When it comes to making a delicious steak, almost nothing compares to a perfect Picanha steak. Picanha, which is the national steak of Brazil, offers the perfect balance of tenderness and richness and truly is fast becoming a favorite for all those who try it! In this perfect Picanha steak recipe, Jabin from Postal Barbecue shows you how to cut your Picanha into steaks the right way, then how to use the Slow 'N Sear®Kettle Grill and EasySpin™ Grate to make the perfect steaks every time!
Ingredients
- 1 Whole Picanha
- Rock Salt or Kosher Salt
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Prep
To start off, you want to find a whole Picanha with a nice thick fat cap covering the top. Once you have found the perfect Picanha, it’s time to cut it into steaks. To do this, you will want to cut the Picanha with the grain starting from the second vein. Anything from the second vein over is not as tender but still great eating but try to cut your best steaks from the center portion of the picanha. We cut ours around 1.5 inches which was the distance from vein one to two.
With your Picanha steaks cut, it’s time to prepare them for cooking. This ideally starts the night before by dry brining them with kosher salt. To do this, apply your kosher salt to the outside of the steak - if you have never done this before, the rule of thumb is to use 1/2tsp of kosher salt per pound, then adjust up or down depending on your preferred taste. With your steaks salted, place them into the fridge uncovered overnight to allow the salt to absorb into the steaks as well as tack up the surface of the steaks which will ultimately help during the final sear.
Cook
With your Picanha steaks dry brined overnight, set up your grill for cooking between 225°-250°F. To do this place 23-25 fully lit briquettes into the Slow ’N Sear® basket with the top vet open about 1/3 open, the bottom vent closed, and the smoke hole open about half way (adjust as needed).
With your grill set up, place the Picanha onto the grill opposite the coals, place in your remote thermometer and then close the lid to begin slowly cooking. Once your steaks have reached around 80°F internal temperature, open up the grill and flip the steaks to help promote even cooking then close the lid and continue to cook the steaks until you have reached and internal temp of 115°.
As you are waiting for your steaks to come up to 115°F, begin to get a full chimney of briquettes fully lit. (We recommend starting your coals when your steaks are sitting around 90°F)
With your Picanha steaks at 115°F, remove the from the grill AS WELL AS your easy spin grate. Next, take some paper towel and dry off any moisture that might be on the outside of the steaks. Once dry, brush on a little bit of extra virgin olive oil to both sides of the steaks . That’s all we are going to do for this Picanha.
Dump in your fully lit briquettes into the Slow ’N Sear® followed by your cooled off EasySpin™ Grate, then place your steaks directly over the hot coals. We will be using the cold grate technique which means that we will be searing the steaks on each side twice for 1 minute each time, spinning the grate to a new cool section with each flip. After you have seared your steaks on both sides twice, remove them from the heat and let them rest for 5-10 minutes to allow the meat to relax a bit before cutting into them and enjoying that perfectly cooked Picanha.
