sear vs. reverse sear

LumberJake

So I went to the store today and picked up some beautiful 2" thick ribeye's and man am I excited. This is my third week of owning a XLbge so I am still new and would love some opionions on the topic of searing vs reverse searing. My first go I basted the ribeyes with butter and seasoned with black pepper,salt, and garlic powder. Heated up the egg to 700° and did 2 minutes on each side, shut it down and did 4 more minutes. Perfect taste but came out more medium well than medium rare. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

slovelad

Reverse sear is the only way to go with a steak bigger than 1" in my opinion. I think you will get a similar response from most guys here.

i do 250-300 indirect until about 110 then take out stone and sear.

having the PSWOO or some rug that allows you to remove plate setter easily will change everything 


only steaks I do direct sear are flank steaks.

welcome to the egg family!

lousubcap

I am in the camp of the reverse sear once you get into thick steaks like the one you describe.  Go indirect til around 8-10 *F below your target temp then get the BGE rolling direct and sear to the finish temp.  I flip around every 45 seconds or so til there.  Key is an instant read thermo to nail it.  
If you want to read more about forward and reverse sear, give this site like a look: http://www.nakedwhiz.com/recipes2.htm#beef  it's the Trex and Xert segments.  FWIW-

Tony_T

Just started doing reverse sear, here's the method I settled on from advice here:

• Egg setup: Target temp of 250°-275° indirect with grid on plate setter 

 • Once you’ve hit 250°-275°  place your steak on the grid

 • Pull the steaks at 115° internal (should take 20-30 minutes)

 • Remove the plate setter from the egg, open the vents wide

 • Once you’ve hit 600°  throw the steak back on.

 • Sear 1½ minutes per side, (130° internal temp)

Toxarch

I went to reverse sear for a couple of years. Always came out very good. I usually cooked in the grill and CI seared because it Was easier and quicker. Was in a rush a couple months ago and did a 700 degree cook. Dang, I sure missed that taste and didn't know it until that day. While reverse sear will give you a great even cook throughout, it's hard to beat that hot and fast cook flavor. I don't go more than 3 minutes per side and done. Maybe I should go back to the hot sear on the grill. Just seems to take a while to get it really hot for the sear.

LumberJake

@Toxarch are you saying that that is a noticeable taste difference in the two cooking styles?

bgebrent

1+ reverse sear.  Ribeyes like true MR-M so go to 125 then bring up temps to sear.  It's important to render the fat in ribeye to get the optimal result.

buzd504

Ghee >>>> butter.  Mark it.  Better without scorching the milk fats.

Just sayin'.  It will totally change your steak searing experience.  Reverse sear or regular.

jtcBoynton

LumberJake said:

So I went to the store today and picked up some beautiful 2" thick ribeye's and man am I excited. This is my third week of owning a XLbge so I am still new and would love some opinions on the topic of searing vs reverse searing. ...

The term searing can be used for two different cooking approaches. It is important to keep in mind the differences between a single temp cook vs a two temp cook.  When comparing sear first vs sear second (two temp cooks - a single temp sear is a different thing), it is easier to get consistent results with the sear first method.  The down side is that you will get more gray banding with the sear first method.  Both will get good results - the differences can be subtle.  When using a BGE, keep in mind it is easier to raise the egg temp than to lower it.  Method wise, reverse sear fits well with the properties of the egg.

Skiddymarker

Reverse sear happens a lot slower than a fast sear. Much easier to nail your desired finish temps. SWMBO likes steak ruined (well done) if cooked on the grill, so I just throw her's on 10 or 15 minutes before mine. The rub and smoke work some magic before the serving sear and because it is lower temp and indirect it will not burn. 
@jtcBoynton nailed it, it is easier to get an egg up to high heat after a low temp cook than to let it cool down, reverse fits the properties of a kamado. 
If you like that steak house crust, flip often and brush with clarified butter as noted by @buzd504. 

Hans61

Thick = reverse unless you like the burnt raw flavor combo :-)

Brandongodfrey

I sear for 1.5 min then trun 90 , sear another 1.5 then flip and repeat . After that check Internal temp , shut down egg and pull giving a good rest with garlic butter and fresh rosemary on top . Check temp again , rub rosemary into it then remove and serve . Comes out absolutely perfect every time . Nearly impossible to mess it up this way 

Theophan

Toxarch said:

... While reverse sear will give you a great even cook throughout, it's hard to beat that hot and fast cook flavor...

