The Reverse Sear, Explained

Step by step

1. Season and dry the surface

   Salt at least 45 minutes ahead, or immediately before cooking. Leave the meat uncovered on a rack in the fridge if you can: a dry surface is essential for the sear at the end.

2. Build a two-zone fire, cool side around 120°C (250°F)

   Bank a modest amount of lit charcoal to one side. You want gentle heat for this phase, not a roaring fire, so start with half a chimney and keep the rest in reserve.

3. Cook indirect to -10°C (15°F) below target

   Meat on the cool side, lid on, vent above it. Probe continuously. For a 55°C (130°F) medium rare steak, pull at 45°C (115°F). This is the phase that does all the actual cooking.

4. Rest the meat and build the fire

   Take the meat off. Add the rest of your charcoal and get a deep, genuinely fierce bed of coals with the lid off and vents wide. Meanwhile the meat sits, and its surface dries further, which helps.

5. Sear hard, briefly

   Pat dry, oil lightly, and sear directly over the coals for 60 to 90 seconds a side. The interior is already at temperature, so this step exists purely to build crust. Watch it constantly.

6. Rest briefly and serve

   Five minutes is enough. Because the meat came up slowly the internal temperature gradient is shallow, so it needs far less resting than a conventionally seared steak.

Why does it produce a better result?

In a conventional sear-then-cook, the outside of the meat sits against a 315°C (600°F) surface while the centre is still cold. Heat travels inward slowly, so by the time the middle reaches medium rare, a thick band underneath the crust has been driven well past it. That is the grey band, and it is proportional to how thick the meat is.

Bringing the meat up slowly in gentle air means the whole interior arrives at target more or less together. The sear then only has to colour the outer millimetre. You also get a better crust, because the surface is already hot and dry when it hits the coals, so it browns immediately instead of spending the first minute boiling off moisture.

When is it not worth doing?

• Anything under about 1.25 inches thick. There is not enough mass for a grey band to form, and the slow phase will overcook it.
• Burgers and other ground meat, which are cooked through anyway.
• Thin cuts like skirt, bavette and flank, which want fast fierce heat and nothing else.
• When you are in a hurry. The reverse sear roughly triples the cooking time of a steak.

Which cuts suit it best?

Thick ribeye, sirloin, T-bone and porterhouse, whole tri-tip, thick pork chops, rack of lamb, and picanha cooked whole. Anything thick enough that the gap between surface and centre is a real problem. It also works well on whole roasts, where it is simply called roasting and then searing.

Common questions

Does searing seal in the juices?

No. This was disproved in the nineteenth century and repeatedly since. Seared meat loses at least as much moisture as unseared meat. Searing is worth doing because the Maillard reaction creates hundreds of flavour compounds, not because it seals anything.

Should I rest a reverse seared steak?

Briefly, around five minutes. The usual reason for a long rest is to let a steep internal temperature gradient even out, and the reverse sear has already avoided creating one.

Can I reverse sear on a small grill?

It is harder, because you need a genuine cool zone and then a genuine hot one. On a small portable, cook indirect with a very small bank of coals, then add a fresh lit chimney for the sear.