Caveman steak directly on the coals...

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Baby Back Maniac

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I've been wanting to do this since Alton Brown did it like 10 years ago. Finally getting around to it.

I cooked the steak directly on the coals and I was hoping to do this experiment side by side with how I normally cook steaks to see which one sears better. Looking back at it now, it was kind of a silly comparison (very different results) but the video was a lot of fun. I hope you guys enjoy it!

https://youtu.be/x5-w26CAFr8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5-w26CAFr8&t
 
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Cool experiment I thought I wanted to try. Thanks for saving me the trouble.
 
tom b said:
Cool experiment I thought I wanted to try. Thanks for saving me the trouble.
Click to expand...

Lol. No problem. You should definitely try it at some point though. It was fun. A surprising number of people who did this challenge used Kingsford. They said it tasted fine but I'd still recommend lump if you do it.
 
While I admit to a certain amount of curiosity I just can’t see it being my favorite. Is the a situation on which you’d recommend it or is it really just to say you’ve done it?


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I watched the video earlier today.I have done caveman steak cooks on live fire embers,turned out Really good.I hate that your trial was not satisfactory.I never had any ash or embers stick to the steak.
 
Hoss said:
I watched the video earlier today.I have done caveman steak cooks on live fire embers,turned out Really good.I hate that your trial was not satisfactory.I never had any ash or embers stick to the steak.
Click to expand...

Any suggestions on how to do it differently?
 
I've tried caveman - got the sticking embers and it's just not worth the work and novelty.

I'm sticking with searing over a grate - tastes just as good.
 
I have done caveman and both turned out great Used lump and did not have problems with embers My son said it was my best steak
 
Baby Back Maniac said:
Any suggestions on how to do it differently?
Click to expand...

I had a lot bigger( hotter) fire from burned down wood embers. Put the steak on,turned once,placed on another spot on the fire,like you said.Nothing stuck and the sear was divine.It takes a BIG,HOT bed of coals.For the weak at heart,placing a grate directly on the coals works too.They gotta be nuclear hot.
 
Good videos.:thumb:
I tried the direct method a few times, a couple by accident.:twitch:
didn't do a lot for me
 
Baby Back Maniac said:
Any suggestions on how to do it differently?
Click to expand...

I've never done it, but I like watching other folks do it on YouTube. I just haven't gotten the nerve yet.

When I was watching your video, I couldn't tell if you did it or not, but I've seen other folks kind of blow off any excess ash from the coals before dropping the steaks on. I also wonder how the thickness of the steak affects it, for example, if you had done a thicker steak, could you have let it sit in the coals longer for a better sear?

Quite honestly, ever since I started doing Dave's cold grate reverse sear, I've been convinced that's the best way to cook a steak.
 
I have seen the Alton Brown episode where he did this. As I recall once the coals were ready, he used the blower end of a vacuum to blow all the soot off the coals, this also super heats them. Then he laid down the steak.

I would humbly state that "Serious Eats" was the best production from the Food Network, probably is still the best that network ever produced, but I quit watching when it became the "Stupid Contests" network.
 
I tried this years ago (also because of AB). I did it over briquettes. Talk about a pain in the ash to remove the ash. Much like the goggles it did nothing for me.


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bschoen said:
I have seen the Alton Brown episode where he did this. As I recall once the coals were ready, he used the blower end of a vacuum to blow all the soot off the coals, this also super heats them. Then he laid down the steak.

I would humbly state that "Serious Eats" was the best production from the Food Network, probably is still the best that network ever produced, but I quit watching when it became the "Stupid Contests" network.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I did the same thing with a electric leaf blower we keep out back. Usually I'm annoyed that it's not powerful enough but for this application it was perfect. lol.

I never say Serious Eats but I've found myself on that guys website a few times since then. Probably the only reason I ended up watching Alton was because my wife liked Food Network and Alton's slot fell right at when we usually went to bed. I'm glad it did. It's a funny thing my wife and I shared and both enjoyed.
 
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