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Kamado Joe Jr Steak
You can make a great steak on a Kamado Joe Jr. by searing it over direct heat.
This starts out with popular cuts like a New York strip, T-bone, porterhouse, and ribeye.
You can also make thicker tougher cuts of steak on a Kamado Joe Jr. like flank, inside skirt, hanger steaks, round steaks, and even tri-tips.
Though you might want to take steps to tenderize them and then cut them thin.
Prime cut steaks like New York strip, T-bone, and ribeye, and even inside skirt steaks can be cooked over a direct flame of 400 to 450 degrees for roughly 3 to 4 minutes a side to cook the interior to a perfect 130-degree medium-rare.
You can use the same direct heating method to grill tougher cuts of steak to a perfect medium-rare.
However, you might want to give them a good long bath in an acidic marinade to help tenderize the meat. Then cut pieces thinly to ensure tender bites.
Cooking Steak on Kamado Joe Jr.
Two of the best steaks to cook on a Kamado Joe Jr. are the New York strip steak and a ribeye.
With these steaks, you can sear them directly over a 400 to 450-degree flame for 3 to 4 minutes per side to get a perfect 130-degree medium-rare interior.
These steaks don’t have a bone in the middle like a T-bone or a porterhouse, which can make it a little more complicated to get even doneness throughout the meat.
How to Cook Steak on Kamado Joe Jr?
Cooking a steak on a Kamado Joe Jr. over direct flame starts with building a hot fire of 400 to as much as 500 degrees, and letting the entire grill preheat before laying the meat.
This might take 15 to 20 minutes. While the grill is properly preheating you can use the following steps to get your steak ready before taking it to the flame.
Step One: 20 minutes before grilling, liberally salt the steak and re-wrap it. Then let it sit out on the counter to bench rest and warm slightly. This will also help thick steaks and bone-in steaks like porterhouse and T-bone to cook evenly.
Step Two: Use a clean paper towel to pat any moisture off the surface of the steak, and then season with salt and pepper, followed by a very light glaze of olive oil to help prevent sticking.
Step Three: Place the steak directly over a 400 to 500-degree flame on the Kamado Joe Jr.
Step Four: After 90 seconds, rotate the steak 90 degrees. This will create nice crosshatch sear marks.
Step Five: After another 90 to 120 seconds, flip the steak.
Step Six: Rotate the steak 90 degrees after 90 seconds. Let it finish for another 90 to 120 seconds.
Step Seven: Check the thickest part of the steak with an instant-read probe thermometer. If it’s between 125 to 130 degrees, pull the steak off the heat.
Step Eight: Tent the steak or wrap it with aluminum foil to let the juices redistribute into the meat fibers. This time will also let the internal temperature of the steak carry over another 5 degrees or so for a perfect medium-rare interior.
How Long to Cook Steak on Kamado Joe
It takes 3 to 4 minutes per side, over a 450-degree fire to make a perfectly pink medium-rare steak to an internal temperature of 130 to 135 degrees on a Kamado Joe Jr.
If you want your steak rare, you will need to shorten this time to 2 to 3 minutes per side. If you prefer your steak medium to medium-well, you might need to increase the time preside to 5 or even as much as 7 minutes per side.
What Steaks Can You Cook on a Kamado Joe Jr?
Most popular prime-cut steaks like New York strip, ribeye, T-bone, and porterhouse steaks can be made on a Kamado Joe Jr.
Tough steaks like flank, inside skirt, hanger, round, and tri-tips can also be made on a Kamado Joe Jr using the same direct grilling method.
Though you might want to tenderize these cuts with a long soak in an acidic marinade before grilling them. Then make sure to slice them thinly against the grain for tender bites of meat.
Final Thoughts
A Kamado Joe Jr. does a great job of searing it over direct heat. With proper preheating, the metal grates, the flames, and the radiant heating effect of the hot ceramic all promote even doneness.
Some of the best cuts of steak to make on a Kamado Joe include the popular New York strip, T-bone, porterhouse, and ribeye.
Though you can also grill some tougher, in-expensive cuts of steak on a Kamado Joe Jr. This includes things like flank, inside skirt steak, hanger steaks, round steaks, and even tri-tips.
However, they will benefit from a good soak in an acidic marinade to help tenderize them.
Then cut them thin, against the grain for a tender bite of meat.
Prime cut steaks like New York strip, T-bone, and ribeye can be grilled over a direct flame of 400 to 450 degrees for about 3 to 4 minutes per side.
This will give you a steak with an interior temperature of around 130-degree for a perfectly pink medium-rare.
Robert is a certified Pitmaster, with over a decade of experience in smoking the best meats you’ll ever feast upon. He also has a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at San Antonio. When he’s not researching technical topics, he’s most likely barbecuing in his backyard.