I love cooking steaks and am a bit of a student regarding different ways to cook them. Always looking for techniques that yield a perfectly cooked, juicy steak that is full of flavor. While the following approach is simple, it works (for me).
Start with good meat. 24 oz of prime boneless ribeye. Seasoned with a favorite rub and allowed to warm up to near room temp:
Weber kettle 2 zone cook using a mix of lump and KBB. Bisbee gets the call:
While reverse sear seems to be a technique that is very much in favor, it does not work well for me. I am a "sear and slide" guy, preferring to sear first and then move to indirect. My reasoning is simple:
- By searing first, I can take advantage of nice hot coals and a ripping hot fire. I simply dump the coals and let the grates get nice and hot with the kettle lid off. I then sear for a couple of minutes per side (with the lid on) and then slide to indirect to finish. The problem I have with reverse sear is that I have to keep the lid on while the steak comes up to temp Over the course of cooking the steak, the direct heat drops off and I can't get the same sear.
- It is much easier for me to control the final temp. When the steak is cooking indirect, the temp is coming up slower than if I pull it while searing, and the final temp after resting is much more predictable (for me). I tend to overcook if I do a reverse sear.
Cray courts doing their job:
Steak pulled at 128. A 10 minute rest yields 10 degrees of carryover, at which point the steak stops cooking, and the temp starts to fall. I dressed it with some blue cheese compound butter:
This is my plated picture. I cut it on the board and ate it as I went - one of the very few advantages of being a temporary batchelor. Good crust, juicy center, and cooked to a texture that I love. The payoff:
Winz