Traditional vs Reverse Sear Comparison


 
C

Chris Stanek

TVWBB Fan
I've been really intrigued and have bought into the reverse sear technique since reading about it a couple months ago here on the bullet. I've used it for larger cuts like prime rib with great success.

On thicker steaks I've used it as well. I've noticed though that I believed the texture was different, however. I wasn't sure though, so this weekend, I got two practically identical Brandt ribeyes, about 2" thick and did one reverse seared and the other I put on during the final searing and cooked it tradionally. Both had identical internal finishing temps and neither went past 129 degrees.

Both were very nice medium rare... almost identical in color. Obviously the tradionally seared steak had a bit of band of medium-medium/well as you'd expect.

The thing is though the textures were very different. The reverse seared steak seemed more fiber-y or sorda ... not really stringy-ish but just textured maybe more grainy (not great descripters, but can't think of anything more accurate) ... more like the meat had broken down more... where the tradional steak slices were very smooth in texture... like you'd expect.

Having both side by side, my buddy and tried each. Both thought the flavor was equal, the doneness was equal, but both of us definately like the texture of the tradionally seared steak better.. him much more so.

I'm curious if anyone else has experienced this. It's definately not the case at all with larger cuts, but it's something I thought I noticed and now confirmed with my steaks. Perhaps that's just a byproduct of the initial slower indirect cooking.. or... I'm doing something wrong which is just as likly.

Thoughts?
 
Can you describe your test setup a bit more? How long did it take to bring the reverse sear steak up to temp before you seared it? Were you cooking the other steak during that time?
 
Hey Dave... sure.

I put about a 1/2 chim of unlit coals on one side. Dumped about 1/2 lit on top. After about 15 minutes or so, I put the steak on the other side and put a probe in it. After about 20 minutes or so I pulled it when it hit 115. I tented it with foil and in the meantime added a bit more coal and got the coals very hot and spread them out over about 1/2 the kettle. The carry over temp on that steak peaked at 128 during a rest of about 20 min.

Once all the coals were ready. I put the other steak on and grilled it over the coals for about 5 minutes maybe a tad more. Flipped it. After about another 2-3 minutes, i took put the indirect on to do the sear. Total sear time was just over two, but not 3 minutes. The other steak was ready at the same time which tested by feel like I usually do. I let that one rest and pulled the rs steak out and sliced it. Then sliced the direct steak after resting.

Like I said, both were nearly identical in color, both tasted great, but the reverse seared steak just had a different, noticably grainer texture.
 
My only guess is that the 20-minute rest was maybe a bit long as that was probably the most enzymatically-active period. I use gas so I have the luxury of cranking up the heat pretty quickly, so I've never had a resting period that long.
 
I'm wondering if the 20 minute rest made a difference too? I've only done the reverse sear once with a ribeye and it turned out great, but I did not do both ways to do a taste test. I used my performer to start the cook then I had my smokey joe piled high with charcoal to sear it in really good once it came up to temp. That grate is really close to the coals on the smokey joe for great searing!
 
That grate is really close to the coals on the smokey joe for great searing!
Click to expand...

I love the SJ for that reason!! If I'm only doing 1 or 2 steaks I'll use the SJ instead of my Performer.

I'm curious on this debate too. I've got my traditional sear first, cook indirect (if needed) to doneness process down very well. I'm wondering if reverse sear would offer me any benefit...
 
When doing a reverse sear the main cooking is in an electric smoker to bring to temp and then finish off on a smokey Joe loaded high with lump to sear and mark as well.
 
It's more than likely a result of the resting period...20 minutes is arguably too long for a 2" steak. Even a thick steak only needs 6-8 minutes rest before serving and I lean more towards 6 than 8. I've done this test before (but not as a test) since my wife likes her steak medium well. I usually start hers indirect and then move it direct when I throw mine on. I've only done it this way to get both steaks done at the same time though, not to test for difference in taste. I'll have to sample a piece from each the next time I cook steaks to confirm now that my interest has been peaked.
 
Well... I thought one of the benefits of the RS was that you can hold over for longer periods of time... maybe that's only true for larger cuts like Prime Rib or Lamb. I did a pork roast last night on the rotis and did it at about 250-275. I pulled it, and let it rest for almost 40 minutes while I got the rest of dinner up and running. Then seared it and it was utterly fantastic. I'll be doing big pork loin a lot more often.

I guess steaks are just a different animal. I like the reverse sear on steaks very much, and we thought they were great, but it was just the texture thing.

I thought that you still wanted to rest the steak prior to the final sear because you sill wanted the juices to redistribute and that the final sear didn't require any lengthy rest afterward.

