London broil

My lovely wife, hereinafter referred to as the High Priestess, has a huge love affair with London broil. She frequently requests this and will happily snack on cold leftovers. This is a good thing, as she’s currently hitting a low carb, low fat diet.

As you can imagine, she’s been after me to throw a London broil on the Altar. So I stopped at Costco, bought a two pack and went to town.

I do love me some Costco meat. It’s usually high quality at a reasonable price. It’s not Wagyu or anything like that, but it’s also not $50 a pound. I can get a decent, peeled four pound (2 kg) tenderloin roast for around $22/pound and I’ve never had a complaint.

So, after Traeger shop class, I was keen to try a reverse sear. Conventional wisdom says you start with the grill really hot in order to “lock-in” the flavor. According to Diva Q, that’s not quite the case. Using the famous Seinfeld episode where George has some issues with shrinkage as an example, she pointed out the logic of starting slow, giving the meat a chance to absorb as much smoke as possible, then after it had a chance to smoke, jacking up the temperature and finishing.

I was not disappointed.

I cobbled together a marinade for the beef, using Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, water, garlic, red wine vinegar, and onion flakes. Dropped the beef in a bag, poured in the marinade, threw the bag in the refrigerator and let it stew for a few hours. Obviously, the longer you let it sit, the more flavor you get, but I had it in the fridge for four hours and was not disappointed. I started the grill and set it for 215 degrees and Super Smoke, then drained the beef and got out the beef rub.

If I haven’t said, I’m a fan of the Traeger rubs. Would I like to make my own? Of course, but these work in a pinch and I find they provide flavors that really bring out the best of the meat. Plus, it requires next to no prep, which is nice when you’re pressed for time.

I gave it a good coating of rub and it went right on the Timberline. Many recipes will tell you to let your meat warm to room temperature before putting on to cook. I don’t buy into that theory… the longer you can have it on the grill, the more smoke it can absorb and the more flavorful the meat gets. It’s hard to argue with results. I find getting the right amount of rub to be a challenge. There’s a fine line when it comes to rub.

After I reached a core temp of around 120-125, I took the meat off the grill and cranked it up to 500 degrees. When it reached 500, I let the grill go for around 10 minutes, then put the beef back on to finish.

The results were spectacular. Sadly, I neglected to take an after picture, but the meat was tender and juicy, there was a bit of a smoke ring, and, most importantly, the High Priestess was pleased.

As an aside, it’s pretty obvious that we are firmly in the Trager camp. This does not mean that we feel that is the only grill you are allowed to have. If you purchase a different brand or style, that’s your choice. Maybe it’s cost, maybe it’s a particular accessory offered by a competitor (i.e. Green Mountain offers a pizza oven attachment) or a fuel source you like, doesn’t really matter why. The important thing is that you’re grilling and experimenting. If your idea of a smoker is an electric cabinet, well, go for it. If you like propane, that’s your prerogative. If you like the Kamado style or charcoal, well, you get the point. Just grill and grill often.