Picanha Churrasco Style
Ingredients
1 whole picanha (about 3 lbs) or 4 pre-cut picanha steaks
4 tbsp kosher salt**
Directions
Prepare a charcoal grill by bringing a full charcoal chimney of lump charcoal to glowing white ash covered embers. This will take about 15 minutes.
While the charcoals are getting hot, prepare the picanha. If you have grill ready steaks proceed to the next step. Pat it dry with paper towel and trim any excess fat - the fat cap should have a thickness of about 1/2 inch. Remove any silver skin fom the bottom side of the picanha. Cut it in half to get two smaller picanhas. Take one of the smaller picanhas and remove each of the three tips. (Save for picanha tip skewers). Slice the chunk of meat left in the middle into two steaks - with the grain. Repeat for the other half. You will have 4 steaks.
Start with the largest picanha piece (they will not be equal in size) and fold it into a C shape. Thread it with a large stainless steel skewer. Do the same with a smaller piece (smaller pieces cook faster and placing them at the bottom helps hold the larger ones on top while carving in vertical position). Depending on the length of your skewers you should have two or four picanha steaks threaded per each.
Liberally salt with kosher salt. Do not forget to salt the fat cap.
Place the skewer(s) over the hot charcoals, about 10-12 inches above. Turn every minute and wait until the fat is bubbling and both meat and fat turn a golden-brown color.
Remove from the grill and holding the skewer vertically over a cutting board very thinly carve the sides of the picanha churrasco steaks, including a bit of the fat. Enjoy immediately. Season the remaining (most likely undercooked meat) with a bit more salt and take it back to the charcoals. Once golden-brown, repeat. Do so until there is no meat left
