Searing after cooking a steak? "Reverse sear"

[xSauronx]

Yup, it works well. If I have the time, that's the way I cook a steak.

I will say that it works best for thicker cuts that might serve more than one person. Something like a 1.5lb ribeye, cooked at 250 until you get to 220 internal, then sear for 20 seconds per side. I found that got me somewhere close to 225, but not over it.

You do need a pretty good leave in thermometer. If you're cooking at low temp like that, you don't really want to be opening the oven door to do a touch test constantly.

i like to do sous vide on a strip or filet, and then sear it briefly on each side to finish. same idea. works really well.

 

[gothamhunter]

I tried it like you explained but the inside was still red/pink. I had to throw it in the microwave for a few minutes to get the rest of it to turn grey.

 

[OutHouse]

I have never done this but I don't understand the concept. I am n00b I guess but isn't the sear performed at the beginning in order to seal in juices and tasty bits? Wouldn't this defeat that yummy process?

ummm no.

To Sear or Not to Sear

http://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/to-sear-or-not-to-sear/24511.html

 

[Fritzo]

Not sure why you would do this when you can do both at once. You're turning a 10 minute steak into a 20 minute process.

 

[OutHouse]

I have never heard of baking a steak.

high end steak joints do it in 1500 degree broiler.

 

[Howard]

I tried it like you explained but the inside was still red/pink. I had to throw it in the microwave for a few minutes to get the rest of it to turn grey.

i lol'd

 

[sjwaste]

Heh, I just realized I posted 220-225 internal. I meant 120-125. Med rare, not hockey puck. Sorry.

 

[DrPizza]

I've done that with prime rib - turned it into a steak. Had a couple relatives who won't eat anything if there's even a hint of pink, so I finished off their cuts on a cast iron pan. It looked so good, I tried a piece that way.

 

[sjwaste]

I've done that with prime rib - turned it into a steak. Had a couple relatives who won't eat anything if there's even a hint of pink, so I finished off their cuts on a cast iron pan. It looked so good, I tried a piece that way.

Most of my side of the family, including my dad and sister, are like that. It works out, because while our med rare steaks are resting, I let theirs go on the grill that much longer so they can get theirs well done. There is absolutely no point in resting meat cooked above medium, so the timing works out.

Come to think of it, there's absolutely no point in eating meat cooked above medium, but they're my family and I love them.

 

[notposting]

I also have watched ATK

It worked out gloriously for NYE this last winter. Did the Châteaubriand, let it come up to temp while salted, then slather on some butter, bake it low and slow, and then seared it on the stovetop. Holy shit I'm drooling again.

But the concept is sound, I think I have seen them do it a few more times since. You get the meat a perfect temp throughout, then sear the outside *just* long enough to char it up and you have perfection.

 

[sjwaste]

I also have watched ATK

It worked out gloriously for NYE this last winter. Did the Châteaubriand, let it come up to temp while salted, then slather on some butter, bake it low and slow, and then seared it on the stovetop. Holy shit I'm drooling again.

But the concept is sound, I think I have seen them do it a few more times since. You get the meat a perfect temp throughout, then sear the outside *just* long enough to char it up and you have perfection.

I love ATK, but I didn't see it on there yet. I tried it after I read about a restaurant butter-poaching tenderloin close to temp before finishing under the salamander.

 

[Valaire]

I recently converted to reverse searing from the tried-and-true and it works very well. I recommend salting 40 minutes to an hour before, and keeping in the fridge. Room temp is not needed and going from the fridge gives it more time in the oven where the magic happens.

 

[Fritzo]

I recently converted to reverse searing from the tried-and-true and it works very well. I recommend salting 40 minutes to an hour before, and keeping in the fridge. Room temp is not needed and going from the fridge gives it more time in the oven where the magic happens.

You know, I was thinking about this technique, and it's actually the same technique I use to grill chicken and pork chops---I put it on indirect heat until 3/4 done, then directly over the coals while saucing. Doing it this way gives moist meat 100% of the time.

I guess it could work with beef just as well, it just seems like it would take a lot longer.

 

[Valaire]

I do this with a cast iron pan indoors, actually produces a better steak to me. The thing is, it takes more time, but it's not hard at all, and has one extra step.

