Ideal Sear Temp

[Dr ROK]

What is the ideal temp your pan should be for getting the best sear w/o burning?

[Ray]

From what I've been able tell, REALLY hot is the temp for searing (like 550-600+F). And I always monitor the searing progress by turning the meat every couple of minutes to prevent overcooking. Hope that helps, Doc.

[FLBuckeye]

I raise my coal grate to within 3" of the food gate and have a lot of charcoal that is closer to 2" away. It is super hot. Need to get an infra red thermometer to see how hot. I flip my steaks every 30 seconds to get a nice even crust, trying to minimize the grill marks

[fracmeister]

I think hotter is better at the scale which our grills are capable. SOme commercial searing at high end steak joints is north of 1000F.

[bbqoaf]

Agree with fracmeister, as hot as possible, all of your internal cooking should be accomplished at lower temperatures, searing is simply to add crust/browned flavour on outside.

[Spinaker]

As hot as my vortex will go. I've had my infrared read at over 966 F (maximum reading) but it may have been hotter. At those temps the sear you get is awesome.

[Breadhead]

I've heard that high end steak houses sear their steaks at 800 degrees...

[Dewesq55]

Peter Luger's supposedly has 1500°F ovens for searing

[Strat50]

I guess I'll be the odd person out here. I use different sear temps for different cooks. I frequently sear thick steaks in my cast iron skillet. These sears are comparatively cool. I build a thick crust this way, then I finish the steak in the oven while I use the fond in the pan for jus or whatever. In contrast, a couple days ago, I cooked some fajitas on skewers. I pegged the temp on my Akorn at 700. I placed the skewers on a bit of foil, then fired 'em up. The crust ended up being ¼" thick on these skewers before i pulled them out to make DEADLY tacos. When doing thin steaks, the hottest I can achieve is what I use. When doing thicker steaks(non reverse sear) I either crust them, then bring up the internal temp on a cool spot, or I'll crust then oven roast till almost done. I'll finish searing hot to get those last few degrees. For reverse searing, also the hotter the better. One old chefs trick I learned is to heavily oil the steak when searing to start a small broiler fire around the steak. In other words, use the flare-up to crust the steak. This is great for black and blue steaks, or reverse searing.

[Dr ROK]

Great response Strat. I didn't phrase my original inquiry very well. In my mind I was searing in a pan to use the fond for a sauce afterwards, but didn't edit the post because I wanted as many suggestions as possible. What do you think the temp is when you pan sear?

[Strat50]

Maybe 350. On my crappy electric stove, I set the temp to medium. This is using cast iron or carbon steel cookware.