Reverse Sear Suggestions?

[Dave Russell]

True on both accounts, Jon. These strips were no more than an inch thick, and cut kind of funny....on sale at Kroger.

It's past time to go to RD and buy one whole that I can cut and package how I want for the freezer.

 

[ChrisD]

I would like to commnet, that I did the reverse Sear procedure on a 1.75" Rib Eye. I followed Meatheads directions and I don't think I have had a better steak in MY life. Wow !! I would recommend this for anyone. Great way to cook a steak !!

 

[Dave Russell]

I would like to commnet, that I did the reverse Sear procedure on a 1.75" Rib Eye. I followed Meatheads directions and I don't think I have had a better steak in MY life. Wow !! I would recommend this for anyone. Great way to cook a steak !!

Yep, a reverse sear works quite well to get a tasty and tender steak. However, the difficulty, particularly with a rib eye, is keeping flare-ups under control during the sear so that the bitter "char flavor" isn't all you taste. That's why I'm not a fan of raising the charcoal up any higher as Meathead mentions.

 

[Dave Russell]

Trying my startup a little differently for a couple of strip steaks on the Performer. First I made a nice layer of lump over the burner side of the charcoal grate. Lit it for five minutes or so, and then put the steaks on the cold side. Temp came up to about 275 and I enjoyed a beverage. I then found the steaks to be 115 at about the 20 min mark, so I flipped and opened the vents all the way. Maybe this'll work....

 

[Alan F]

I just started the reverse sear and will probably not go back to direct grilling.

Will start with steaks as thick as possible...1 1/2 to 2". I'll take 1/2 to 2/3 chimney piled as close as possible on one side. Must use a strong wood like hickory or oak. Put the steaks on without letting the grill heat up. After 10 minutes turn and let go another 10 minutes. Steaks are usually about 100-120 at this point so I'll begin to sear...am shooting for 140 - 145. Something interesting is that because the center has been evenly cooked I find searing doesn't shoot the temps up as quickly as it would had the steaks been cooked over direct fire the entire time. Fire bricks seem like a great idea but I'm probably too lazy.

Great stuff.

 

[Dave Russell]

Trying my startup a little differently for a couple of strip steaks on the Performer. First I made a nice layer of lump over the burner side of the charcoal grate. Lit it for five minutes or so, and then put the steaks on the cold side. Temp came up to about 275 and I enjoyed a beverage. I then found the steaks to be 115 at about the 20 min mark, so I flipped and opened the vents all the way. Maybe this'll work....

Think I'll start like this again next time. I need thicker steaks, though, since I overshot the temp and they ended up medium-med/well. My mistake was to turn them when they were 115-ish, instead of going ahead and pulling off to heat up for the sear. Flavor was great though, and the Missus likes her's a little overcooked, anyhow.

 

[Dave Russell]

I just started the reverse sear and will probably not go back to direct grilling.

Will start with steaks as thick as possible...1 1/2 to 2". I'll take 1/2 to 2/3 chimney piled as close as possible on one side. Must use a strong wood like hickory or oak. Put the steaks on without letting the grill heat up. After 10 minutes turn and let go another 10 minutes. Steaks are usually about 100-120 at this point so I'll begin to sear...am shooting for 140 - 145. Something interesting is that because the center has been evenly cooked I find searing doesn't shoot the temps up as quickly as it would had the steaks been cooked over direct fire the entire time. Fire bricks seem like a great idea but I'm probably too lazy.

Great stuff.

Thanks, Alan. Thin steaks and waiting too late to sear are my biggest pitfalls so far. If you like 140* you would've LOVED the strip steaks I cooked last night, though. I don't mess with the firebricks or raising the grate either. Decent lump and fire control is also key.

 

[Mark R (LR)]

I've been doing reverse sears on beef tenderloins and love the results. It might be considered cheating, but I smoke them on the wsm to a desired IT then move them over to the otg equipped with GrillGrates for the searing (approximately 2 minutes per side for all 4 sides - I actually pivot at minute 1 & flip at minute 2 to get criss-crossing sear marks). I try to time it so that the coals on the otg are hot and past prime flare-up stage at about the time the tenderloin is ready to come off the wsm. The GrillGrates also help tremendously with flame control and with getting nice sear marks.

