How to Make Smoked Ribeye Steaks: The Ultimate Guide | Mad Backyard (2024)

Learn how to smoke ribeye steaks the RIGHT WAY on ANY grill or smoker, whether its a Traeger or Pit Boss pellet grill, a Masterbuilt electric smoker, or just a simple Weber kettle!

Smoke these ribeyes full of flavor low and slow and then finish with a blazing hot reverse sear to create the BEST ribeye steaks you've ever had!

Let's get started!

We are going to cover:

• What to look for when buying ribeye steaks to smoke
• How to prep your ribeye steaks for the smoker
• How to set up different grills and smokers for smoked ribeye steaks
• What temperature to cook your ribeye steaks
• The best wood choices for ribeye steak
• How to know when your ribeye steaks are done
• An optional, but HIGHLY recommended method to reverse sear the steaks and finish them to perfection after removing them from the smoker.
• Our FAVORITE recipe for Reverse Seared and Smoked Ribeye Steaks

Wow, that's a lot...so let's get started!

Purchasing Ribeye Steaks

When buying steaks to smoke before searing (don't worry, we'll get to that), your best bet is to get the thickest ribeye steaks as you can find.

Look for well marbled, prime grade ribeye steaks that are AT LEAST 1.5 inches thick if possible.

You want a thick piece of fatty meat that will not dry out during the smoking process and still stand up to a blazing hot sear at the end without overcooking.

Thinner, less marbled choice and select grade steaks will likely not hold up to all of this abuse and you are better off just cooking them in a more straightforward manner over a hot grill.

You may need to venture away from the picked over meat case at your local chain grocery store and hit up a quality butcher or meat market in town.

No, these steaks will not be cheap, but if you buy some thin, cheap steaks that dry out during the smoking phase, what's the point?

Choosing a Cooking Oil

First coat the steaks in a good quality, high smoke point cooking oil like grapeseed or avocado oil.

This will allow the seasoning to stick to the meat and keep the steaks from sticking to the grill or smoker racks during the smoking and searing.

Because we are going to reverse sear these after we smoke them, you want to stick with a high smoke point oil.

Lower smoke point oils like extra virgin olive oil will not hold up to the searing temperatures and could cause an acrid taste when they burn.

To learn more about different oils and their smoke points, check out this article about the best oils for grilling.

We have started using Wagyu Beef Tallow for our steaks to give even an inexpensive steak an elevated flavor. You first melt the tallow like you would butter, then brush it on the steaks just like oil. There's also a Wagyu Beef Tallow spray, which is more convenient.

Seasoning the Steaks

When you are preparing your ribeye steaks its best to season them at least 2 hours before cooking, preferably even overnight, before putting them on the smoker or grill.

This allows the salt time to penetrate the meat, ensuring you have flavorful steak all the way to the center and not just salty on the exterior, and bland in the middle.

Also, if the meat is fully salted throughout, it is chemically more able to hold onto is juices and retain more moisture during the cooking process.

This is why people brine turkeys and hams before cooking them. Water and salt are buddies and once they find each other, it takes a lot of additional energy to break them apart.

Hence why the boiling point of saltwater is higher than that of pure water.

Since we are preferably smoking some high quality ribeye here, we recommend keeping it simple.

Salt and pepper work just fine on their own. Mixed with the woodsmoke, along with the juices, rendered fats, and oils form the steak, you will be in heaven, trust us.

However, there is nothing wrong with using your favorite steak rub as well.

Pro Tip: Stay away from anything that contains sugar or little bits of dried garlic (garlic powder is fine) because these will both burn when you sear the steak at the end.

Video

Before we dive in too much further, here’s a great overview of how we smoke a steak and reverse sear it in a cast iron skillet and on Grill Grates.

Check it out!

Best Smoking Wood Choices for Ribeye Steaks

Like we've done previously with smoked lamb chops, since you are only smoking these ribeye steaks for a shorter period of time relative to something like a ham or leg of lamb, you can get away with using some stronger flavored smoking woods.

We prefer the mid-range smoky flavor of hickory wood on our smoked ribeyes, but if you want an even bolder flavor you can try using mesquite.

If you DO want to try mesquite, we would only recommend applying smoke for the first 30 minutes and no longer.

Otherwise, your ribeyes can get TOO smoky and the mesquite will overpower them.

If you are looking for a milder wood to smoke them with, you can try oak, apple, or cherry instead.

Remember, wood pellets go in a pellet grill or a pellet smoker tube, wood chips go in an electric smoker, and wood chunks are used to smoke on a charcoal grill or in a firebox.

