On a thick ribeye I prefer the reverse sear on my pellet grill. I always dry brine for a minimum of 12 hours. With the Yoder it has a diffuser plate that has a hatch that is removable which allows for nice sear especially with the grill grates. I also like the reverse sear using my PK-360 grill - sometimes cooking on the Yoder and finishing on the PK or doing all on the PK. While there are some color bands that aren’t present when I SV (which I also like doing). I tend to favor the smoke flavor from the reverse sear and will take the banding in color for the flavor. That said, when it’s chilly I’m a big proponent of SV and and a cast-iron sear.
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When I cook a ribeye, it’s usually one of my 40 or so day dry aged ribeyes that is vac sealed and frozen. So, I go with the hot tub method and finish on the CI skillet. I like the sear I get and the ability to use a bit of butter basting.Comment
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Agree that having the charcoal/wood flavor and a good sear is nirvana. Hard to beat cast iron for a solid sear if you aren't going "artsey" for the crossed grate marks (one's for go, the other for show).
Two examples; one pretty much a cooker specific because of the way it's built/designed, the other, an adaptation for a more "conventional" cooker. The first is the Golden Cast Iron Kamado, run it indirect to temp, then drop it onto the cast iron deflector that works like a griddle for that solid sear. The second is setting up the Bronco with an inverted vortex to confine the coals just under the cooking grate. Put a 10" griddle pan over the coals, sear to your hearts content, then finish indirect. Oh so many options.................
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Think a lot has to do with the steak thickness. For Large thick Steaks, we think sous vide then sear is best guarantee of desired temp.
But our day to day average meat? grill indirect 4-5 min per side, then sear to finish . Learning your own grill's timing takes practice but is important
One question: we do that indirect cook with the lid down. Should we be doing lid up, or what other tweaks should we be aware of for lid up steak cookery?Comment
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Technique to me is a matter of choice and knowing your cooker. When cooking over direct heat I'm laser focused on watching my meat as not to burn or over sear. If I'm cooking indirect then yes I close the lid, be it a gasser or a kettle. I want the radiant heat to cook the meat, the sear is separate.
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Troutman I am there with you on the different flavor profiles. I've got an Anova, and have done quite a few steaks that way over the past several years, searing them either on the grill or in a hot cast iron skillet. But to be honest - SWMBO told me they didn't taste as good as the ones I grilled all the way, and I have to agree with her. Doing either a front or reverse sear and cooking all the way with charcoal to me provides the best possible flavor. And like you, I've done the same with a gas grill, but that smoky flavor profile is just missing. Cooked with charcoal (or wood) the whole way to me produces the best possible steak. I now reserve the SV and cast iron seared steaks for times it is just simply too nasty to get outside and fire up the grill.
I will also say that I do find the sous vide method useful if I need to do something like have 8 or 10 steaks ready to feed folks that are coming over, so I can have all of them sitting at 129F in the sous vide bath, then shock them and sear them off on the gas grill all at once, and pull each one at the desired temp. But if its just me and SWMBO, I'm going charcoal all the way if I can.
I just reverse seared some nice thick T-bones last week, and I think what helped me get them to a perfect doneness was opening the lid of the grill fully after the taking them to about 118F (I was using a DOT to read the temps on one of the steaks), and while I got the coals in the SNS up to turbo-sear mode, letting them cool down a bit before I started flipping on an elevated grate above the SNS. I temped them every minute as I flipped them every 30 seconds, and pulled mine at a perfect 135 and SWMBO's at her desired 145. Best steaks ever. Probably because they were good meat and the only steaks I've made in some time...
Last edited by jfmorris; February 21, 2022, 08:38 AM.Comment
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Rod originally I was going to sear on the main grate, just spinning the grate around to that side. But the easy spin didn't want to spin on the kamado (bound up somehow on the brackets that hold it), and then when flames were shooting 6 inches above the main grate, I really didn't want to burn the steak as much as get a nice radiant heat sear, so I put them on the elevated grate to get them a bit farther out of the flames. I was pleased with the results.Last edited by jfmorris; February 21, 2022, 11:02 AM. -
Rod I also find that with lump in the SNS and all vents wide open, I tend to have a lot more big flames shooting up above the main grate even before I put meat over it to sear. With briquettes I get glowing red coals, but not much open flame until grease starts dripping off the steaks.
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I always do reverse sear. Dry brine at least 2 hours. Indirect on one of the kettles at 225 until IT is 115-120. Lightly butter/oil, use some Cow Crust or Carne Crosta and then reverse sear on my gasser with GGs. There have been times I over shoot the final temp. I always struggle with anticipating how much carry over to expect. In the end, I've never made a bad steak since being here. Sure, some have been better than others, but it gets to a point where it's really splitting hairs.
I prefer doing the sear over coals, but it just seems to be a waste for about 4 minutes of searing. I got one of those grates for the chimney and have done that once, but can only do one steak at a time. It sure is fun though. Again, wasted a lot of coals. Never thought about using the other end of the chimney. I normally use a starter cube. Would that still work on the flip side of a chimney?Comment
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I eat ribeye at least once a week and have tried them all. I am a sous vide guy --- 2-3 hours or so at 127-129. if I am not eating right away i do the ice bath thing but as often as not go straight to pat dry with paper towels and sear...either cast iron with ghee or over a charcoal chimney (the latter if I have more than one steak since it is hardly worth it for one). Power Word Grill mixed with softened butter. Think I will do one today!Comment
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I've converted from reverse searing to front sear. I seem to be able to nail the internal temps with much better consistency vs risking flying past it on a reverse sear.
I'll only do the front sear with steaks over 1.5" thick...otherwise i'll just go hot and fast turning every minute or so until done.
Here's my prefered method for thick pre brined steaks:
Fill a charcoal chimney starter 3/4 full with your favorite charcoal and get it started. Let it go until it looks pretty much like a jet engine. Set a grate on top of chimney, now sear for 1:30 on each side twice for a total of 3 mins per side. Once steaks have been seared, dump charcoal on one side of the kettle with a small chunk of wood. While the kettle temp is stabilizing, i'll season the steaks. Once the kettle is up to 250-275F the steaks will go on the indirect side until they reach 130F....set them on a tray with a pat of compound herb butter and tent with foil for 10mins.
I think this loosely follows what Meathead had posted about awhile back?Comment
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I am more of a porterhouse/strip guy than ribeyes, but back around the holidays Publix had a good sale on standing rib roasts and I bought a few and had them cut into around 2†steaks. I sous vide the first one, but for some reason I don’t really like the texture on sv’d steaks. They seem kind of soft to me for lack of a better description. So now I reverse sear. The last one I did I actually brought up to temp in the oven, up to 130, because it was raining when I started, but it stopped raining so I was able to sear it on the kettle. I also stopped using rubs and now I go with salt and coarse black pepper.Comment
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Here you go klflowers so you don't feel left out. I don't remember how I cooked this one but this was porterhouse heaven !!!!
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man…that would be a sight to see in a freezer of ribeyes just stacked one after another!
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