1st Reverse Sear Thoughts

Kevinboatright

I’m planning my first reverse sear steak this weekend and want to make sure I’m not forgetting anything. 

Thawed 2in thick NY strip seasoned with some DP. 
225 indirect on the egg with some cherry wood. Once I hit 128IT I’m going to throw it on my Weber at 550-600 for a min each side. 
Then rest with some butter for about 10min lightly foiled. 

I prefer my steak Med Rare, not sure if this method will achieve that temp. 

Thoughts? 

bgebrent

What internal temperature is your goal?  If me, I'd pull it at your 124-128 and rest it 10 minutes.   Then sear hot to get the color you want and rest again, without foil.

Hans61

Sear with lid open to minimize raising the internal temp any further 

Kevinboatright

Hans61 said:

Sear with lid open to minimize raising the internal temp any further 

That's good to know, as i was planning on closing the lid. 

Theophan

For me, 128° might be a little high.  I like 120° better, myself, maybe a little bit higher, but 128° would definitely be a little overdone for me.

And I like searing on my Egg at at 600°-650°.  It's so hot I only need 1 minute per side, so with a few minutes resting outside the Egg while it cranks up to at least 600°, and a very brief sear, by gosh the wonderful medium-rare meat won't get overcooked.

And I do practically everything with the lid closed, including sear my steaks.  IT works great for me.  When it's that hot, and that brief, I don't think it makes much difference whether it's open or closed.

bgebrent

And?

etherdome

What is your desired outcome? Medium? Medium rare?
1. Don’t focus too much on 225. Anything up to 275 or even more works fine indirect.
 2. I’m a fan of the lid open HOT sear so as to not bake it further. 
3. Try oak sometime , but cherry good too. 
4. I have found that no rest is necessary between indirect cook and the sear . If anything, for me it makes the final product get cold quicker. i go right to a gasser or other ready grill. Waiting on the egg to heat up doesn’t add anything to the outcome, besides the obvious more time outside by the egg. 

Kevinboatright

I’m going for medium rare. 

Tarpon65

Kevin,  I love to reverse sear on a nice thick steak like you are cooking, but IMO you're going to be way over a medium rare with your existing plans. I would, like Theophan noted, probably pull around 117-118, let rest while the Egg comes to a blazing temperature, and then do a quick sear on both sides, rotating half way through on each side to get your nice marks. This is my plan for Sunday as I have to cook 5-6 filets for the group (nothing like everyone wanting their steak done slightly different, no pressure there!).  Good luck and let us know how it turns out. 

etherdome

Yes. 128 is two degrees away from your goal of medium rare.((130-135).  In a reverse sear you should take it off the indirect cook at least 10 degrees below your desired end temp. 

Kevinboatright

Thanks for the advice. Hoping to update with pictures this evening. 

Kevinboatright

Did not turn out anywhere close to how I wanted it. I’m going to try again and report back. 

etherdome

Overdone or under?

lousubcap

The finish-line is the temperature, regardless of how you get there.  Make sure your quick read thermo is good.
I keep it simple with reverse sear-get to the desired L&S temp (for me around 120*F) then pull the guts from the LBGE, open the bottom vent and wait for a nice lava looking appearance with the lump; caveman for the final sear (dome open the entire time).  It's a quick transition and you can't beat the crust.  Long tongs and quick with the thermo.  FWIW-

Kevinboatright

The outer layer was overcooked the middle was medium. The color was way off, Grey and red.  How long does it normally take everyone to get the steak up to temp? 115 ish? 

Theophan

Kevinboatright said:

The outer layer was overcooked the middle was medium. The color was way off, Grey and red.  How long does it normally take everyone to get the steak up to temp? 115 ish? 

I don't pretend to be an expert, but in my own experience, when I'm searing at 600°-650°, it only takes a minute per side, and that 1 minute just does NOT cook the steak any more than it already was.  So my guess is that either

• The low-and-slow part was too hot, too fast, and it was already gray on the outside before you seared it, or
• The hot sear wasn't hot enough and therefore was too long, and wound up cooking the steak more.

