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View Full Version : Reverse Sear Fail - Me or the cut?


Ozzie Isaac
06-14-2014, 11:38 AM
So I bought three t-bones from a local grocery store.

I seasoned them with salt and pepper then smoked them at 300. I had temp gauges in all the steaks. Pulled each on off at an IT of 120. I had my gas grill heated up to 450. The steaks all had different thicknesses and one T-bone was actually missing the bone that separates the tenderloin from the top loin.

I seared the first steak on each side for 60 seconds which turned out to be to much, steak came out closer to medium than medium rare.

Second two steaks i seared for 45 seconds on each side and they came out looking beautiful.

Problem was they were very tough. The tenderloin was good, but the top loin was like eating shoe leather. I actually threw out one steak, fed part of the other to the dogs and the family just ate the tender loin portions. Very big disappointment.

Could smoking the steak make it tough? I would have expected it to help. Could it have just been some lousy cuts? Did I do something wrong?

HankB
06-14-2014, 12:03 PM
When I reverse sear I take the meat to 105-110°F max. But I like my steaks rare to medium rare, no more. The higher temp you take it to, the more you risk tough meat.

I also do the first stage at a little lower temp.

Did you rest them after smoking and before searing? That could affect things too.

I suspect you might have had a piece of unforgiving meat and the extra coking pushed it over the edge.

el_matt
06-14-2014, 12:04 PM
I can't give you any help, but I'm looking forward to the answers. I had something very similar happen awhile back. Need to figure out the problem, I'm doing thick ribeyes tomorrow!

Matt

Moose
06-14-2014, 12:34 PM
Problem was they were very tough. The tenderloin was good, but the top loin was like eating shoe leather. I actually threw out one steak, fed part of the other to the dogs and the family just ate the tender loin portions. Very big disappointment.

Could smoking the steak make it tough? I would have expected it to help. Could it have just been some lousy cuts? Did I do something wrong?

Ozzie,

What was the grade of the meat? I don't cook anything graded less than USDA Choice, or better, USDA Prime.

Smoking the steaks won't make them tough, although the strip/NY section of Tbones and Porterhouses tend to be on the chewy side anyway.

From what you describe, it doesn't sound like you overcooked them too terribly, so you just had a poor cut is all.

qman
06-14-2014, 12:46 PM
Yeah, I am suspecting most of the problem was the piece of meat. I agree with Moose, does not sound like you overcooked them that badly. I do use a lower temp for the smoke or indirect part of the cook [250-275ish].

ETA: I also think 120 is a little high for IT to pull from smoker unless you are cooking a very thick. 110-115 would be my target on most normal steaks.

Ozzie Isaac
06-14-2014, 01:10 PM
Ozzie,

What was the grade of the meat? I don't cook anything graded less than USDA Choice, or better, USDA Prime.

Smoking the steaks won't make them tough, although the strip/NY section of Tbones and Porterhouses tend to be on the chewy side anyway.

From what you describe, it doesn't sound like you overcooked them too terribly, so you just had a poor cut is all.

The cut was "Select" .... probably my issue :cry: Live and learn.

Next time I try I will get a better cut, smoke lower temp, and pull off at 110. Thanks for all the advice.

Smoke Dawg
06-14-2014, 01:13 PM
I don't cook for myself by temp but I like my steaks rare anyway.

I would smoke at 225° or even lower down to 150° unless I wanted to do the full pre cook on the smoker before the sear.


For the sear the hotter the better, I try to have the coals real close the the grate and don't be afraid of the fire. You will only be there 30-45 seconds.

A good marinade will always help make the meat tender. Many time will put it in the marinade in the morning.

I'm thinking 300 on the smoker did not help

Vision
06-14-2014, 01:22 PM
You'll need to play around with it. I use a OTG and put meat on indirect and let is sit in the smoke for 10 minutes, then sear for a few minutes each side depending on what's being cooked. I'm aiming for a finishing temp of 130-140.

Moose
06-14-2014, 02:51 PM
The cut was "Select" .... probably my issue :cry: Live and learn.

Next time I try I will get a better cut, smoke lower temp, and pull off at 110. Thanks for all the advice.

Ozzie, definitely go for USDA Choice or higher if you can find it. Look for lots of marbling, which will yield a more tender finished product. Here's a pic of a USDA Choice tri-tip I did a while back:

http://i980.photobucket.com/albums/ae286/Pashn8one/Jan%2023%20Tri-Tip/DSC_0339.jpg

It was definitely on the upper end of Choice, and approaching Prime. I've seen some cuts of choice that weren't much better than select, and like the Tri-Tip, quite the opposite. This particular Tri-Tip was so tender it was almost like filet.

landarc
06-14-2014, 02:56 PM
I would bet on the meat. Tenderloin will almost always end up tender. But, the NY/Strip side on cheaper cuts is just too lean to even take to medium. I can't imagine it was the smoking, it has never toughened meat for me

Whitewookie
06-14-2014, 02:57 PM
How thick were the steaks? I have found that reverse sear works best on steaks at least 1 1/4".

