You can also sear a steak at uber high temps and get a real char crust just like a top quality steak house.
Stetson,
I'm assuming by "uber high" you're talking 850 degrees plus? How long does it take to cook say a 1 1/2" thick rib-eye to rare or medium rare? It can't be long?
Mike
I rarely do rib eyes but with their fat content it would be lickity split (5 minutes give or take) plus time to rest. When I do 3 pound dry aged Porterhouses they take about 10-15 minutes. After they are seared I close the vents and the lid to let a little smoke penetrate them for another ten minutes. When you use this method you have to be careful to buuuuurp the egg when you open it back up or you can get a flashback. The good news is once you make that error you probably won't do it again!
You need a high temperature to sear a steak and develop a nice char crust on a steak. The difference is night and day in the end product. As others said there are after market products like the spyder that allows you to use a smaller grate and get your product very close to the charcoal. For steaks dome temperature is irrelevant. What you want to focus on is the grate temperature. In a professional kitchen we use infra-red broilers that can hit 1850 in about two minutes flat and that is what you are trying to mimick. Not ever burning at a high temp on a BGE is like owning a Ferrari and never going over 25 mph. Lump charcoal burns between 900-1200 degrees depending on the brand. High temperature cooking is one of the primary benefits of using a ceramic cooker and lump charcoal.
No need to sweat the gasket bit. They are easy to replace and the nomex gasket is holding up well. I would use caution with some of the other gaskets out there as they may be made from fiberglass. I'm not sure I would want to take the chance of getting any fibers on food I would serve to a guest.
http://www.ceramicgrillstore.com/ce...mp;view=article&id=45&Itemid=229
