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Cooking & Food Talk => Charcoal Grilling & BBQ => Topic started by: Vette10R on January 07, 2018, 03:07:41 PM

Title: Reverse sear question
Post by: Vette10R on January 07, 2018, 03:07:41 PM
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?

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Title: Re: Reverse sear question
Post by: michaelmilitello on January 07, 2018, 03:38:33 PM
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?

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


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Title: Re: Reverse sear question
Post by: michaelmilitello on January 07, 2018, 03:40:47 PM
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?

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


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Title: Re: Reverse sear question
Post by: Vette10R on January 07, 2018, 03:48:49 PM
I have 1 inch and a 1.25

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Title: Re: Reverse sear question
Post by: Vette10R on January 07, 2018, 05:08:43 PM
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...

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Title: Re: Reverse sear question
Post by: michaelmilitello on January 07, 2018, 05:22:39 PM
Was your meat choice or higher?


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Title: Re: Reverse sear question
Post by: kettlebb on January 07, 2018, 07:24:19 PM
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.


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Title: Re: Reverse sear question
Post by: MikeRocksTheRed on January 08, 2018, 11:58:46 AM
@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.
Title: Re: Reverse sear question
Post by: Vette10R on January 08, 2018, 01:33:08 PM
Yeah I figured I either got bad steaks or cooked at to high of a temp?

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Title: Re: Reverse sear question
Post by: Firemunkee on January 08, 2018, 06:44:06 PM
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 :)
Title: Re: Reverse sear question
Post by: Vette10R on January 09, 2018, 06:01:03 AM
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.

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Title: Re: Reverse sear question
Post by: kettlebb on January 09, 2018, 06:06:07 AM
Try to get them cut 1.5-2 inches.  Let us know how it goes and try to take some pics along the way.


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Title: Re: Reverse sear question
Post by: HoosierKettle on January 09, 2018, 06:07:36 AM
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?


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Title: Re: Reverse sear question
Post by: Vette10R on January 09, 2018, 05:08:45 PM
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.

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Title: Reverse sear question
Post by: HoosierKettle on January 09, 2018, 05:38:25 PM
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.

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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.


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Title: Re: Reverse sear question
Post by: demosthenes9 on January 10, 2018, 02:36:30 PM
First question I'd have is what level of doneness are you after?  Cool blueish rare?  Warm red medium rare?  Hot pink medium?  Pale pink midwell?


Edit:    actually cooking temp itself isn't a problem.    You can get nice tender steak cooking direct at 900 degrees, so indirect at 350 isn't a problem.


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Title: Re: Reverse sear question
Post by: Vette10R on January 10, 2018, 02:41:46 PM
I usually shoot for 140, I like it a little more medium. Even though these temped at 135 and were pink/red they felt like they were cooked extra well done.

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Title: Re: Reverse sear question
Post by: hawgheaven on January 11, 2018, 05:02:13 AM
From what I'm gathering here, had to have been the cow... hmmmm... SV would have helped, butt how were you to know...