What’s the ultimate way to cook a perfect medium-rare steak every time? The Reverse Sear. It’s easy to learn how to cook this method, and master steakhouse quality cooking at home.
Traditionally, a restaurant method of cooking steak involved searing over incredibly high heat, then transferring to an oven on the same pan to finish on a more gentle heat until done. The reverse sear method reverses 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 internal rings of different “doneness” in the steak your steak will be perfectly medium (or the cooking level you want) all the way through, save for the very outside.
Truth be told, we love our steaks rare, so a standard pan sear works for us, but there’s no denying this is the ultimate cook method to achieve a perfect medium/medium-rare throughout. If you want to 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.
You will definitely need a good meat thermometer to do this correctly – the finger poke test is not going be up to the task here! We used to use a cheapie stick-thermometer, until we noticed inconsistencies increasing over time and realised it wasn’t calibrated, and when there’s just a few degrees difference between rare and medium, you need to get this stuff right! These days, I prefer to use a device like 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 oven to check something, and no huge probe holes to let moisture leak away. Put it this way, investing a little in perfectly cooked meat is cheaper than ruining your nice quality steaks!
Though it usually 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 straight off the pan! We use a heavy cast iron pan to reverse sear, but you can definitely experiment with a smoking/grilling combination as well. 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 or another flavour adding rub using Australian botanicals
INGREDIENTS
- One hugely thick steak (ribeye on the bone is perfect, but any thick cut postural cut with good marbling will work!). It's going to need to be at least 3cm thick if not more. The thicker, the better.
- Salt & pepper to taste
- BBQ rub of your choice if that’s your thing
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 135c
Place well seasoned steaks on a rack over a baking tray or create a trivet inside the tray with a large very coarsely chopped onion (cover the tray with foil to save yourself a clean up). This keeps the meat above the bottom of the tray and allow heat to circulate evenly on both sides. The aim is a slow even cook through the meat, keeping in all the moisture.
Put in oven and cook til an internal temp of about 60c depending on your preference of "doneness". Usually takes around 45-60 minutes.
INTERNAL TEMPERATURE GUIDE:
- Rare: 50c
- Medium Rare: 55c
- Medium: 60c
- Well done: 65c+ (if you’re cooking to this degree of doneness you’re going to make us very upset…)
Remove when at temp and rest for 10-15 minutes under foil
Preheat a skillet or heavy based pan to a searingly hot temperature (use high smoke point oil like grape seed or canola).
Sear steaks for one minute each side or until you get a good crust.
Serve immediately (no need to rest again as this has already been done).
