Who doesn't like a well cooked rib-eye steak, probably the most tender and flavorful cut of beef. But one could argue that other cuts, such as the tenderloin, are equally as good. But given current pricing for such cuts, is there something over looked and much cheaper that rivals them?
For those in South and parts of Central America, the Picanha is king. For those who don't know, Picanha is actually the cap that sits on top of the Top Sirloin Butt Roast. It's sometimes referred to here as a rump cap or sirloin cap. The Top-Butt is made up of the Culotte muscle and the Top Sirloin (minus some trimmings). So, if you have a butcher that deals with Top Sirloin, just ask for the Culotte, which is triangular in size. They are beloved by the South Americans and used all the time in Brazilian style churrascarias usually done on skewers and sliced onto you plate like such .....
So as my first challenge, I decided to cook one along side a rib eye, but even more so a cap steak (the top cut or spinalis dorsi portion of the rib eye) rolled into pinwheels. I decided to cook both like traditional thick steaks whole, then slice into strips against the grain. They say this is the best steak in the world so let's see.....
I salt brined all the meat over night and made up a simple rub of 3 parts pepper to 1 part each of granulated onion and garlic powders. For the Picanha purist it's only rock salt, but I wanted both steaks done the way I would normally do them.
Now how best to cook them? Normally Picanha is grilled over an open wood fire, or better said here in the States, via Santa Maria style. It just so happens I was watching a YouTube channel by Baby Back Maniac where he decided to convert his WSM into a sort of mock Santa Maria cooker. Why not, it's free ? So I went ahead and followed his lead. Took my WSM and stripped it of all by the bottom with the burn grates of course, the middle section and the two cook grates. Although not adjustable, the grates give you two zones to work with for grilling. Perfect. I decided to start with some lit charcoal to establish my bed .......
....then just added some oak sticks and a couple of mesquite mini-logs (was all I had on hand) to start a real wood fire in the bottom. Here's a view of the setup through the door (which I closed). I opened the vents wide for good air flow ......
....notice the bottom "zone" which is ideal for searing. The fire got immediately hot, like 600* hot (may have over done it) and it took about 20 minutes to settle down to 300* at which point I placed my steaks. Remarkably 300* held steady at the top grate for the next 30-40 minutes of cooking time once the fire settled down. Here are the steaks getting pretty close to being done .....
....we really like out meat rare so they were all pulled between 125-128* of IT, rested for 15-20 minutes then sliced......
I gotta tell yea, the taste of grilling with real wood for a change (versus propane or charcoal) is SOOOO much better, that's number one. I've done this on my offset's fire box but it gets so hot that it's hard to control, this is much better and easier. Obviously a real Santa Maria pit would be ideal.
Secondly, I am now a huge fan of Picanha !!! I had equal portions of both steaks and quite honestly, they tasted almost exactly the same to me, tender, delicious. They both were done almost the same as you can see. I would say Picanha isn't necessarily better than rib eye or cap steaks (at least in this instance), but it's certainly as good. Now I see why they go nuts over this cut of beef !!! And now the kicker, I paid about $12.99/# for the cap steaks and about $6.99/# for the Picanha. Picanha certainly wins on price alone all things being equal !!!
If you get a chance and can find one, try a Picanha. It's an amazingly tender and juicy cut of meat !! And if you are a cheap skate like me, rig yourself up a poor man's Santa Maria cooker, it's well worth the effort !!! In Part II we'll look at tri-tip, stay tuned !!!!
Se cuide! Troutman is out !!!!
For those in South and parts of Central America, the Picanha is king. For those who don't know, Picanha is actually the cap that sits on top of the Top Sirloin Butt Roast. It's sometimes referred to here as a rump cap or sirloin cap. The Top-Butt is made up of the Culotte muscle and the Top Sirloin (minus some trimmings). So, if you have a butcher that deals with Top Sirloin, just ask for the Culotte, which is triangular in size. They are beloved by the South Americans and used all the time in Brazilian style churrascarias usually done on skewers and sliced onto you plate like such .....
So as my first challenge, I decided to cook one along side a rib eye, but even more so a cap steak (the top cut or spinalis dorsi portion of the rib eye) rolled into pinwheels. I decided to cook both like traditional thick steaks whole, then slice into strips against the grain. They say this is the best steak in the world so let's see.....
I salt brined all the meat over night and made up a simple rub of 3 parts pepper to 1 part each of granulated onion and garlic powders. For the Picanha purist it's only rock salt, but I wanted both steaks done the way I would normally do them.
Now how best to cook them? Normally Picanha is grilled over an open wood fire, or better said here in the States, via Santa Maria style. It just so happens I was watching a YouTube channel by Baby Back Maniac where he decided to convert his WSM into a sort of mock Santa Maria cooker. Why not, it's free ? So I went ahead and followed his lead. Took my WSM and stripped it of all by the bottom with the burn grates of course, the middle section and the two cook grates. Although not adjustable, the grates give you two zones to work with for grilling. Perfect. I decided to start with some lit charcoal to establish my bed .......
....then just added some oak sticks and a couple of mesquite mini-logs (was all I had on hand) to start a real wood fire in the bottom. Here's a view of the setup through the door (which I closed). I opened the vents wide for good air flow ......
....notice the bottom "zone" which is ideal for searing. The fire got immediately hot, like 600* hot (may have over done it) and it took about 20 minutes to settle down to 300* at which point I placed my steaks. Remarkably 300* held steady at the top grate for the next 30-40 minutes of cooking time once the fire settled down. Here are the steaks getting pretty close to being done .....
....we really like out meat rare so they were all pulled between 125-128* of IT, rested for 15-20 minutes then sliced......
I gotta tell yea, the taste of grilling with real wood for a change (versus propane or charcoal) is SOOOO much better, that's number one. I've done this on my offset's fire box but it gets so hot that it's hard to control, this is much better and easier. Obviously a real Santa Maria pit would be ideal.
Secondly, I am now a huge fan of Picanha !!! I had equal portions of both steaks and quite honestly, they tasted almost exactly the same to me, tender, delicious. They both were done almost the same as you can see. I would say Picanha isn't necessarily better than rib eye or cap steaks (at least in this instance), but it's certainly as good. Now I see why they go nuts over this cut of beef !!! And now the kicker, I paid about $12.99/# for the cap steaks and about $6.99/# for the Picanha. Picanha certainly wins on price alone all things being equal !!!
If you get a chance and can find one, try a Picanha. It's an amazingly tender and juicy cut of meat !! And if you are a cheap skate like me, rig yourself up a poor man's Santa Maria cooker, it's well worth the effort !!! In Part II we'll look at tri-tip, stay tuned !!!!
Se cuide! Troutman is out !!!!
