How hot can I go with reverse searing burgers?

[ghart999]

Hello all. I recently purchased a CampChef pellet grill. I also added the Sear Box option. I have read temps of 900F on the grates with a laser temp gun. That's hot. With this in mind, how hot can I go to do my finishing sear on burger before its too much? Thanks.

[Potkettleblack]

It's a question of how long you can leave it on the high heat. 900* should sear it up pdq.

[CurlingDog]

I think its going to be a question that you will need to answer for yourself with a little trial and error, and then report back to us. Using Grill Grates, with temps north of 700 degrees, i typically bring internals closer to final desired temp before searing, as the surface of the burger will quickly over sear if not careful. Flipping often, i can mitigate this and with practice, i have nailed the process (more like science, wrapped in magic). I also like higher searing temps when company is over (don't sell the steak, sell the sizzle).

[Atalanta]

I like that "Science wrapped in magic"

[ghart999]

Great suggestions. I just wanted to make sure that even 10 seconds at that kind of heat wouldn't kill the meat.

[Mosca]

I've found that if I get over 600* or so, the meat burns. IMO the sweet spot is about 500-550*.

[andreychek]

Howdy,

There's actually an excellent video discussing this topic (or at least a related topic), featuring Mythbuster's Adam Savage, and Serious Eat's Kenji Lopez. They pose the question, when it comes to searing, is hotter always better? And they proceed to try 4 different searing methods.

That video is here on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB1x0O-bhrw

Spoiler for those who don't wish to watch the whole thing --

All the steaks they tried were good, but hotter did not always equal better. They preferred the steak that was seared on top of a charcoal chimney. It took about a minute and a half to sear it on that.

The lower temperature sear methods produced more grey and less pink inside the steak (since they were on longer).

And the higher temperatures had more of a charred flavor.

Also amusing was that Adam wouldn't shut up about grill marks, as much as Kenji gently tried to steer him away from that thought process :-)
-Eric