Smoking brisket, ribs, grilling chicken, etc I've gotten pretty good at over the years. However, grilling a great steak seems to be the simplest thing in the world but for whatever reason getting a perfect steak done continues to elude me.

I've tried Sous Vide and sear, I've tried just high temp sear to bring up, and yesterday I smoked them at 225 solid till 120F then seared them on a scorching hot grill. The flavor was perfect, but like all my other attempts they just came out tough and chewy. I'm buying high quality meat. I'm dry brining them for two hours before cooking. Im just at a loss to how I'm screwing this up. Any thoughts?

I don't really SV ribeyes. I save that for chuck and tri tip roasts.

For ribeye id skip the dry brine, salt/pepper and just put over a hot wood fire til 128. Let rest. Then of course some A1.

Do you order ribeyes in at restaurants? Maybe you just don't like them. They have great flavor, but there are more tender steaks out there.

I've never dry brined a ribeye and I personally think sous vide is overrated and do it for nothing. Salt and pepper on each side then get the grill as hot as possible and drop them on the grill for enough time to get them medium or medium rare depending on my mood. Let the rest for 10-15 minutes then serve. It is delicious and not chewy.

Dry brine needs 24 hours or so to penetrate the meat, and then needs to be rinsed off before cooking. Two hours will just pull out the moisture.

Marinate meat for an hour. Get the grill to 500+. Slap on the grill, each side 6 minutes quarter turm after 3 minutes. Hold for an extra two minutes. Rest, eat.

Define high quality. Are we talking 2" thick prime Ribeyes or the guy in the truck selling "high quality" ribeyes 20 for $29? Also, I prefer Ribeye cut from bones 6-8. Steaks from bones 10-12 are almost a different cut IMO.

Agree with Rexter on the salt. I salt steaks right before cooking. You aren't dry-brining in 2 hours nor do you want to dry brine a high quality steak.

Not having success on the grill? Maybe you should try cast iron. IMO, it's the superior cooking method anyway. Only steaks that hit my grill are flat-Iron, hanger, and skirt.

Finally, Bruce Almighty may have touched on it. I think Ribeyes are by far one of the most overrated foods out there. When I buy them, it's usually because someone else asked for them.

120 seems a little high for a reverse sear. When you blast the steak with high heat to sear it, you will easily shoot past 130-135 by the time it's done. I prefer to slow roast them to 105-110, then let them rest about 10-15 minutes while waiting for the fire to get going.

The toughness could also be how you're cutting it too. In my humble opinion, 2" thick steaks need to be sliced first, shingled, and served that way. The muscle fibers are then shorter when you crosscut the individual slices to eat. If you put a whole steak on the plate of that size and cut it, you end up with longer muscle fibers that are going to be tougher.

Aggiemundo said:

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Smoking brisket, ribs, grilling chicken, etc I've gotten pretty good at over the years. However, grilling a great steak seems to be the simplest thing in the world but for whatever reason getting a perfect steak done continues to elude me.

I've tried Sous Vide and sear, I've tried just high temp sear to bring up, and yesterday I smoked them at 225 solid till 120F then seared them on a scorching hot grill. The flavor was perfect, but like all my other attempts they just came out tough and chewy. I'm buying high quality meat. I'm dry brining them for two hours before cooking. Im just at a loss to how I'm screwing this up. Any thoughts?

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Drop the brine things. Get a prime ribeye steak with as much rib cap as possible, salt + pepper right before you throw it on and grill to desired temperature.

Not sure how you are messing up.

Take them out of refrigerator and salt and pepper. Let them warm closer to room temp before putting on grill. About 8 min on each side over medium heat - 350-400 on grill.

Yeah two hours of dry brine sounds like the issue to me. Either brine a good bit longer (like 6 hours) or just drop it altogether.

With that much salt it sounds like you're giving it enough time to leech out liquids but not enough time for them to reabsorb once the salt dissolved leaving your meat dry.

Just salt and pepper a little heavier than you figure then cook via your preferred method.

I'm a fan of ghee in a cast iron skillet on the stove top.

What cuts of steak do you prefer.

Personally I'm a fan of the strip steak.

I have had great luck recently with buying ribeyes at Costco, about an inch and a half thick, sticking them in the oven at any temp (even sticking them in the oven while I'm baking my potatoes at 450*), pulling them at 110-112* and then throwing them on the grill as hot as I can until I get a good looking sear.

They have been incredibly tender and perfect.

Willy Wonka said:

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I have had great luck recently with buying ribeyes at Costco, about an inch and a half thick, sticking them in the oven at any temp (even sticking them in the oven while I'm baking my potatoes at 450*), pulling them at 110-112* and then throwing them on the grill as hot as I can until I get a good looking sear.

They have been incredibly tender and perfect.

