# The reverse sear



## donnylove (Mar 25, 2010)

Yesterday I listened to the archived BBQ Central Radio Show from March 25, 2008 where Greg interviewed Chris Finney and discussed the concept of the reverse sear for steaks.  Very, very interesting as I had not ever heard of this concept before.  I'm planning to try it out tonight on a New York from Costco, but I also find myself wondering if this concept should be practiced on other grilling meats such as pork chops and chicken breasts.  I would think it would hold true for these meats as well, but I'd love to hear y'alls opinions.  Thanks!


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## Greg Rempe (Mar 25, 2010)

Reverse sear works well for the bigger cuts of beef...thinner cuts not so much.  I have never tried it on pork or chicken breast...however, I usually brine my chicken and pork chops to get extra moisture.


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## donnylove (Mar 25, 2010)

Trying the RS as we speak on a strip from Costco . . .


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## Gary in VA (Mar 25, 2010)

reverse sear works great on boneless pork loin chops cut from the whole pork loin from costco.

I cut em about 1 inch thick rub em and do a reverse sear on them... take them to 120 indirect then sear them til they hit 135... no brining needed... very juicy.

never tried with chicken


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## donnylove (Mar 25, 2010)

Yesterday I listened to an archived BBQ Central Radio Show from March 25, 2008 where Greg Rempe interviewed Chris Finney and discussed the concept of the reverse sear for steaks. Very, very interesting as I had not ever heard of this concept before. I tried it out tonight on a New York from Costco. Here's how it went . . . 

Here's the subject steak . . . 






Rubbed with kosher salt, CBP, and garlic powder . . . 





I had to prop the lid of my Weber Genesis E-320 gasser open in order to get my temp at the grate level to be around 250*, even with only one burner on its lowest setting. The ambient air temp was about 55* with no wind when I started the cook. Not bad for March in Montana!





Flipped the steak over when I registered 80* in the center . . . 





Took about 10 minutes to get to 100*, then I tented it under foil on a cutting board and cranked the grill up to full blast furnace. Steak temp continued to rise to 113* while tented, before falling back down to 109* before I put it back on for searing. 





Grill temp was around 575* for searing. Didn't take long to sear both sides to a point where I was satisfied/worried about overcooking the steak. Here's what the final product looked like:











The steak was great. Very juicy and flavorful, but it's hard for me to say if it was any better than it would've been if I had seared first. I don't know if my taste buds are smart enough to know the difference. 

Overall I was very happy with how the steak turned out and, although it took longer than it would if I had cooked it conventionally, I'll probably go with this method at least for now, because I believe in the science. Thanks for following along!


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## ronbeaux50 (Mar 25, 2010)

I personally like the flip a bunch of times method on that size of steak. I reserve the reverse for whole cuts of prime rib or at least 2" thick steaks.


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## Shores (Mar 25, 2010)

Steak looks delicious and cooked perfectly! I would agree with you that I'm not sold on the fact that it tastes any better than searing first. Thanks for the detailed post.


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## swampsauce (Mar 26, 2010)

Nice looking steak. I think one of the advantages of cooking steak backwards is proper doneness throughout the steak. Its not half cooked on side or the other,etc. I have never cooked a steak backwards, and i think that Finney dude is kinda weird  , but I think this method of cooking(which he stole from Captain Morgan) makes for an exceptional looking steak!


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## Gary in VA (Mar 26, 2010)

The advantage I like most is the additional smoke flavor you can achieve when cooking it indirect on a charcoal grill with some wood chips.


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## donnylove (Mar 26, 2010)

After the fact, i was thinking that instead of trying to force my gasser to run so low, I should've just thrown the steak in the MES at 250* and put some smoke to it.  Luckily there was more than one steak in that package from Costco!


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## BluzQue (Mar 26, 2010)

Looks great from here,,,backwards or forward...you can't beat a good grilled steak  

 8)


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## Griff (Mar 26, 2010)

Looks like you got the temp just right.


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## Greg Rempe (Mar 30, 2010)

Just for a point of education here: The RS is not to make the meat "TASTE" better...it is to achieve a more uniform color from top to bottom.  You probably noticed that there were no gray lines on either side this time...just a nice med. rare color from top to bottom...that's why you do the RS!


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## bbquzz (Mar 30, 2010)

Reverse or Forward ... that is a good lookin' steak.


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## Toby Keil (Mar 31, 2010)

That is cooked perfect, great job.


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