 

[Mark R (LR)]

I hope to try this technique over the weekend and am a little confused on one part. When moving from the low and slow step to the searing step, it says to apply some "beef love" but in the next paragraph it says to pat the surface dry. Do you really apply some melted fat/melted butter/vegetable oil and then immediately pat it dry? I'll probably use clarified butter. Should I apply it and leave it on? It just seems a bit odd or contradictory to apply it and immediately pat it dry (basically removing what I just applied). Thanks!

 

[Alan F]

I would just salt/pepper/oil before they go on the grill and you'll be fine.

 

[Mark R (LR)]

I tried Meathead's technique last night on a 1.5lb ribeye and was VERY pleased with the result. I salted the ribeye and let it sit for around 1.5 hours.

I then cooked it low & slow on the wsm at 210 until it hit 115 (about 40 minutes). In the meantime, I got hot coals going in the OTG, got the GrillGrates hot, and actually used them upside down to try to get an overall sear instead of just grill marks (after reading about that idea on Meathead's site). When the steak hit 115 IT, I moved it to the OTG and seared it for 3 minutes on each side. I was planning on searing for 4 minutes per side, but it looked ready at 3.

For a first try it was excellent. Probably the most tender ribeye I've ever done. Two or 3 bites had a weird flavor to them. I can't figure out where it came from but my best guess is that it may have come from using the bottom of the GrillGrates. I'll probably try a couple of different ways in the near future, one with the GrillGrates right side up and then with a cast iron skillet on the grill for full-surface sear. I'll experiment with minor tweaks, but dry brining followed by reverse searing will now be my go-to method for steaks. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Dave Russell]

I tried Meathead's technique last night on a 1.5lb ribeye and was VERY pleased with the result. I salted the ribeye and let it sit for around 1.5 hours.

I then cooked it low & slow on the wsm at 210 until it hit 115 (about 40 minutes). In the meantime, I got hot coals going in the OTG, got the GrillGrates hot, and actually used them upside down to try to get an overall sear instead of just grill marks (after reading about that idea on Meathead's site). When the steak hit 115 IT, I moved it to the OTG and seared it for 3 minutes on each side. I was planning on searing for 4 minutes per side, but it looked ready at 3.

For a first try it was excellent. Probably the most tender ribeye I've ever done. Two or 3 bites had a weird flavor to them. I can't figure out where it came from but my best guess is that it may have come from using the bottom of the GrillGrates. I'll probably try a couple of different ways in the near future, one with the GrillGrates right side up and then with a cast iron skillet on the grill for full-surface sear. I'll experiment with minor tweaks, but dry brining followed by reverse searing will now be my go-to method for steaks. Thanks for the heads up.

Mark, "For a first try it was excellent." has to be the biggest understatement I've heard all year! That ribeye looks phenomenal! Wow! Great job!

 

[Mark R (LR)]

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction! Meathead and you both hit home-runs on this one. I REALLY like this method. I normally prefer to tweak one step or technique at a time so wasn't sure what to expect doing so many things so differently in one effort. I'm glad I tried it and can now get back to a tweak here and a tweak there of an already EXCELLENT method. Now the big decision for next time is whether to sear with GrillGrates right-side-up or with a cast iron skillet. I don't think there is a wrong answer.

 

[Dave Russell]

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction! Meathead and you both hit home-runs on this one. I REALLY like this method. I normally prefer to tweak one step or technique at a time so wasn't sure what to expect doing so many things so differently in one effort. I'm glad I tried it and can now get back to a tweak here and a tweak there of an already EXCELLENT method. Now the big decision for next time is whether to sear with GrillGrates right-side-up or with a cast iron skillet. I don't think there is a wrong answer.

