I grew up right by the ocean where land meeting sea on the plate is a very real and regular part of life. Now I live in a sea of alfalfa, corn, and soybeans where “surf & turf” basically means you ate chicken with your steak. So that’s what this meal is!
Keep in mind, as with any BBQ meal and as all ovens/smokers are different, cook times and temps are somewhat loosely open to interpretation; paying more attention to internal temperatures and external visual appeal will guide you to success.
INGREDIENTS (Steak):
2 big-as-hell beef chuck roasts, about 2” thick each (we get ours from Costco)
Salt
Pepper
Cooking Spray (canola oil, butter spray, peanut oil, duck fat, aerosolized bear grease if you can find it…whatever you like. NOT olive oil. Spray is the easiest solution for initial AND reapplication of fats, and will not remove your seasoning like drizzling liquid oil could do. Liquid or solid fats can be used if you give seasoning time to settle in before applying them)
PREP (Steak):
If you can manage, season liberally with salt and pepper and leave in the fridge uncovered for 24-48 hours ahead of cooking. Flip every 6-8 hours. If you can only get a few hours to season, flip halfway and keep cold still.
Spray or apply oil/fat up to an hour before cooking, and possibly again right before the meat hits the grates.
INGREDIENTS (Chicken):
10-15 lbs of chicken wings
Old Bay Seasoning (if you can’t find this locally, a dismally passable substitute would consist of seasoning salt such as Lowry’s, adobo/sauzón, or the “meat tenderizer” you find, plus some celery salt and pepper. This is NOT the same or even all that similar to Old Bay but it’ll do, donkay)
Lemon pepper seasoning OR lemon/lime powder, black pepper, pinch of salt combined
Ground cumin
Chipotle powder
Cayenne powder
Honey
Oil/spray (same deal as beef above)
PREP (Chicken):
If you have picky eaters, split the wings into two portions on separate baking sheets. Season one portion all over with salt and pepper and call it a day. The other portion will get a healthy coating of Old Bay (this is the main salt component, and also hints at the legit “surf” because it’s a staple on seafood, chips and boardwalk fries where I grew up), lemon pepper (or lime pepper for my Gulf peeps), cumin, then go as wild as you want with chipotle and cayenne. I like these chilis because they’ll kick your ass out of the gate but back off the sass pretty quickly.
Spray/oil and set in a plastic zipper bag, massaging every few hours or minutes, depending on how soon you season.
This can be done up to 2 days ahead of time but honestly I did it just a couple of hours ahead of time. Put in fridge prior to cooking. Unlike beef, I don’t put chicken in the smoker right out of fridge due to chix’s higher required internal temp for safe eating. I like my chicken just under room temperature.
COOKING (Steak & Chicken):
Pop your smoker to 275-300. I use only local cherry wood in mine right now but I really like chestnut, pecan, peach, apple, and birch as well if I can get them locally. These all work with all meats but don’t overpower chicken.
Spray the meats one mo’gain. Put the steaks closest to the heat source, then the hot wings next, then the plain wings. Forget about them for 20-30m.
Check they didn’t run away, rotate steaks 90 degrees if they’re getting some good color, forget about them again.
After another 10-15min, flip everything. Repeat what you did on the first side but you can also crank the heat another 25-50 degrees and shave a little time off each step, or lower the heat and add a few minutes to each step. Your move.
10-15min before pulling everything, drizzle some honey over the hot wings. I’m lucky enough to have some bee hives on the property and I firmly believe quality local honey is best. But that stuff from China that comes in a bear bottle will work just fine.
Total smoke time will be somewhere between 60-90min, or until the steak reaches 125-135 internal and the wings are somewhere around 90 internal.
Wrap steaks in foil and rest.
Put chicken into oven at 450 for 10-15min, then lower to 350 until internal temp is at least 160.
If you need or want the skin crispier, I run the wings through a high broiler and check every minute or two.
Cut steaks into 1/4” slices. You can also separate the muscles into smaller portions and slice those. Each muscle in the chuck has a little different grain structure and fat content so it can be fun to put a bit of each on your plate and compare.
This amount fed about 10 adults with some leftovers. Served with steamed broccoli, salad, homemade rolls, grandma’s corn casserole, and Weller’s green label bourbon. Pacifier may or may not be for me.
