How to Make Beef Fajitas on a Meadow Creek BBQ26S With the Optional Griddle
Are you hungry for Mexican? In this story we are frying up a tasty meal of wet-aged flat iron steak with peppers and onions for beef fajitas!
Keep reading to see how we do this on a Meadow Creek griddle over charcoal...
What's a 26S? A "revolutionary" charcoal grill in our chicken flipper series that comes with a pivoting "sandwich" grate for grilling chicken and other foods.
It also has brackets for bringing the heat up closer to the top for cooking on an optional griddle or flat-grate, a single-panel grate for grilling with direct heat.
“I have owned 6 or more of these over the last 20 years and cooked for weddings and banquets. It consistently cranks out top notch chicken. Definitely one of the BBQ world's best kept secrets.”
- Andrew Yoder, BBQ42 user -
Based on many years of experience grilling chicken, I must agree with Andrew that these grills are one of the BBQ world's best kept secrets. They make it easy to grill perfectly done chicken—tender, juicy, smoky, with crispy skin, all in one!
And the fact that you can upgrade the cooking surfaces to make the grill more versatile makes the investment even more worthwhile. It's the perfect grill for burgers, steaks, and sausage links, and anything you want to cook over direct or semi-direct heat.
And with the optional griddle, it's an excellent solution for cranking out some delicious fajitas or even a hearty pitmaster's breakfast.
My BBQ26S has the optional raised pedestal base and stainless steel body. I recommend going with the pedestal instead of the standard pipe legs unless you anticipate needing to remove the legs for any reason. Stainless steel makes it easier to maintain too because you don't need to worry about rust or touching up the paint.
Firing the 26S Griddle
1
Add the Charcoal
Set the charcoal pan on the brackets in the raised position. Add enough charcoal to fill the charcoal pan once it's spread out. Mound the charcoal in the center for lighting it.
I used Rockwood lump charcoal for this cook. Either lump or briquettes will work, but I chose lump for a hot and short burn. Rockwood is a premium brand of lump charcoal made of premium Missouri oak, hickory, and maple.
2
Light It
I use a propane torch to light the charcoal, turn the torch off, and then let the fire burn until it's well-lit.
A charcoal chimney would work great too. One chimney full of lit charcoal dumped on top of the unlit charcoal will get it going.
3
Spread the Charcoal Evenly
Mix the burning pieces with the rest and spread the charcoal evenly in the pan using a shovel or garden hoe. This is how it should look:
4
Set the Griddle on the Grill
Make sure the griddle is clean and set it in the slots in the top of the grill. Spray the inside of the griddle with cooking spray.
The Cook
While the fire is getting hot, you can prep the onions and peppers.
Ingredients
Remove the stems and membrane on the peppers and slice them.
Peppers ready to cook
Slice the onion into half rings.
I seasoned the flat iron steaks with Kosmos Q Cow Cover. Simply sprinkle it over all sides of the meat and let it sweat for a few minutes.
Spray the griddle with cooking oil and dump the peppers into the griddle. Wait about 5 minutes and add the onions.
Note: For this cook, I added the onions at the same time as the peppers, but they got a bit overcooked, in my opinion.
Keep the onions separate because they will cook faster than the peppers. Season the vegetables with Butcher BBQ Grilling Addiction or your favorite rub for veggies.
Here is another sneak peek at the final product... Are you hungry yet?
"One of the best bbq’s that I have owned, great for my family meals. I like to load it with chicken, pork rib eye steak, veggies, and bratwurst. It's also great for Cabrito and boneless leg of lamb."
- F Maldonado, South Texas, BBQ42 owner -
About 8-10 minutes into the cook, slide the vegetables to make room for the steaks and set them over the hottest part of the griddle.
I like to throw a handful of smoking pellets onto the fire for an extra punch of smoke flavor and close the lid to give the food some time to absorb the flavor. For this cook, I used BBQer's Delight Cherry Pellets.
Take that, propane griddle! 🙂
The griddle should be sizzling hot when you add the steak. Let the meat brown well on the bottom side and then flip and move it to a different area on the griddle because the meat absorbs heat and cools the area where it was frying.
The heat will likely vary in different spots on the griddle because it's a charcoal fire. As the vegetables and steaks are cooking you will be able to tell where it's the hottest.
Use a spatula to stir the vegetables so they cook evenly. Flip and move the steaks around as needed to give them a good sear.
I love the colors in this cook!
Aren't they lovely?
Use an instant-read thermometer to read the internal temperature of the steaks. Remove them once the middle reaches 135 degrees F or however you like your steak.
The onions got done early, so I scooted them off to the one end. As I mentioned above, I added the onions at the same time as the peppers, but I'd recommend waiting 5 minutes. Cook the vegetables until they are soft and partially browned, but still have their shape.
I sliced the steak across the grain and tossed the steak with the peppers and onion.
Isn't this amazing?
You can serve the meat and vegetables right off the griddle if you have a safe place to set it. You probably don't want it over the fire at this point unless you'll be serving it immediately and the fire has died down enough that it won't overcook the food. It works just fine to transfer the food to a covered dish for serving too.
We like to eat these with basmati rice, guacamole, refried beans, sour cream, cheese, and tortillas.
I hope you're inspired about all the wonderful meals you could make for your family and friends on this grill/griddle combo.
If you've ever cooked a meal, you know how good it feels to get a genuine compliment, a raving review even. This grill makes it easy to get that kind of feedback by helping you master perfectly done bone-in chicken and sausage links, juicy cheeseburgers, sizzling steaks—and breakfast to satisfy a hungry lumberjack!
If you are in the market for a new grill for feeding your family or entertaining guests in your backyard, consider the Meadow Creek 26S with the optional raised pedestal base and griddle.
If your budget allows it, think about getting the body in stainless steel for a versatile grill that will serve you—and likely even the next generation.