Coffee Crusted Smoked Tomahawk Steaks
With an epic grill like the Whistler Bibury you need an epic cook to kick things off, and these coffee crusted Tomahawk steaks, slow smoked with the whiskey oak wood chips then seared to perfection are just the thing. Complete with all the sides to keep you and your guests happy, here’s how to cook up this smoky feast on your Whistler Grill!
Ingredients
2x Medium-large Tomahawk Steaks
50g Fresh coffee beans ground smooth
1 tablespoon of coarse salt
2 tablespoons of garlic powder
2 tablespoons of onion powder
2 tsp of cayenne pepper (more if you like it spicy)
2 tablespoons of paprika
1 tablespoon of ground cumin
Splash of grapeseed for searing the steaks
Method
Start by removing your steaks from the fridge, at least 30 minutes before you are starting cooking, this allows the temperature of the meat to raise slightly and give a more even cook. During this time, you can light your Whistler grill and start to soak your whiskey oak wood chips too. Ideally, they will soak for at least 30 minutes to help them smoulder and release smoke at a slower rate during the cook. Set the grill burner where you'll be placing your smoker box, with the wood chips in to high and leave all other burners off at this stage. Only add the smoker box 5 minutes before you add the steaks. We used the burner on the far left for our cook.
Next combine all the dry rub ingredients together in bowl, or shaker, ready to be applied to the Tomahawk steaks. Apply the rub generously and evenly to both sides of the meat and don't forget the edges too. You can apply the rub whilst the steaks are out of the fridge and coming up to temperature.
For cooking the tomahawks, we are smoking them gently at a low heat first, then searing at a high heat followed by a further slow cook to your desired finishing temperature. This will allow for a beautiful crust on your steaks whilst still maintaining a perfectly pink middle.
When your steaks are rubbed and ready to go onto the grill, remove the wood chips from the water they have been soaking in, strain them and add to the smoker box and shut the lid. You are then ready to add the smoker box directly over the lit burner, please be careful when taking this step. At the other far end of the grill make sure you put your stainless griddle in place so it can start to absorb some of the grill heat, but do not light the burner under the griddle at this point.
Now we can start to gently smoke the steaks, to coat them with additional layer of flavour with the whiskey oak chips. Trust me, the air in your garden will smell delicious. Add the steaks to your grill, with the meat pointing towards the smoker box, but at least 10 inches away from the lit burner, you do not want them near the high heat and to start fully cooking at this stage. Keep the lid of the grill closed to allow the smoke to work its way round the whole cooking chamber and onto the meat. The wood chips will smoke for around 30-45 minutes, which is plenty of time for the steaks to pick up those smokey notes. After this you can turn the burner under the smoker box off.
Towards the end of this stage, move the steaks up to the cooling rack whilst you turn your attention to the stainless griddle plate. Set this burner under the griddle to full and allow 10 minutes for the plate to fully heat up. Once fully heated add a small amount of grapeseed oil to the surface of the griddle and lay down one of your steaks directly on top of the oil. Again be careful as the steak may start to spit at this stage.
Leave the steak to sear for around 45 seconds then lift to check the crust, you are looking for nice deep brown colour as the coffee rub starts to caramelise, but you do not want it to be fully black. If it needs more time gently place it back and check again in 30 seconds. When the crust has built up flip the steak and do the other side. Repeat this process with both steaks and make sure you sear the edges too. About 2-3 minutes per steak is more than enough.
Now you can move your steaks away from the heat once more and use enough burners on your grill to maintain a grill temperature of around 200c. Keep the steaks away from the direct heat over an unlit burner so they continue to cook with indirect convection heat only.
At this point you can start preparing any side dishes to go with your steaks, as this last part of the cook can take anywhere from 30-45 minutes until the steaks are fully cooked. If you have a temperature device for measuring internal meat temperatures, insert this right down into the middle of the steaks and monitor until you reach your desired temp. Check the steaks around halfway through and give them a flip to help them to cook evenly.
Everyone has their own favourite 'done-ness' for steak, but you want to remove the steak at least 5c under your desired finishing temperature. As a rough guide the finishing temperatures are: rare 56c, medium rare 63c, medium 71c and well done 77c. So, remember to pull your steak off the heat around 5c below these temps, as the steaks will continue to increase in temperature even after they are removed from the grill. Once your chosen temperature has been reached, remove the steaks and let them rest on a plate covered loosely with tin foil. Ideally if you can, look to rest the steaks for around 10 minutes, just to let that meat relax and let those juices redistribute through the steak.
We served our tomahawk steaks with a whole host of tasty side dishes cooked on the Whistler grill including smashed and seasoned buttered new potatoes, grilled halloumi, grilled courgette waves, charred corn, romaine lettuce with balsamic drizzle and some vine tomatoes!
ENJOY!
