No pun intended, but if it fits...
One of my favorite groceries had cryopack flank steaks for $3.19/lb so I picked out a 6 lb. bag and brought it home. They also had fresh brats on sale for $2/lb so I got a 3 lb package of those too. :D
I smashed several large garlic cloves, added fresh ground black pepper and Hungarian paprika (because it adds some hotness along with the color) and about 1/3 cup of peanut oil to the meat and rolled it around until I thought I had the steaks more or less evenly covered. Then it went back onto the refrigerator while I started my fire.
I stoked my WSM with what I call a modified Minion lay(*) consisting of briquettes mixed with hickory, cherry and black walnut.
(*) It's modified because I didn't make a pit in the middle for the lit coals, I spread them over the entire top for a faster start. But in the spirit of Minion, most of the coals go into the charcoal ring unlit.
I used less than the full gallon of water that I ordinarily use in the water pan.
About 15 minutes after I put the lit coals on and closed the smoker, the dome temp (built in thermometer) hit 225° and the smoker temp read 266° on my Redi-Chek. It was still smoking quite a bit, but I put the meat on anyway. ;) In addition to the flank steak, I had enough room for all 3 lb of the brats.
The temp climbed higher than it usually does, perhaps due to the light meat load and not so much water in the pan. When the grate temp hit 305°, I closed one of the bottom vents. (Dome temp was at 225° at this point.) At 340° on the grate I closed another bottom vent, leaving only one bottom vent open. By this time the smoke had also subsided and the dome temp was 245°.
With the reduced air flow, the temperature drifted down slowly until it hit about 330° an hour after I put the meat on. At that point I took the beef off. I wanted it off while it was still rare. I could see the meat juices pooling on the upper surface and decided that it was time. I left the brats on another 20 minutes because I don't like my pork rare.
I should have let the meat rest a bit before I sampled it but with that delectable fragrance of lightly smoked beef, there simply was no time. :D It was delicious! Make that Delicious. Some parts were a bit chewy, but flank steak has a fair amount of connective tissue so I expect that. The juices that came off it were still red and it was pretty rare. That's the way I like my steak. And besides, the missus and I can't eat 6 lb of flank steak in one sitting! I'll cut it into strips and throw them on a hot cast iron pan to reheat. They will grill some more and still be rare inside. What we don't finish that way will go into the small Dutch oven on the smallest burner at the lowest setting. (A crock pot would probably work too) and simmer for hours. After that treatment, the meat is well done, but still juicy and the long cook leaves it falling apart.
The smoked brats came out good too! I like to use sausage to fill up any empty grill space when I fire up the smoker.
Sorry, no pictures. This was just a quick project. But since the results came out so good, I thought I'd share with the rest of you.
best,
walt
One of my favorite groceries had cryopack flank steaks for $3.19/lb so I picked out a 6 lb. bag and brought it home. They also had fresh brats on sale for $2/lb so I got a 3 lb package of those too. :D
I smashed several large garlic cloves, added fresh ground black pepper and Hungarian paprika (because it adds some hotness along with the color) and about 1/3 cup of peanut oil to the meat and rolled it around until I thought I had the steaks more or less evenly covered. Then it went back onto the refrigerator while I started my fire.
I stoked my WSM with what I call a modified Minion lay(*) consisting of briquettes mixed with hickory, cherry and black walnut.
(*) It's modified because I didn't make a pit in the middle for the lit coals, I spread them over the entire top for a faster start. But in the spirit of Minion, most of the coals go into the charcoal ring unlit.
I used less than the full gallon of water that I ordinarily use in the water pan.
About 15 minutes after I put the lit coals on and closed the smoker, the dome temp (built in thermometer) hit 225° and the smoker temp read 266° on my Redi-Chek. It was still smoking quite a bit, but I put the meat on anyway. ;) In addition to the flank steak, I had enough room for all 3 lb of the brats.
The temp climbed higher than it usually does, perhaps due to the light meat load and not so much water in the pan. When the grate temp hit 305°, I closed one of the bottom vents. (Dome temp was at 225° at this point.) At 340° on the grate I closed another bottom vent, leaving only one bottom vent open. By this time the smoke had also subsided and the dome temp was 245°.
With the reduced air flow, the temperature drifted down slowly until it hit about 330° an hour after I put the meat on. At that point I took the beef off. I wanted it off while it was still rare. I could see the meat juices pooling on the upper surface and decided that it was time. I left the brats on another 20 minutes because I don't like my pork rare.
I should have let the meat rest a bit before I sampled it but with that delectable fragrance of lightly smoked beef, there simply was no time. :D It was delicious! Make that Delicious. Some parts were a bit chewy, but flank steak has a fair amount of connective tissue so I expect that. The juices that came off it were still red and it was pretty rare. That's the way I like my steak. And besides, the missus and I can't eat 6 lb of flank steak in one sitting! I'll cut it into strips and throw them on a hot cast iron pan to reheat. They will grill some more and still be rare inside. What we don't finish that way will go into the small Dutch oven on the smallest burner at the lowest setting. (A crock pot would probably work too) and simmer for hours. After that treatment, the meat is well done, but still juicy and the long cook leaves it falling apart.
The smoked brats came out good too! I like to use sausage to fill up any empty grill space when I fire up the smoker.
Sorry, no pictures. This was just a quick project. But since the results came out so good, I thought I'd share with the rest of you.
best,
walt
