Just picked up a CB 36 to try out for a couple of weeks. I can cook a great ribeye on our Traeger but have always longed for the grill marks. We are getting some requests for steaks with our catering business and think the CB units will be the answer. It is kind of a different beast than the indirect only heat I am used to. Last night I fired it up for the first time on HIGH heat and let me tell you, it is HOT! We did a couple of 1 1/2 inch think ribeyes for lunch today. About 2 minutes, then turn 90 degrees to mark and flipped after another 2 minutes. Total cook time on high with the lid open was about 7 minutes for a medium rare to medium finish.
I LOVED the appearance. When we ate them there was way to much char taste though. I used a hickory blend pellet and couldn't even taste the wood flavor but that might have been covered up by the char. I like the quick cook time but realize that high on the right burner for a quick sear then finish on the left at medium heat will probably work better.
For those of you that have these CB's, I'd appreciate it if you could give me some examples of how you are running yours, on what kind and thickness of steaks as well as cook times and burner set points. Do you have a lid and do you use it much as well. Any details would be appreciated.
I'm thinking of using a mix of 100% hickory and 100% mesquite pellets this weekend to try and get a little more of that flavor I'm used to off of the Traeger.
I can see now why the PG's are becoming so popular. Indirect and direct on the same unit. That would be great. I need something where I can cook up to 100 thick steaks in about 2 hours for catering though.
I have high hopes for this thing for glazing up ribs and smoked chicken coming off the smoker after we sauce them. We are also considering trying just a "steak night" some Saturday night. People in our area have to drive about 45 miles to the nearest "decent" steak house. We are selling about 70 ribeye steak sandwiches a day when we set our mobile unit up and people are always saying we could cut them thicker and leave them off the bun, serve them with a baked potato and a piece of garlic toast. Now with the extra capacity that might be a possibility???
Thanks in advance....
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