Finished my smoker build yesterday, and did a small pork loin to test it. Came out perfect, but that was just a snack. My first real meal was a thick cut ribeye with a bourbon sauce.
Ribeye is easily my favorite cut of meat, and discovering and perfecting new ways to cook it is a hobby. So when I decided to build a smoker, I knew it was going to be on the list.
Last week, I saw some tomahawks at Walmart for $11something/lb, and figured that would be a good place to start. I don't really care for the bone, or the unnecessary extra cost, but wanted something thick. Fortunately, by the time I got there Saturday afternoon, they were out. I was a little disappointed at the time, because I thought the only other option for ribeye that thick would be a higher priced piece from another store. I looked around and was surprised to find these thick cut ribeyes for $12.49/lb. The thickest one was pushing 2", so I grabbed it. It looks a like an odd shape from the packaging, but it really wasn't a bad cut of meat.
I gave it about a few hours in the fridge with a generous coating of kosher salt and garlic pepper. I took it out about an hour and a half before cooking to let it warm up.
It went into the smoker at about 275°. I used hardwood charcoal with a lump of hickory. In the water pan, I poured in about a quarter cup of bourbon and then added water. I ended up losing a little heat in the smoker and it settled in at around 250° for the rest of the smoke. It took just over an hour to hit 130°IT. I rubbed on an extra thin coat of olive oil and threw it on the gas grill to finish. My grill runs extremely hot when all 6 burners are on high (about 700°) so I gave it about a minute and a half on each side.
I let that rest while I made my sauce and sliced it right before serving.
Perfect level of pink for my household. And held a nice consistent color, even with the hot sear at the end.
Here's the finished product. The wife and one out of three kids loved it. So this should become a regular thing. And naturally, I had to pair the bourbon sauce with a side sipper.
Also, this is the recipe I used for the sauce. The only difference is that I used regular bourbon instead of maple, and doubled the amount of stock because it was just too thick and floury. But that might be partially due to the fact that we recently upgraded to a gas stove from electric and I'm still getting used to it.
https://www.kudoskitchenbyrenee.com/steak-bourbon-mushroom-sauce/
Ribeye is easily my favorite cut of meat, and discovering and perfecting new ways to cook it is a hobby. So when I decided to build a smoker, I knew it was going to be on the list.
Last week, I saw some tomahawks at Walmart for $11something/lb, and figured that would be a good place to start. I don't really care for the bone, or the unnecessary extra cost, but wanted something thick. Fortunately, by the time I got there Saturday afternoon, they were out. I was a little disappointed at the time, because I thought the only other option for ribeye that thick would be a higher priced piece from another store. I looked around and was surprised to find these thick cut ribeyes for $12.49/lb. The thickest one was pushing 2", so I grabbed it. It looks a like an odd shape from the packaging, but it really wasn't a bad cut of meat.
I gave it about a few hours in the fridge with a generous coating of kosher salt and garlic pepper. I took it out about an hour and a half before cooking to let it warm up.
It went into the smoker at about 275°. I used hardwood charcoal with a lump of hickory. In the water pan, I poured in about a quarter cup of bourbon and then added water. I ended up losing a little heat in the smoker and it settled in at around 250° for the rest of the smoke. It took just over an hour to hit 130°IT. I rubbed on an extra thin coat of olive oil and threw it on the gas grill to finish. My grill runs extremely hot when all 6 burners are on high (about 700°) so I gave it about a minute and a half on each side.
I let that rest while I made my sauce and sliced it right before serving.
Perfect level of pink for my household. And held a nice consistent color, even with the hot sear at the end.
Here's the finished product. The wife and one out of three kids loved it. So this should become a regular thing. And naturally, I had to pair the bourbon sauce with a side sipper.
Also, this is the recipe I used for the sauce. The only difference is that I used regular bourbon instead of maple, and doubled the amount of stock because it was just too thick and floury. But that might be partially due to the fact that we recently upgraded to a gas stove from electric and I'm still getting used to it.
https://www.kudoskitchenbyrenee.com/steak-bourbon-mushroom-sauce/