I'm probably asking something impossible, because you can't really put what something tastes like into words, but I'm really puzzled about this, and if you can say anything at all about exactly how a hot and fast cook tastes better, I'd be really interested.  I'm NOT arguing!  Just puzzled.

To me, there are 3 different "tastes" in a steak:

1. The juicy, red meat on the inside.
2. The dark, crusty sear on the outside, plus salt, any other seasonings.
3. The gray band of dry, liver-ey, overdone meat just under the sear.

I think even 1 minute per side at 650° or so will give any steak a great, dark, crusty sear, and if a reverse sear doesn't have a dark enough sear compared to a hot and fast cook, then I think the searing fire for the reverse sear wasn't hot enough for a good but very quick sear.  Get that fire hot enough, by gosh it'll sear.

I can't picture the juicy, read meat on the inside being any different reverse sear vs. hot and fast.

It's inescapable that on a really thick steak, a hot and fast cook with multiple flips just plain WILL have more of that gray, overcooked, dry, liver-ey overcooked meat than a steak that was very slowly raised to the right internal temp and then very briefly seared.  That gray stuff sure as heck won't improve the flavor of the steak.

It probably sounds like I'm arguing with you, and I'm not -- I believe you that it tasted better to you!  I'm just puzzled about what, exactly, tasted better.  Could it actually have been a better piece of meat?

I do hot and fast any time I have a steak that's an inch or less thick, but anything over an inch, I think reverse sear is by FAR the better tasting method.  Can you help me with any more detail on which of those 3 tastes was different, what it was, exactly, that you liked better?

Thanks!

etherdome

Reverse sear is very very tasty and easier to nail. It's cooking a steak with science .  Never once has my reverse seared steak been anything but exactly perfect.  However, I have screwed up a few the other way. 

PirateBill

Just got on the reverse sear band wagon and I will say as everyone above has noted that it is more fool proof and very tasty.  I also do mine indirect till temp then I have a CI pan waiting on the gasser to sear immediately works like a champ.

LumberJake

Thanks all for the advice! I ended up going with a New York strip and used ghee instead of regular butter! Was short on time so did a direct sear this time but will try reverse sear when I have time! Thanks for all the advice!

StillH2OEgger

I would just do whatever gives you those results, every time. Looks great.

4Runner

I like to mix it up....reverse sear, flip and flip, sear then roast, SV, etc.  Allgood and fun to experiment.  Nice looking steaks too.  

etherdome

One other thing about the reverse sear the light smokey  flavor added by the low and slow period. To me this really adds a lot to the flavor. Some may not prefer this but I personally think it is awesome! 

six_egg

My two cents. I reverse also. 

da87

Great looking meal regardless of the approach! +1 on reverse sear for thick cuts

GrillSgt

I'm pretty sold on the reverse sear. I like the smoke when I'm cooking a thick piece of meat but I also like the fact that there is no need to rest it and very little loss of juicy goodness. I did an 1 1/2" strip on the kettle the other night, awesome.

Ladeback69

I don't bother with the plate setter if I am just doing one or two steaks I use a cast iron skillet and a raised grate and run at 300 till the steak is at 110.  Pull skillet and grate, get up to 500 and sear to 133.

GrillSgt

That's an interesting set up.

Tony_T

I'm also a new convert to reverse-sear.
But drizzling rain tonight, so thinking of this thread I decided to do a comparison with the BGE "Perfect Steak" method (I did a reverse-sear Tues).  
1½ " Ribeye, seared 3 min/side, then shut down the vents for 6 min.
Steak was indeed a 'perfect' med-rare, but, the flavor of the reverse-sear was superior. 

lousubcap

@TonyT if you shut down the vents with the steak inside the BGE you are fortunate that it didn't taste like a slowly dying fire.  Once you shut off the air supply you end up with a fire that is creating creosote.  Recall that smell when you snuff a candle-same principle here. FWIW-

GrillSgt

It takes a lot longer than that for the extinguish to begin. This is a tried and true method to produce some smoke flavor. Just not as successful as a l&s indirect for 25-30 minutes. 

Hans61

steak turned out perfect!