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So I tried a variation/hack of the reverse sear last night...

Food Posted by glen 7 years, 7 months ago

Last night I wanted to cook steak for dinner, but it was later than I'd hoped and I didn't want to wait for the entirety of the reverse sear to complete (~45 minutes on my grill). I had a hungry wife and two daughters clawing at me in the background, and 45 minutes was not an option.

But, I didn't want to just toss my good steaks on the grill and do the traditional sear either. I just can't bear to do that to a steak anymore.

So, with necessity being the mother of invention (and a dash of fear of being eaten alive), I mustered the courage and tried a variation of the reverse sear.

Now, for those not in the know, the reverse sear is cooking the meat indirectly (ie. not under direct flame) on the grill until the meat reaches an internal temperature of about 25 degrees of your final temperature. Then, you crank the grill up to 11 and sear the steaks until you reach the desired internal temperature.

Here's what I did: Instead of putting the steaks on the indirect side of the grill, I just put the steaks on the upper rack of the grill. I set the burners on medium(ish), and let the steaks reach about 105-110, and then seared them.

The process only took about 20 minutes to cook, and it was one of the best steaks I've ever cooked. I was cutting it with a butter knife to serve to the kids. Moist, juicy, and perfectly pink.

I'm kicking myself for not taking pictures, but the steaks barely hit the plate on the kitchen table before they were ravenously snatched from my brood. Oh well.

Anyway, I'm going to give this a shot again for scientific purposes. I was really flying by the seat of my pants, so I'll report back when I get another data set.

Just thought I'd share... I know we have a few reverse sear believers out there who might find this interesting.

2 replies

  • Razorback

    Like you, reverse sear is the only method I use for cooking steaks. I don't mean that in a snobbish way, just that I wold rather take the time to do it because the outcome is guaranteed.

    So naturally I am intrigued by your experiment and will definitely have to try this the next time I prepare a steak. If it is possible to achieve the same results in half the time, I will be all in.

    Reply