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If I'm not mistaken, Costco runs all their steaks through a blade tenderizer. Not that this is always a bad thing, but it will change the texture.

I dry brined some prime ribeyes from H-E-B this weekend. About 1.5" thick. Dry-brined with kosher 24 hours prior. Added coarse black pepper before the cook.

They went on the pellet smoker at 250 until an IT of 110, then reverse seared on a hot cast iron and bathed in garlic butter. Pulled off at 125-130 IT Rested 10 minutes before eating.

Result: extremely tender and salty ribeye. I don't care for a lot of smoke flavor on steaks, and I think this one took on too much. I also think I may have over-salted on the dry brine. Overall, it was a good steak but I wasn't overly impressed with it.

It's easy to over salt with a dry brine.

Basically when I dry brine I just salt something the way I would salt it when I season something to cook. Seems to have worked out pretty well so far.

Costco prime ribe eye caps and strips are money. I smoke on my primo with a 2 zone fire @ 225-250 until IT Is 110/115. Once there I take them off and allow to rest while I bring the Primo up to 500+ where I drop a cast iron camping grate directly on the coals. Quick 45 second to 1 minute sear per side and you're good to go. Lately have been using Meat Church's Holy Cow with a dusting of Jess Pryle's Carnivore Black...best steaks I have cooked.

ValleyRatAg said:

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What cuts of steak do you prefer.

Personally I'm a fan of the strip steak.

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NY Strip is my first choice of "The big 3". Hanger steak is my favorite cut overall.

Crazy. That's my combo too! We sell both in our store and I'm telling everyone I can that it's the best red meat combo I have found. I've done steaks, brisket, and Dino ribs and all 3 are unbelievably good.

From all I have read, seen, put in practice either salt immediately before grilling if you must but if dry brining it must be 24-48 hours in advance.

Anything less and moisture is pulled out but doesn't have a chance to go back in.

Have had good reviews doing reverse sear and seasoning after.

I dry brined a tri-tip last night and did a reverse sear on the grill today. It came out great and a perfect medium rare.

30 min dry brine - and rinse - really helps cheap steaks Taste better than they are. Scientifically proven.

Prime steaks don't need a salt brine IMO.

I've had some of the best steaks in my life reverse searing on my grill. As good if not better than Bohanan's and Chicago Choo House. Salt, prime 2 inch ribeye, very hot grill.

For the best steaks I salt the meat 24-48 hours before and let it sit on a wire rack in the fridge, 2 hours is a bad idea. I don't put enough that it would be considered a brine, I don't rinse off the salt. You want the surface as dry as possible to get a good sear. Just cook on hot cast iron until done, depending on thickness. If it's a really thick steak what I do is put the cast iron pan inside the grill with the lid down and get it as hot as it goes. I put the steak in there and it sears and roasts at the same time. If it's not real thick I'll just cook it on the burner. I don't sous vide steaks, it's not necessary and it's hard to get a good sear because of how much liquid the meat is sitting in when you pull it out of the bag. Once I started seasoning a day before cooking, my steaks went up a level, best way to develop a good crust is dry meat.

Max Power said:

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For the best steaks I salt the meat 24-48 hours before and let it sit on a wire rack in the fridge, 2 hours is a bad idea. I don't put enough that it would be considered a brine, I don't rinse off the salt. You want the surface as dry as possible to get a good sear. Just cook on hot cast iron until done, depending on thickness. If it's a really thick steak what I do is put the cast iron pan inside the grill with the lid down and get it as hot as it goes. I put the steak in there and it sears and roasts at the same time. If it's not real thick I'll just cook it on the burner. I don't sous vide steaks, it's not necessary and it's hard to get a good sear because of how much liquid the meat is sitting in when you pull it out of the bag. Once I started seasoning a day before cooking, my steaks went up a level, best way to develop a good crust is dry meat.

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Amen! The importance of salt hours before cannot be overstated

Where's you're store? I want to try the carnivore black

How do you **** up a ribeye?

Creekstone Outdoor Living
3555 Rayford Rd
Spring TX 77386
Suite 60
713-389-5936

Just off intersection of Grand Parkway and Rayford Rd

We have the Harcore Carnivore black, red, camo, and meatchelada. Also carry their gloves that are good up to 1400 degrees.

When it comes to selecting a ribeye, I always look for ribeyes that come from the Chuck End of the lip-on ribeye roll. Those Ribeyes include the Spinalis and are easily identified by the star fat. I don't think I've ever purchased a ribeye from the loin end, as I'm not a fan of strip steaks.


Chuck End Ribeye

Carnivore black is great. Wife uses it in her Bloody Mary. Have not tried the red

Always think of this scene when a steak thread pops up.

Where do you get your hanger steak from in the SA area? Does Granzin's have it?