Well it's still bitter cold here in Minneapolis but at least it was 1 above zero when I starting cooking today!
The menu was Prime NY steaks and 2 pounds of prawns from Costco. The steaks were about 2" thick so I decided to reverse sear using the Meater thermometer.
I put both the prawns and the steak on at 180. The prawns were pulled off after about 45 min for an appetizer. They turned out great. I just used olive oil and roasted garlic seasoning. They really pick up the smoke flavor nicely.
Grill temp was increased to 205. I pulled the steaks once they hit 110, cranked up the temp to 500 and added the Grill Grates. Once the grill was up to temp I seared the steaks for approx. 5 min per side.
I was shooting for 135 internal and didn't quite get to the grill in time when the Meater told me to pull them for resting. The temp really shot up quick in the last couple minutes. If it was warmer out I would have been close to the grill. Not in this weather..... However they still turned out about perfect.
I'm curious why the ambient temp on the probe is so much lower than what the grill says. I guess it's due to the close proximity to the meat. Somehow it still figures out the cooking time pretty accurately.
I used Traeger Gourmet Blend pellets and while the shrimp were smokey, the steaks didn't really pick up much compared to previous reverse sear cooks. I think I'll stick with Lumberjack 100% hickory from now on.