**SMOKED MEATS** CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE - CHECK BACK SOON
Sliced picanha, ready to return to the grill for finish
Resting..
People, there is a reason why Brazilians consume more picanha steaks than anyone in the world. They are passionate about their grilling and this is a fabulous cut of beef. Done right results in some of the best beef you can lay across your lips.
There are multiple ways you can do these but, the first is to start with a good cut of beef. The picanha cut is also known as a culotte but is really the top sirloin cap, rump cover, or rump cap. They are uncommon in big box grocery chains but any good butcher should be able to find this cut. Sometimes the problems result because of the different names and inexperienced butchers. We bypassed the butcher and got ours straight from the supplier, in our case, Snake River Farms. Thats right Wagyu. This will give you the best flavor, marbling and best chance for a fantastic steak dinner.
In our take on this Brazilian favorite we use our smoker and the green egg to finish the cut into a mouth watering finale.
Picanha (coloutte or top sirloin cap) See #8
3-4 lb whole coloutte (picanha), USDA prime beef. Be sure and observe the grain, this will be important later.
Steak Rub (your favorite) We used our homemade High Cotton but added some Trader Joes Umami and a little more salt.
Special Tools:
Instant read meat thermometer
Big Green Egg or equivalent, capable of 650°F
Season the steak all over rubbing it into the meat.
Place the steak on a cooling rack in a quarter sheet pan, open, in the refrigerator overnight. This allows for the rub to soak into the meat and for some drying of the exterior surfaces.
One option is to use a smoker to add a subtle, deeper cold smoke flavor keeping the temperature below 85 deg F. Two hours was plenty. If you cant go that low just skip this part as you do not want to overcook this cut. The internal temperature on the meat was 74 deg f when it came off the smoker.
On my green egg, I use big block, lump hardwood, topped with several large chunks of split red oak. This makes a really hot smokey fire.
Fire the green egg up and get a good fire going then dial it back a little. When you're ready to grill open up the vents and let it breath I like it about 650-700 deg f. Do not leave it unattended as it can reach 800 or higher in less than 5 minutes. The high temps are necessary to get a good char on the outside, lower temps will not give you a char and will often result in over cooking.
Burp the green egg, then place the entire cut, beef fat side down for about 2-3 minutes, flip it and give it another 2-3 minutes. You should have some good grill marks and some charring. If not go another 1-2 on each side.
Remove the cut, dial the grill back just a little. Slice the steak in about 2in thick cuts with the grain.
Re-season the cut sides of the now individual steaks.
Open the grill vents up and let the grill get hot again, add the steaks and go about 2-3-minutes on each cut side. Using the meat thermometer go no higher than 125 deg f.
Let them rest for at least 10 minutes.
Slice across grain for plating.
Urban Cowgill October 2020 (updated 2024)
Plated with scalloped potatoes and steamed broccoli