The Food Lab: Nearly Two Decades Later, The Reverse Sear is Still the Best Way to Cook a Steak

The very first article I was ever paid to write for a print publication was called “The Problem with Thick Cut Steaks.” It appeared in the June/July 2007 issue of Cook’s Illustrated and it included a recipe called “Thick Cut Pan-Seared Steaks.” I spent two months, cooked several hundred steaks, conducted over 70 different tests, and had several hundred testers try the recipe before it was published.

The final recipe employed a method that has since been named the “reverse sear,” and has gone on to become one of the most popular techniques I’ve ever worked on. The idea is this: rather than seasoning a steak, placing it in a hot pan to sear it, flipping it over, then finishing it in an oven to cook through—the method that had been the restaurant and home standard up until then—you reverse the process, starting the steaks in a cool oven where they warm through gently, then finishing them with a hot sear to crisp up and brown their exteriors.

The Traditional Steak Method

So why the reverse sear? What exactly was the problem with thick cut steaks that it purported to solve?

Let’s start with the positive attributes of the traditional method. There’s a reason it’s employed so widely in restaurants: it’s one of the fastest ways to being steak from raw to ready-to-eat, and when diners are seated and waiting for their food, time is of the essence. A hot pan helps your steak develop a good, dark crust which adds flavor and succulence to it (it does not, however “seal in juices” as has been suggested by many chefs and publications int he past), while a hot oven cooks them through while minimizing the risk of scorching or burning their surfaces.

Sounds good, right? But just as every rose has its thorn, just as every day has its dawn, and just as every cowboy sings a sad, sad song, every Cook’s Illustrated recipe must have a problem its solving. In this case, the “problem” I came up with was the unevenness of the cooking patter on the interior of the steak. Using the traditional method, you end up with a sort of “bullseye”-style temperature gradient. While the very center of the steak may be a perfectly medium-rare 130°F, it gets increasingly more and more well-done as you move towards its edges.

In the magazine, we called this the “gray zone”—that area of meat within the cross-section of a steak that goes from being a rosy pink rare to gray, dry, and tough. It means that when you cook a steak to medium-rare, you are, in fact, only getting half of a medium-rare steak. The rest of it comes out in varying degrees of overdone.

The Sous Vide Solution

So how do you solve this problem? The hot new trend in restaurants at that time was a technique known as sous vide, French for “under vacuum.” The idea is that you seal a piece of meat in vacuum-sealed plastic bag, then drop that bag into a water bath held at a very precise temperature. Moreover, that temperature would be the final serving temperature of the food being cook. So if I wanted to serve a medium-rare steak that’s 130°F in the center, all I’d have to do is set my water oven to 130°F, plunge the steak in, and let it sit there until it equilibrates in temperature (a minimum of 45 minutes or so). Because the water is at 130°F, its becomes impossible for the steak to get any hotter than that, which means that the steak will no overcook no matter how long it sits in the water bath.

Steaks cooked sous vide have another advantage: enzymatic tenderization. There are enzymes called cathepsins naturally present in meat that will slowly break down tough proteins over time. These enzymes are the reason why dry-aged steaks end up more tender than their fresh counterparts. Here’s the thing: those enzymes work very slowly at fridge temperatures, but they’ll work increasingly faster as temperatures increase until they abruptly shut off once they hit around 122°F. Steaks cooked slowly spend more time in this temperature zone, thus end up more tender and juicy.

(You can see my guide to sous vide steak here.)

Those low temperatures, however, are insufficient for proper browning, so to serve the steak, you’d finish it by taking it out of the bag, patting it dry, and searing it in a hot pan to develop a crust.

These days, you can get an excellent sous vide device like the Breville Joule delivered to your doorstep for around $300, or a cheap device for under $100. But back then, sous vide machines were expensive. The earliest ones were re-purposed bits of lab equipment that ran upwards of $1,500 and were not easy to come by.

The method I came up with for the Cook’s Illustrated article was my initial attempt to mimic the cooking process of sous-vide for a home cook without any specialized equipment. Rather than using a low-temperature water bath to gently warm the steaks, why not use an oven?

As it turned out, not only is it an effective way to cook steak, in many ways it is actually better than sous vide.

Namely:

• It tastes better. Sous vide steaks might have perfect color from edge to center, but because they cook in an air-free environment, there is no fat oxidation or development of some of the deeper, roastier flavors you’ll find in a steak cooked in the traditional manner or via the reverse sear.
• It’s easier to sear. Steaks cooked sous vide come out wet from the bag. Steaks that are reverse-seared, on the other hand have relatively dry surfaces. Moisture is the enemy of browning. It takes five times more energy to evaporate a drop of water than it does to heat that water all the way from 0 to 100°C (32 to 212°F)! The dryer the surface of the steak, the faster it will brown and cook.
• It requires no specialized equipment. Unless you count a thermometer as specialized equipment (and you shouldn’t—a thermometer should be standard gear for anyone who cooks meat regularly), reverse-searing requires nothing more than an oven (or toaster oven), a tray with a rack, and a heavy pan.
• No resting required. Steaks cooked using high heat methods need to rest in order for the internal temperature gradient to even out and to prevent runny juices from spilling out when you cut into it. Because the reverse sear has you bring the steak up to temp slowly, there is no temperature gradient within it, thus no need to rest.

