Reverse Sear for Rib Eyes

[EGGARY]

I have (2) 2" Rib Eyes. My thinking is to first roast then Sear them. I figure roastat350 - 375.

I am looking for Medium Rare. At what internal temp do I let the steaks get up to before they

Are taken off and raise the Temp of the KK ? How long of a sear on both sides ?

I hope I can get any info soon.

Thank you.

[DennisLinkletter]

Re: Reverse Sear for Rib Eyes

I like cook them a little bit cooler maybe 285-300º on the main/middle grill that way you don't over shoot your target temp.

I pull them about 10º below the target temp. I take them out and then crank up the grill to about 700º to sear only about 30 sec each side on the upper grill flipped over and set down low on the charcoal basket.

[slu]

Re: Reverse Sear for Rib Eyes

You may want to do the "sear" on the intermediate grill. Because the rib eyes have so much fat, they tend to really flare on the sear grill.

[LarryR]

Re: Reverse Sear for Rib Eyes

In my experience if you're looking for med-rare I would keep the cook temp prior to sear very short or at a lower temp. Otherwise you're going to run the risk of over cooking these beautiful steaks. I would even temp them prior to sear to gauge how long you should sear. I think I'd take them to about 90 degrees each, then reverse sear for maybe 2 min. each side and get those babies off the grill quick. Lightly tent with foil during the rest as I think you're going to be pushing med. temps anyway.

I Just did a couple of 2.5 inch filets that came out perfect med-rare, here's how the cook went down; heat soaked my KK for about 2 hours at 325 using Frontier Lump with lower grate in place (reason for heat soaking so long was so I could enjoy some adult beverages while I relaxed on the patio in our 110 degree weather). While I was getting my KK going I set the steaks on the counter and allowed them to come close to room temp. Brought cooker to about 700 dome, let her stabilize for a few minutes and then seared on each side for 3 minutes. Removed to plate and foiled tightly. Let the steaks rest foiled for about 8 minutes and served. They were a perfect med-rare!

Let us know how the cook goes.

[LarryR]

Re: Reverse Sear for Rib Eyes

You may want to do the "sear" on the intermediate grill. Because the rib eyes have so much fat' date=' they tend to really flare on the sear grill.[/quote']

As my steak video demonstrates, I watched it again the other day and in the words of Artie Lange, "FIRE!!!" I need to re-shoot that video, a wee too much of the adult beverages that night. Going to the market for some prime or Wagyu steaks tonight, maybe I'll try and shoot this cook.

[talisker63]

Re: Reverse Sear for Rib Eyes

Even with the funny bits it is a very informative video, especially for those of us who have a KK I build/transit.

I can start to plan out the first few cooks.

I was wondering if anyone had experience of doing steaks like in the resteraunt, that is searing them all, allowing them to stand and then baking at a lower temp to finish, adding the steaks at various intervals to achieve a variety of done ness?

Keep it up Larry, you are entertaining and informative!

Cheers

Andrew

[5698k]

Re: Reverse Sear for Rib Eyes

Personally, I like to keep it simple. It may be because the results are always consistant. Start with a great piece of beef, I prefer to find that great butcher who has those extra good cuts, cut thick, at least 1.25" for ribeyes, new yorks, 1.75" for filets. Salt and pepper, minimum of 700 deg fire, 3.5-4 minutes a side, the time depends on the grate used, the actual temp of the fire, and steak thickness. I always err on the thicker side, it seems to be more forgiving. Rest for 5 minutes, and dig in! A trick is to serve them on a hot platter with butter on the platter, butter is always good!

My luck trying other methods just doesn't yeild the same results, and I hate to waste great cuts of beef!

[EGGARY]

Re: Reverse Sear for Rib Eyes

I am trying to get this down to a science or as they say, "practice makes perfect".

I am trying to figure this time wise. At 275 - 300, roughly, how long will it take for

2" Ribeyes to get up to 90 degrees ?

My wife picks up kids from Hebrew School at 6:15.

Got an idea, since I have 2 steals I can try Dennis' way as well

as Larry R.'s way. If I am going to do a reverse sear on both steak,

might as well for R & D.

[Firemonkey]

Re: Reverse Sear for Rib Eyes

You're missing the most important variable of all... What temp are the steaks when they hit the grill? Cold from the fridge? If you let them sit out and come up to room temp first, they will not take long at all to be med-rare. Be careful, it sounds like you are expecting a longer cook than it will be.

[Cookie]

Re: Reverse Sear for Rib Eyes

I heat soak to 200F and 1.75" steaks take about 20 minutes to get to 115F internal. I pull them and immediately sear for 30 seconds each side on a pre-heated oiled weber gasser that is already holding 700F. This yields medium to medium rare with sear marks that are impressive.

[jmagaram]

Today I did some thick New York strip steaks. Followed the Cooks Illustrated reverse sear method and it worked pretty well. Cut each in half, good when sharing a 1 pound steak with two people. Salted it and then threw it on heat soaked main grate at 330. Should have been 275 according to the recipe but couldn't control the heat. With temp probe got each steak to ONLY around 95-105 and took off. Got grill raging at 700 but NOT ceramic heat soaked, and did about 2 min per side on lower grate. Rested about 8 min under foil. All the steaks had a decent crust and very thin layer of gray at the edge and was nice medium rare throughout. First time I've cooked steaks on the grill. Peppered them at the table since I was worried the heat would make the pepper bitter. If I could do it again I'd keep the temp at 275 and would sear them a bit longer for more crust.

I did the sear with the lid open. Was that correct? I saw a bunch of flames shoot up. Not enough to char the steak but worrisome. Also, should I have gotten the grill more heat soaked at the high temp?

[tony b]

No need to heat soak for the high temp sear. Just wasting charcoal, as you're relying on direct heat and not radiant heat from the walls to do the final sear. And it's OK to leave the lid up - but just a warning, the handle can get pretty hot so don't grab it barehanded to close the lid when you're done!!

 

You didn't say, but did you use the sear grill on top of the charcoal basket to do your final sear? Highly recommended. But, you'll only need about 30 seconds on each side. Cooks Illustrated will tell you do it in 15 second rotations (multiple flips) to not get too much heat penetration when searing over that super hot coal (>900F). This will ensure that you won't overcook the steaks.

 

Lastly, don't sweat the initial roasting temperature (+/- 50F), since you're cooking to a target meat temperature anyway. But, if you want a truly uniform internal temperature, sous vide is the way to go! (IMHO)

[jmagaram]

I'm not sure which one is the sear grill. I used the lower grill, this one with small handles. I did not use that reversable one with short handles on one side and long handles on the other.

I wonder if there would be less flare ups with the lid closed for searing since less oxygen going on there. On the other hand I won't be able to watch and make sure nothing bad is happening.

Makes sense about not heat soaking when high heat grilling.

[tony b]

The sear grill is the "upper grill" turned upside down (like you said, reversible with short and long handles). It sits on top of the charcoal basket handles. You're only inches away from the burning coals. Like this: