Reverse sear question

[Vette10R]

I'm going to grill a couple rib eyes tonight and going to try reverse sear for the first time. My question is at what temp should I move them to the sear? Is there a rule of thumb like 10 degrees below your target temp?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Weber Kettle Club mobile app

[michaelmilitello]

I'm going to grill a couple rib eyes tonight and going to try reverse sear for the first time. My question is at what temp should I move them to the sear? Is there a rule of thumb like 10 degrees below your target temp?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Weber Kettle Club mobile app

10 usually works just fine.  If you do your sear lid off for a really hot fire, flip it every 30 to 60 seconds. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[michaelmilitello]

I'm going to grill a couple rib eyes tonight and going to try reverse sear for the first time. My question is at what temp should I move them to the sear? Is there a rule of thumb like 10 degrees below your target temp?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Weber Kettle Club mobile app

How thick are they?  Reverse sear tends to lend itself to a thicker steak, like 1.5 inches or more. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Vette10R]

I have 1 inch and a 1.25

Sent from my SM-G955U using Weber Kettle Club mobile app

[Vette10R]

Well I did the reverse sear, after the sear they were at 135 degrees. These were by far the worst chewiest steaks I've ever eaten! They looked perfect and temped perfect but we're horrible!

All I can think of was they cooked to fast. They were out there for a good 30 minutes on the indirect side and seared for just a couple minutes but the grill temp was around 350 on the indirect...

Was this my issue? I don't think I'll ever try the reverse sear again unless I can figure this out, biggest waste of $30 bucks...

Sent from my SM-G955U using Weber Kettle Club mobile app

[michaelmilitello]

Was your meat choice or higher?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kettlebb]

I've never had bad or chewy steaks with reverse sear.

I usually put the steaks on then start another 1/4-1/2 chimney on the 18.

I'll pull the steaks at 120 and put them on a rack with a cookie tray under the rack.

Dump the chimney to get fresh hot coals and let them get ripping hot.

Pat both sides of the steaks dry with paper towels then start searing using the cold grate method. Basically you put them on the cold side of the grate then spin the grate over the coals. To flip them, flip to a new cold section then spin the grate again. Cold grate doesn't mean fresh or new grate from another grill. Guessing the grate above the coals is 600+. The cold side is then relatively cool.

Sounds like a lot of work but the moisture on the meat takes more energy to evaporate. You won't get the even sear and crust you want. The goal of a seared steak is an even crust all the same color and the inside done the same edge to edge. Grill marks are just for show, flavor is in the searing crust.

Keep trying. It's worth it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MikeRocksTheRed]

@Vette10R  - I am thinking you just got some bad steaks.  It happens every once in a while.  Not as much (in my opinion) as it used to.

[Vette10R]

Yeah I figured I either got bad steaks or cooked at to high of a temp?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Weber Kettle Club mobile app

[Firemunkee]

I've done reverse sear with a full chimney of lit coals and vents wide open and the steaks still turned out tender, albeit not as tender as after I learned how to temperature control with the vents, but still they weren't as chewy as you make yours out to be. I also vote for bad steaks. Don't be discouraged and give it another go! As with anything new, it can take some trial and error.

Also, I just saw in another post that you reverse seared a burger. Looks like that went well! I definitely say try another steak

[Vette10R]

I've done reverse sear with a full chimney of lit coals and vents wide open and the steaks still turned out tender, albeit not as tender as after I learned how to temperature control with the vents, but still they weren't as chewy as you make yours out to be. I also vote for bad steaks. Don't be discouraged and give it another go! As with anything new, it can take some trial and error.

Also, I just saw in another post that you reverse seared a burger. Looks like that went well! I definitely say try another steak

I agree it must be bad steaks. I'm going to pick up some fresh steaks from the butcher and give it another shot.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Weber Kettle Club mobile app

[kettlebb]

Try to get them cut 1.5-2 inches.  Let us know how it goes and try to take some pics along the way.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[HoosierKettle]

Sear first, sear last, cook direct the whole time, can all turn out great steaks. Many ways to skin a cat. I have never experienced bad steaks that I couldn't tell were bad before cooking. Were the steaks pink in the middle?  Did they look like they were medium cooked?


Sent from my iPhone using Weber Kettle Club mobile app

[Vette10R]

I usually sear first then indirect to temp and they turn out great. I wanted to try reverse sear as I hear great things. They were visually perfect medium and temped perfect.  I cannot believe how tough they were, it was embarrassing.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Weber Kettle Club mobile app

[HoosierKettle]

I usually sear first then indirect to temp and they turn out great. I wanted to try reverse sear as I hear great things. They were visually perfect medium and temped perfect.  I cannot believe how tough they were, it was embarrassing.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Weber Kettle Club mobile app

Who knows, maybe it was just a tough couple of steaks. I haven't noticed reverse sear or temp causing it. If it wasn't over cooked, it doesn't sound like it's something you caused, but do an experiment next time. Sear one first and reverse sear another one. I'm usually cooking several steaks so I'll do this by default sometimes.


Sent from my iPhone using Weber Kettle Club mobile app