Cocoa Chile Rubbed Sirloin Steak Memphis Style

Cocoa Chile Rubbed Sirloin Steak Memphis Style

Patti and I have set one night a week just for us. It’s our date night. We usually put something special on our Memphis Elite Wood Fire Grill/Smoker but sometimes we cook inside. We always eat outside on our patio where it is very comfortable with a rainforest theme.  Wood burning stove, little lights, candles, lanterns and surround sound. We enjoy a little wine, or strawberry margaritas using frozen strawberries for ice, good food, music and sometimes a dance or two…

This week we had some friends coming over for dinner so we were thinking a 2 inch sirloin steak with a Cocoa Chile rub and a pepper garlic crust. We smoked it in pecan and maple pellets before we put any heat to it. Always good!

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes smoke, 20 minutes grill

Grill: Memphis Elite Wood Fire Pellet Grill/Smoker

Pellets: “Natures Way” Maple & Pecan

Ingredients:

1 2-3lb. sirloin steak, about 2” thick

½ cup dried crushed garlic

¼ cup black pepper, coarse grind

McCormick’s Cocoa Chile Blend, to taste

Directions:

I always smoke my meat for at least 30 minutes before I put any heat to it. That is one of the beauties of using a Memphis Wood Fire Pellet Grill/Smoker. We can do things here that you would otherwise have to use two different grills. After 30 minutes, pull the meat off and turn the grill up all the way. I put my steak back on when the grill hits 500 degrees (268c) at 9 minutes per side. It comes hot off the grill, seared on the outside and medium rare on the inside.

Happy Hanging Out In the Smoke on the Memphis Elite

Cooking Directions: Memphis Wood Fire Pellet Grill/Smoker

Open the lid and set the ITC (Intelligent Temperature Control) to “180” degrees (84c). After about five minutes you can shut the lid. Give it a few minutes to heat up.

Place everything directly onto the grill and just let it hang out in the smoke and get happy for 30 minutes or so. This is referred to as “Smoking” or “Hot Smoking”, the temperature is 180 degrees (84c). 30 minutes of smoking is not enough to have any cooking effect on your meat but it is enough to open the pores so that the meat can pick up all the flavor of the smoke. We like to use oak pellets for beef.

After 30 minutes, turn the ITC (Intelligent Temperature Control) up to 350 degrees (174c) and pull the meat off the grill. Now you can cook your sides and pick up all that wood fired flavor from the grill. I did an hour here at 350 degrees (174c). Then pulled my sides and set the ITC (Intelligent Temperature Control) to 500 degrees (268c).

When the grill comes up to temperature put your meat back onto the grill. I did this for 9 minutes per side, giving it a quarter turn at the 4 ½ minute mark before flipping it over. Perfect.

When the meat reaches an internal temp around 130 degrees (55c) pull it off, cover it and let it rest for 10 minutes before serving. This will be medium rare. Keep in mind that the meat will continue cooking for another 10 degrees after you pull it off the grill. So for medium pull it at 140 degrees (60c) and overdone 160 degrees (72c).

In the Smoke

Note: I get a lot of questions about the kind of pellets you can use with a recipe. Keep in mind that a recipe is just an outline. Some you need follow closely like when you are making bread, but most you can do anything you can dream, our favorite way to cook. Feel free to mix and match the pellets until you find a combination you really like. Also you are only smoking at temps less than 250 degrees, anything higher is cooking and there will not be much if any smoke so it does not matter what kind of pellet you are using.