My first reverse sear steak

ryantt

Well I've held off on doing a reverse sear as I've never understood what all the fuss was about.  But had time today and figured what the heck let's give it a try.  Got my XL set to 220 and had a fist sized piece of hickory in for smoke.  Got them up to 110 degrees and pulled them off to rest. Jacked the egg up to 700 and let them go about 1 min a side.  Turned out ok I guess will give it a go again in sometime.  No photos of the food with sides, family was hungry. 

One question ion I have as I did not get the edge to edge pink color so many of you do, did I leave it on to long?  

Toxarch

I find it's better when the grate is close to the fire. Though you had it at 700 so that should be good. I've been finishing mine on a 500 degree cast iron on the stove lately. Easier to get that up to 500 quickly. 

ryantt

Thanks @Toxarch for the feed back, maybe next time I'll try doing the cast iron pan.  

SmokeyPitt

It looks great from here. One other suggestion is to keep the dome open while you sear. If the dome is closed then you basically have the steak in a 700 deg oven so even 1 min per side can cook the inside a bit. 

I agree a cast iron pan works great for the sear.  

ryantt

I see @SmokeyPitt that makes  A lot of sense  And explains the cooking of the edges. 

johnmitchell

No need for any additional pics, the one you posted looks superb.. Congrats on a awesome looking steak..

paqman

ryantt said:

One question ion I have as I did not get the edge to edge pink color so many of you do, did I leave it on to long?  

Thicker steak + rest period at the end (I let my steaks rest 5-10 minutes).  The finished temp also has something to do with it (higher finished will usually result in a more uniform color)

jtcBoynton

Make sure the steak surface is dry - it will crust up faster than if wet.  Apply intense heat. Top open - you are grilling at this point and only want heat to one side of the steak at a time.  Many recommend flipping the steak often - short intense heat to get crust development but not leaving on long enough to create a heat load that develops the gray banding. You want a fully burning lump and to get the steak close to the lump (or even directly on the lump) - radiant heat is your friend. Dome temp is pretty much meaningless, it only serves as a very general indicator that the lump is fully burning.

ryantt

So it seems like the big mistake was closing the lid.  It acted like an oven. I guess I will try again next weekend.  Thanks @paqman and @jtcBoynton for the feed back.

tarheelmatt

Finishing in a CI pan with some butter is a game changer!