I've got four 18oz 2" boneless ribeyes to try this weekend. I think I'm going to do a big experiment. I'll do one super high temp direct, and the other 3 in various reverse sear setups - shorter rest, different temp, things like that. I need to think about it.

I'll try to do that this weekend.
 
Re: reverse searing. If you're aiming for a short hold time (for example, on a steak), having a Smokey Joe, charcoal chimney, and an extra charcoal grate comes in handy. Fire up a chimney of charcoal on the SJ, and put the charcoal grate atop the chimney, then put your steak on that bad oscar. Has worked wonders for me. It does expend some additional charcoal, no doubt, but it beats having to wait for the temperature of the existing coals to peak.

As I have stated in some other threads, I don't do a reverse sear (and thus any indirect cooking), on anything whose total cook time is under 12 minutes. Since I usually aim for medium-rare, that's pretty much everything except the most monster cuts for me. I put'em right over the coals for the duration of the cook. Get the outside nice and crisp, while the inside has a beautiful transition to pink, then the slightest tinge of red.

What's great about this method is there are a number of ways to go about it, and I'm sure folks around here have made them work.
 
What I do on my Genesis ( is fire up the left two main burners and the sear burner and put the steak on the cold side of the grill while it preheats. A meat thermometer tells me when the steak is at about 120* then I throw it on the hot side. It utilizes the preheat time and thus can actually be faster than a traditional sear.
 
Originally posted by Hayden McCall:
Fire up a chimney of charcoal on the SJ, and put the charcoal grate atop the chimney, then put your steak on that bad oscar. Has worked wonders for me. It does expend some additional charcoal, no doubt, but it beats having to wait for the temperature of the existing coals to peak.

As I have stated in some other threads, I don't do a reverse sear (and thus any indirect cooking), on anything whose total cook time is under 12 minutes. Since I usually aim for medium-rare, that's pretty much everything except the most monster cuts for me. I put'em right over the coals for the duration of the cook. Get the outside nice and crisp, while the inside has a beautiful transition to pink, then the slightest tinge of red.

What's great about this method is there are a number of ways to go about it, and I'm sure folks around here have made them work.
Click to expand...

So you cook your steak right on the chimney? I've thought about doing this, but I wasn't sure if it would work. The temp coming out of the top of a chimney of lump must be well over 800 degrees = steakhouse sear!
 
too many variables for the test to be scientific (resting time, two different steaks, starting temp)

however, thanks for posting your results
i've often found that the reverse sear is too much work unless i use two grills
 
Well to me(not an expert)

The thing is to get the inside just like you want it. And that is done in low temp. Dont stress the meat,cook @ 250(max) untill you hit the internal you are looking for. The climb in temp during the "rest" will be minimal.

OK Step one down...

Let the meat rest untill you se the internal sink a few(2-3F)

Then Sear...HOT...YES..You wanna burn that baby to get the char that make a good steak great.

The internal wont change aslong as you se it drop in step 1. Take the steak after the hot/fast sear when the outside looks good.

Over a medium fire the steak will rise internal before you get the char you are looking for.

My 2 cents...
 
I don't let the steak rest when I do a reverse sear. I build the fire with charcoal and some oak chunks on one side of the grill and use fire bricks to separate the direct from indirect sides. Then with all vents open, I smoke/bake the steaks to about 120 internal temp. When the steaks are ready I move them to the very hot side of the grill and quickly sear them. After the sear I let them rest for five minutes and serve.

Bill
 
Originally posted by Stuart S:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Hayden McCall:
Fire up a chimney of charcoal on the SJ, and put the charcoal grate atop the chimney, then put your steak on that bad oscar. Has worked wonders for me. It does expend some additional charcoal, no doubt, but it beats having to wait for the temperature of the existing coals to peak.

As I have stated in some other threads, I don't do a reverse sear (and thus any indirect cooking), on anything whose total cook time is under 12 minutes. Since I usually aim for medium-rare, that's pretty much everything except the most monster cuts for me. I put'em right over the coals for the duration of the cook. Get the outside nice and crisp, while the inside has a beautiful transition to pink, then the slightest tinge of red.

What's great about this method is there are a number of ways to go about it, and I'm sure folks around here have made them work.
Click to expand...

So you cook your steak right on the chimney? I've thought about doing this, but I wasn't sure if it would work. The temp coming out of the top of a chimney of lump must be well over 800 degrees = steakhouse sear! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Right on the chimney. There have been posts with pictures posted on this forum before showing the procedure and results. Some have even modded their chimneys by inverting the coil inside the chimney. You CAN, cook a steak in it's entirety right over a chimney. I've done it a few times. Ever want to make someone arch an eyebrow...pull out two firebricks, set your chimney on top, load up with charcoal, fire it up with some newspaper, slap the charcoal grate on top, and grill away.
 
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