Thermoblog April 12, 2018 By Martin
What is a caveman steak?Caveman steaks, also called dirty steaks, fire steaks, or even Eisenhower steaks (after the president, who liked to cook very large sirloins this way), are thick cut steaks (1.5–2†thick) cooked directly on the coals of a lump charcoal fire. This is literally cooking at its most basic.
Steak cooked on the coals: why it worksHOT coalsWhen we usually talk about searing a steak, we recommend heating your cast-iron pan to scorching heat. This goes beyond that. Real lump charcoal has a tastier, smokier flavor than briquettes, but more importantly, it burns hotter. How hot? Well, we pulled out an IRK-2 infrared thermometer to check the heat of the coals before we started cooking. The IRK-2 has a maximum temperature range of 1022°F (550°C), and it read “Hi,†indicating a temperature in excess of its maximum reading. So we pulled out an Industrial IR, with a higher maximum temperature of 1400°F (760°C) and found the temperature of the lump coals to peak just above 1200°F (677°C). If you want a good sear on your steak, that temperature is going to give it to you.
What about the ash?The first thing everyone asks about cooking meat directly on the coals is, “What about all the ash?†And the honest answer is, “It’s really not a problem.†Before you throw your steaks on the fire—literally—fan off any excess ash from the surface of the coals with a newspaper, palm leaf, or any piece of cardboard you have lying around. When you put the wet, oxygen-impermeable steak on the coals, the part that is touching the meat gets, in essence, extinguished, and can’t reignite. It produces no ash during the cooking. All the heat in the coals will be generated within the coal itself, not on the exterior.
More:
https://blog.thermoworks.com/2018/04/caveman-steak-cooking-right-on-the-coals/?utm_source=Nl-2018Apr14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=TypeKProbes&utm_content=inbox&utm_campaign=April2018-Caveman-Steak-cs
