Setting up for reverse sear on gasser?

[bbq_esq]

I tried to reverse sear some strip steaks the other week and ended up overdoing them. Still prime meat so they were good enough but not what I was going for.

I have a Char Broil 4 burner gasser with swapped in grill grates. I have them set up with the flat side up, and enough space where I can create a break in the grates.

I guess my question is how do I set up for reverse searing with this set up? I've done plenty of reverse sears using oven and sous vide, but I'd like to be able do it all on the grill. For the cooler side, am I measuring the air temp just above the grill surface, of the actual surface itself? Even with just one burner on, I had a hard time keeping the temps low on cooler side but also, I may have been measuring wrong.

Appreciate any tips!

[glitchy]

I’ve done this a few times on a Weber 3 burner with no problems. I just use one burner for the low part. It could be the GriilGrates, the grill, or maybe just needing to start searing at a lower internal temp. GrillGrates, even more on the flat side, have a conductive nature. They’re going to absorb heat in the grill and transfer it to the food. Is your grill infrared or regular burners? What target end IT are you after and what temp are starting the sear?

If you’re grill is not infrared, can you configure your grill half stock and half GrillGrates? If not, you might want to try half up half down (or as close as you can get) with the GrillGrates. Then do the reverse on the stock or up side and sear on the flat side.

[bbqLuv]

Maybe try low and slow to about 120*F, rest and tent the meat as grill comes up to Sear temperature, then sear.
Happy Grill to you and BBQ too

[GolfGeezer]

I have a 4 burner Napoleon with GGs, using the flat side even on the "cool" side. The Napoleon takes 5 of the regular width GGs, plus one 2 rail filler GG if I want to cover the entire grill area, but I leave it out so that there is a gap that I can use to separate hot from cool sides.

I had similar issues with reverse searing and now have gone entirely to Forward Searing. I turn 3 burners on High to pre-heat for about 10 minutes, then turn off 1. Lightly oil/ghee the steaks, sprinkle with salt & pepper, then sear on the hot side, every 30-45 seconds to get the sear I want. Then place a meat probe from my Fireboard into the steaks/filets, and then move them to the cool side. My wife loves filets and I love NY strip or ribeye, so I usually start searing hers first (filets are typically thicker). Cook both until the probe registers 129-131* to get medium rare (sometimes medium for hers). Takes about 10 minutes.

The forward sear really helps prevent the over-cooking a reverse sear can get. Just my experience.

[dubob]

I normally sous vide to 131*F and then 1 min per side in a MED HOT frying pan/butter on the kitchen stove. Perfect every time. My pellet grill also has a gas sear grill that i have used a couple of times turned on at MAX heat. The instructions that came with it says 1 min; lift, turn 90 degrees, set back down for 1 min (for a cross hatch pattern on that side); flip over and sear for 1 min; lift, turn 90 degrees, set back down for 1 min (for a cross hatch pattern on that side); remove & eat. Came out perfect both times - medium rare. It's just easier for me to do it on the kitchen stove, especially during the colder months.

If your steaks came off cooked more than you like, I would guess you left them on the grill too long. If I did mine on my gasser grill, I would fire up the grill to about 3/4 to max 'ON' and sear on both sides 1 to 2 min per side max. Leave the lid open while searing. But then, I'm a novice at this sous vide/reverse sear thing and have only been at it for about a year. But what I do works for me. I'm sure you'll get excellent tips from some of our more seasoned members on here. Good luck.

[jfmorris]

I have a 4 burner Weber gas grill with Grillgrates, and have done the reverse sear steak method quite a few times using this grill.

My advise is to DEFINITELY put a break in the grill grate panels to avoid conduction of heat. I preheat the grill with 2 burners on high, then turn them down to low, and put the steaks all the way at the other end of the grill, as far from the lit burners as possible, and leave a probe for my Thermoworks Dot or Smoke in one of the steaks. You might get away with just one burner even. I keep an eye on the steaks until they hit 115 to 120 (usually 30-40 minutes), and then I open the grill, turn the two burners that were already on back to high, give the grill grates about 5 minutes to get hot, then start searing with the grill open. Keep an eye on things with a instant read thermometer, and don't overshoot your desired level of done-ness. Also, flip to a new section of the flat side of the grill grates on each flip if you can, to get better browning, as the unused section of the grate will be hotter than the section the meat just came off of.

[Attjack]

I use a sear burner on my Blaze. If it's a thinner steak I'll cook it all the way on the sear burner.

[Potkettleblack]

https://amazingribs.com/more-technique-and-science/grill-and-smoker-setup-and-firing/best-setups-gas-grills-maintenance-and/

This setup worked well for me when the gasser was my only cooker. Maintaining the low temp was a matter of using water pans, one burner, set med to low, food on the side far from the heat.

For reverse sear, I did that, removed the steak, shut down the grill. Removed the water pan, cranked the two left burners and the sear burner, put the Grill Grates on, flat side up, let the steak rest while the grill got to Mach 10, then seared.

Everything got easier once I added the Grilla. Smoke on the Grilla, sear on the Grill.