This recipe and instructions for Competition Ribeye Steaks is written by Fred Ginsburg and based on his notes from studying a public YouTube video produced by champion pitmaster Harry Soo, so we are not claiming that we invented this recipe and technique, just that we summarized it for you. The video can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Fhs_eezhYM

Trim excess fat from ribeyes. (Ribeyes should be inch and a quarter to inch and a half thick, at least). Place the steaks in a baking pan or foil pan.

Pour a liberal douse of Head Country Marinade over the top of the meat.  (You could probably substitute other soy based marinades)

Evenly sprinkle some Butchers BBQ Phosphate TR powder over the meat. (as if adding salt, not a rub)

Do a light sprinkle of ACCENT.

Now add your steak rub. Include some Worchestshire sauce or powder. Maybe some Shitake Mushroom powder.  (Or make a steak rub: equal parts salt & pepper, some garlic and onion powders, a dash of paprika, and some heat such as cayenne pepper or chili powder, maybe even cinnamon or ground coffee)

Pat down the rub; do not massage in the rub.

Flip the steaks and repeat all of this on the other side.

Cover the pan with foil. Place in fridge and allow to rest for one hour.

Remove steaks from pan and place in smoker or indirect grill. Make sure to include a pan of water inside the grill for moisture. Water should be over the heat; meat is on side away from the heat if using a grill.

Smoke at around 250-275 degrees. Flip the meat around every 15 or 20 minutes. Use an instant read thermometer probe; we are looking for around 109 internal temp for the steaks. Do NOT overcook!

Remove the steaks and place back in the pan.

Time to sear! Heat your GRILL to 550 to 600 degrees. Use a set of GrillGrates aluminum searing plates over your grill original grates in order to achieve the best results. Use a laser thermometer to insure that your grates are evenly heated, and that the sear rails are close to 600 degrees.

Get a timer ready on your smartphone! Place the steaks on the hot grate and sear for 70 seconds. Flip the meat and sear the other side. Keep track of the time; exactly 70 seconds. While the second side of the meat is cooking, baste the steaks with a clarified and/or infused butter (infuse w garlic and rosemary). If you can, use actual rosemary twigs as your basting brush!

At the 70 second mark, flip the steaks again. Baste w butter. At 70, flip for the final time, and baste. When you flip, rotate the steaks around 90 degrees to achieve a nice cross-hatch grill mark pattern.

Remove the steaks and allow to rest in the pan. As the meat cools, it will re-absorb its au jus.

The target temp for the fully cooked steaks is around 130-135.That should give you a nice, even juicy pink but not red interior (a perfect medium).  Allow to rest until temp is down to 120; then serve and eat.

Of course, if you prefer your steaks more rare, then cut back the cycles from 70 seconds to 60 seconds or so.

You should take one steak and cut it into smaller pieces so that you can do a couple “test cooks” to work out the best searing times for your grill, temps, and thickness of meat.