The Tomahawk Steak has to be one of the coolest-looking cuts, this recipe brings together all the theatre and the flavours of wood-fired cooking.
Very simply it's reverse seared steak cooked over a longer period. You start by hanging the Tomahawk over a low heat with a light smoke for around an hour this will render down the fat and add the wood smoke flavour deep into the steak giving it a great mahogany colour. To finish you sear giving an amazing crust.
What is a tomahawk steak?
A tomahawk steak is cut from a rib of beef and is a ribeye beef steak with at least five inches of French-trimmed rib bone left attached, creating a similar look to a tomahawk axe.
Where to Buy.
You can get a Tomahawk from any good local butchers, if you want to order online here are a few options:
- HG Walter - London
- Meat Men - Somerset
- Formison & Co - Yorkshire
Woodfired Tomahawk Steak Recipe
Ingredients
- Tomahawk Steak
- Salt
- Olive Oil
Tools
- Cordless drill and Drill Bit
- Meat Hook
- Fireproof Gloves or Tongs
- Temperature Prob – Meater and Thremopen are the best options out there.
Method
Grill Setup
Step 1 Remove one of the V grill sections to allow space for the tomahawk to hang over the embers, and leave the remaining two v grills for searing.
Building the Ember Bed
Step 2 Start the fire in the ember maker and let it burn down to embers, top-down method works great for this see our early post here
To start with you are looking for a small bed of embers to hang the tomahawk over, then build the ember bed as the cook goes on ready for searing of the tomahawk at the end. The aim is to keep the fire in the ember maker going throughout the cook, providing a regular flow of embers.
Once your ember bed is ready add chunks of wood directly onto the embers
Prepping the Tomahawk.
Step 3 Make a hole near the top of the tomahawk bone, you want to it hang around 10-15 cm above the embers so position the whole in relation the size of your tomahawk. For making the hole a cordless drill works great, just drill into a scrap piece of wood and not your chopping board like I did.
Top Tip Drill several holes so you can adjust the height if needed during the cook.
Step 4 Rub your tomahawk with olive oil and sprinkle with a liberal amount of salt.
Cooking
Step 5
Once ready add to the meat hook and hang on the crossbar above your bed of embers and sit back and watch.
Step 6
Hang the tomahawk over the embers for around 45 mins to 1hr, it will start to turn a mahogany colour.
Step 7
About 20 mins before you plan to bring the tomahawk off the hook, add some more wood to the ember maker ready searing.
Step 8
Once the internal temperature of 49 degrees celsius remove from the heat (use tongs or fire gloves for this) and leave to one side.
Step 9
Build up your embers bed and lower the grill to its lowest point, now add the tomahawk too the V Grills you aim hear to create a good all round crust so keep turning every, adjust the grill height as need.
Step 10
Once you have internal tempture of celsius remove and rest for around 10-15 minutes before serving
