For Christmas my parents gave us a big set of steaks from Allen Brothers. So last night I decided to cook the strip steaks (12 oz each), but I didn't want to grill because of the poor lighting even though I have a lamp I pull outside to shine directly onto the grill. Instead, I had read something about reverse-searing a steak and I decided to try that. One benefit is that the time the steak spends on the stove is minimal such that in theory there ought to be less smoke, which is important in our kitchen during the winter because we have the windows covered with a Frost King insulating film so we can't open them.
Here is the recipe/instructions:
https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2018/10/reverse-seared-steak-recipe.htmlCouple of notes based on my experience:
(1) I did the dry brine with the salt and pepper. Thawed the steaks overnight Tuesday in a bowl of cold water in the refrigerator. Wednesday night after dinner I took them out of the wrappers, gave them a quick rinse, patted them dry, waited a while, then seasoned them with Himalayan pink salt and black pepper and set them on a wire rack atop a plate in the refrigerator.
(2) Thursday night I took them out about 45 minutes before I planned to cook. I didn't have a suitable rimmed baking sheet, so I lined a cookie sheet with foil (to protect it from scratches and grease), turned up the edges of the foil to make a sort of rim, and set a durable wire rack on the foil. I seasoned the steaks on both sides with Penzey's Chicago steak seasoning.
(3) The recipe suggests a range of oven temperatures. I selected 250°. Next time I think I'd use 275° to speed things up. If I had a convection oven, I would use that feature too (our toaster oven has it, but I was using the toaster oven for the potatoes we had as a side dish).
(4) The time estimates on the page linked above are just that—ESTIMATES. I wanted our meat medium-rare, so based on the recipe suggesting 20 minutes for rare I set a timer for 22:30. That wasn't close to long enough. I took the steaks out of the oven after 22:30 and stuck in a meat thermometer and they were at 85°. It took another 15 minutes to reach the 110°–115° range. (Obviously, ovens vary, and if you use convection that ought to speed it up a bit too. In the scheme of things, I'd rather set the timer for too short a time and undercook the meat because you can't undo it if you overcook it.)
(5) Our only cast iron pan wasn't suitable for searing the meat because it's a grill pan and it takes forever to heat, so I used our biggest stainless steel pan for the searing. I also used peanut oil instead of canola oil. I waited to preheat the pan until I took the steaks out of the oven so the meat could rest a bit. Got the pan and the oil nice and hot (judged by holding my hand near the surface) and I then melted a bit more than a tablespoon of butter (a bit more because we were near the end of a stick, so I just threw in the whole amount that was left), put in the steaks, and put a spatter screen on top. Seared them for one minute on each side. I didn't get tons of smoke. Got some, but not enough to be a problem or to set off the smoke alarm.
It turned out great. Ms1995hoo felt these were the best steaks I've ever cooked. I'm not sure I agree—I think the cedar-planked filet mignon was better, but for a winter preparation this method was hard to beat. For sides we had some Wegmans frozen potatoes au gratin that you heat in the oven or toaster oven for half an hour and a salad Ms1995hoo made. Most importantly, we also had an outstanding Fox Meadow Winery 2012 Merlot that was excellent and was also right about at the point where it was time to drink it now.
This was Wednesday night prior to the overnight refrigeration with the dry brine:
Trying to upload other pictures but am having a problem.