Tweak as you see fit and enjoy!
Keep in mind, as with any BBQ meal and as all ovens/smokers are different, cook times and temps are somewhat loosely open to interpretation; paying more attention to internal temperatures and external visual appeal will guide you to success.
INGREDIENTS (Steak):
2 big-as-hell beef chuck roasts, about 2” thick each (we get ours from Costco)
Salt
Pepper
Cooking Spray (canola oil, butter spray, peanut oil, duck fat, aerosolized bear grease if you can find it…whatever you like. NOT olive oil. Spray is the easiest solution for initial AND reapplication of fats, and will not remove your seasoning like drizzling liquid oil could do. Liquid or solid fats can be used if you give seasoning time to settle in before applying them)
PREP (Steak):
If you can manage, season liberally with salt and pepper and leave in the fridge uncovered for 24-48 hours ahead of cooking. Flip every 6-8 hours. If you can only get a few hours to season, flip halfway and keep cold still.
Spray or apply oil/fat up to an hour before cooking, and possibly again right before the meat hits the grates.
INGREDIENTS (Chicken):
10-15 lbs of chicken wings
Old Bay Seasoning (if you can’t find this locally, a dismally passable substitute would consist of seasoning salt such as Lowry’s, adobo/sauzón, or the “meat tenderizer” you find, plus some celery salt and pepper. This is NOT the same or even all that similar to Old Bay but it’ll do, donkay)
Lemon pepper seasoning OR lemon/lime powder, black pepper, pinch of salt combined
Ground cumin
Chipotle powder
Cayenne powder
Honey
Oil/spray (same deal as beef above)
PREP (Chicken):
If you have picky eaters, split the wings into two portions on separate baking sheets. Season one portion all over with salt and pepper and call it a day. The other portion will get a healthy coating of Old Bay (this is the main salt component, and also hints at the legit “surf” because it’s a staple on seafood, chips and boardwalk fries where I grew up), lemon pepper (or lime pepper for my Gulf peeps), cumin, then go as wild as you want with chipotle and cayenne. I like these chilis because they’ll kick your ass out of the gate but back off the sass pretty quickly.
Spray/oil and set in a plastic zipper bag, massaging every few hours or minutes, depending on how soon you season.
This can be done up to 2 days ahead of time but honestly I did it just a couple of hours ahead of time. Put in fridge prior to cooking. Unlike beef, I don’t put chicken in the smoker right out of fridge due to chix’s higher required internal temp for safe eating. I like my chicken just under room temperature.
COOKING (Steak & Chicken):
Pop your smoker to 275-300. I use only local cherry wood in mine right now but I really like chestnut, pecan, peach, apple, and birch as well if I can get them locally. These all work with all meats but don’t overpower chicken.
Spray the meats one mo’gain. Put the steaks closest to the heat source, then the hot wings next, then the plain wings. Forget about them for 20-30m.
Check they didn’t run away, rotate steaks 90 degrees if they’re getting some good color, forget about them again.
After another 10-15min, flip everything. Repeat what you did on the first side but you can also crank the heat another 25-50 degrees and shave a little time off each step, or lower the heat and add a few minutes to each step. Your move.
10-15min before pulling everything, drizzle some honey over the hot wings. I’m lucky enough to have some bee hives on the property and I firmly believe quality local honey is best. But that stuff from China that comes in a bear bottle will work just fine.
Total smoke time will be somewhere between 60-90min, or until the steak reaches 125-135 internal and the wings are somewhere around 90 internal.
Wrap steaks in foil and rest.
Put chicken into oven at 450 for 10-15min, then lower to 350 until internal temp is at least 160.
If you need or want the skin crispier, I run the wings through a high broiler and check every minute or two.
Cut steaks into 1/4” slices. You can also separate the muscles into smaller portions and slice those. Each muscle in the chuck has a little different grain structure and fat content so it can be fun to put a bit of each on your plate and compare.
This amount fed about 10 adults with some leftovers. Served with steamed broccoli, salad, homemade rolls, grandma’s corn casserole, and Weller’s green label bourbon. Pacifier may or may not be for me.
Tweak as you see fit and enjoy!
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