How We Do Things Here
Hopefully, this isn’t your first time visiting our page, but if so, WELCOME! We do things a little differently here, where I share my recipe up front and center and all of the additional information afterward. Because, let’s be honest, 99% of us will click that “Jump to Recipe” button anyway. Enjoy and leave your thoughts below!
Smoked and Seared Tomahawk Recipe
Ingredients List
What you need to knock this out of the park is reasonably basic, and it all comes down to how you choose to smoke your meat. Below is a list of ingredients that you’ll for sure need, but feel free to add anything else you’d like.
- Tomahawk Ribeye (The one I used was about 2 inches thick)
- Seasoning/Rub of your choice (I used a rub from Hardcore Carnivore)
- Fat of your choice (Butter, Olive/Avocado Oil, Duck Fat etc.)
Follow These Steps
- The first step is to go and buy yourself a fancy smoker. Nah, just kidding, any old smoker that you are familiar with will get the job done. The one that I used was a PitBoss pellet grill, and I know that’s just an EZ Bake oven for meat, but hell, it tastes great every time!
- Next, crank that smoker up to about 250 degrees Fahrenheit and leave it be.
- Once you get your smoke rolling, grab that meat by the bone and cover it liberally with your rub. You want every inch of that tomahawk to be covered, including the sides.
- Once your smoker is up to temp, insert your meat thermometer into the center of your tomahawk steak and place it centered on the smoker. Once it’s in place, leave it be, and don’t open the smoker until it’s hit the temp you are looking for. For temperature references, check out our post on cooking the perfect piece of steak here.
- The key to smoking meat is to maintain a steady temperature to ensure even cooking, and rendering of fats. As this tomahawk is a large bone-in ribeye, you want it to render down all that nice marbling and chunks of fat that run throughout.
- I like a nice Medium Rare steak, so I smoked my Tomahawk until it hit 120 degrees inside, and then pulled it.
- From here, I heated up a large stainless steel pan (I prefer cast-iron however I personally don’t have a large enough cast-iron skillet for a steak of this size) and added in a tablespoon or two of butter. Once the butter is nice and hot, I seared the sides of the steak until I achieved the sear I was looking for.
- Let that bad boy rest for 10 or so minutes and then slice in and enjoy.
Additional Info/Notes
One important thing to note when cooking meat, not just in this case, but across the board – Your meat will continue to cook once it’s removed from the heat. So, to ensure you hit that perfect cook, you always want to pull the meat off a few degrees early and let it rest. This is called Carryover Cooking.
What Kind of Wood?
So when it comes to smoking, I am by no means a pitmaster, nor do I claim to be one. I am however a lover of all things BBQ, and I love to experiment with different cuts of meat on my smokers. Below I’ve listed a few different types of wood that I’d use for certain cuts of meat.
- Oak – Oak is a great all-around wood for smoking. You’ll have a nice smokey flavor that isn’t too overpowering. I’d use oak with beef, brisket, lamb, or sausage.
- Hickory – Hickory is another great choice for smoking, however, if you use too much straight hickory the flavor can be very strong. I’d mix some hickory with oak and use it for meats such as pork shoulder, bacon, and ribs.
- Apple – Apple wood creates a mild and quite sweet flavor in the meat. However, to achieve the best flavor, this smoke takes quite some time to break through into the meat, so it is best used for longer cooks such as pulled pork (pork shoulder).
Closing Up
This was a relatively short post, however, the meat that comes with it will pack a punch. Give it a shot and let me know your thoughts! Until next time, Matt.