Mark, you're most certainly welcome, and if the RS wasn't worth the trouble, my wife would be complaining why it now takes over half an hour to grill her a steak. She doesn't though, and I grilled a couple of nice strip steaks yesterday on the Performer that came off pretty good. I just waited a bit too long to check them, so I couldn't sear as much as I wanted to. Still, they were really good, and I'll probably stick with this simple method of using the Performer burner to start half a grate of lump. I just pile the lump up a little higher over the burner to compensate for the fact that the fire will start there. It's simple and it works really good as long as I don't get distracted in the next twenty-something minutes!

Regarding the Grillgrates vs. cast iron skillet, although I don't have much of an issue with flare-ups from strip steaks, those ribeyes are a whole different thing. Let me know what you end up going with, but it sure looks like the upside down GrillGrates did the trick with little charring. I might have to go one route or the other, myself. Guess I'll try the CIS first, since I already have a few.

Regards,
Dave

 

[Mark R (LR)]

Thanks Dave, I think I may have figured out the weird flavor, and I don't think it was related to the upside down GrillGrates. The last thing I smoked on the WSM was salmon. I gave the grate a good wire brushing, but didn't wash and scrub them. The more that I think about it, the more I'm thinking that the weird taste came from fish oil that I didn't get off the grate. I think I'll give the upside down GrillGrates another try, but this time, I won't just stop at brushing the grates and will give them both a good scrubbing first.

 

[Robert McGee]

I just did a reverse sear on a couple of New York Strip steaks from Cosco (Choice but chosen carefully) that had been "lost" in the freezer for a year. I know that is undesirable but... There was NO freezer burn and the steaks looked and were fine.

I used two fire bricks (as previously pictured) with a chimney full (half new on the bottom and half used on top) of Kingsford original. I nearly closed the bottom vents on my OTG to allow the temp to come up slowly. I cooked the steaks, indirect, until they came up to 100 degrees, flipped them and cooked another five minutes. I have two Grill Grate sections on the hot side that were heating all of the time the steaks were at indirect heat. I gave them two minutes on the Grill Grates, then moved for grate marks for another two, then flipped and did them one minute and one minute to finish.

My wife is a formally trained cook and taught at the College level. She is extremely competent but critical (in a good way). She pronounced these steaks the best she had ever eaten. That is heavy praise from her and frankly, I agree. Of course, the meat was excellent quality to start with. I used my old standby for steaks and burgers - McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning. I applied to the first side and let the steaks sit at room temperature for thirty minutes or so (at least), put them on the grill, seasoning side down, and seasoned the second side.

This is now my proven and worthy technique for steaks, chops, and burgers.

I truly thank those here that directed me to this "path" ("I have found the way'')...

Dale53

P.S. I used the Grill Grates positioned "normally" and got great grill marks, lots of smoke but NO flare ups. I am a fan. They don't totally eliminate flare ups but greatly diminish them, in my experience. rdm

 

[Chris Arnold]

Folks

Attempted a reverse sear last night for the first time on my One Touch Performer. Had purchased a couple of nice thick sirloins earlier in the day so was a bit nervous about messing them up. Seasons after the photo with rosemary, S+P and olive oil

Set up the OTP with a single basket of coals and vents nearly closed
Once the internal temp came up to 130f - I added a second basket (which I'd been readying on the JJ)
Seared on each side for a couple of minutes then pulled them off to rest for a couple of minutes

and then cut one open...

boy was it tender....missed the charred edge of a 'normal' sear - but SO nice...

Thanks for looking

 

[Mark R (LR)]

P.S. I used the Grill Grates positioned "normally" and got great grill marks, lots of smoke but NO flare ups. I am a fan. They don't totally eliminate flare ups but greatly diminish them, in my experience. rdm

I tried a reverse sear again last Friday with the GrillGrates upside down again. I seared them for 2 minutes on each side and they came out too blackened. I wasn't thrilled with the results so think I will go ahead and try using the GrillGrates right-side-up next time. But yes, I LOVE this method.