Tomahawk steak reverse sear
Treat yourself and your family to a foolproof way to BBQ Tomahawk steaks with the reverse sear method. This recipe from The Kitchen Bucket List has an easy homemade tangy lemon pepper rub with ingredients right from the cupboard.
Equipment
- 18-inch BBQ
- Indirect cooking setup
- Remote meat thermometer with sensors
- BBQ spatula
- BBQ tongs
Ingredients
- 2 Tomahawk steaks
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon Paprika
- 1 teaspoon lemon pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground mustard
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Prep the Tomahawk steaks
- Make the tangy lemon pepper dry rub by combining the garlic powder, onion powder, Paprika, lemon pepper, ground mustard, and salt. You can use a small mixing bowl.
- Unpack the Tomahawk steaks, pat them dry with a paper towel, and place them on a plate/tray big enough to apply the dry rub for dry brining in the fridge.
- Generously apply the tangy lemon pepper dry rub all over the steaks and make sure to coat the sides. Place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or up to 48 hours. See NOTE below.
Cook low and slow
- After your desired amount of time dry brining, head out and fire up the BBQ with an indirect cooking system.
- Preheat the BBQ to 250 degrees F.
- Insert your remote meat thermometers into the steaks, place them on the grill grate, and close the lid. BBQ low and slow for 1 hour and 45 minutes to reach 120 - 125 degrees F. internal temperature.
- Pull the steaks to rest.
Rest and Sear
- The Tomahawk steaks will continue to increase in temperature by 8 - 10 degrees F. while they rest for ten minutes
- While the steaks rest increase the BBQ temperature to 425 degrees F. Check that you have a good even layer of red hot charcoal across the top for direct cooking.
- Time to make some searing magic happen, place the Tomahawks back on the grill grate for about 2 minutes on each side. Pay close attention to the fatty sides, they only need about 1 minute to sear. Additionally, be prepared for any flair-ups. I had to close the lid a few times.
- Once the Tomahawks have an even sear remove them from the BBQ.
Serve and Enjoy
- Bring the Tomahawk steaks inside and serve them on a plate or go family style. I cut the bone off from each and cut pieces to everyone's size preference.
- Vittoria and I enjoyed the big bountiful beef ribs and a nice piece of tender Tomahawk steak.
Notes
- So a funning thing happened on Father's Day, we had a full afternoon and evening of thunderstorms. It made for an amazing lighting show, but a no-go for BBQ. I had planned for a 24-hour brine, instead it was 48 hours with the tangy lemon pepper rub. I was truly pleased with the 48 hours. If you get a chance I recommend it. The rub's flavor went throughout the whole steak and made it even more tender and flavorful. The tangy lemon pepper rub was wonderfully subtle like using sweet wood on a low and slow smoke.
- The Tomahawk steaks for this cook were (1) 2½ lbs. & 2½ inches thick; (2) 2¾ lbs. & 3 inches thick.
- Doneness. For this recipe, I wanted medium rare and medium. I prefer my medium rare between 125 – 135 degrees F. Our medium is between 135 – 145 degrees F. If you prefer a different internal temperature (doneness), just adjust it to your liking.
