Fajitas on the coals

[Johnpv]

Last weekend I made some Fajitas and tried out just cooking everything on the coals.  Like directly on them.  I've seen Alton Brown do this with skirt steak and I thought I would give  it a try.  Though I think I made a few mistakes a long the way.

Here's a pic of the meat that I think stayed in the marinade a bit too long, and I think I should have dried the surface first and salted it before cooking.

This is 1.5 lbs of Skirt Steak I got from Restaurant Depot, (well I got 6 lbs total, split it up into 1.5lbs sections and froze the rest)



I also think I didn't get enough of the silver skin on it off as some pieces ended up really really chewy.

I gave them about 30 - 45 seconds on each side and then directly wrapped up in some aluminum foil.



Then I slapped on the cast iron and got it hot.



and threw on the veggies.

Just salt, black pepper, and some olive oil





Sliced up the meat.  I did not get the crusting on the outside I was hoping for.



In the wrap with some shredded cheese and sour cream.

[LightningBoldtz]

That is an awesome cook.

[austin87]

It needs to be patted dry for sure, and you should only use lump, not briquettes, on a cook directly on the coals. I really like the cast iron and veggies on top, very cool!

[Johnpv]

Thanks lightning!  Austin yeah it's probably hard to tell in the pictures but I actually put a fresh bed of lump down for the steaks to sit on.  The briquettes were just left overs that the fresh lump sat on. 

[Grizz]

isn't there a lot of ash taste on the meat doing it that way?  *shudder* that brings up memories of reaching down and taking a swig outta that half full beer can the morning after a party.  You know the can, the one everyone was using to tap their cigarettes in...*shudder*

[austin87]

@Grizz that's why you use lump instead of briqs (way less ash), and give them a quick blow or fan them off with a paper plate before slapping the meat down on top. Lump is basically pure carbon and burns to nothing. Cigarette ash has all kinds of shit in it that wood ash does not.

[SixZeroFour]

Great cook up John! And a cool twist with going right on the charcoal

Fajitas are so good!

[Winz]

Cave Man Style! 


I am sitting here thinking about how much grate-cleaning time this can save...


Thanks for sharing.


Winz

[Johnpv]

Thanks guys, and yeah I paper plate fanned the lump first, and there was pretty much no ash on the meat.  There were a couple of specs here or there but no big deal.  It was a fun way to do it, and next time I'll definitely paper towel the steaks first.