KEhrl
TVWBB Member
Recently I've been experimenting with the reverse sear for steaks, going low and slow in the oven at around 250, then searing in a cast iron pan. I've never tried this method with my smoker but figured a little bit of smoke may give the steaks a "Wood Grilled" Taste.
I was cooking for a small family get together this past Saturday and had picked up two packs of steaks from Costco. Costco steaks are great as they are usually thick cut, making them a great candidate for the reverse sear. Each of these steaks weighed between 1.1 and 1.2 lbs. I seasoned them with a "Steak" mix, which was a grinder which had salt, pepper, and garlic among other seasonings.
On my WSM 14 I was able to fit 4 steaks on each rack. Since I was cooking almost 10 lbs of meat I didn't think water in the pan would be necessary as the meat would absorb much of the heat itself. I fired up the smoker with the minion method, using some leftover coals from a previous cook and a camper chimney of fresh KBB. I used a handful of Pecan Wood "Chips," which were really just the small broken off bits at the bottom of the Weber wood bag, to thrown on top. I monitored temps with my Thermoworks Smoke thermometer, sticking a meat probe in a steak on each rack, and monitoring air temp. Temps hovered around 225 for the duration of the cook. After 40 minutes both meat thermometers registered 107 degrees, so I checked all the steaks and they were all around 110 degrees. I pulled them at this point, loosely covered them with some foil and let them rest for 30 minutes. Not the most appetizing sight, but they smelled great!
After letting the steaks rest, I fired up the gasser and let it heat up for 10 minutes, all burners on full blast. These got about 5 minutes per side until they registered ~130 degrees on my instant thermometer.
I let them rest 10 minutes more before slicing. All the steaks turned out a nice medium with edge to edge pink! There was a great smoke flavor, but not overpowering. Even my fiance who is "smoke sensitive" thought it was a tasteful amount.
I will definitely be doing steaks again this way, my family raved about them. Although it took a little more time than a traditional sear method, the results were worth the extra effort!
Cheers,
Kyle
I was cooking for a small family get together this past Saturday and had picked up two packs of steaks from Costco. Costco steaks are great as they are usually thick cut, making them a great candidate for the reverse sear. Each of these steaks weighed between 1.1 and 1.2 lbs. I seasoned them with a "Steak" mix, which was a grinder which had salt, pepper, and garlic among other seasonings.
On my WSM 14 I was able to fit 4 steaks on each rack. Since I was cooking almost 10 lbs of meat I didn't think water in the pan would be necessary as the meat would absorb much of the heat itself. I fired up the smoker with the minion method, using some leftover coals from a previous cook and a camper chimney of fresh KBB. I used a handful of Pecan Wood "Chips," which were really just the small broken off bits at the bottom of the Weber wood bag, to thrown on top. I monitored temps with my Thermoworks Smoke thermometer, sticking a meat probe in a steak on each rack, and monitoring air temp. Temps hovered around 225 for the duration of the cook. After 40 minutes both meat thermometers registered 107 degrees, so I checked all the steaks and they were all around 110 degrees. I pulled them at this point, loosely covered them with some foil and let them rest for 30 minutes. Not the most appetizing sight, but they smelled great!
After letting the steaks rest, I fired up the gasser and let it heat up for 10 minutes, all burners on full blast. These got about 5 minutes per side until they registered ~130 degrees on my instant thermometer.
I let them rest 10 minutes more before slicing. All the steaks turned out a nice medium with edge to edge pink! There was a great smoke flavor, but not overpowering. Even my fiance who is "smoke sensitive" thought it was a tasteful amount.
I will definitely be doing steaks again this way, my family raved about them. Although it took a little more time than a traditional sear method, the results were worth the extra effort!
Cheers,
Kyle
