Hanging Tomahawk Steak

The Tomahawk

A tomahawk steak is nothing more than a ribeye with the rib bone still attached.  It gets its name “tomahawk” from the fact that the steak on a “frenched” bone very closely resembles a tomahawk axe.  Many people hear the word tomahawk steak and feel that it is something unusually special.  Yes, it is special due to the long bone connected to it (which does make it look very impressive) but in the end, it is nothing more than a ribeye steak.  Now don’t get me wrong, ribeye’s are one of my favorite steaks there are.  They are beefy and have a great amount of fat running through them which makes them a natural flavor explosion of beef.  They are definitely one of the more flavorful steaks out there.

Other than the long bone, there really isn’t too much more difference.  The one notable difference is in the way that they are cut.  A boneless ribeye can be cut thin, thick, or in between, pretty much any thickness you’d like.  The tomahawk, because of the bone, is trimmed differently.  They have to be cut thick enough to account for the bone.  When they are cut on either side of the bone, you are likely to have a 1 ½-2” thick steak.  These work perfectly for the reverse sear method of preparing steaks due to their thickness.  By hanging our steak the way we did in the video, we are reverse searing but with a fun twist.

Hanging Tomahawks

I am not going to try to say that hanging a tomahawk was an original idea.  As a matter of fact, I have done it before.  We actually hung 3 tomahawks in our FOGO Cotton Gin Smoker, and it was something extra special.  Here is a link if you would like to see for yourself. https://youtu.be/B-q9m6KrlkA  Well, that got me thinking.  If it worked that well in the CGS, why not in a Big Green Egg?  So, we out on our thinking caps and figured out a way to make it work and work it did!  This thing was amazing.  

By hanging the tomahawk in the Egg, it allowed the steak to cook incredibly evenly.  The air flow in the Egg creates almost a convection like way of cooking and that worked perfectly for this application.  The hot, smoky air came up the center and circulated around the steak, hitting it evenly on all sides.  This made for an incredibly even cook and when we sliced it, it was pink form edge to edge or as I like to say, coast to coast pink baby!

The Sear  

By cooking it this way, it made for a beautifully cooked steak but had no char or sear.  That is where the Arteflame plancha came into play so well.  It may as well have been made for this cook.  The hot air came right up the center and enveloped the steak perfectly.  Once it hit temp, we simply opened up the vents and let that FOGO Charcoal rip.  The plancha heated up quickly and we simply dropped the steak on it for about one minute per side.  This kicked the Maillard Reaction into high gear and gave us a beautiful golden crust all over the outside of this beautiful hunk of beef.  I don’t think it could have been any better.

The Results

Now here we were, we had this beautiful steak on our board.  It was almost too pretty to slice but we managed to muster up the courage to slice into this beast.  First, and I think that this is a law in certain areas, we cut the steak off of the bone,  Just run your knife beside the bone and whack it right off of there.  Next, remove the ribeye cap or “spinalis”.  You will want to hide this from the family and save this tasty bit of the steak for yourself.  Just don’t let them find out, it won’t be pretty. The next step is to slice the steak across the grain and admire your beautiful handiwork.  You can be proud of this tasty treat and not only that, but you also got to use power tools, fire, and meat.  It just doesn’t get any better than that!

We hope that you enjoy this video as much as we enjoyed making it.  It was both fun and delicious.  Plus, it worked like a champ!  Go get yourself a tomahawk and a skewer and hang some beef from your Egg, you won’t regret it.  Until then, get out and grill and we will see you the next time on The FOGO Life!

Directions:

1. Fill your grill with FOGO Premium Charcoal and prepare it for direct grilling.  Before lighting, bank the coals around the edges so that there is a hole in the center with no coals.  Light the charcoal in numerous places so that it all lights and burns evenly.  Place the Arteflame Plancha in the grill.
2. Tie your tomahawk with kitchen twine.  Start at the bone, wrap around the outside of the meat, bring it back to the bone, go over the top and around and down, then back around the meat in the opposite direction.  Tie both ends of the string together.
3. Open the dome on your Egg and hold the bone out through the top of the chimney so that the tip of the steak is about at grate height.  Mark the bone above the egg right where it comes out of the chimney.  That is where you will drill the hole.  Take the steak out and drill through the bone where you marked it.
4. Lightly coat the steak with the Wagyu Beef Tallow and season it with Jacobsens Ghost Pepper Salt and coarse ground black pepper.  Set on a rack and set aside while the grill heats up to 250°.
5. Place the Meater Thermometer into the side of the steak so that the tip is right in the center of the steak.  Set he temperature on the thermometer for 120°.
6. Once the grill is steady at 250°, place the bone up through the chimney and slide the skewer through the bone.  Let it rest on the rim of the chimney and close the dome.
7. Cook the hanging tomahawk until the Meater Thermometer shows 120° and then remove the skewer and remove the steak from the grill.  Set it on a rack to rest while you heat the grill for searing.  
8. Open the bottom vent all the way and allow it to heat up for approximately 10 minutes.  Once that water evaporates immediately when dropped on the plancha, you are ready for searing!
9. Open up the grill and place the tomahawk on the Arteflame plancha to sear.  Let it go for about 1 minute, then flip it.  Sear it for about one minute on the second side as well.  Lift the steak by the bone and sear the outside edge of the steak as well.
10. Remove to a cutting board, slice across the grain, and serve.  Enjoy your hanging tomahawk.