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steak sear

Steve
Steve Posts: 94
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Has anyone tried searing a steak in an iron pan on top of a regular,indoor stove, resting it and then finishing it on the egg?

Comments

  • steve ,[p]Nope, but I have seared a steak on my mini using an oval cast iron handleless pan I got from Lodge. Fits perfectly on the mini and creates a perfect sear. I think I paid twelve bucks for it. [p]The only thing I use the stovetop anymore for is boiling water and heating veggies from the can. Mac
  • steve ,
    I haven't tried it but I have been thinking about it. I'm not a fan of taking my egg to 700+ degrees. If you try it let me know.[p]Charlie

  • steve ,
    i do this all the time in my large egg. . .i have an old cast iron pizza pan (about 12 inches in diameter). .. as the egg heats up, i through the pan on the grill, let it get up to over 750 degrees. .. .i rub my steaks with olive oil, then kosher salt and either black pepper or dizzy pig cowlick rub. . .sear the steaks on the cast iron for about 90 seconds per side. . . pull the steaks and let them rest for 20 minutes (per trex method). .. pull the pan out of the egg (this is always the most dicey step). . .let the egg come down to about 400 degrees. ..the put the steaks back on to dwell for 5 minutes per side (for 2 inch thick steaks, this always gets me to a perfect medium rare). . .[p]try it on the egg, you;ll like it. .. .

  • Steve
    Steve Posts: 94
    [p]Thanks for the comments--My idea was that an indoor sear, followed by smoke time on the egg, might taste the same as an outdoor sear and smoke on the egg, without the time and effort of building a 750 degree temperature in the egg. I wonder if TRex has any ideas on the subject.[p]
  • steve,
    The difference between a 400 degree fire and a 750 degree fire is usually about 1 or 2 minutes, fwiw. It might be easier to handle a 750 degree PAN, though, indoors where you can just leave it on the stove and not have to move it to somewhere to cool down. [p]TNW

    The Naked Whiz
  • The Naked Whiz,
    one thing about doing the sear indoors, is if you really get that cast iron hot on the stove, you will get a heck of a smokey mess on and around the stove. ...hope you have a really strong exhaust fan. . ..[p]BE (before egg), i used to do a lot of indoor steaks in more or less the french style. . and even with a screen to put over my pan, it was still a mess, and the house reeked for a couple of days. .. [p]i think its probably worth the little (and i agree with the whiz, little) extra time to get the egg and pan up to 750, sear it on the pan on the egg, then rest and dwell. . [p]just my humble opinion though. .

  • TRex
    TRex Posts: 2,714
    steve,[p]My thoughts as follows . . . when I first started using this method, I did sear in a cast iron pan inside over the stove, I guess b/c that's the way I heard a lot of restaurants did it. This method of searing, however, ended up being a two-person job, because, as I was searing, my wife was busy wafting a towel violently back and forth under the smoke alarm to keep it from going off, then we'd have to open all the doors and windows and blast the ceiling fan and three hours later there would still be smoke in the house.[p]Needless to say, I did this searing method only a few times, because my wife was starting to give me an evil look anytime I brought home steaks, pulled out the cast iron pan, handed her a towel and said, "Okay, babe, are you ready?"[p]As the Whiz said, going to 750 on your Egg requires no additional effort, just perhaps two or three more minutes of sipping on your favorite cold beverage (no effort there, right?). Plus, you will never reach the scorching temperatures in a pan on the stove that you will in a pan or on the grid in your Egg.[p]I used a cast iron pan on the Egg a couple of times but eventually settled with searing just on the grid, mostly b/c it was always a dicey moment when I tried to take the 1000 degree cast iron pan out of the Egg and find a place to put it (I made several ring burn marks on my deck).[p]This is my take on the deal. Don't be afraid to use the powerful lava-making potential of your Egg. It was built for such endeavors and, besides, who doesn't enjoy watching a thermometer spin past 750?[p]Sorry for the long answer - I just get going and this always happens.[p]TRex

  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,880
    TRex, reminds me of years ago when our home was new and we finally got the long-awaited JennAire stove with the exchangaeable griller unit. Man would that sucker get hot and then the steaks would start popping and fat shot all over us, the cabinets, the floor etc. While it sure beat the results we got from a puny gas grill the amount of clean up wasn't worth it. In 23 years I used that griller only twice and as I recall at the time that accessory cost an extra $300. Oh well...

    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.