Reverse Sear Steak

If you already know about reverse sear steaks there's nothing new in this post. If you haven't yet jumped on the reverse sear bandwagon then please read on. 

It seems like a lot of work but it really isn't. In fact, while it does take a bit longer, it pretty much guarantees that you will nail your steaks every time. Took me a long time to get around to trying it but I was converted after the first try. One thing - you have to have an instant read thermometer to do this - you are cooking with the power of science here.

The idea is to first cook your steak over an extremely low fire until it reaches around 110F. The low temperature allows the steak to cook more evenly. You then pull the steaks and crank your grill. As hot as you can go. If you have something that goes to 700F go for it. It's not critical to go this hot but it's fun and it will impress your friends. Once you hit max temperature you put the steaks back on the grill and cook to the internal temperature you want.

It's counter intuitive but that's the genius. And it works. Really, really well.

Recipe

Nice quality steaks one inch thick (or more)
Salt
Pepper, coarsely ground


Pre-heat your grill to 225 to 250F. The idea here is to cook your steaks slowly so they are evenly cooked. Like in a fancy steak house where when you say medium rare you get medium rare the whole way through the steak.

When you are taking temperature readings insert the thermometer from the side of the steak. That's good advice for any steak or chop. You can be sure you are in the centre if you come in from the side - coming in from the top or bottom is almost certain to give you an inaccurate read.

Grill the steaks at 225-250F until an instant read thermometer inserted in the thickest point in the steak reads around 110F. This will take somewhere around 10 minutes so pay attention. Remove the steaks and tent with foil. 

Turn the grill up to max. Let it get nice and hot. I did the steak in the picture on a big green egg at somewhere around 600F.  Once it's hot return the steaks to the grill and cook 1 to 2 minutes per side depending on how done you want your steaks. When you reach the temperature that corresponds to the guideline below remove the steaks, tent with foil and let rest for 5-10 minutes.

Don't be scared to check the temperature. Poking meat with a temperature probe doesn't let all the juices out of the steak. Cooking meat to too high an internal temperature - that dries it out. It's the science of protein and heat - don't take my word for it - google it. 

This is the temperature you pull the steaks at. Final temperature will be around 5 degrees higher after resting. These aren't the "safe" government numbers mind you. They are the numbers that give you steaks that line up with what you are expecting. Remember, the government told you to cook pork to 160F then they decided that was crazy and dropped it to 145F. 

Rare  125F         Medium Rare 130F          Medium 140F