Because the secret to a great steak is all in the preparation, even an expensive piece of meat may be flawed. The reverse sear is a cooking method that I’ve recently been obsessed with. It’s fantastic for grilling and produces the tastiest, juicy steak that is almost difficult to overcook. I compare the method to slow cooking without a large time commitment and sous vide without a sous vide machine. This is how to get the reverse sear down pat.
You sear steak, but why?
By using high heat to cook the food’s surface and create a brown crust, you may achieve searing. This browning process is called the Maillard reaction—a chemical interaction between amino acids and sugars in the food that gives us color and taste.
So what is meant by reverse-sear?
When you sear your meat during the cooking process, it’s known as a “reverse sear.” Usually, you sear the steak first and then use a grill or oven to cook it to the appropriate doneness. When you sear a steak in reverse, you sear it first at a low temperature and then again at a high heat.
Why should I sear in reverse?
You have particular tastes in meat.
In case you’re an enthusiast of both bloody and non-bloody steak, this method of cooking is almost infallible. To ensure accuracy, use a digital thermometer with a probe.
This method works well for cooking thicker steak slices.
Before I began using this approach, I wasted a lot of odd-shaped steaks. Thicker slices are challenging since there’s a chance you’ll overcook the outside before the inside layer is thoroughly cooked. No matter how much your steak looks like a baseball, slow cooking will give you a consistent degree of doneness. A medium-rare reverse-seared steak has a gorgeous, uniform pink color throughout, with a brown crust in place of a pink-red ombre gradient.
You’re all about a good, salty crust.
A great smokey crust is the perfect contrast to your juicy, tender steak. (I like the Maillard response.) Always cut cooked steak against the grain for a soft chew, and season your steak well with salt before grilling.
Which steaks are appropriate for reverse searing?
Use a steak that is at least 1 inch thick for the best results when using this cooking technique. I suggest experimenting with this method on readily available cuts like striploin, sirloin, rib-eye, or t-bone steaks. For steaks that are thinner than 1 inch, the conventional grilling technique works well.
On a barbecue, how should a steak be reverse seared?
- Cook your salt-seasoned steak over indirect heat to gradually raise the internal temperature of the meat. Make sure that just one side of your barbecue is cooked to a medium-high temperature. When it reaches that temperature, put the steak on the side that is colder and cover it to allow it to warm up gradually.
- You’ll need a probe thermometer in addition to the grill for this stage since temperature control is crucial. Stem should be inserted into the slow-cooking steak and left there until the first cook is completed. Because the interior temperature will increase, begin searing when it is 15 to 20 degrees below your target doneness (for medium-rare, stop at 125 F, for example). Refer to this temperature table for your desired doneness.
- Take out the thermometer and turn the grill’s heated portion up to high for the last sear. After the grill reaches temperature, turn the steak over and sear it for approximately two minutes on each side, or until charred grill marks appear. Let it remain for a few minutes before slicing, as you should with most steaks. (If you want the outside of the steak to be more browned, sear it at 105 F.)
Light up your grill and give this tasty reverse-sear steak dish a try right now. Don’t worry, you can still get comparable results inside when the weather cools down by slow-cooking the steak in your oven before searing it in a hot skillet.
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