My favorite way to do a steak! I smoke it for about an hour on the Traeger then do the sear on GrillGrates on the Memphis (maybe 2 to 2 1/2 minutes per side) at 650.
Many pellet pit users rave about this method. I can't seem to get it right. You might be able to teach me something here, Hub. First, I only smoked them for ⅓ of your time.
Then—
1. Are the steaks refrigerator cold when you start the smoke?
2. What is the pit temperature setting when you're smoking them?
3. Do you let the pit come up to the set temperature before inserting the steaks?
Glad to be of assistance -- here's my method but you'll still want to play with it a bit because of variances in cookers, etc.:
1. Steaks should be just fresh out of the fridge -- also, I don't put any rub (I use Montreal Steak, usually) on for the first phase.
2. My old Traeger holds an average of about 140-160 on "smoke". If yours is significantly higher you may want to cut the smoking time back a bit so as to not get a pre-cooked steak. After an hour, mine (minimum one inch thick, prefer 1.5") are sort of gray looking and are warm to the touch.
3. "Temperature" on a Traeger is an elusive term
-- Yes, it is smoking right along when I put them in.
After the smoke phase, I add rub and wrap them in Saran for a bit, putting them back in the fridge if I'm doing a big batch. This intensifies the smokiness.
Give it a shot and tweak as you see fit for your equipment and tastes. I like my steaks medium. If you're going for rare or medium-rare you'll need to shorten the cook a bit. Let me know how it goes . . .
Hub
