re: Dry Heat or Sous Vide: The Reverse Sear Saga (now with concise title)

quote:

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The idea that it is a cheat or more complicated is laughable. It is quite literally just doing what is normally done in reverse because food science shows it has great benefits--one of the best being that after the sear you can serve the cut of meat immediately, no rest necessary.

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It is almost the reverse of the tradistional method. the traditional is high temp sear/lower temp cook/rest. The revers sear is lower temp cook/rest/high temp sear.

I wanted to call the difference because resting the steak in the middle, instead of the end, also allows those of us using grills to raise the temp of the grill while the steak is resting. If I sear a steak on direct heat, the grill is too hot, even on the indirect side of the grill to get that nice even cook, if I do the sear first.

FYI - I know how to cook a steak by feel. I use a thermometer when using the reverse sear because I'm usually in the kitchen doing side dishes, watching TV, etc., while the steak is slowly cooking. It has nothing to do with not being able to tell if a steak is medium rare. The last thing I want to do is get caught up in a game and let my steak cook 5 minutes too long.

It's not a big deal, because I find that having that extra time while the steak is cooking gives me time to pull the rest of the meal together.

ETA: I don't always use reverse sear. If I don't have time, I will cook it the traditional way. Comes out pretty good that way, but I prefer to do it the reverse sear if I can (as do others I have cooked for).

Ruzil - I appreciate the comparison with sous vide. That is a method I have contemplated trying, but will probably wait until my kids are out of school (I have 3 teenagers) and I have time to experiment.