Reverse Sear Strip

[enron khan]

Room temp, rubbed with Charlie Palmer's

Asparagus and salad

Next time MORE SEAR!

Almost perfectly cooked. Almost

Took BGE to 220. Indirect, no wood, lump only. Took about 40 min to get to 115*. Then took egg to 650* and seared for 90 sec a side.

 

[JckDanls 07]

looks really good... I'm confused as to why no wood.. that's the purpose of the reverse sear...

 

[enron khan]

sear
si(ə)r/
verb
1.
burn or scorch the surface of (something)

Wood doesn't have as much to do with searing as does temperature. Wood imparts flavor not sear. Searing is forming an outer crust attempting to render a satisfying bite (texture) along with locking in the flavor of the meat. You can sear the heck out of just about anything with no wood at all. Just ask any cook that's used a cast iron skillet.

Usually I do impart some wood flavor into my grilling. Tonight I just didn't feel like it. I could have used about 30 more seconds a side on those strips. They were good despite being slightly under seared and under done for my tastes. I'm more on the medium side of the fence than medium rare. At least with a strip steak I am. I'd never cook a ribeye or higher quality cut past medium rare. For some reason strips taste a little better to me (texture too) when cooked to a medium.

 

[JckDanls 07]

Yes.. I agree with ya about the whole searing scenario... I was just referring to the reverse part of the cook... The purpose of REVERSE searing is to add smoke before "sealing" up the meat with a sear.... If your not going to add smoke there really is no purpose to reverse sear... but hey.. at least your cooking something.... Thumbs Up

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

IMHO, I agree with JD07, the main point of the reverse sear is to get the smokey flavor into the meat before searing and keeping all the flavor, smoke and seasoning inside.... Anyway, just my 2 cents ! Nice lookin steaks, bet they were tasty !

 

[pc farmer]

Meal looks great. I always use smoke wood when reverse searing.

 

[enron khan]

Now I understand where you coming from! I bake in the oven then sear on the skillet all the time. Which is basically what I did tonight. I just wanted to see if I could get a different flavor from the BGE vs the oven. I didnt, haha. Most high end restaurants, wether the general public knows it or not, bake their steaks then sear them in the pan.

I think I might give oak a try. I have yet to smoke with oak and I've been doin this for 20 years.

 

[seenred]

First off, the steaks looks great! I'd eat that any day of the week. I gotta agree with Keith and the other guys. He wasn't confused about what it means to sear...he's asking why you didn't smoke the steaks first? The point of reverse sear is to infuse some wood smoke flavor into the steaks, then perform the high temperature sear.

It's all good though...just a failure to communicate. Nice job on the sear. Thumbs Up

Red

 

[pc farmer]

I use oak all the time. Its not a heavy smoke. Seems like a nice light smoke flavor to me. You will like oak.

 

[leah elisheva]

That looks terrific! Cheers! - Leah

 

[jarjarchef]

Most high end restaurants, wether the general public knows it or not, bake their steaks then sear them in the pan.

I am not sure what restaurants you are referring too, but all of the ones I have worked in and in the catering/banquets location I work in now, it is the other way around. They sear then oven finish....... Reasturants will usually only do that with medium well and well done unless it is a very thick cut of meat.

Reverse searing is really something new and not really used in the professional realm. However it is a very good method when done properly........ I use it a lot for Chef Tables and have some great results..... Here is what I do...

First I use a MES and AMNPS or tube smoker.......

Set for a temp of 120-125
Get the pellets going and settled down....
Season with simple S&P or SPOG
Place the meat into the smoker. I usually try for at least 90min.....
When ready to serve, sear on a very hot grill or cast iron skillet.....
Allow to rest for a few minutes then enjoy.......

It is basically the smoker version of sous vide cooking. By raising the temp slowly the meat stays tender..... When I do tenderloin filet, NY Strip or a Manhatten Strip this way you can cut it with a fork it is so tender.

The challenge I see for you is temp control and clean smoke control with the BGE. The final cook pictures you have look great. I would not mind sitting down to a plate of that anytime......

 

[mbogo]

Let the experts battle it out, I'd eat that in a heartbeat!!   Perfectly done for my tastes, nice job!!

Mbogo

 

[hambone1950]

FWIW. I feel like charcoal by itself does impart smoke flavor. My wife is not a fan of strong smoke flavor , so in the interest of domestic harmony , I usually cook my stuff with just charcoal. My wife thinks that it's just smoky enough without overpowering the spices. And I don't necessarily think she's wrong.

 

[enron khan]

I am not sure what restaurants you are referring too, but all of the ones I have worked in and in the catering/banquets location I work in now, it is the other way around. They sear then oven finish....... Reasturants will usually only do that with medium well and well done unless it is a very thick cut of meat.

The challenge I see for you is temp control and clean smoke control with the BGE. The final cook pictures you have look great. I would not mind sitting down to a plate of that anytime......[/quote]

Your right, almost all high end steak joints sear on a pan or hot ass grill then finish in the oven.

BGE temp control is super easy for me. Especially now with the DigiQ. Wow, what a game changer. It's like pushing buttons on an oven. Completely idiot proof, set it and forget it.

I have noticed the lack of quality smoke out of the BGE. Quite frankly, it takes forever. Back when I was smoking regularly on the char griller it would only take around 20 min to get to temp then another 20 for TBS. BGE takes 15 min to get to ANY temp. TBS takes an hour or more. I usually end up throwing it on anyway and have not noticed any bitterness in my food.

 

[enron khan]

FWIW. I feel like charcoal by itself does impart smoke flavor. My wife is not a fan of strong smoke flavor , so in the interest of domestic harmony , I usually cook my stuff with just charcoal. My wife thinks that it's just smoky enough without overpowering the spices. And I don't necessarily think she's wrong.

Same situation I'm in. Girlfriend not a big fan of smoke flavor on steaks. That's why I wanna give oak a go. I understand it to be much milder (never used it). IMO, the "higher on the cow" your cut is the LESS smoke you should use. I couldn't imagine putting smoke on a filet. I wanna taste MEAT, haha

 

[enron khan]

Btw, guys, if you havent tried Charlie Plamers rub you really owe it to yourself to google it. I have had the best results so far with the t-Rex method. I think 40 min at 220 negated the flavor of the rub. It's an excellent accompaniment to beef. Again, t-Rex, NOT reverse sear! Give it a go!

 

[hambone1950]

Same situation I'm in. Girlfriend not a big fan of smoke flavor on steaks. That's why I wanna give oak a go. I understand it to be much milder (never used it). IMO, the "higher on the cow" your cut is the LESS smoke you should use. I couldn't imagine putting smoke on a filet. I wanna taste MEAT, haha

I have a bag of oak chunks and one of maple (think I got them at HD ) I use them and find them both to be very mild. And flavorful.