Smoking the Perfect Steak Masterclass | Dave Rubin - The Rubin Report

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Rubin Report – "Smoking the Perfect Steak Masterclass" with Dave Rubin

Episode Information:

Title: Smoking the Perfect Steak Masterclass | Dave Rubin
Host/Author: Dave Rubin
Release Date: March 29, 2025

Introduction

In this special episode of The Rubin Report, host Dave Rubin delves into the art of preparing the perfect smoked steak. Moving away from the usual political discourse, Rubin offers viewers a masterclass in culinary excellence, focusing on smoking a premium cut of meat using the Big Green Egg smoker. This episode is a treat for food enthusiasts and those interested in mastering barbecue techniques.

Setting Up the Smoker

The episode kicks off with a discussion about the essential equipment for smoking meat. Dave emphasizes the importance of the Big Green Egg, highlighting its superiority over other smokers like Traeger.

Notable Quote:
- "I just love this thing. This is the best smoker there is." [00:00]

Rubin explains the initial setup process:

Ventilation: He advises opening all vents to ensure proper airflow, which is crucial for maintaining consistent smoke.
Charcoal Selection: Preferring Big Green Egg brand charcoal, Dave mentions its longevity and reliability during the smoking process.
Ignition: Using a loofed lighter, Dave ignites the charcoal, cautioning viewers to keep it away from children due to its intense heat. He notes, "Let it burn off for a good half hour or so" [00:00], allowing the smoker to reach the optimal smoking temperature.

Preparing the Meat

Transitioning to the kitchen, Dave showcases an Australian Wagyu tomahawk steak sourced from Josh's Meats in Miami, renowned for their premium cuts.

Visual Description:
- "It is marbled absolutely perfectly. Like you couldn't get a more perfect piece of meat." [00:00]

Room Temperature and Moisture Reduction:

Dave allows the steak to reach room temperature, enhancing even cooking.
He pats the steak dry with paper towels to remove excess moisture, which aids in forming a desirable crust during smoking.

Seasoning:

Garlic Olive Oil Application:
- Utilizes homemade garlic olive oil to add subtle flavor without overpowering the Wagyu's natural taste.
- "You don't need much of anything, especially with a wagyu cut, because there's just so much flavor in there." [00:00]
Salt and Pepper:
- Advocates for a simple coarse salt and pepper blend to enhance the meat's natural flavors.
- Advises against over-seasoning, stating, "I don't believe in seasoning. I believe in over seasoning. You're just not going to put too much on there." [00:00]

Smoking the Steak

With the steak seasoned, Dave prepares to place it in the Big Green Egg.

Temperature Setting:
- Suggests maintaining a temperature between 320°F and 370°F, ideally around 355°F for optimal smoking.
- "We probably only need about 40 minutes direct heat... the most delicious, moist, spectacular piece of meat you've ever had." [00:00]

Monitoring the Process:

Utilizes a Thermapen to monitor the internal temperature, emphasizing the importance of precise temperature control.
Dave explains that the temperature remains stable due to the locked-in airflow and advises against frequently opening the smoker, which can disrupt the temperature balance.
- "The temperature is not going to move because the air is absolutely locked in." [00:00]

Searing: The Caveman Char Technique

After approximately 22 minutes of smoking, Dave checks the steak's internal temperature, which reads 117°F. To achieve a perfect medium-rare, he plans to sear the steak using the "caveman char" method.

Caveman Char Steps:
1. Increasing Heat: Opens all grates to allow more airflow and ignite the flames, creating a higher temperature environment.
  - "They call this caveman style. This is the way we used to eat back then, before the libtards got us." [00:00]
2. Searing: Places the steak directly on the coals for a quick, intense sear, aiming for a charred exterior while maintaining a pink, juicy interior.
3. Timing: Sears each side for approximately two minutes before removing the steak from the heat.
Visual and Sensory Description:
- Dave vividly describes the searing process, noting the visual appeal and the enticing aroma:
  - "Look how beautiful that thing already looks." [00:00]
  - "If we had smell o vision. And you will smell like meat and smoke for the rest of the day." [00:00]

Resting the Steak

Post-searing, Dave allows the steak to rest for about 10 minutes. Resting is crucial as it allows the juices to redistribute, ensuring a tender and flavorful bite.

Final Seasoning:
- Applies a pinch of smoked salt to enhance the steak's flavor without overshadowing its natural taste.
- "You're just not going to over season this baby. So just a little pinch of that, and this thing is ready to be sliced up." [00:00]

Slicing the Perfect Steak

Dave highlights the importance of proper slicing to maximize the enjoyment of the perfectly smoked and seared steak.

Slicing Technique:
- Emphasizes slicing against the grain to ensure tenderness.
- Suggests having someone proficient in slicing assist, stating, "Is live with someone who is better at slicing than you are." [00:00]
Final Presentation:
- Showcases the beautifully cooked steak, with a crisp char exterior and a succulent, pink interior.
- "Look how soft that is. Just perfect. Absolutely perfect." [00:00]

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

David Rubin wraps up the masterclass by summarizing the key steps to achieving the perfect smoked steak:

Proper Equipment Selection: Choosing a reliable smoker like the Big Green Egg.
Meat Preparation: Bringing the steak to room temperature and applying minimal seasoning.
Smoking Process: Maintaining consistent temperature and airflow.
Searing Technique: Utilizing the caveman char method for a perfect crust.
Resting and Slicing: Allowing the meat to rest and slicing against the grain for optimal texture.

Dave concludes with a humorous note on enjoying the fruits of his labor, while playfully noting the unequal distribution of the delicious steak.

Final Quote:
- "Sorry, guys. You don't get any of this. I get to eat all this." [00:00]

Key Takeaways

Simplicity is Key: Minimal seasoning allows the natural flavors of high-quality meat like Wagyu to shine.
Temperature Control: Maintaining a stable temperature is crucial for consistent smoking results.
Technique Matters: The caveman char method provides a perfect balance of char and tenderness.
Patience and Precision: Allowing the meat to rest ensures juiciness and optimal flavor distribution.

This episode of The Rubin Report offers an engaging and informative guide for both novice and seasoned grill enthusiasts. Dave Rubin's straightforward approach and attention to detail provide listeners with actionable insights to elevate their barbecue game, all while maintaining the show's signature authenticity and charm.

Transcript

A (0:00)

Everyone's always asking me about my meat. So we said, dave, why don't you make some meat for the people? So that's what we're going to do. We have a beautiful, beautiful wagyu tomahawk. It is in the kitchen right now getting to room temperature. This is the big green egg. I am in no sponsorship with these people. I just love this thing. This is the best smoker there is. I know some people love the Traeger thing. No, no issues with Traeger. I just love the big green egg. It's simple and perfect and elegant. So what you want to do if you're going to smoke anything, in this case, again, it's going to be a tomahawk. Although I've done 16 hour briskets and all sorts of great stuff. You want to open up all the vents because you're really playing with air to get the smoke going here. Open up all the vents, then you get your charcoal. There's all kinds of different charcoal that you want to get, but I do like the big green egg brand charcoal. And you want to pour in nice amount of charcoal in there. Charcoal lasts. Lasts quite some time because you're not going to be exploding that flame, really, when you're smoking it. So the charcoal lasts for a while. So you get the charcoal in there. All your vents are open. You take your loofed lighter. This thing is very intense. It burns real hot. Keep that away from the kids and don't let them touch this thing when it's hot. We learned the hard way. And you get the loof lighter on there. You let it go for about 45 seconds. You're going to see some sparks starting to roll. And then let it burn off for a good half hour or so. Just let the fire do its thing. Let it burn for a while and leave everything open. About the half hour or so, you'll see the smoke will kind of clean up and then you get ready to smoke. So this is just the beginning. Before you do anything, before you bring out your meat or anything like that, you can get on in there. So take a look. Whoo. There's some crackling. And you kind of get it close and get a little more air. It's quite a device, this thing. And then you let the fire do its thing. We're going to let that go for about a half hour. And then the meat will be placed and smoked. All right, we're in my kitchen. I have an absolutely gorgeous Australian wagyu tomahawk that I got from Josh's Meats here in Miami, that's my main stop for the premium cuts. And look at this thing. It is marbled absolutely perfectly. Like you couldn't get a more perfect piece of meat. Left it out of the fridge for about a half hour to come to room temperature. An elegant weapon for a more civilized age. And what we do real quick, although it's been sitting out for a little bit, I like to pat it once or twice just to get a little bit of extra moisture out of there. That way it's going to help with the crust, especially when you're smoking it, and just get a little moisture out. And then we have this is homemade garlic olive oil, which I'll post a recipe for pretty soon. And just going to paint this beautiful paintbrush, paint a little bit of that on there. You don't need much of anything, especially with a wagyu cut, because there's just so much flavor in there. So you want to just get that all the way around. A little bit on the bone, too, and then same thing on the other side. And obviously, you don't have to use garlic olive oil. You can just use regular olive oil if you want. Paint that on there. And then for seasoning, everyone's got their own choice. People like doing all kinds of crazy things. But the simplest thing, if you. If you love a good steak and especially just a wagyu like this, you don't want to do too much. I like a simple salt and pepper blend. And the key to it is coarse salt and pepper because that helps with that crunch and that char on the outside. I believe. I don't believe in seasoning. I believe in over seasoning. You're just not going to put too much on there. You're going to be okay, I promise you. So season it really generously. And then you want to obviously get both sides of that baby. And you can, of course, you can always go around the sides to there. And they're just perfect. So now we're seasoned, we're ready to rock. And what we're going to do is take it outside to the big green egg. Big green egg, we said it before, should be somewhere between, let's say 320 and 370. That would make me happy. And we probably only need about 40 minutes direct heat, but in that big green egg, so it's not just getting blasted with fire the entire time. And you're gonna have the most delicious, moist, spectacular piece of meat you've ever had. That's what she said. All right, so we have our beautifully lightly, simply seasoned tomahawk ribeye here. Salt and pepper, little olive oil. That's it. Look at this baby. Look at that. We set our big green egg about a half hour ago. I was hoping to get to somewhere between, like, 330 and 370. 355. That's absolutely perfect. Now, the trick to this, because we've set this perfectly, that temperature is not going to move because the air is absolutely locked in. So you don't want to. This is the key to the whole thing right now. You don't want to leave this open for too long, otherwise you're gonna have to reset everything. So we're going to do this real quick. Open tomahawk on goodbye. Temperature might dip a tiny bit at first, but it should get back to where it was. But either way, anyway, as long as we're between, you know, somewhere between that 330, 370, we're going to let it go. And then again, no sponsors here. These are just things that I love. This is the thermapen. I don't like just putting something in there and checking it on my phone digitally feels very, kind of boring, and, I don't know, too techy for me. So this is where we're gonna actually check. Look at this. 81 degrees on this Miami spring day. And we're gonna basically, at about 120, we're gonna rip that thing off, we're gonna remove the grate, and I'm gonna throw it right on the coals for what they call the caveman char. It's pretty awesome watching that thing just explode on there. And then you have a perfect piece of meat, which hopefully will be around 130, 135. After resting for a little bit. Charred on the outside, pink on the inside. Let's see what happens. All right, so the meat's been on for about 22 minutes. I just popped it open real quick, checked it. We're at about 117 inside. I want to be, you know, for medium rare, you want to be around 130, maybe a little bit over. But we want to char this baby. Now. First off, get in here quick. Look how beautiful that thing already looks. And it's. Oh, just perfect. Perfect. But we want to get that char. So I'm going to. What I'm going to do is now I didn't flip it during those 20, 22 minutes or so. What we're gonna do is take the grate off, and now we're gonna caveman this bad boy. So just for A moment. We're gonna open up all the grates, get some real heat going here. So now the air is getting the flames going. It's a little bit of a windy day here in Miami today, so it might take a second. So I basically let that go for about two minutes, get that flame going, and then we're just gonna throw the meat right back on. Set on it. On the coals, Sear it about two minutes. Two minutes, and that's it. Then we let it rest for about 10. And you have the most delicious piece of beef you've ever eaten. We got it. I think we got a good enough flame going there. Look at this. Look at that. It doesn't. It really doesn't need anything, but we do want to get that temperature up a little bit, get some of that char. So we're going right on the coals. They call this caveman style. This is the way we used to eat back then, before the libtards got us. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Oh, my God. Do we have smell o vision? If we had smell o vision. And you will smell like meat and smoke for the rest of the day. It's just great. It's just great. You don't have to stand directly in the smoke the entire time. You can go this way, but you can see just some flames just bursting up, Just getting that great char. I didn't set a timer, but we'll let this go for, you know, another 40 seconds or so. I think that's. That's probably good enough right there. Oh, look at that. Look at that. Oh, my God. That is gorgeous. And we'll just do about a minute on that side. Yeah. Just gorgeous. And you can see. Look. Look how soft that is. Just perfect. Absolutely perfect. There you go. And then all you do to close this baby up, Close the vents, close the top, close that baby. It's going to put itself out. Make sure nobody's touching this thing for a little bit. And that's it. All right, let's see. All right. So we just let this beauty sit for about 10 minutes. You want those juices to just sink in there beautifully. And. Oh, it's. I can feel. Feel the heat. It's beautiful. It's beautiful. I've got a little smoked salt right here, which usually, if I was serving this for a bunch of people, I would just put this at the table and let everyone do it themselves. But you can also do it in advance if you want. Sometimes people are afraid to do anything. And again, you're just not going to over season this baby. So just a little pinch of that, and this thing is ready to be sliced up. One of the keys to slicing. This is a super secret key. Is live with someone who is better at slicing than you are. Watch this. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you smoke and slice a perfect tomahawk wagu ribeye. It doesn't always have to be wagu. It doesn't always have to be a tomahawk. Actually, a bone in ribeye is fine. They call it a cowboy cut, or you don't even necessarily need the bone. Although the meat's a little bit better right at the edge there. And just look at this perfectly cooked piece of meat right there. Sorry, guys. You don't get any of this. I get to eat all this. All right, not bad, not bad. Do you have some A1 sauce? You got any ketchup.