Whole Smoked Boneless Ribeye (W/ Pics)

I did a couple of whole boneless ribeye racks for Super Bowl Sunday. One weighed in at 19 lbs & change with the other one coming in at something just over 13 lbs. Because I was feeding a crowd, with different tastes, I decided to cook the larger one to medium rare and the smaller one to medium (kinda hurt to take it this far).

Although I always grill my steaks seasoned with just salt & pepper (and maybe a little garlic powder), I used a regular BBQ rub on these. On this large cut of beef, the rub and the smoke combine to create a flavor profile that people seem to enjoy. It works just as well if you decide to keep it simple and season heavily with just salt and pepper. Here's a photo of them seasoned and waiting for the pit (taken on my phone and not the best quality):



I tossed them onto an offset that was running @ temps around 230 to 240 and which was being fueled with a combination of oak & hickory. I also put a pan under the grate, beneath the meat, to collect the juices while cooking. Here's a photo taken about 3 hours in:



Took somewhere around 5 1/2 hrs to get them both to where I wanted them. The big one, I pulled @ 140 degrees internal and the smaller one @ 155. I put them in pans and covered them so that they could rest for 45 minutes or so. I expected to get an additional rise in temps, by about 5 degrees, while they were resting and it worked out.

When it was time to eat, we asked folks for their preference, medium or medium rare, sliced the steaks to order, added a little of the pan drippings to each, tossed on some potatoes and served. Everyone sure did seem happy.

I didn't get any photos, of the whole racks, when they were done. I did manage to get a photo of one sliced and tossed onto a plate. There was no effort made in the presentation...I had about 10 hrs of adult beverages in me by this time (after all, it was the Super Bowl ) Here's the pic: