Reverse sears

[Aussie Ora]

G'day everyone I've made up my mind and am jumping in the deep end I have had the komado Joe classic for nearly 2 years and love the divide an conquer setup can the charcoal spliter be used for reverse sears or can someone explain to me how to do this I have figured it out in my mind how to do it but would be nice to hear from first hand experience

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[tony b]

Having never owned a KJ, I can't do a direct comparison. But, I can tell you that it's super easy to use the basket splitter to do 2 zone cooking, especially reverse searing. You can do either hot side/warm side, or high/low vertical zones. Put the sear grate on top of the basket and then use either the lower or main grate as the lower heat zone. Then remove that grate and use the sear grate for your reverse sear. 

[bosco]

I really don't use the splitter much.  When I want two zone I leave the lower grate in and the main grate.  

I cook on the outer edge of main grate for cooler temps and then open the main grate to access the lower grate for hotter temps.  

That works for me all the time now

[dstr8]

Although I don't have the split grates, just the split charcoal basket, I prefer to use sous vide for the best reverse sears.   Water is a much faster & better IMHO heat conductor than air...so at the end of the day SV is faster and without a doubt much more accurate with regard to internal meat temp.

Just my $.02 and maybe all its worth

 

 

Edited June 12, 2016 by dstr8

[Aussie Ora]

Cheers everyone sort of had what tony b wrote in my mind .Bosco you way seems good .I don't have a sous vide but have seen people's cooks that have them

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[ckreef]

Cheers everyone sort of had what tony b wrote in my mind .Bosco you way seems good .I don't have a sous vide but have seen people's cooks that have them

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The reality is you also own a KJ. You could always go low-n-slow on the KK and get the KJ up to sear temp so you go straight from one phase to the other without skipping a beat.

.

Another option is doing a forward sear. Get a quick raging bed of coals and do a sear on the lower grate. Pull the steak, put in your deflector and main grate put the steak (with meat probe) on the main grate and immediately shut the vents down to a 225* setting. Since you are not heat soaked yet the KK will cruise right into 225*. I've done this a few times on both of my KK's so should be easily accomplished on a 23"

Reef's Bistro

[Aussie Ora]

Know all about forward sears I think I was the one that got you on to them:) you can adjust your vents pretty good before it gets soaked and i am to slack to ark up two grills for a reverse sear lol but great advice Ckreef I appreciate it I'm just over thinking

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[Mtroo]

If you do  forward sear, does that result in the sear becoming somewhat soggy?  Isn't that part of the reason to reverse sear?

 

[tony b]

42 minutes ago, Mtroo said:

If you do  forward sear, does that result in the sear becoming somewhat soggy?  Isn't that part of the reason to reverse sear?

 

Not in my experience. The main reason for the reverse sear is to not overcook the steak. You hit the meat with the high direct heat first, then slowly bring it up to final temp. In the "traditional" method, if you don't start the sear at a low enough IT, you risk overshooting the final temps. Especially easy to do if the cut of meat isn't thick (i.e., less than 1 1/2" thick).

[wilburpan]

On June 12, 2016 at 0:12 PM, Aussie Ora said:

G'day everyone I've made up my mind and am jumping in the deep end I have had the komado Joe classic for nearly 2 years and love the divide an conquer setup can the charcoal spliter be used for reverse sears or can someone explain to me how to do this I have figured it out in my mind how to do it but would be nice to hear from first hand experience

To be honest, I’ve never had a situation where a split setup would seem to be that much better than reconfiguring the grill while doing a reverse sear.

Here’s my take. When doing a reverse sear, I typically have the dome thermometer in the 200-225ºF range, the deflector plate in, and the meat on the main grill. After the steak hits the IT I want, I’ll put the steak on a plate temporarily, put some gloves on, take the main grate out, and then take the deflector plate out. This would be difficult if the grill was at steak searing temperatures. But at 200-225ºF, it’s not a problem at all.

Then I put the searing grate in, open the vents all the way, and wait for Smaug to heat up to steak searing temps. This takes a few minutes, but it’s much faster than you may think.

I remember once talking about the KJ Divide and Conquer system as solving a problem that didn’t really exist. To be fair, I’ve never used the D&C system, but then again, I can’t see doing the first part of a reverse sear with a full on fire so that I could go straight from the first step to the second step of the cook without reconfiguring anything. If I’m going to start a reverse sear with a full on fire, I’ll just cook the steak directly, since I can get results like this without the reverse sear.

[CeramicChef]

@wilburpan - that's a steak done right!  

[Aussie Ora]

Thanks for that info Wilbur the divide and conquer system is handy though

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[bosco]

having had both here is what I found.

I loved the D&C system with my KJs.  I banked the two deflectors on one side and cooked on that side and had the grate in the lower position on the other side.  It was the perfect setup.  I did most of my cooks this way.

Until...

The KK came to town.  

The one thing I am just smitten with is the fact that you can not burn anything on a KK.  The fact that the fire basket to main grate distance is as far as it is, I can create true two zone cooking just by adding the lower grate.  That does the same thing as having the deflector stones in.  

I have not yet needed to add the splitter basket for a cook, however, if I really needed, I would add some foil to the lower grate to help further shield heat.  Not needed yet

Plus when you need to call for heat, a spin of the top damper and you will watch that therm climb in temp super fast

[Aussie Ora]

That's sounds pretty cool . A lot less mucking around also get your meat up to temp foil remove top grate and you are ready to sear on the bottom

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[DennisLinkletter]

First of all, I love the splitter because I now brown my meat instead of just making killer grate marks.. to make up for the loss in the carbon taste, I grind up a small piece of well-carbonized charcoal and sprinkle it on the steak just before I serve it.. carbon is carbon LOL

The I love the ability to drag the meat out of the shielded side into the raging heat and back. I can baste it with herb and chili flavored clarified butter immediately when I pull it from the heat and let that heat cook it in.
I leave the meat over the heat just long enough to get the oil on the surface to boil.. pull it over and baste. Pull the next side out and repeat. Three sides have been browned before I'm back to the first side.  I don't want to cook the meat more only get it that dark brown with burnt bits. I like Adam Perry Lang's technique of scruffing up the surface to make more texture and surface area too..

Sous-Vide creates an odd slippery texture that I'm not thrilled with. I put in the upper flipped over and throw round stainless drip pan on it.. then smoke the steaks at 235º on the main using a probe for accuracy. 
I only cook 2" plus meat.  When I hit my target temp I pull the meat out and let it come back to room temp before I start the browning. I've even thrown them into the refrigerator and done them the next day.. warmed the meat in hot water in a zip lock bag before cooking.  

I REALLY love the splitter in the 32 because it lets me grill without wearing big bulky gloves. I can hide behind that hot wall of air and play with my food unhindered by gloves.. 15 minutes and my hand is feeling strained if I'm cooking a lot of food.
 

There's my two cents

[Aussie Ora]

That's a great way of doing it thanks on and off . never tried sprinkling some lump on my meat but I'm keen I will try it .I grew up on flat plate bbqs browning was what it was all about but sometimes it's nice to see some marks

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[bosco]

Dennis that reads like a romance novel.  Now I want steak 

[Aussie Ora]

Dennis that reads like a romance novel.  Now I want steak 

Your easily suduced

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[wilburpan]

16 hours ago, Aussie Ora said:

Thanks for that info Wilbur the divide and conquer system is handy though

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Oh, I agree — I’m sure it’s handy. But I think it’s also far away from “must have” territory.

Put it this way: in terms of accessories, I would much rather have a baking stone, a rotisserie set up, or the KK basket splitter before getting a Divide and Conquer system.

 

[cschaaf]

30 minutes ago, wilburpan said:

Oh, I agree — I’m sure it’s handy. But I think it’s also far away from “must have” territory.

Put it this way: in terms of accessories, I would much rather have a baking stone, a rotisserie set up, or the KK basket splitter before getting a Divide and Conquer system.

 

Well, that makes sense. Otherwise, you would have to buy a grill to go with your new accessory.

The D&C for the KJ is a great setup. It IS a must have for a round ceramic. It doesn't beat the KK setup, but saying that it solves a problem that doesn't exist ignores the fact that it's used in a different grill.