Stop Grilling Picanha Whole: The Flake Steak Skewer Method

Derek Wolf has cooked picanha for a decade and says a local butcher just changed his approach. Slicing picanha paper thin against the grain, stacking the slices, and grilling them as a compact skewer produces tender, medium-rare bites in every slice, which he now calls his favorite way to cook the cut. The technique borrows from shawarma. Instead of thick steaks or the classic C-shaped churrasco skewer, you build a layered log of thin slices that renders its fat cap into the meat as it cooks over live fire.

Where the Idea Came From

Wolf opens by admitting he thinks he has been cooking picanha wrong for ten years. While buying picanha at a local butcher shop for another recipe, the butchers told him about a method they had been using: the flake steak skewer. The blog post credits the original inspiration to Instagram chef @reemazobel. The pitch is simple. Thin slices plus high heat equals a perfect medium-rare edge-to-edge, without the guesswork of cooking a thick roast.

The Prep: Slice Thin, Stack, Skewer

The frames show the whole build. Wolf works a large picanha on a wood cutting board, slicing it thin against the grain with a long knife, then pounding the slices to about 1/8 inch. He stacks the slices into a tight brick, fat cap distributed through the layers, cuts the stack into roughly 2x2 inch blocks, and drives a metal skewer through each block. The result looks like a miniature shawarma cone: dozens of thin layers compressed into one grillable unit. The written recipe calls for 3 lbs of picanha across 4 servings, with about an hour of prep plus an hour in the freezer to firm the meat for clean slicing.

Seasoning and the Fire Setup

The outside of each skewer gets a heavy coat of Wolf's Cowboy Campfire Rub, a smoked salt, pepper, and garlic blend built on hickory-smoked salt. He cooks the skewers in a dome-style live-fire oven over a cast iron pan at medium heat, around 325F, with open flame rolling across the top of the chamber. The frames show the skewers laid across the pan so rendered fat collects below instead of flaring up. Despite the "hot and fast" framing in the voiceover, the written recipe describes a slower render: about 8-10 minutes per side until the interior hits 120F.

The Butter Baste

Midway through the cook, Wolf melts two sticks of unsalted butter with minced garlic and uses bundled rosemary and thyme sprigs as a brush to baste the skewers. This does two jobs. The butter carries garlic and herb flavor into the crevices between the layers, and the repeated basting builds the dark, crackly crust visible in the later frames, where the exterior is deeply browned while the interior layers stay pink.

Serving It Shawarma Style

The finished skewer comes off the fire, rests, and gets served on warmed pita with toum (Lebanese garlic sauce) and a tomato, cucumber, and red onion mix spooned over the top. The final frames show the payoff shot: charred, layered beef on pita with the fresh vegetable medley, each slice showing a medium-rare center under a rendered crust. Wolf's on-camera verdict: "That is so freaking delicious."

Key Takeaways

• Slice picanha thin against the grain, pound to 1/8 inch, stack, cube, and skewer instead of grilling it as thick steaks.
• Freeze the meat for about an hour first so it slices cleanly.
• Cook at medium heat (around 325F) for 8-10 minutes per side to render the fat between layers, pulling at 120F internal for medium-rare.
• Baste with garlic butter using rosemary and thyme sprigs as the brush.
• Serve shawarma style on warmed pita with toum and a tomato-cucumber-onion mix.

Resources

• Picanha Flake Steak Skewers recipe -- the full written recipe on Wolf's Over The Fire Cooking blog, published 2026-09-02
• Derek Wolf Cowboy Campfire Seasoning -- the smoked salt, pepper, and garlic rub used on the skewers (out of stock at time of writing)