Less than an inch I usually do a hot - fast dance and keep flipping and moving every few seconds until you get the nice brown outside you want. The key to skinny steaks is to keep them moving.

Between 1" & 1 1/4" I usually cook them indirect almost up to desired internal temp, but do only a very fast reverse sear.

VR,
Harold
Harold

oldbill
06-14-2014, 03:03 PM
So I bought three t-bones from a local grocery store.

I seasoned them with salt and pepper then smoked them at 300. I had temp gauges in all the steaks. Pulled each on off at an IT of 120. I had my gas grill heated up to 450. The steaks all had different thicknesses and one T-bone was actually missing the bone that separates the tenderloin from the top loin.

I seared the first steak on each side for 60 seconds which turned out to be to much, steak came out closer to medium than medium rare.

Second two steaks i seared for 45 seconds on each side and they came out looking beautiful.

Problem was they were very tough. The tenderloin was good, but the top loin was like eating shoe leather. I actually threw out one steak, fed part of the other to the dogs and the family just ate the tender loin portions. Very big disappointment.

Could smoking the steak make it tough? I would have expected it to help. Could it have just been some lousy cuts? Did I do something wrong?
Exactly how thick were the steaks? Reverse searing is successful with thick cuts which is 1 1/2" and up, I personally consider "thick" to be in the 2" or more range. The average store bought steaks are too thin for reverse sear, even what they refer to as thick cut steaks are usually no thicker than 1 inch.
With that said, I've personally had better results searing in the front! I sear both sides to get the color that I want and then move the steak to indirect heat, put some butter or rendered beef fat and seasoning on and allow it to finish. I've found this to be more reliable because if the steak is finishing over direct heat there is a far greater chance of the steak getting over cooked whereas doing it in the opposite order allows the steak to COAST up in IT to the desired temp giving the cook more control. In addition to getting over cooked with reverse searing any seasoning that was put on the steak will get burned off over extreme heat whereas putting the seasoning on later eliminates the chances of that happening.
Try it my way one time and I'll bet you'll never reverse sear again.:-D

Ozzie Isaac
06-14-2014, 03:28 PM
How thick were the steaks? I have found that reverse sear works best on steaks at least 1 1/4".



Looks like I did that step wrong too. One steak was 1" 1/4" the other two were on the short side of 1".

Ozzie Isaac
06-14-2014, 03:31 PM
Exactly how thick were the steaks? Reverse searing is successful with thick cuts which is 1 1/2" and up, I personally consider "thick" to be in the 2" or more range. The average store bought steaks are too thin for reverse sear, even what they refer to as thick cut steaks are usually no thicker than 1 inch.
With that said, I've personally had better results searing in the front! I sear both sides to get the color that I want and then move the steak to indirect heat, put some butter or rendered beef fat and seasoning on and allow it to finish. I've found this to be more reliable because if the steak is finishing over direct heat there is a far greater chance of the steak getting over cooked whereas doing it in the opposite order allows the steak to COAST up in IT to the desired temp giving the cook more control. In addition to getting over cooked with reverse searing any seasoning that was put on the steak will get burned off over extreme heat whereas putting the seasoning on later eliminates the chances of that happening.
Try it my way one time and I'll bet you'll never reverse sear again.:-D

Thats how I usually do them and have really liked the results, but I read about the reverse sear on a blog and he talked about not wasting heat on boiling out the surface moisture. I will try reverse sear one more time with better and thicker steaks.

If the results are not appreciable better I will just go back to my previous method, but it sure is fun trying new things.

Bludawg
06-14-2014, 05:39 PM
I'm not a fan of the Reverse Sear I go hot till done. I will tell you if them steaks where less than 2" thick you don't want to reverse sear anyway because you will over shoot everytime. Did you calibrate the thermos prior to cooking?

Gore
06-14-2014, 05:48 PM
There's been some serious grade inflation over the last couple years. I saw some "Prime" ribeyes in the store last week that would've been select not too long ago. There was no marbling at all in them. I never get select anymore and seems that some of the choice isn't worth a darn lately either. I have a few places I trust, but most stores sell tough, crappy meat. I think the "we're all supposed to eat lean, healthy meat," has been a way for the meat companies to sell us Chevys for Rolls Royce prices.