One Epic Fail, One Relative Fail

[WNC]

Two chances to grill today, neither one came out great...

Started off this morning with an attempt to make hash browns on the griddle. My goal was to do them as well as Waffle House, didn't happen.

I don't think the griddle was hot enough.



Putting the hash browns on. (this was the last pic, couldn't get them crispy enough, I think I'm giving up on hash browns, I've never been able to get them right...)



Second relative fail was steaks for dinner. Tried the reverse sear for the first time. Wound up over cooking them a bit. Never had that problem with searing first. Think I might just keep with what works...

Some filets, heavy salt and pepper



For steaks, the 'cado gets the call







Served with a blue cheese sauce and broccoli. Came out more medium then I would have liked. We're much more medium rare kind of people



Well there's always next time...

[TheDude]

I haven't had much luck with reverse sear either. To each his own, but it's sear and slide for me.

[Davescprktl]

Happens to the best of us.  I've been there.  At least your kettles look cool!

[SmokenJoe]

Definitely medium  ...  OK, I'll admit I like steak med-rare, BUT I'd eat those beauties in an Oregon-second.  I always sear first (when I sear, don't always sear), 15 count per side, flip, 15 count, etc.  When I get a mahogany color (no or minimum black), I give em the ThermoPen test and go from there                                  SJ

[austin87]

Hashbrowns need A TON of oil, decent heat, and a lot of time undisturbed to crust and brown before flipping them. Like set them on a hot oily griddle, press with spatula, make sure heat is medium-medium+ And don't touch them for 15-20 minutes before messing with them.

It's hard to tell thickness on those but I don't reverse sear unless the meat is minimum 1.5" thick. 2" is ideal from my experience. I've tried before on thinner cuts and it comes out more done than preferred.

I really want to do a 3-4" thick giant porterhouse for 6 or so people. I would definitely reverse sear something like that.

All in all, steaks looks great! A few degrees above ideal temp with a new method is nothing to be ashamed of!

[SixZeroFour]

Hashbrowns need A TON of oil, decent heat, and a lot of time undisturbed to crust and brown before flipping them.

Great advice from austin87 - Without the oil it would be difficult to get them to crisp up rather than stick to the pan. You're essentially making mini French fries in the oil so keep it nice and hot!

As for the steaks, I don't know a single meat eating person that would turn one of those down! plus with the cut being a filet I bet it was still nice and tender. Slight tweak and next time you'll nail it

[Jon]

Hash browns need the water wrung from them. Or they won't brown, they just steam. Grate the potato, put it into a towel and wring the water out. Then yeah, add some oil to the grill and maybe more heat.

Those steaks look great.

[weldboy]

Steaks look great...I like medium, save me one

[crowderjd]

I had the same problem when I tried the reverse sear (I was not brave enough to share my problem here on the site though, so kudos to you).  Last weekend, I did a couple of ribeyes the usual way and they came out great.

[Big Dawg]

I'm a mid-rare kind of guy, too.  But, I certainly wouldn't turn down one of those steaks.





BD

[Jack Fate]

I haven't had much luck with reverse sear either. To each his own, but it's sear and slide for me.

Sear & Slide is most consistent practice for me to

[feeshrman]

I always sear and slide as I like mine med/rare. But I certainly would not turn down one of those. That broccoli looks kind of crispy, I think I see some browning around the edges. How'd ya do that?

[jfbincypress]

Sous vide and sear always nails it, but it's fun to play different strategies on the grill.


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[WNC]

Thanks for all the comments and advice on the hash browns.

I think I'm gonna stick with the sear and slide, and for now leave the hash browns to the professionals...Waffle House.

[MikeRocksTheRed]

Hasbrowns do suck!  You have to really make sure to squeeze as much moisture out of them as possible if you are using fresh potatoes.  I buy the dried hashbrowns from Costco.  They work pretty good, but require way more oil than the carton calls for, higher heat, and more time.  They are good, but take a good 20-25 minutes to properly make which causes me to make them less often than I would like.

I also add some salt, pepper, and garlic powder when cooking them.