Every year I have the privilege of attending Meadow Creek’s annual dealer meeting. The evening meal they serve the dealers is always excellent, but the 2017 dinner was especially fun since I got to hang out on Melvin’s patio and watch the guys cook.
The star of the meal was Melvin’s tomahawk steaks, a 2” thick beef steak carved from a rib roast with long rib bones. Since we didn’t special order the roast, the bones were trimmed short; a foot-long handle would have made these more impressive, but what really matters is the meat at the end of the bone!
To make the tomahawk steaks, the first step is to slice a rib roast into steaks, one cut between each bone. Then you remove the fatty part of the steak under the bone and carve the bone clean to make the steak more round.
Slicing the rib roast into steaks
This is a Select grade rib roast.
Sliced and ready for carving
Carved and ready for seasoning
We cooked the tomahawk steaks on two different Meadow Creek cookers. First, we seared them over direct heat on a Meadow Creek BBQ42 with optional insulation and flat grate and the charcoal pan raised for grilling. Then we transferred the steaks to a Meadow Creek PR42 Pig Roaster to finish cooking them with indirect heat. Both cookers were fired with 100% hardwood charcoal briquettes.
Meadow Creek BBQ42 with charcoal pan raised
BBQ42 with flat grate, ready for the steaks
We used 30 pounds of charcoal on the BBQ42 charcoal grill for this cook. If you were only doing a few steaks, you could build your fire at one end with a lot less charcoal and then finish the steaks on the other end of the grill.
Tomahawk steaks seasoned with Meadow Creek Brisket Rub
Cooking tomahawk steak over direct heat
The BBQ42 holds 16–18 of these steaks.
Looking beautiful!
After they were seared nicely, we moved them over to the Meadow Creek PR42 Pig Roaster with custom extended legs. This cooker was fired with 30 pounds of charcoal and ran at 350–400 degrees F with the drip pan in place for indirect heat.
Tomahawk Steaks on Meadow Creek Pig Roaster
Cooking indirect to perfection
Ain’t those pretty?
On the plate
Another look…
Delicious!
Once these magnificent steaks reached finished temperature (around medium or medium rare), we plated and served them. Each steak was at least two servings.
I don’t have a picture of the entire meal, but it was truly memorable. Besides the tomahawk steaks, we had cowboy steaks and alligator fritters. The ladies served us mashed potatoes, steamed carrots, lettuce salad, and homemade bread. For dessert, we had fruit salad, a New Orleans style bread pudding with rum sauce tweaked and perfected by Melvin’s daughter, and coffee.
If you’re interested in cooking tomahawk steak in your backyard, chances are you won’t be filling an entire BBQ42 like we did. Here are some tips for cooking tomahawk steak on your own grill:
- Start with a decent grade of beef and season it with salt and pepper or a delicious beef rub, such as Meadow Creek Brisket Rub.
- Build a 2-zone fire in your charcoal grill and fire it as hot as you can.
- Sear the steak over the coals, then move it to the side to finish it indirectly.
- Watch it closely and remove it once it reaches medium rare or whatever your steak preference is.
Prepare your appetite for a kingly meal!
If you have plans of cooking tomahawk steak for crowds, you’ll need some serious equipment to do it efficiently, and we can certainly help with that!
Use one of the links above to learn more about the models we used in this story and to get a quote from your closest dealer or contact us with any questions.
Sizzling regards,
Lavern Gingerich
