Expert: John Langenfelder - 7/7/2008

Question
i bought three wonderful 2 pound porterhouse steaks from a butcher in manhattan. to grill i started by searing the steaks at the highest heat on my Weber propane grill with the intention of dropping the heat after 10 mins. The combination of the fat and the heat caused a series of tremendous flare-ups. I took the steaks off a number of times as they were getting charred. they ended up really good but it was not an ideal situation. there were tons of flames and black smoke. The butcher was really good and i would've thought they trimmed the meat appropriately.
would love to know what you think.
ty

Answer
jla,

Nice steaks!   I would not be searing my steak under high heat like that.  To sear the steaks, I would heat the grill on high, cut the heat back, perhaps do a little indirect and sear the steaks on the hot grate.  Then move the steaks to a resting spot, turn up the grill on high, heat up the grates, cut the heat down and sear the other side.  With good steaks like that you will have a lot of fat, marbled in the steak and they will drip and cause flareups.  Cooking indirect will eliminate the flareups.