I've never timed the first part, but usually am cooking at around 250° dome temp, flipping once or twice, and checking the temp with my Thermapen.  When it's cooking that slow, there just isn't going to be a lot of gray on the outside.  You said you were shooting to cook at 225° dome temp, and if you did, I doubt that's the problem.  It must have been the sear was too long and wound up cooking the steak more.  A really hot but very brief sear will prevent that.  I don't have anything but my 2 BGEs, so I can't compare with a Weber, but when my BGE is up to 650° (which really doesn't take very long), even at the regular grid height a minute a side will sear it really nicely.

jtcBoynton

Temp during searing isn't really important (as measured by the dome thermometer).  You want the steak close to (or on) a fully involved bed of coals in order to get lots of radiant energy.  Brief intense heat will put a nice crust on the steak without adding too much heat to overcook the interior.

Kevinboatright

Theophan said:

Kevinboatright said:

The outer layer was overcooked the middle was medium. The color was way off, Grey and red.  How long does it normally take everyone to get the steak up to temp? 115 ish? 

I don't pretend to be an expert, but in my own experience, when I'm searing at 600°-650°, it only takes a minute per side, and that 1 minute just does NOT cook the steak any more than it already was.  So my guess is that either

• The low-and-slow part was too hot, too fast, and it was already gray on the outside before you seared it, or
• The hot sear wasn't hot enough and therefore was too long, and wound up cooking the steak more.

I've never timed the first part, but usually am cooking at around 250° dome temp, flipping once or twice, and checking the temp with my Thermapen.  When it's cooking that slow, there just isn't going to be a lot of gray on the outside.  You said you were shooting to cook at 225° dome temp, and if you did, I doubt that's the problem.  It must have been the sear was too long and wound up cooking the steak more.  A really hot but very brief sear will prevent that.  I don't have anything but my 2 BGEs, so I can't compare with a Weber, but when my BGE is up to 650° (which really doesn't take very long), even at the regular grid height a minute a side will sear it really nicely.

I got the egg to sit around 235 on a CI but I never turned the steak at that temp. Once the IT hit 117, I was using my FlameBoss to watch the meat temp, I removed the internals and waited until the egg got to 600 dome temp and seared for 1 min each side. I then let the steak rest for 10min prior to cutting into it. 

Kevinboatright

Grilltastic

Did my first reverse sear 2 weeks ago with a 2.5 inch porterhouse. Cooked indirect at 275 until internal was 117/118 pulled and tented. Pulled out the plate deflector and put in Lodge cast iron pizza pan until screaming hot seared 1minute per side,beautiful char,Internal got to 128. My wife said it was the best steak she ever ate, me too. Simply amazing. if you like medium rare more toward the rare side. I believe128 is too high for the indirect target temp unless you like your steak more toward medium.

Kevinboatright

Not sure if this helps in figuring out what I did wrong. But it took 15min to go from IT of 60ish to 117. 

Grilltastic

Did you have the plate setter in. I do not see one in your photos

lowandslow

10 mins is too long to rest.  When using reverse sear, the steak should be eaten right away.  If you do rest, a min or two tops.  Steak should also be 10-15 degrees under your desired temp when you pull to sear.  

Mattman3969

I’m more of a forward sear kinda guy but I use 2 eggs and don’t get the nasty vent just closed smoke.  

For reverse sear what worked the best for me was to smoke/slow cook the steak till it was 118-120°,pull and rest for a min of 20 mins the sear for 1min per 4 quarter turns. Once I started the sear I never closed the dome because you get radiant cooking on the top surface from the hot ceramics. I didn’t want that and have @Darby_Crenshaw to thank for the idea.  

Kevinboatright

Grilltastic said:

Did you have the plate setter in. I do not see one in your photos

Yes, the picture is when I was searing.