Might I suggest one of the new CharBroil infrared grills. You can easily reverse sear on one of these. I bought one in May and have had amazing results. The heat is very even and I've had mine over 550F to sear.

My son likes to barbecue. We had NY strip last night.
I’m going to ask him to look at reverse searing.
We have a Weber Genesis II.

Thanks for the positive comments, I just figured it would be fun to post a steak thread and I know the quarter is appreciated around here.

I've been working on my meat cooking game the last few months and had better results with different cuts of meat. Lots of shopping time and talking to the butchers about when and what is going to hit the clearance bin and swooping it up. I've never messed with a steak this thick and wanted to try it. I've worked in kichens for years and years but never really went down into the details beyond the methods. For New Years, I decided to go back to the drawing board and vowed to learn as much as I could about turning out the best food I can. Scrap everything and start over from the basics. This is part of the journey.

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
Damn, tough crowd.

No, people were likely watching fireworks, getting drunk, and screwing while you were posting.

Well, when I posted the "tough crowd" comment, there were almost 500 views and no responses. I know people had things going on last night, but the math made me scratch my head a bit. It also wasn't that I wasn't doing those things, I think I was just doing them three hours later in my time zone.

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Originally posted by smschulz:
NY Strip is a fav of mine too.
Looks good on outside, however the inside cut is not exactly what I would have expected with a proper reverse sear (note: to tatortodd - not shitting on - only an observation).
But pics can be deceiving - ultimate test is the taste!
Nothing wrong with a NY Strip.
Congrats.

Thanks. Yeah, I've actually done better with thinner cuts of meat. I did a USA Prime ribeye a few months ago that was just over an inch thick and heavily marbled, pulled at a perfect medium rare. It very well may have been the best steak I've ever had. Much better than this one, it actually was of the "melt in your mouth" category I've heard of, but never understood until then. This was that steak:




Here’s some slices off a tri-tip that turned out about perfect:




I've never worked with steaks this thick and there must be something in my method that isn't bringing out the best result. I'm not disappointed, mind you, but I would have liked to have had uniform color from edge to edge. I keep the flame with the torch moving so as not to cook further, so I don't think that was it. Beyond that, I dunno.

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Originally posted by HRK:
Nice job on the steak, now fix the grill grates
just go on amazon and have them at the front door a day later, you don't even have to leave the house!

Thanks for the suggestion, but it's not the grates, they're fine. It's a cheap Chinese California smoker style grill with a crank handle that raises and lowers the coal bed. The coal bed is gone, and most of the bottom is rusting through now as well. It had a good run, but it wasn't a high quality unit to begin with. I've done patchwork stuff with foil brisket pans and such, but the results are spotty at best.

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:
Might I suggest one of the new CharBroil infrared grills. You can easily reverse sear on one of these. I bought one in May and have had amazing results. The heat is very even and I've had mine over 550F to sear.

I've never heard of those, but I'll look into them. Thanks for the suggestion.

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Originally posted by Skins2881:
Looks great! I would have opted for the cast, but I'm sure it tasted great, $13 a pound for Prime Strip is a hell of a deal, that is normal pricing for Choice in my parts. Also there's nothing wrong with a Med steak, I'm happy any where in spectrum of Med-Med rare.

Yeah, I got lucky with my timing. I was there when the butcher rolled out two of those 7' tall racks and started chucking stuff in the discount bin. This one sat there for only a few seconds before I snagged it. And I agree, I prefer "in the vicinity" of medium rare. The reheat is the trick, though.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
What are you using for your torch? I wouldn't call mine a kitchen torch or use it in the kitchen. I'm using this Bernzomatic, I only use it outdoors through.

