Front sear, looking for help, for tonight! Thanks

[Dr. Pepper]

After missing on my last couple of reverse sears (overcooked), I have decided to try front end sears (again!) I have 4 nice American Waygu NY Strips (Costco) that I have on a rack in the fridge for tonight, dry brined since last night. This will be our first dinner besides family, since the plague hit last March. (All 6 of us old time friends are old enough to have had our full vaccinations.)
I'm looking for advice. If I remember correctly, Ernest pops them in the freezer for an hour before the sear? I plan on using wood and lump Fogo for the front sear. I will then pepper them, and put in 190-200 F oven with Thermoworks thermometers in each one, until approx 132. I figure about 30-40 minutes at that oven temp. I could also go lower, since this oven works down to the lower 100s, with about a 20 degree cycle range.
One thing I will miss about the reverse sear is the ability to do the low temp cook now, let them sit on the counter for an hour or so until ready for the main course, then sear and serve. I am open to suggestions as to how to improve my reverse sear as well. I prefer the low oven over sous-vide. What I consider a dry sous-vide, sort of......

Planning to slice on a board with a bordelaise sauce, and just prepared a cup of chimichuri for a table option to help cut the richness of the meat. Spinaker Troutman Attjack Henrik (He's probably asleep now.) Meathead
Thanks all.

[Dr. Pepper]

I'm currently reading the March 2021 thread started by steve weston Lot's of good tips in there.

[glitchy]

Are they blade tenderized? If so, I would go true Sous Vide if serving medium rare. If not, your plans sound pretty good to me.

[Dr. Pepper]

Unfortunately, Costco blade tenderizes almost all of their meat. I know you are referring to the benefit of the Sous Vide pasteurization. I'm not worried about that, however. Been eating their meat medium rare for decades so far. But, I appreciate your input. Thanks

[RonB]

The purpose of a sear is to brown the surface of the meat. What you want to do is brown the surface without raising the temp. For me, the best way to do this is to flip frequently during the sear because the longer one side stays close to the heat, the deeper the heat will penetrate. I go no more than 30 sec per flip.

This is what I shoot for:

[Stuey1515]

Damn good looking beef right there mate!!

[Attjack]

I agree about flipping frequently. Other than that just watch for your crust to get where you want it then check the temp. If it's underdone move it to the cool side or in your case a low oven.

[Henrik]

If doing front sear only (I’m a bit confused, as the text mentions the oven also), my advice is: medium to medium/high heat in the pan, and flip once a minute.

[Dr. Pepper]

Henrik Front sear over the coals/wood fire, then put in a low oven to reach internal temp goal.

[Henrik]

Ah, thanks, now I get it.

[Dr. Pepper]

Thanks, everyone.
Well, they were delicious, but I seem to either have too hot a fire, or leave for too long a sear. The grey band was larger than I wanted. But, given that they were Waygu, they were still juicy and tender, with a great crust. I need to use a lighter hand on my sears, either not so hot, or much less time.
I flipped every 30 sec, about 8 times. Then, since one of our guests needed to use one of our ovens at 350, and we had smashed potatoes going in another oven at 415, I used the Weber gasser with two outside burners on low. The air probe read around 250. Pulled at internal temps of 132-134.


Freezer for 30 minutes, after overnight dry brine in refrigerator

[Mosca]

That’s fine. Don’t worry about the band too much. How they taste is more important than how they look.

[smokin fool]

When are you doing these again, I will make room on my schedule.

[Dewesq55]

Personally, I don't think you can have too hot a fire for front sear. Flip every 30 seconds TOPS and you shouldn't, in my experience, get a grey band like that. I just keep flipping until I like the look of the crust then move to a ~250°F zone (oven, grill or smoker) with a temp probe and cook to within a few degrees of desired doneness. I would guess that the grey banding was the result of leaving them too long before flipping.

[Dadof3Illinois]

Here’s what I use to front sear steaks. Then bank the coals and finish to 125 internal.

[Ernest]

Dr. Pepper apologies I'm just now seeing the notification.