There are a couple things to note when reverse-searing a steak.

Salting

Salt is essential for flavor. Without salt, our taste buds cannot effectively transmit the signals that tell our brain that something is delicious. Salted beef tastes more beefy than un-salted beef. But when you salt the meat is also important.

When you sprinkle salt on meat, over the course of the first five to ten minutes, it will draw moisture out through osmosis. The salt will then dissolve in this moisture, forming a concentrated brine solution that beads up on the surface of the steak. This is the worst time to try and sear a steak. Not only will that surface moisture completely rob your pan of energy, it will also wash away some of the salt you just added.

Instead, I recommend waiting at least 45 minutes to an hour during which time the brine will start to break down and dissolve muscle proteins, which loosens up the structure of the meat and allows that brine to be re-absorbed, leaving you with a dryer surface and meat that is seasoned more deeply.

Of course, you may be asking but if I’m reverse-searing, won’t the surface dry out anyway? Why do I need to wait for that salt to be re-absorbed? 

Good question! There are more compelling reasons to give the meat some time. I’m a big advocate of a technique that’s come to be known as “dry-brining,” that is, applying a salt rub and letting the meat rest uncovered on a rack in the fridge at least overnight and up to a couple of nights. During this time, the salt will slowly work its way deeper and deeper into the meat, seasoning it more fully and loosening up muscle proteins in the process. The effect is that as the steak subsequently cooks, the muscles will not contract as much and fewer juices will be squeezed out.

The result is a steak that not only more tender and juicy, but it also sears better because fewer heat-robbing juices are being pushed into the pan.

Searing

Searing a reverse-seared steak needs to happen fast, lest the meat overcook. I like to sear in a combination of oil and butter. The butter element is controversial. Not its addition, but when it is added. Many chefs will tell you not to add butter until close to the end of searing, lest the butter solids brown and you end up with some charred, bitter notes.

I, on the other hand, enjoy those flavors in my steak. I find that adding butter right at the start of cooking gives you some flavors that mimic the charring steak gets on a hot grill. I don't care that my butter ends up black–I like it that way, and I do believe that if you try it with an open mind, you may enjoy it too.

During the sear, I also like to add aromatics like thyme sprigs, shallots, and garlic in order to flavor the surface of the steak. Finally, after searing, I transfer the steak to a tray, then pour the hot fat from the skillet it to give it one final sizzle.

Skillet? Did I say skillet? I apologize, force of habit. These days, I do almost all my searing in a cast iron Dutch oven or deep-sided braiser, and I question why I haven't been doing this my whole life. A heavy Dutch oven is excellent for searing and moreover, the high sides keep messy spitting fat from splattering all over your counter or clothing (a factor I've come to greatly appreciate since having kids).

In the nearly 20 years since the time I first started writing about this technique, I’ve yet to find a simple method that tops it.

Reverse-Seared Ribeye for Two

Every recipe I publish here is personally tested, tasted, and approved.

What I like about this recipe:

• The reverse sear is the best way to cook a steak, delivering even cooking and a deep crust.

YIELD: Serves 2

ACTIVE TIME: 15 minutes

TOTAL TIME: at least 2 hours and up to overnight

Notes: You can use a lower or higher oven temperature. Lower oven temperatures will give you even more evenly cooked, tender meat but will take longer. Use a thermometer and monitor the meat regularly.

Ingredients

One (1.5 to 2-pound; 700-900g) Thick-cut beef steak, about 2-inches thick, such as ribeye, strip, or porterhouse

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Vegetable oil

1 tablespoon (15g) unsalted butter

Aromatics such as sliced shallot, garlic, and thyme sprigs (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat an oven or toaster oven to 250°F (120°C) (see note). Generously season steak all over with salt and pepper. Set steak on a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet. (If you want to dry-brine them, refrigerate, uncovered, overnight to dry out the exterior. Before pre-heating the oven and proceeding with the next step.)s

2. Place steak in the oven and cook until an instant-read thermometer registers 105°F (41°C) for rare, 115°F (46°C) for medium-rare, 125°F (52°C) for medium, or 135°F (57°C) for medium-well. In a 250°F oven, this will take about 20 minutes for rare steak and up to about 40 minutes for medium-well; cooking time can vary dramatically depending on many factors, so check often using a good thermometer. Remove steak from the oven.

3. When ready to serve, add 1 tablespoon (15ml) oil to a cast iron, carbon steel, or heavy stainless steel skillet and heat over high heat until smoking. Add steak and butter to skillet and cook until each side is well browned, about 45 seconds per side. If desired, you can add the aromatics to the skillet, place them on top of the steak, and spoon melted butter over them to flavor the surface of the meat. Using tongs, hold steak sideways to sear edges.

4. Transfer the steaks to a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet. Pour the hot fat from the pan over them. Transfer to a cutting board or platter and serve right away; there's no need to let reverse-seared steaks rest.