Smoking Temperature

Although we want to choose thick and well marbled steaks for smoking, relative to something like pork spareribs, ribeye steaks are still fairly lean and delicate, with almost no connective tissue.

You will need to watch both your cooking temperature and internal temperatures carefully when smoking your ribeyes.

You don't have much room for error if you overcook them.

So keep your initial smoker temperature at about 225°F and no higher if you can help it.

Cooking Time

On a 225°F smoker, it will take about 45-60 minutes to bring your raw steak up to an internal temperature of 110°F.

This is the point where you want to take it off the smoker to finish it by reverse searing it which we will discuss below.

This time will vary depending on how thick the steaks are, how humid it is outside, and how cold the steaks were to begin with i.e. whether they came straight out of the refrigerator, or sat on the counter for a while.

The point is you can't go by time alone when cooking steaks.

You HAVE to use a good instant read meat thermometer to know where your temperature is.

If you don't yet own an instant read thermometer, ThermoPro makes a good one.

Monitoring your Smoker Temperature

Almost every grill and smoker will have some sort of temperature gauge on them.

Now, if you are using a pellet grill or electric smoker, you should be able to pretty accurately dial in your desired temperature of 225°F with the turn of a dial.

This is what makes them so convenient.

If, however, you are using a charcoal or propane grill/smoker though, you can't rely on the cheap lid mounted temperature gauge.

We have found these can sometimes be up to 30°F off from what the true actual temperature of your smoker at the grill grate level is.

This is unacceptable.

This is why you will always see competition cooks, and backyard chefs who know their stuff, using wireless digital probe thermometers to keep track of both their meat AND their cooking chamber.

And even if you have a fancy pellet grill or electric smoker, it can't hurt to double check how accurate your temperature settings are to the true temperatures you are getting.

We are big fans of the ThermoPro Wireless Digital Meat Thermometer series.

While we have used and recommended ThermoPro for years, lately we have also become big fans of the MEATER leave in thermometer.

It is extremely accurate and has an incredible 165 foot Bluetooth range and works right with your smartphone so you don't need to carry a separate controller around with you like many other remote thermometers require.

It's got a great free app that is constantly being updated and even has an algorithm to predict how much longer your type of meat will take to cook based on cooking temperature, target temperature, current internal temperature.

It's like a GPS for your meat!

Reverse Sear Method

Larger cuts of meat like hams and pork butts will develop a nice exterior crust naturally due to the long length of time they spend in the smoker. This is not the case with steaks.

Just smoking the steaks low and slow until they are finished is not an ideal way to cook them.

You will never get that sizzling exterior crust or beautiful brown coloring form the Maillard reaction that takes place at high heat.

Your thicker exterior fat will never render and the meat will remain an unappetizing gray color.

That is why we highly recommend reverse searing ribeye steaks.

"Reverse Searing" refers to searing your meat at the very end, once it is pretty much all the way cooked through, in order to get a nice crispy exterior crust that you just can't get from low and slow smoking alone.

We've previously shown how reverse searing works great on steaks, on lamb chops, as well as a whole smoked rack of lamb reverse seared with a blow torch!

This brings about the best flavors AND textures in your meat.

So take the extra 5 minutes, whether it's over a hot grill burner, over some charcoal, or just in a blazing hot skillet, and sear those ribeyes to finish them off.

You'll be glad you did.

If you are cooking steaks on a pellet grill and struggling to get a high level of direct heat, try using a set of Grill Grates to help create a searing station on one side of your cooking area.

Grill Grates are specialty grates that sit right over the existing grates on your pellet grill that help capture and direct all that ambient heat and give you a nice searing station in the corner of your pellet grill.

They reach temperatures up to 200°F HIGHER than the temperature you set your pellet grill, meaning even if your nice Traeger only goes up to 400°F on the control panel, you can still sear some steaks, pork chops, or chicken at 600°F at the beginning or end of the cook to give them a nice sear.

They come in different sizes, so make sure you measure your grill to choose the size that will fit.

You can also reverse sear in a hot pan with a high smoke point oil or beef tallow, a flat top grill with oil, or over a hot propane burner or searing hot batch of charcoal on any grill.

In order to reverse sear your steaks without overcooking them, only bring your ribeye steaks up to about 100-110°F on an internal meat thermometer. Then immediately sear them hot and fast for about 60-90 seconds on each side.

This, along with resting them after searing, will naturally bring them up to about 130-135°F internally which is a perfect medium rare.

Finish the reverse sear when they are about 5°F shy of where you prefer your final doneness temperature to be as they will continue to rise in temperature about this much while they are resting.

