Thanks, and thats the spirit cooking your steaks over a live fire. The trick is to develop coals before you cook over a fire. Of course there will be some smoke involved, delivering some amount of additional flavor, but woods for the Argentine grill are most often selected based on their density and coal production rather than thier aroma or smoke flavor, the exception being fruit hardwoods such as apple or cherry.

I will honestly say that birch is one of my least favorite woods to cook on, and as far as NY strip… I have never met one that I did not like! Just remember that wood fire grilling and wood smoking are two completely different cooking methods entirely.

Thanks for reading and keep up the good grilling!

Joe

The beef we used in this most recent post was locally farmed in the hilltowns of MA, unsure of the breed but I know it was not Black Angus (which is what we normally use at the restaurant). It was a pasture grazed, grass-fed, naturally raised animal, which means a 100% vegetarian diet, no artificial hormones or steriods were used, and this particular steak was not dry or wet aged at all.

In essence the point of this article was to show, how flavorful you can make an inexpensive, readily available, steak, by just focusing on the simple details. You need not spend a fortune on Prime, or Dry-aged beef, to make this delicious steak (especially on flank).

Argentine beef is very similar to the type mentioned above. Argentine steaks often only carry, grass fed as their descriptive adjective. Unfortunately I do not have the knowledge to say what the steaks are like Provenance to Provenance. But I can say that any Argentine asador worth his salt will say that a wood fire is ALWAYS used, and the different hardwoods and intensity of the fire will make great differences to the flavor. Grilling can be alot like breadmaking, you can give two Gauchos the same cut of beef and the same grilling equipment, and firewood, but the taste and texture of their steaks will not be the same. Steaks are like home made bread, they seem to know who is preparing them!

Hope this is helpful
-Joe