Steaks from supermarket (not quite a rant)

How about Costco steaks?

I don't usually buy meat there, but couldn't pass up bone in prime ribeyes for $9/lb.! Each steak was about 1.25 lbs., and they were delicious. Frozen, but extremely tender and flavorful. A little over an inch thick. They also had NY strip for a little more.

Walt

I had read on another forum that Costco had prime steaks in frozen case, but not at mine - seems to be a West Coast thing only.
Tonight I'm trying my first (at home, have had at restaurants) flat iron.

Have you tried cooking directly on the charcoal chimney? I haven't seen this technique in any cookbook.
[snip]

I've never heard of cooking directly on the chimney, Walt, but it sounds like a great idea. I'll have to keep that one in mind.

Whoops, I need to issue a correction. I saw this on Alton Brown's show about ahi tuna. I had forgotten that was his method. My sole innovation was to try it with steak.

Walt

I saw Rib Eyes at our Costco last week that had to be about three inches thick. Those are not steaks, but a roast. We did admire them - but no thanks.....to much beef. We like all our meat to be substantial as far as thickness goes, because we can cook it to the less than medium rare that we like. We like thick, but smaller cuts. So we usually share one cut of thick cut in half.

I can live with 1.5 inch, it's the prevalence of 1 inchers that drives me crazy. It's virtually impossible to get a rare steak with a truly good sear with one inch steaks. Which is why you never see one in a good steakhouse (no, Sizzler doesn't count)

Dale, I am sure that people here get tired of my extolling the features of my ceramic grill. However, I must say that In this grill I can get 1" ribeyes cooked to a perfect medium rare, or even a perfect rare. I like mine somewhere in between so here is what I do. I set Hot mama up with charcoal, and place the grid about 5-6 inches above the charcoal. Then I fire her up to about 700 degrees (dome temp) more like 900 at the drill level. Slap the beef on the hot grill for 2 minutes, and turn for another 2 minutes. Take the beef off and it is just what I want. If I want it a little more done I can increase each side by 1/2 to 1 minute for medium well, or shorten the time by 1/2 min per side for really rare. (purple center)