Words & Images: Kerren “Kezza” Packer – The barbeque hut – Mangawhai
Tomahawks (aka Flintstone Steak, Bone-In Rib-eye or Cowboy Cut) are arguably the “king” of beef steak! Not only are they inherently tender, but also packed full of beefy flavour and they just absolutely “pop on the plate”.
When serving a perfectly executed medium-rare reverse seared tomahawk your guests will surely be impressed (unless they happen to be vegan of course and there isn’t much we can do about that!).
Most local butcheries and supermarkets will have decent tomahawks available, it not, ask for them and I am sure they will be able to accommodate.
Let’s get in to reverse searing a tomahawk!
Please note: An average 600g-700g uncooked tomahawk will feed several adults when accompanied with your sides of choice.
1. Season the steak with a basic salt and pepper mix or experiment with various barbecue rubs to taste. I prefer a less-is-more approach here and let the beef flavours be the hero but there are no rules.
- Set your charcoal barbecue up for indirect cooking (if unsure what this entails do a Google search and include the name of the barbecue you are cooking on for advice) and aim for a “pit” temperature of around 150C/300F. Add some wood (pohutukawa, oak or cherry are good options) chunk to your barbecue and get gently smoking with a clean “white smoke”.
3. Introduce tomahawks to your barbecue “indirect” and close the lid.
4. After 20 or so minutes, flip the tomahawks, using an instant read thermometer spot check the internal temperature of steak. For medium-rare doneness, you are hunting out an average reading of 55C/130F.
Not all steaks are created equally, different thicknesses and amount of intramuscular fats can play a role in timings. So, depending how close the steak is to the desired temp, spot check internal temps regularly from here on. You really do not want to be serving anything over medium if possible.
5. Once the desired internal temp is achieved, pull the tomahawks from the grill straight away and place into an oven tray or similar, brush with melted butter (add crushed garlic if you like), cover tightly with foil and set aside.
6. Whilst the tomahawk is resting, it’s time to prepare for the sear stage, get some hot coals roaring (I like to use lump charcoal as it burns hotter that briquettes) and now set your barbecue up for direct cooking. I also add some natural wood on top of the coals and just below the grill surface – I like to see flames, I mean who doesn’t?
7. Once the tomahawk has rested for at least 10mins and you are happy with the heat being produced directly under the grilling surface of your barbecue, brush some more melted butter onto the tomahawk, lay the steak down directly over the heat (be cautious of flames) and sear-baby-sear for around 1minute, turn 90degrees for a further 1minute, flip and repeat. The goal here is to form a sizzling golden crust on the steaks. Once you are happy with the colour and “bark” remove from the grill immediately.
8. The steak is ready to serve straight away, the rest phase happened in #5 above. Slice the steak from the bone (TIP: don’t throw the bone away as there is some very good gnawing to be had for the cook!) and cut into approx 5mm slices and that is it!!
A sure fire way to barbecue the “king of steak”! Serving options are limitless really – we like to present a platter with a medley of our favourite sides – smashed spuds, garlic buttered prawns, slaw, street corn, crusty breads etc. Options for sauces that we enjoy with reverse seared steaks are blue cheese, ‘shroom & chimichurri.
Enjoy!