The Perfect Reverse Smoked and Seared Tomahawk Steak

The tomahawk steak has to be one of the coolest looking steaks to cook and serve. This massive cut of bone and rib steak will absolutely impress anyone who gets the opportunity to eat it. But we also need to make sure it's delicious. So the right amount of seasoning, cooking, and finishing is going to be crucial to this steak's success. And you know what's up. Let's start with the prep. Sound good? Let's cook. I have a 2 pound tomahawk steak. The cut comes from the central part of the rib steak in between the 6th and 12th rib of the cow. They are usually about 2 inches thick and have a bone ranging from 8 to 20 inches in length. And like any steak, this can also come in different grades, from choice to prime to A5 Wagyu, which of course is going to determine the intramuscular fat, or as us old school guys call it marble. It also has a lot of intermuscular fat, which is going to provide an incredible amount of flavor along with that bone. And it got its name because it resembles the shape of the Native American axe-like weapon, the tomahawk. And if you're in a bad situation, I think this thing could do some damage. Kidding. What we're going to do at this stage is transfer it onto a rack over a sheet tray, and you know me, lined with parchment paper. We are going to generously season all sides with coarse salt. And when seasoning, season high. Be about a foot away so that you can cover as much surface area as possible, ensuring every bite is delicious. Now this process is known as pre-seasoning or dry brining. And what we're going to do is place in the refrigerator for as little as 4 hours or up to 48 hours and allow the salt to penetrate deep into the steak so that it is properly seasoned all the way through. And whenever it is that you're ready to cook the steak, just pull it out of the refrigerator. We're going to set it at room temperature for maybe 30 minutes or so, just to take the chill off. And if you have a quick look, you can see that the outside surface has dried out considerably. And that is due to that salting, uncovered process in the refrigerator, which is going to allow us to help get a beautiful maillard crust. Which is the chemical reaction that is caused by heat between the amino acids and reducing sugars to get that beautiful brown color that makes so much flavor and brings about amazing aromas. Now at this time, I'm going to preheat my smoker. I'm just going to add in my chips to the hopper. And you could use oak, pecan, alder, apple, cherry. You can absolutely be the judge here. I'm turning the smoker down to 225 degrees Fahrenheit. Now if you do not have a smoker, you can absolutely do this in the oven at the same temperature, 225. And while I've got some time, I'm already thinking about how I can finish off this steak. And I'm going to make something known as cowboy butter. I'm going to be starting off with some fresh rosemary. I want to remove those tender sprigs and leaves from that big woody stem. Now I believe there's so much flavor in those tender sprigs and they can be used, but that woody stem, just pop it in the freezer and use it for stock. Then what I always like to do is roll up the leaves and sprigs nice and tight and finely mince. But hold up a second. This knife is really struggling to cut right now. Having a sharp knife in the kitchen is crucial to your success as a home cook. And thanks to our sponsor Horl, it just got a whole lot easier to do so. The Horl sharpener is made in Germany and it has two main pieces to it, a sharpening roller and on one side, a diamond plated disc for sharpening, which is around 400 grit. And the other, a ceramic plated disc for honing, which is around a 1000 grit. And they also offer 3000 and 6000 grit polishing discs. 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I'm going to give my knife a quick wipe down, then continue finely mincing the fresh rosemary. We want to get about one tablespoon. Next up, same thing with the thyme. We need one tablespoon. And as long as those sprigs are nice and tender, we are good to use them. Then last but not least, I like a lot of parsley in my cowboy butter. And the stems of course are very good to use and have a lot of great flavor. I'm looking to get in between three and four tablespoons total. Going to briefly set my herbs to the side, then head over to my stand mixer. I'm adding in four sticks of softened unsalted butter with the paddle attachment. And we're going to whip it for five to seven minutes on medium to medium high speed until it becomes light and fluffy. And you could of course use electric hand beaters if that's all you have. While the butter is whipping, I'm going to quickly small dice up one shallot and finely grate six whole garlic cloves right into a bowl with those small diced shallots. Let's head back over to the cooktop. I've got a medium sized nonstick skillet. I'm going to add in about two tablespoons of olive oil. Turn the heat to low medium. Then I'm going to add in the shallots and garlic. Give them a very gentle seasoning with coarse salt, maybe an eighth of a teaspoon, just to help draw out some moisture so that they brown a little bit quicker. Now we're going to frequently stir this for about five to seven minutes or until lightly brown like this. The main goal is to add flavor and take away a lot of that raw onion garlic bite. We're going to take that off the cooktop, have a quick look at our butter. You can see it's white and fluffy. This is perfect. Let's add in the cooked shallots and garlic. And then I've got a few dry spices in addition to all the fresh herbs that I just cut up, starting with two teaspoons of regular paprika. You could use smoked or sweet. Then a half teaspoon of ground cayenne and finally a half teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes. Let's take all of that over to the stand mixer. Turn the speed down to low so it's not shooting out everywhere. Add that in there along with about two teaspoons of coarse salt. Then just a few more things. The juice of one lemon, which is about two to three tablespoons in total. Next up, three tablespoons of Dijon