I saw an old "Good Eats" episode with Alton Brown where he cooked a Porterhouse steak with a unique cooking method. He seared the steak from above by placing a Char Broil starter chimney above the steak for 90 seconds per side, then putting the meat above the chimney for 60 seconds per side for a perfect medium rare. Brown said the temp was around 1,800 F.

I used thick filet mignon steaks and an old clamshell tailgate grill and a starter chimney. The steaks were dry aged in the refrigerator for two days covered in paper towels and salt on top. Then I bacon wrapped them before going to the grill after letting them assume room temp. I did the chimney on top then removed the grate with the meat and dumped the charcoal in the grill. Replaced the grate with meat and did the last two minutes covered. Let them rest for 5 minutes and served with Yukon Gold potatoes and steamed asparagus. Portabello mushrooms and onions sauteed in Worcester Sauce and Vermouth over-the-top. Ruth's Chris eat your heart out! Best crust on a steak I have ever had and cooked to perfection.

Why did you leave the garlic out?

Vicki and I love garlic but it hates us! We'd be up all night with reflux.

Had something similar at a whitetail deer camp near Iraan, Texas in the late 80s. As I remember, the steaks, the size of Porterhouses were dredged in sugar. Absolutely covered. The grill was heavy duty. The fire was mesquite, and so hot, the grill had turned red. I guess the steak might have stayed on the grill for 60 to 90 seconds per side, or maybe not. I remember that the cook stacked the steaks one on top the other until they looked like they might topple over. Someone reached to redistribute them on the platter, and the cook said, "leave them, they're still cooking".

My recollection is that there was no sugar taste whatsoever. The steaks were medium to medium rare depending where you pulled your steak from, and they were about as tender as a steak can get.

The moral here as we already know is "Don't fuck with the cook!"