Steak is way more evenly cooked, no more gray area. And with regard to salting, you can either salt 40+ minutes before, or right before, don't ever do the area in between, it's no man's land.

If you have the time, salting earlier does make a nice impact. What it does is draw the salt (and other stuff if you put it on there) through the meat more evenly instead of just the surface, compared to salting right before.

As I said, room temp really does not matter at all, and in fact, with this method, there is an incentive to have the steak cold as it goes into the oven, because you want to maximize the time it's in the oven. To get the steak to 92F for my oven only takes about twenty minutes.

When I do grill, which is rare because I live in NYC, I do the two-zone method mentioned above.

 

[Cheesemoo]

Yup, it works well. If I have the time, that's the way I cook a steak.

I will say that it works best for thicker cuts that might serve more than one person. Something like a 1.5lb ribeye, cooked at 250 until you get to 220 internal, then sear for 20 seconds per side. I found that got me somewhere close to 225, but not over it.

You do need a pretty good leave in thermometer. If you're cooking at low temp like that, you don't really want to be opening the oven door to do a touch test constantly.

You are doing it wrong.


The moment you say you cook a steak to 220 internal is the moment you force me to shed a tear to a steak that once was............

 

[Blackjack200]

You are doing it wrong.


The moment you say you cook a steak to 220 internal is the moment you force me to shed a tear to a steak that once was............

Heh, I just realized I posted 220-225 internal. I meant 120-125. Med rare, not hockey puck. Sorry.

two

 

[Murloc]

I am planning to give it a try tonight. Seasoning a steak with salt and pepper. Starting off in the oven at low heat till close to med-rare. Pulling it out letting it rest while heating up a pan for searing. Then finally searing it off.

I should get a more uniform cooked steak vs searing and finishing in oven. Crust should form more uniformly and quickly. Should also make getting the temperature I want much easier.

I may pick up a couple so I can try my normal method vs this method.

Anyone done it this way before? How did it turn out?

that's the correct order to do it but I'm not sure it's good to rest it in between.

If you sear first, you lose water on the surface while you heat it up to form the crust, and leave the center cold. Then you put it in the oven where it loses more water because juices flow back.

If you put it in the oven first, the water on the surface will evaporate a bit like before, so when you sear it the crust will form faster without evaporating much more water because the surface is already dried a bit and more importantly it's already warm, so the heat doesn't travel in and the surface forms a crust right away, this means that the inside will still be red, and the thin crust will form immediately, without forming thick grey areas which are total crap, then you let it rest and the juices flow back. According to my broscience, if you let it rest in the middle you lose the juice advantage.
The cooking will still be better though imho because the thing is already warm so you need less time to form a crust, which means that the raising of the temperature is almost entirely left to the more controllable process - the oven.

 

[Valaire]

Yeah no need to let it rest. Just heat up the pan in the oven beforehand, and then finish heating it up while the steak is almost at the desired temp in the oven.

 

[Cheesemoo]

two

Okay, I just failed the internet.....

sorry sjwaste. Tear retracted.

 

[Mxylplyx]

I will say that it works best for thicker cuts that might serve more than one person. Something like a 1.5lb ribeye, cooked at 250 until you get to 220 internal, then sear for 20 seconds per side. I found that got me somewhere close to 225, but not over it.

225 internal for steak?

It is not steak at 225, it is a charred piece of leather. You mean 125 perhaps?, which would be a nice medium rare.

 

[Juddog]

i tried it like you explained but the inside was still red/pink. I had to throw it in the microwave for a few minutes to get the rest of it to turn grey.

hahahah

 

[Juddog]

i like to do sous vide on a strip or filet, and then sear it briefly on each side to finish. same idea. works really well.

How long does the sous vide take (pre-sear)?

 

[Howard]

How long does the sous vide take (pre-sear)?

Depends on the thickness, but you need time enough to bring the center to the desired temperature and also to keep the temperature in order to kill the bacteria.

 

[Fritzo]

Heh, I just realized I posted 220-225 internal. I meant 120-125. Med rare, not hockey puck. Sorry.

WHAT?????? Now you tell me! I just got finished!

 

[Howard]

WHAT?????? Now you tell me! I just got finished!

I was going to say "that's got to be a pancake". Then I saw the image link. Yep.