Tenderloins, the Big Green Egg, and reverse sear method.

I've done it on burgers, today I'm going to give it a try on steaks. Filets were $16.99/lb at Wegman's (Angus, grass fed organic), but the whole tenderloin was $9.99, so I got the whole tenderloin, cut 6 nice 1.5 inchers out of the middle and froze the rest. I seasoned them with kosher salt, cracked black pepper, crushed garlic, and beef paste, and wrapped them in uncured smoked bacon. The Big Green Egg is warming up now. My intent is to cook the steaks slowly @ 225 or so until internal hits 115*; then I'll plate them temporarily, crank the egg up to 650*, and "Maillard reaction" the heck out of the outside, until the internal hits 130*.

Pictures will post later, after dinner. I'm thinking this is going to be pretty good.

You're a brave man Mosca. Hope everything comes great. Personally I'm having buyers remorse over you spending that kind on money on the "experiment" and it's not even my money. I am hoping to get some validation on this "reverse searing" method.

I'm sure they will come out great! Please keep us updated!

This was AWESOME.
 
OK, here's the rundown and pictures.

Here are the seasoned steaks. There's a bit too much seasoning on them; I wiped them off with a paper towel before grilling. Still, you get an idea of the size of the cook.





On the Egg, at about 250*. This was at the turn. I was experiencing "temperature rebound" the whole cook, but it didn't seem to matter much. Swings were from 210 to 300. Yeah, that's an onion holding the oven probe. We were out of potatoes. This step took a while, even with the meat starting at room temp; maybe 15 minutes. I pulled them when the internal temp hit 115*.





Boppin' the Egg up. Steaks are off to the side, on a platter. Notice how far off the thermometer is on the Egg, about 5%.





Steaks on the fire. Booyah. MAYBE 2 minutes a side. Turned then at 122*, pulled at 130*.





Finished product:




Medium rare:




How easy was this? Pretty damn easy. The meat was literally fork tender, it cut like an omelet. Tenderloin is pretty tender anyhow; this really highlighted the cut's strength. For me, if it's easy and the food tastes good, there's nothing else to consider. I'm doing all my steaks this way from now on.

Looks fabulous!  Interesting...  I find the dome temperature usually lower than my grill temperature.
 
 

Gorgeous!

mar52


Looks fabulous!  Interesting...  I find the dome temperature usually lower than my grill temperature.

 
mar, I would have expected that as well. I trust the digital, though. I think the dome is just wrong in this case. I've had an instance of it sticking, and it needed a bit of a tap.

if I was a steak I wouldn't want that thing shoved up my a$#.
I'd want the cook to gently touch me with his finger to tell if I was done.

sk bob


if I was a steak I wouldn't want that thing shoved up my a$#.
I'd want the cook to gently touch me with his finger to tell if I was done.

 
Shrug. You weren't here to touch it. And if you had been, I probably wouldn't have eaten it, not knowing where your fingers have been.

From Craig Goldwyn,
 

The internet and a lot of cookbooks tell you that you can tell when meat is ready by poking it and comparing its resistance to the flesh on your hand. This is utter nonsense! The resistence of the steak is going to depend on what cut of meat you are poking, the grade of meat, how thick it is, the age of the steer, the breed of steer, the age of the meat, and what the steer was fed, among other things. A prime grade filet mignon feels a lot more tender than a choice grade sirloin. A 3" ribeye feels different than a 1" ribeye.

In addition, the resilience of our hands differs from young to old, from thin to fat, from exerciser to couch potato.
It is true that top steakhouse chefs can tell a steak's internal temp just by poking it. But she has poked thousands of steaks, all from the same supplier, all the same thickness, all cooked at the same temp.

The rest of us need a thermometer. Meat is expensive. It is costly and embarrassing to overcook it. Friends and family are priceless. It is not nice to sicken or kill them.

Doneness and color are controlled by one thing and one thing only, the temperature of the meat. For home cooks, there simply is no substitute for a good digital instant thermometer.

 
YOU might be good enough, but I'm not. I want it to be done right.

That is a perfect dinner!  Please tell how you cooked the Brussels sprouts.

We all have our methods of testing doneness when it comes to cuts of meat. I go with sk bob- I pretty much always buy the same cuts of meat-thickness, etc. When in doubt, I use a thermometer.But my poke method has never failed me yet. But hey-thats me.I enjoy lots of steaks, etc, cooked by my friends who use a thermometer.Not a big deal to me at all.

ann peeples


We all have our methods of testing doneness when it comes to cuts of meat. I go with sk bob- I pretty much always buy the same cuts of meat-thickness, etc. When in doubt, I use a thermometer.But my poke method has never failed me yet. But hey-thats me.I enjoy lots of steaks, etc, cooked by my friends who use a thermometer.Not a big deal to me at all.

 
I agree, Ann. The steak is either done to the proper degree, or not; how it got there is immaterial. First time with a new method, it doesn't make sense to screw up half a dozen tenderloins.  Remember, too, that in this method your goal is not to test just doneness, but also to test in the middle of the cook for near-doneness. And because the searing is done at the end, the window for doneness is commensurately smaller. the temp was rising about a degree per couple/three seconds at the end.
 
SUZYQICU, I actually have a Brussels sprouts topic from about a week ago. I just steam them in the microwave for about 6 minutes, with a little butter, then salt and pepper them. There are lots of other ways, but my girls like them this way so that's how I do them.

You are having waaay too much fun with that Egg!
 
Nice touch with the slow cook.  Gives the bacon time to cook all the way through.

joerogo


You are having waaay too much fun with that Egg!

Nice touch with the slow cook.  Gives the bacon time to cook all the way through.

 
Joe, I didn't eat the bacon. It was just there to keep the steak from drying out, and to help it keep its shape.
 
What I like about the Egg, aside form the fact that is is a wonderful tool, is that it isn't easy. It's not hard, but it isn't set-and-forget, either. You have to work at learning how to control the variables. Outside temp, wind, brand of charcoal, everything affects the temps. Once that son of a gun gets hot, it's hard to get it to not-so-hot... and if you keep raising the lid to let heat out, the fire starts to burn more, and when you lower it it gets even hotter! And I had my first flashback. Lost the hair on my right arm, I did. Surprised the heck out of me.
 
 
 
 

sorry Mosca, but you have on idea where my fingers have been.
when I judge the doneness of a steak with my fingers they are CLEAN & washed as they should be.
but anyway, GOOD JOB  on the steaks. fork tender. real nice.

Ok- I have to comment. When buying good quality tenderloin, one doesnt need bacon to grill it and keep it moist. I have never had to use anything to keep the meat from drying out. I am not saying anything against you, Mosca. Bacon has always been wrapped around the meat I buy for flavor.Nothing else. However, i am lucky enough to have a fantastic little butcher shop in my community, and Karl's meat needs no tenderizing at all.

What is the benefit of reverse searing versus the traditional sear first method?