mustard. You could also use a spicy ground mustard. Then last but not least, my secret weapon, one and a half tablespoons of prepared horseradish. Now let's turn the speed back up to medium to incorporate everything and you may need to stop it and scrape the sides to ensure all the butter is mixed with all those spices and herbs. Once everything is completely combined, the most important part here is to give it a taste. Does it need more salt? Does it need more spice? You be the judge here, but one thing I know is that this butter should be incredibly flavorful. After all, we're not eating it by itself. We're using it to further enhance the flavor of other foods. Now once we're done, you can place it in a container and put in the refrigerator or freezer, but for me, I always go back to my restaurant days and I'm going to spread it out on a sheet of parchment paper and roll it up nice and tight until it forms a log. This way, once it's chilled, I can just slice off individual little pads and place it on whatever I want. Now we usually roll up the ends of the parchment and then give it a quick roll to round it out. Then of course, label it, date it, and you can put it in the refrigerator or freezer until you're ready to use it. Now let's head back over to our steak. The chill is off of it. Now we want to generously season both sides with freshly cracked black pepper. Remember, steak loves pepper. I'm heading outside to my smoker. I'm going to place that tomahawk steak right on the grill grates. Next, of course, extremely important, you're going to want a thermometer. Whenever you reverse sear, it is all about internal temperature, not time cooked. Pierce the steak right in the center, and I always know I'm dead on when I press down on the thermometer and it pokes up right in the center. I know I'm right on target. Then we're going to close the smoker and we're going to cook it until it reaches 100 degrees Fahrenheit internally because I like a finished medium rare, which is about 125, and I want to allow enough cushion for when I actually sear it. Now if you're doing this in the oven, you can keep it right on that rack over that sheet tray lined with parchment paper, going on a middle rack in the oven, again at 225. Be sure you have a thermometer in there. We're taking it to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, which should take roughly 60 to 70 minutes, just like in the smoker. And once you've hit that 100 degree Fahrenheit internal temperature, we're going to come out, take a look. You can see the fat has started to soften and brown up a little bit, and of course the color of the meat has changed quite a bit. At this stage, we are going to remove the thermometer and bring it in and rest it for just about 10 to 15 minutes. It's funny, whenever I get done with the slow cook portion of the reverse sear, I always think, this isn't the most desirable looking cut of beef out there. But don't worry, we're not finished yet. Now you need to decide how you want to finish this off. It can be pan seared in a cast iron skillet, like I did with my sous vide steak, or you can simply leave it right on that smoker and crank up the heat to 550 degrees and take it all the way to your desired internal temperature. For me, I'm 125F internally for medium rare, just like when I did my smoked prime rib. Or if you ask me, this thing is begging to be grilled. So that's exactly what I'm going to do. Now, when it comes to doing a quick sear, it doesn't matter if you're using a smoker or grill, you want it to be at least 550 degrees Fahrenheit. For me, I've got my firebox on the left side. Maybe you're using a grill where all your coals are on one side. I'm just going to make sure that firebox is wide open and put the grates right over top, then drop the steak down over it. Now, this is only going to take about two to three minutes per side to get my coveted medium rare internal temperature, which is about 122 to 125. That's when I want to pull it off and let it rest because it will pop up a few more degrees. And when it comes to grilling, you should absolutely have some char marks on there, or else what's the point of grilling? Those char marks equal flavor. And if you're just using a regular grill, the same process applies. You're only cooking it for two to three minutes per side to reach that desired internal temperature. And of course, you've got some nice grill char marks on all sides. And this thing right here looks absolutely perfect in my book. What I'm going to do is just simply place it on a rack and let it rest for about five to seven minutes. Now, this steak looks amazing and it smells incredible in here. And the tomahawk wasn't as nearly hyped back in my restaurant days as a chef as it is today, but I would have loved to have served it up. People would have lost their minds. Simple classic techniques, always delicious food. Let's plate this up. During that resting period, I'm going to take several pads of my cowboy butter and place it right over top of the steak and let it soak right in. And during this time, you could of course serve it up with your favorite potato dish like my potato wedges. You should definitely check out that recipe video. It's amazing. Now for the steak, slice the rib steak away from the bone, then thinly slice it. And reverse searing steak always trips me out because as soon as I cut it, it always looks medium well plus because it always takes a few seconds for that myoglobin to rush back in and turn the meat back to that beautiful red center. Myoglobin is just the protein responsible for making meat red. Once it's sliced up, I'm just going to serve it up with an extra optional garnish of finely sliced chives. Gosh, does this look good? This is a meal fit for a king. What else can you say? The techniques, the butter, the potatoes, if you choose to do them. And by the way, you can get every single recipe that I make in imperial and metric measurements on my website at billyparisi.com. What I think you should do is check out my cowboy burger, homemade ground beef, the sauce, the cheese. You will love it. I've got a great recipe video. I'll see you on there.