Steak over embers: what this customer photo gets right
A customer who orders around fifteen kilos a month sent us a photo of his grate. Four steaks over burnt-down embers, no flame — exactly as it should be.
Sometimes you learn the most by simply watching what people do with the meat. A customer sent us this photo — one who orders around fifteen kilos a month from us.
All he wrote with it was a single line: "Today I was just eating steaks off the grill, here's a photo 🙂"
Four steaks are lying on the grate. Thick pieces, deep red, with the fat edge clearly visible on two of them. Thickness in a steak is not a luxury but a precondition: a thin piece is done through long before anything forms on the outside that could be called a crust.
Underneath is charcoal that has burned down completely: a layer of grey-white ash with the red glow beneath it. No flame, no flare-ups.
This is exactly where most people are too early. As long as flames are leaping, the charcoal is still burning — and what rises off it settles onto the meat as bitterness. Wait until that ash-grey layer has formed over the embers and you get even radiant heat instead of licking flames. It takes longer than you would think.
Two more things stand out.
The meat went on dry and bare. No marinade, no rub, no oil. That is exactly what the boss's guide says too, "Preparing steak simply — level 1: medium": you salt it on the plate, not before. Salt draws water to the surface, and wet meat does not brown — it steams.
And the pieces are spaced apart, not crowded together. The grate extends forward beyond the embers. That is the zone you need: if one piece finishes ahead of the others, it moves there and comes along quietly without taking on any more colour.
This photo also shows everything you don't need. No gas grill, no probe thermometer, no accessories. A brick box, a grate of round steel bar, good charcoal — and the patience to let it burn down.
Thanks for the photo. We're glad to get every one of them.
Lagerfeuer Feinkost — handmade meat and delicatessen products from Wagna in southern Styria. Our products