# Reverse Sear Steak



## Vinnx (Nov 11, 2012)

Little bored at work today, haven't seen much about the reverse sear method of steak on here so I figured I would share. 

1) Get your steak up to room temp

2) Pre-heat oven to somewhere around 250F-275F

3) Coat your steak in Black Pepper, Garlic Power, and Sea Salt or Kosher salt. Fresher the better, don't use table salt

4) Use Tinfoil and wrap your steak in it, bring it up the side of the steak but leave the top open.. so it looks like of like a bowl. Cut about 1-2 Tablespoons of butter and throw it on top of the steak

5) Pop it in the oven

6) After the steak has been in there for some time you wanna start pre-heating for searing. Either use a Cast Iron Skillet, stupidly hot Coals or an IR searer.. unless ur propane grill can hit above 500F+ on the CONTACT, it won't work properly.. you want as much heat as you can possibly get. Also it must be done outside.. unless you want your home looking like a scene from "The Mist". A good feel method if, hold your hand 3 inches away from the heat, if it starts to burn in less then 3 seconds, ur good to go!

7) This part will take a little bit of skill and knowledge.. you wanna pull the steak out about 5-8 degrees before the done-ness you want. Since cuts size vary so much.. there is no exact time scale you can use. Either use a thermometer or the touchy feely method to know where the steak is. For example, I want my end steak to be MEDIUM, so I'll pull the steak out when it hits RARE.

8) Pull the steak out, use the top of the tin-foil bowl and wrap it gently to keep it warm, your basically letting it rest a little bit.

9) After about 5-10 mins of resting and making sure my searing device is up to stuff.. Your gonna want to just drop your steak on the heat and leave it there for a good 30-60 seconds depending on how much heat you got. Then flip it and leave it for another 30-60 seconds. Then use thongs to hold the steak and sear the sides for another 30-60 seconds.. but your gonna have to make sacrifices, because the trick is to sear as much of the steak as possible without going over your ideal doneness. 

10) So check your Steak while searing, once you hit the doneness you want, just pull it immediately, wrap it in foil and let it rest another 5-10. Then eat it

Reverse sear is a method that lets your entire steak cook much more evenly. Traditionally a MEDIUM is a hot Pink in the middle of the steak. If reversed seared properly.. the ENTIRE steak is Pink and the outside is nice and dark brown-black and crusted beautifully. No well done bits around the edges.. all medium and juicy and delicious.


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## Vinnx (Nov 11, 2012)

I figure some photos should do a bit more talking. Here's a reverse seared steak from a few nights ago!


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## Peixaria (Dec 31, 2008)

Vinnx said:


> I figure some photos should do a bit more talking. Here's a reverse seared steak from a few nights ago!
> 
> View attachment 12262
> 
> View attachment 12261


Shazaam! I can get behind that. Hope you didn't get any on the keyboard


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## akhan (Mar 17, 2011)

I don't get it - why not just sear first, and finish off in oven for the even cooking? My biggest thing to a perfect steak is a good sear, doneness and rest time. 

Looks good though!


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## Vinnx (Nov 11, 2012)

akhan said:


> I don't get it - why not just sear first, and finish off in oven for the even cooking? My biggest thing to a perfect steak is a good sear, doneness and rest time.
> 
> Looks good though!


Yea, so the Reverse Sear is I think a somewhat newish technique floating about. The purpose is that it gives you more room for error to allow you to get a more even doneness. 

I've done the traditional Sear > Oven method, and what I found is that for Medium Steaks I will get a decent crust, but right under the crust there will be a band of well done meat, and then just the very center of the steak will be medium. I think it's because when you sear first it takes a little longer to sear the outside so the outer portion of the steak gets more heat and cooks more than the inside, which translates in the oven.

When you Oven > Sear, you first ensure that the steak is first cooked as evenly as possible. Then because it's been cooking for some time the searing portion takes a little less time. So higher the temps you get on your grill the better, because it will sear soo fast it doesn't cook the inside too much. So you get a steak where the entire thing is a nice medium pink 

Ahhhh.. another tip, when you pull the steak out of the oven, don't throw away all that oil and butter drippings in the foil. After you've seared the steak, throw that liquid in the hot pan for a few seconds, and then pour it over your steak. Yea.. it's all butter and oil... but it's got SOOOOO MUCH FLAVOR.


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## akhan (Mar 17, 2011)

lol, I guess to each their own. I am going to try this method out, thanks Vinnx for clearing that bit up!


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## Paymaster (Jan 22, 2009)

Thanks for sharing. For me,bone in rib eye with my marinade tossed onto my Akorn running at 650* sear for a minute on each side and take it off. Needs to moo a bit for me!


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## wdbrand (May 24, 2007)

First off, all the methods posted sound find. However, I'm with Pay on this one. To me, a perfect steak is one that has a bone in it, comes from a prime cut of meat that has absolutely never been froze, set out for a hour to get temp up from refridge, a lady of your choosing, a margarita, two tongs and one candle. Light candle, pass steak over it twice, flip and repeat. The perfect steak and not a whole helluva lot of fancy todo about it. Salad optional.


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## wdbrand (May 24, 2007)

Vinnix, since you've done both, what is the time difference? Don't know if my grill will get hot enough to sear, but the side burner with an iron skillet and high temp oil will. A minute or less on each side does the job. I will however try one your way and see if I can tell any diff. Thanks for a new way to cook something. And it sounded great.


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## Vinnx (Nov 11, 2012)

wdbrand said:


> Vinnix, since you've done both, what is the time difference? Don't know if my grill will get hot enough to sear, but the side burner with an iron skillet and high temp oil will. A minute or less on each side does the job. I will however try one your way and see if I can tell any diff. Thanks for a new way to cook something. And it sounded great.


I think Reverse Searing definitely takes a little bit more time, like before, it's entirely going to depend on the size of the cut. Skillet and burner is definitely the way to go. I usually wait till my skillet starts turning silver.. then I know it's ready to sear ^^ You've just gotta keep in mind that all the cooking is being done in the oven.. so you do want to sear as quickly as possible so you don't overcook the steak by taking too long to get the crust, so hotter the temps the better in my book. Also I don't really use any oil at all when doing this, my Iron Skillet is smoother then some of the non-stick pans! I took something like a 800 grit sand paper to it as soon as I bought it to remove that horrible factory finish. Then re-seasoned it.. took 2 days to season but well worth it!


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## plotalot (Apr 27, 2009)

If one likes their steak rare, as I do, this seems like a lot of effort to screw up a good piece of meat.


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## Mastrbaitr (May 7, 2014)

So much effort for so little gain.....I would tell my chefs to just use a kitchen torch....for anyone who doesn't have it use your oven broiler.


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