On Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:46:20 -0500, "Da Chief"
wrote:

I just finished a fair ribeye for supper that I grilled after marinating in
italian dressing. SWMBO just loves italian dressing and won't eat steak at
home any other way. I on the other hand loathe the stuff as a marinade. She
finally agreed that I could begin hunting around for a marinade we both
might enjoy. I'd certainly appreciate any recommendations, store bought or
homemade. I'm also pondering smoking some steaks, which may be another
solution to that nasty italian dressing. Thoughts on that idea would also be
appreciated.

Here is an approach that wins raves, but is a little heretical (which
of course makes it better). I hear what the purists are saying about
marinading good steaks being a travesty, and in most cases I agree.
But here is a method for cooking Sirloins that once eaten makes it
nearly impossible to go back. It does require a smoker that can also
grill.

Go to your butcher and request on or 2 full center cut Sirloins. Here
is the critical part: 2.25" to 2.5" thick. Yes, that is huge.

Take the steaks home, and trim all the fat, even separating the
sections with silverskin membranes and trim that. Yes I know, you
will then have 1 or 2 large steaks and several "parts" sort of like
tneders.

Take butchers twine, and "assemble" the various parts into
approximately 4" diameter round steaks. For the large ones you
lightly binding them to keep shape. For the "tenders" steaks you will
use a combination of the larger and smaller pieces to assemble the
other 4" bound steaks.

Take a 1 gallon ziplock style freezer back.

Ok so here is the Marinade part.

Place 3 - 4 4" steaks in a bag. Then put in the following
combination:

1 12 oz beer. (nothing as dark as guiness, which has too much
presence, and not any of the water beers - in Texas a Shiner bock is
perfect, or a Negro Modelo, but something in the direction of a Beck
or Harp or even a Bud [which is a little too light], The beer gives
moisture and a hint of grain taste.

1/4 to 1/3 cup of Worchestshire.

8-10 oz of brewed coffee, preferably something better than Folgers.

What? coffee? Once cooked you are not going to taste "COFFEE" but
will detect an undertone of richness in the meat.

Seal taking as much air out as possible. Set in the fridge, turn
after 8-12 hours. I typically marinade these 16 to 24 hours. So just
half and half per side. The marinade wont absorb as much on the side
where the meat rests on the bottom. I actually try to set the bags
upright to maximize the surface absorption.

So here is where things depart on the cooking.

Take the steaks out, pat dry to damp, but not bone dry and season to
your liking. A little (not much) salt and black pepper are fine. Some
of my friend prefer Montreal Steak Seasoning and I will even do that,
but that sometimes sends the purists into seizures.

Many steak chefs will advocate bringing the steaks to room temp. Not
in this approach. This is a 2 stage process. Flash sear over high
heat, then a short smoking period.

I use a ECB Gourmet unit, so I can easily set the lump in the bottom,
then sear the steaks to seal them for 2-3 min per side. Do not burn
them, which is easy to do if the fire is hot.

Then I set up the smoker with hot water in the water pan (you want the
buffer to direct heat, set the steaks on the top grill. Put soaked
hickory or pecan chunks on the coals, then put the cover on. Smoke for
between 20 and 30 min, depending on temp. Measure the temp in the
middle of a steak. 138 to 140 makes a nice medium rare steak. The
coldness of direct from the fridge allows a little more smoking time.
Don't put too many chunks on because heavy fast smoke will be acrid.
You want enough to taste but not overwhelm.

These will not come out barked like brisket, just grilled and roasted
with a smoke finish. They are succulent and rich. Incredible.

I have had $50 steaks at expensive steak houses that would cry if they
were in the presence of steaks cooked with the above method.