Reverse sear

Reverse sear flips the usual steak-cooking order. Instead of searing first and finishing gently, a thick steak is cooked slowly over indirect heat, or in an oven, until it is close to the target internal temperature, then moved briefly over very high direct heat just to brown the crust before serving. It is aimed mainly at thick cuts, generally an inch and a half or more, where a straight sear would burn the outside before the center caught up.

The slow first stage gives the whole steak time to come up to temperature evenly, so there is far less of the gray, overcooked band under the crust that shows up with a fast, hot sear on a thick cut. Because the steak is already nearly at temperature going into the final sear, that stage only takes a minute or two per side, just long enough to build a deep brown crust without pushing the center past the target.

This method works best with a reliable thermometer, since the whole point is pulling the steak from the gentle stage at the right number before searing. A common mistake is skipping the rest before the sear or searing for too long out of habit, both of which can undo the even, edge-to-edge doneness that reverse searing is meant to deliver.