I'm using a Kollea kitchen torch. It works fine. I dial the output all the way up and keep the blue part of the flame well back from the food and just basically kinda paint the sear on, keeping the heat moving so I'm only putting a crust on it and not heating down into the meat and cooking it further. I find that it's actually less hassle than a cast iron pan, I have exact control over every last tiny bit of the surfaces, and it's less smokey than a screaming-hot cast iron pan with oil and butter. Cook the meat on a rack in a foil-lined pan in the oven, pull when it's at temp, immediately torch, then remove the meat to cutting board, top with a few thin slices of butter and use the foil from the pan to give it a loose wrap and rest for ten minutes, then serve or slice. Since it's three of us and I've been buying better cuts of meat, I slice the whole thing up and everyone gets to choose whatever pieces look best to them. It's been working out much better than "here's your steak."

Here's a quibble point: sear right after the oven, or after the rest? Resting first seems to reconstitute a bit more of the juices into the meat, but searing and then resting seems to still yields a very juicy piece of meat. Either way, there will still be some juice on the meat when you take the flame to it, and personally, I hate to blot it off. It's flavor. But it also impedes a flame sear. So there's that. I've done both and blotting yields a better crust, but not doing so and getting a spotty crust still also turns out a damned fine steak. I have neither the time nor money to do a scientific method breakdown of what works best, so it will have to continue to be an "as I go" sort of learning experience.

Always blot before searing, otherwise you need to boil off the juices on the surface, resulting in deeper infiltration of the surface of the meat with heat. In other words you are cooking the meat vs searing it, especially where there are any valleys or depressions where the juices collect.

Resting is totally optional if doing a reverse sear. You rest a streak to allow it to come to an equilibrium when you grill. The surface of the meat is near grill temp, the inside is just below final temp. When you rest it, the surface transfers heat to the center and the center finishes the last two or three degrees of cooking. In a reverse sear you are slowly heating the meat so there is less of a temperature difference.

Personally I do rest before the sear. That way the surface cools a bit, there is still some heat transfer occuring. Now I have a slightly cooled surface which I've patted dry which will sear faster since dry, leaving only the surface getting any additional 'cooking' time. Then it's immediately served after searing.

This can be taken one step further if you really really want wall to wall pink. Put the steak in one gallon zip lock bag. Dunk it in a bowl or stockpot with ice water, not getting any water in bag. Zip bag (with most air forced out by water, and let sit in ice water for 90 seconds. Remove and allow to rest a couple of minutes on a rack patting dry both sides, then sear. This cools the surface temperature more than resting, allowing a deeper sear without cooking the meat further. Also extremely helpful if you let steaks go a minute too long on the grill, it will stop or greatly decrease any further cooking that continues while resting.

Thanks for the pointers, I’ll try it your way next time. Never heard of the ice bath trick, definitely going to give that a go.

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Originally posted by Jim Shugart:
The only thing I can find wrong with that steak is that you've got it and I don't. To paraphrase Mayor De Blazio, "There's plenty of steak in this country, it's just on the wrong plates".

^^This! That looks GREAT, P220Smudge! Yum.

*drool* No protection in any of those pics.

Brother those strips are MOUTH WATERING...that is well cooked beef!

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Originally posted by mbinky:
Brother those strips are MOUTH WATERING...that is well cooked beef!

That's what I'm talking about. If I ended up with a steak looking like that with kids under foot and normal interruptions, I'd be damn proud of that steak. Hell under ideal circumstances that's still a fine looking steak.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
Thanks for the pointers, I’ll try it your way next time. Never heard of the ice bath trick, definitely going to give that a go.

One further tip. Trim the excess fat to 1/8" max. Intermuscular fat adds favor, the stuff around the edges does not, some do like the flavor of the fat, if that's the case, disregard.

Concur with Skins, my understanding is that the reverse sear technique negates the need for a "rest."

Thanks, guys.

Yesterday I pulled a similar sized top sirloin cap steak out of the freezer and stuck it in the fridge. I’ll incorporate Jesse’s methods on this one. Probably get after it tomorrow. And if not then, my mother ordered an Anova Nano for us that should be here Tuesday. Depending on when it gets here, I’ll be doing my first sous vide meal either Tuesday or Wednesday. If it isn’t the cap steak, it’ll be a boneless leg of lamb or some tri-tip, I’ll have to see what all I’ve got in the freezer that I can pull.