How hot is too hot for searing??

[TheCountofQ]

Broke in the Anova tonight, with a nice strip steak. Overall, I would rate it a success. One issue though,...

I heated a cast iron skillet as the time for removing the steaks neared. My temp gun read the CI at 670*F.

Now I couldn't taste it while eating the steak, but while licking the cutting board afterwards , I picked up a burnt taste in some crumbs.

I added salt, pepper, and a bit of garlic powder to the steak before searing, and lubed the CI with lard (yes, it smoked).

Is that temp to high for searing a steak with garlic & pepper, or was it the lard maybe??

[EdF]

probably the garlic

[lschweig]

Black pepper can burn as well.

[RonB]

The smoke point of lard is 370* F.

Here's a chart listing smoke points.

[TheCountofQ]

Yes. They all smoke well below the temp I was at. Just had some on hand and tried it. Thanks!

[scottranda]

Yeah, I am a rookie on this. So, if it's hot enough, do you need an oil or lard at all?

If so, what are you all using and how hot are you going?

I still need to trim my brisket to get the fat off, melt it, and use it as meat love. I have never tried it (mainly because I don't have beef fat laying arounf$.

[Lost in China]

Your steak will stick hard to the skillet and you won't be able to pry it off.

[DWCowles]

I always use a light coating of ghee on my steaks before searing.

[tbob4]

Spinaker would be a good resource for cast iron, oils, temps and spices. He is a cast iron king and regardless of SV he would know what temp is ideal for these ingredients in that implement. I finish my stuff on a Santa Maria grill and use "the ambient hand tolerance test, lower 2 cranks". I have no idea what temp that actually is but it is equivalent to about 500 on the Vision Grill.

[Steve B]

I agree Spinaker is probably the best one here to answer your questions,as I'm relatively new to CI pans.

[Spinaker]

Generally, I don't sear past 700 F on the grill and 550 F in my pans. There really is no point. However, as far as cast iron goes; I try not to let my pans go over 650 F. They can take it. No question. The pan itself is not really the concern here. It is your layer(s) of seasoning that you need to be concerned with.
When I am cooking inside with my Cast Iron, I don't generally worry about protecting the seasoning. It takes a lot of BTUs to really do the seasoning damage. And most indoor ranges don't really have the muscle to damage the seasoning, under normal cooking. I usually season with Flax oil when I am doing initial rounds of seasoning. I bake these first layers of seasoning at about 550 F to 600 F for hours. It creates an unbelievable layer of seasoning. This also makes it perfect for searing steaks. A rock hard, even finish. But if you were to take the skillet up too 800+ F for an EXTENDED period of time, it will damage the seasoning.

So how hot should you heat your Cast Iron Pan for searing? 550 F is plenty. One of the best attributes of cast iron, is heat retention. The ability of Cast Iron to retain heat, especially when a dense mass is added to the surface, means that you can still achieve a wonderful sear with out having to heat the skillet north 550F.

The seasoning can flake off if your previous rounds of seasoning were not properly applied. It's possible that at 670 F some of your seasoning was flaking but I would bet it was burnt pepper and garlic you were tasting.

"aw, look at me, I'm ramblin' again. Wal, uh hope you folks enjoyed yourselves."
​​​​

[Spinaker]

It certainly will build over time, no question. But I like to do some of my own initial seasoning to make sure I have a good base. I would like to see your collection. Post what you got! AdamJG

[Spinaker]

I put avocado oil in the pan when I am searing. Great temp oil!! scottranda

[Dom]

Spinaker, how about the outside of CI? How often do you season the outside? I'd imagine cheaper veg oil is ok for the outside.

[RonB]

I bought a small bottle of flax oil for seasoning. It was very expensive, so I hid it so that my wife wouldn't cook with it. Now I can't find the d@#n stuff...

[Spinaker]

You wanna keep it refrigerated. "Hiding it" should be done in the fridge.

[Spinaker]

Grab a big bottle of it for $20 or so dollars. It should last you for a long time. I am an avid, everyday user, and one bottle last me months. Only use the flax oil for manual seasoning runs. The caplets don't have the lignin that the unfiltered oil does. When it is filtered, the lignin is taken out. This destroys the advantage of Flax Oil. Dom

http://www.barleans.com/flax-oils/lignan-flax-oil-organic-12oz-b12hl#sm.000001weynqs1pdfd1uy9y55oi267

[Dom]

Good to know Spinaker, thanks.

[PBCDad]

OK so this thread also fits in with my question on the DnG vs. GrillGrates. If there is not much reason to sear above say 550, is there a reason to get GG's, where I understand the advantage to be higher sear heats? I'm grilling over the SnS, so I don't need the heat retention advantage as if I had a gas grill. I don't mean to post dumb questions multiple times, just trying to understand things before I decide which one to get.

[TheCountofQ]

Someone who actually has some GG will probably answer, but it is my understanding the biggest advantage of GG are the surface area it provides. Meaning instead of a few grill marks, you can quickly get the maillard reaction/crust/bark on more surface area quicker. Especially when upside down.

[Spinaker]

Just to be clear, Not searing above 550 F is for Cast Iron, not a grill surface. u can go to 700 F on the grill. Cast iron gives the meat much more conductive heating. You don't get that nearly as much conductive heating over a fire. Just where the grates hit the meat.

[Willy]

I usually sear on GrillGrates and they don't seem to get much hotter than 600-ish°F on my gasser. Normally, I've SV'd a steak that I had salt and peppered, then hit with a quick spray of oil (all prior to SV). I sear for about 45 seconds per side and have zero sticking problems. FWIW.

[fzxdoc]

When I sear on GGs I'd flip them over for more surface area for meat. It makes me sad to see lines of grill marks, regardless of how pretty they are, when you can get more flavor on a steak seared on a flat surface like a CI skillet or flipped-over Grill Grates.

When I sear on my gasser, I use the Grill Grate Griddle, which is a solid flat surface. On my WSCGC I use the GG flipped over. I usually don't sear on my PBC, but if I did, I'd use a small round flat griddle that I have in my repertoire.

I like 600°F or so, so the rub doesn't burn before the meat is nicely seared (quickly).

Kathryn

[scottranda]

Agree, Yet, all of their marketing material has those grill marks. Plus, their YouTube videos don't show that you can and should flip them over. That would be my suggestion to them

[cgrover60]

For what it's worth, I used the Grill Grates for the SNS for the first time a week ago, swabbed them first with a non-stick grill wipe, measured the surface temp at 660 degrees and threw on two 2" plus thick well marbled new york strips. I didn't officially time it but the first side seared beautifully in less than 30 seconds with the grates upside down in griddle mode. Interesting thing - when I turned the steaks the fat dripping hit the lavalock gasket on the kettle rim and promptly set it on fire... lol A couple huffs and puffs and the gasket quit burning while the sear on the second side took easily twice as long. Makes sense I think (?) that hard anodized aluminum wouldn't hold the heat like cast iron. Steaks ended up perfect nonetheless.

[tbob4]

Received my Anova email today and thought this would be of interest in this thread: https://anovaculinary.com/the-anova-...-smoke-points/

[Michael Brinton]

I don't know if everyone saw this video,
http://www.seriouseats.com/2016/06/h...ge-tested.html if you follow the links you can see the video of the students burning a steak in lava, defiantly too hot.

[TheCountofQ]

Haha!! I started to get all excited about Mr. Adam reading my question, then running test with Kenji, but comment dates show the video has been around a while. Great video though!!!