VORTEX OR GRILLGRATES for steaks?

[THROUGH THE MUD BBQ TEAM]

If you had to choose between one of these products,  which would you pick for doing steaks?

Vortex or Grillgrates?

[pbe gummi bear]

Grill grates because I would choose large thermal mass grates for searing marks onto the steaks over high intensity flame made by the Vortex.

[Big Dawg]

I have both products, use them both regularly, and would recommend either (or both) products to anyone cooking on a kettle.

That being said, I always use the GrillGrates for steaks.  When I was cooking at home on my 22, I would load up a full chimney and, when lit, spread them out between my two (empty) baskets.  Depending on whether you use them right-side up or upside down, you will either get great grill marks or a "flat-top" style steak.

On my 26, I can use grates and still have some room as a warming area.





BD

[Troy]

For steaks, neither.

The grates will give marks,  but less flavor. (like a gas grill)

The vortex will give a great crust,  no marks,  and only big enough for one steak.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

[pbe gummi bear]

For steaks, neither.

The grates will give marks,  but less flavor. (like a gas grill)

The vortex will give a great crust,  no marks,  and only big enough for one steak.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

What about if you only use the grillgrates for the sear part of a reverse sear? I have a hard time believing that the  the flavor would be less when you are still cooking with charcoal. Are you eluding to aromas from the fat dripping directly onto the charcoal?

[Troy]

For steaks, neither.

The grates will give marks,  but less flavor. (like a gas grill)

The vortex will give a great crust,  no marks,  and only big enough for one steak.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

What about if you only use the grillgrates for the sear part of a reverse sear? I have a hard time believing that the  the flavor would be less when you are still cooking with charcoal. Are you eluding to aromas from the fat dripping directly onto the charcoal?

Same thing. Even reverse sear gives less flavor than traditional sear'n'slide method.
The best flavor comes from fats dripping into the fire and burning up.

[THROUGH THE MUD BBQ TEAM]

Didn't think this thread would turn into a debate about traditional and reverse searing.
The reverse sear method is slower, which means more time on the grill. Which means more time to get flavor into the meat.

The beauty about BBQ,  there is no right or wrong. 

This might call for a side by side taste test between the two methods!

[Jon]

Yeah, nobody gets along on here.

I'm with ya on the taste testing!

[SmokenJoe]

I'm in agreement with, wait for it, @Troy .   I don't consider black animal flesh a desirable flavor profile although grill marks are pretty to look at.  Meathead likes Reverse-Sear.  I don't, I like Sear-n-Slide  ...  w/ SnS and hot coal close to the cooking grate you can control the amount of time each surface is presented to the heat to watch for the deep dark Mahogany color that indicates Malliard Reaction has completed  ...  while absorbing the burning juice smoke from the meat juice.  8-count perside, flip at 8 and restart the count.  When you get to the color you want, check the internal temp and cool-zone it until it hits your mark.  Only problem I've ever had with that method is trying to cook a rare "thin" steak.  That's tricky.   But, as they say in BBQ & Grilling, YOU cook your food the way YOU like it cooked and never mind what anyone else says.               SJ

[swamprb]

Grill Grates

[THROUGH THE MUD BBQ TEAM]

I'm in agreement with, wait for it, @Troy .   I don't consider black animal flesh a desirable flavor profile although grill marks are pretty to look at.  Meathead likes Reverse-Sear.  I don't, I like Sear-n-Slide  ...  w/ SnS and hot coal close to the cooking grate you can control the amount of time each surface is presented to the heat to watch for the deep dark Mahogany color that indicates Malliard Reaction has completed  ...  while absorbing the burning juice smoke from the meat juice.  8-count perside, flip at 8 and restart the count.  When you get to the color you want, check the internal temp and cool-zone it until it hits your mark.  Only problem I've ever had with that method is trying to cook a rare "thin" steak.  That's tricky.   But, as they say in BBQ & Grilling, YOU cook your food the way YOU like it cooked and never mind what anyone else says.               SJ

Not sure why either technique would produce 'black animal flesh'. Here are pics from the last time I reverse seared ribeyes

[ABCbarbecue]

That RS steak is pretty good, but check out these sear and slide steaks I cooked last weekend using the Slow 'N Sear.  I've cooked steaks all kinds of different ways and have found I much prefer the sear and slide results over reverse sear.







You can tell by how the muscle fibers are so loosely bound together that this was a SUPER tender steak


Here's a picture of the sear zone in action

[jd]

I use the Slow' N' Sear for just about everything really works great.

[THROUGH THE MUD BBQ TEAM]

Looks like there's quite few ways to make great steaks!

I'm going to have to try the slow n sear now!

[THUNDERDOME]

For looks, grill grates.

For the most maillard reaction/browning evenly across steak = any method directly over fire. I like Meatheads article on this topic.

"That's one of the reasons that great steakhouses use broilers where the flames are above the meat. That way they can get brown all over. That's why grill marks don't make me salivate. I want brown all over."