re: The perfection of the reverse seared rib eye

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Hailed as the ultimate way to cook a perfect medium-rare steak every time, it’s easy to learn how to cook the Reverse Sear method, and rock steakhouse quality cooking at home. Have you heard of this reverse sear thing? It’s what all the cool kids are doing. Traditionally, a restaurant method of cooking steak involved searing over incredibly high heat, then transferring to an oven to finish on a more gentle heat until done. The reverse sear method pretty much just flips the order, and involves first cooking the meat on a very low heat before searing the outside on a super hot surface.

The basic idea is that with reverse sear, you have greater control over the Maillard Reaction (that magical process that turns the cooked edges of meats yummy and brown), because you’re making sure the high heat only comes into play right at the end and that the steak inside will be perfect. So, instead of an internal ring of different “doneness” your steak will be perfectly medium all the way through, save for the very outside. Truth be told, I love my steaks rare, so a regular pan sear works for me, but there’s no denying this is the ultimate cook method to achieve a perfect medium/medium-rare throughout. If you wanna get super meat-nerd about it, consider removing the steak about 5 degrees before it reaches doneness, as it will continue to cook slightly from residual heat during resting.

INTERNAL TEMPERATURE GUIDE:
Rare: 125 f
Medium Rare: 130 f
Medium: 140 f
Well done: 160 f (if you’re cooking to this degree of doneness you’re going to make me very upset…)

You will definitely need a meat thermometer to do this correctly – the ‘ol palm pinch test is not gunna cut it here! Back in the day I used to use a cheapie stick-thermometer, until I started noticing bad inconsistencies and realised it wasn’t calibrated, and when there’s just a few degrees difference between rare and medium, you wanna get this stuff right! These days, I prefer to use a Thermapen which has an instant read and takes the temp off the very thin tip of the probe. That means less heat loss if I’m opening the grill or smoker to check something, and no nasty huge probe marks. Put it this way, investing a little in perfectly cooked meat is cheaper than ruining your nice quality steaks!

Though it ultimately takes longer to cook with reverse sear than other methods, it’s ready to eat immediately because you’ve rested the steak prior to the sear – so you can eat it nice’n’hot! I use an oven/heavy cast iron pan to reverse sear, but you can definitely experiment with a smoking/grilling combo too. If you’re looking for an extra secret weapon to help you achieve an incredible crust and appearance on the sear, you wanna check out this Hardcore Carnivore rub. Method after the pics! And if you’d rather see how to do the reverse sear method on a charcoal grill, check this out.

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INSTRUCTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 135c/275f
2. Place well seasoned steaks on a rack over a baking tray (cover the tray with foil to save yourself a clean up)
3. Put in oven and cook til an internal temp of 125-135f depending on your preference of "doneness". Usually takes around 45-60 minutes.
4. Remove when at temp and rest for 10-15 minutes under foil
5. Preheat a skillet or heavy based pan to screamingly hot temperatures
6. Sear steaks for one minute each side
7. Serve immediately

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