Pro Tip: Be conservative with how long you leave them on the smoker.

When in doubt, take them off early. Especially if you've never smoked ribeye steaks before and don't know how much they will rise when you sear them.

The thinner your steaks, the further the internal temperature will rise when you sear them so adjust accordingly.

You can always sear them for longer than you initially planned to bring the internal temperature up to where you want it, but once you go too high, there's no putting that toothpaste back in the bottle.

Setting up your Smoker for Ribeye Steaks

Vertical or Offset Charcoal Smoker

Fill your firebox or lower charcoal basin with a few handfuls of unlit charcoal and create a small hollowed out depression in the center where you can add your lit briquets.

If your smoker comes with a water pan, like the Weber Smokey Mountain, fill the water pan as well to help stabilize the temperature and add moisture to the cooking chamber.

Light a charcoal chimney about ¼ way with charcoal and wait about 15 minutes for it to fully ignite.

Fill your water pan first, then add the lit briquets to the center depression you created.

Keep the dampers about ½ way to ¾ open until the temperature is to about 180°F. Then slowly close them down until they are just barely open and you are maintaining a temperature of 225°F.

Place 1 chunk of smoking wood on top of your lit charcoal once the smoker is up to temperature and put your ribeye steaks on.

Meanwhile prepare a skillet or separate grill to reverse sear the steaks when they are ready to be taken off.

Propane or Electric Smoker

For Propane: Open your gas valve and light the bottom burner. Adjust it to keep the temperature constant at 225°F

For Electric: Plug your electric smoker in and turn the temperature to 225°F.

While it comes up to temperature, add smoking wood chips, not pellets, to the smoking wood tray.

Fill the water tray if there is one.

Place your ribeye steaks on the rack and close the door.

Meanwhile prepare a skillet or separate grill to reverse sear the steaks when they are ready to be taken off.

Pellet Grill

Fill the pellet hopper with your choice of smoking wood pellets.

Plug in the pellet grill and turn the temperature to 225°F.

When the pellet grill has come up to temperature, place your ribeye steaks on the grill grates.

The great thing about a pellet grill is you can likely just leave the ribeye steaks in place when they hit 115°F internally and then crank the heat as high is it will go, or move them over to a hot set of Grill Grates as described above for the final sear.

Check out our full in depth summary of how to cook steaks on a pellet grill here.

Gas or Charcoal Grill

On a gas or charcoal grill you will likely need to use a smoker box filled with wood chips, or a pellet tube smoker filled with wood pellets.

Think you need a fancy smoker to smoke food at home? Think again. Great smoked food can be made right on your current gas or charcoal grill!

Check out our Ultimate Guide to Smoking on a Gas Grill HERE.

If you are unfamiliar with these gas grill smoking devices mentioned above, no worries, we have you covered!

Read everything you need to know about smoker boxes here, and see a selection of our favorite pellet tube smokers here.

In the case of ribeye steaks, we would opt for just using the smoker box filled with wood chips since you won't need all the burn time that comes with lighting a tube full of pellets.

Set up your gas or charcoal grill for indirect cooking with the burners or a small amount of lit briquets on one side and plan for your meat to be on the other side.

Once the temperature of your grill is between 225°F, place your smoker box or pellet tube smoker over the lit burners and once smoke begins coming out, place your steaks on the opposite side of the heat.

If you are doing the reverse sear method, once the steaks hit no higher than 110°F internally, either crank the gas burners under the steaks or move them over to above the hot charcoal for 60-90 seconds each side as described above in the Reverse Sear section.

Resting the Steaks

After reverse searing the steaks, transfer them to a wire rack and let them rest, UNCOVERED for at least 5 minutes. The wire rack will maintain that good exterior crust you worked so hard to create!

During this time they may rise another 5°F in temperature internally so keep that in mind when deciding when to take them off the hot grill.

Serving Suggestions

For many purists, the best way to serve a nice steak is on a plate. Seasoned with only salt and pepper.

And if this is your first time smoking a ribeye steak you may want to do just that, in order to fully appreciate the fatty complex flavors of the smoked and seared ribeye meat.

If you want to do something different though, there are many ways to amp up the presentation, either by topping with an herbed butter, a homemade steak sauce, a creamy Bearnaise, or even some shrimp or crab meat to do a surf and turf.

For drinks we recommend a full bodied red wine like a Cabernet or Burgundy.

If beer is more your thing, stick with a crisp and hoppy pale ale to help cut through the fattiness of the ribeye.

Enjoy!

📖 Recipe