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Afterburner Method & The Coals


sotv

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I have bought one of those Proq Afterburners for my chimney starter and intend having ago at steaks and possibly pancakes on my skillet if it arrives by tomorrow.

What is the best way to cook over the coals with one of these red hot and still flaming a bit or white hot coals

I would assume red hot with a flame, but intend cooking thick cut sirloin and not having done it this way before, I would expect there will be some serious flare ups with red hot coals, with the steaks

Edited by sotv
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I did it last week . Loved the flare ups as it charred nicely 

chris mason makes grills custom fit to chimney starters . I used the middle of my WBS grate . 

I let coals go white a bit . I was cooking rump from Humphries which had a nice bit of fat . I used tongs and a fork to hang them over flame when it flared . 

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Really tempted with the ribeye cowboy steaks in Lidl at the moment, but a bit ambitious for a first time, I reckon 😀. So will stick with the thick cut sirloin from Morrisons butcher counter on offer this week, i think. Will go for a reverse sear for my wife, who likes her steak well done and cook mine over the afterburner and try for a medium rare/medium steak.

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10 hours ago, sotv said:

Really tempted with the ribeye cowboy steaks in Lidl at the moment, but a bit ambitious for a first time, I reckon 😀. So will stick with the thick cut sirloin from Morrisons butcher counter on offer this week, i think. Will go for a reverse sear for my wife, who likes her steak well done and cook mine over the afterburner and try for a medium rare/medium steak.

Aye definitely will be medium as opposed to well done on the afterburner.

Edited by Raptor72
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Finally got to cook it tonight and I am a convert, Steak cooked really well to just slightly more than medium rare and flavoursome and so juicy in the middle. Cooked it from raw for just under 3 minutes each side after patting it dry and sprinkling with sea salt.

Would probably try to cook it next time just before the charcoal turns to white/grey still with a bit of flame as there wasn't that much flaring, and although a good maillard on the outside formed a bit more flame and flaring would have done a better one.

Used sirloin steak, but would choose a steak with a bit more fat to it  next time like ribeye.

Just did a reverse sear on my wife's well done precooked steak for about 90 seconds each side and she liked it and the fat went crispy, which made her happy.

ProQ fitted my chimney starter perfectly and the steak didn't stick once even without oil on it and cleaned up really easily after use.. But I'm sure a decent grill over the top of a starter would work just as well, if not as secure.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Managed to cook a TV chef type steak you see them show off on the cookery programmes, for the first time in my life today, with the afterburner , seared on the outside and the fat just dissolved, couple of mm of cooked meat from the outside, in on each side and the middle still pinky red. But no blood, or red juices oozing out when you cut into it and flooding the plate. I would have been chuffed if that had been served to me in a restaurant.

This time I cooked it with the coals still glowing orange and the flames still flickering from them. Used a thick cut rib-eye about 350g and did each side for about 90 seconds, left to stand for 3 minutes and then put it back on for 90 seconds each side and left to stand for a couple of minutes again before devouring, with a mushroom and onion dip and some lamb kidneys. nom nom

Duck breast next to try I think, see if I can get that pinky middle you see on the TV and in restaurants with no blood oozing...😀

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14 minutes ago, Justin said:

Nice one mate. Personally rare and bloody is good but each to their own taste. Any photos?  Well done!

No piccies this time I am afraid. But as you say everybody's idea of what a rare steak should be are different. You would definitely class this as rare if it was served to you. Just no flooded plate of blood, just natural juices that the steak and kidneys mopped up perfectly.

Edited by sotv
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Fair enough but I have been in many a restaurant in France Where my family live a there definition of rare is blue.   Nice one. Sounds like a lovely steak. I cook them sous vide then sear and can get a rare red steak with no blood.  

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