.
 
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