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Steak Finished
Steak Finished
Recipes

Reverse Sear Your Way to a Perfect Medium Rare Steak

For me, the perfect steak needs to be medium rare. If cooked any further, you’re really risking the chance that we can ever be friends. Plus, you don’t want to be eating your steak well done like a certain Republican presidential candidate. Just another reason why Trump is the wrong choice to run this country.

Fancy steakhouses have this down to an art form. From procuring the highest quality of meat, even dry-aging it so that it has extra beefy flavor and tenderness, to having chefs cook it day in and day out routinely, you can never go wrong.

But for the ordinary home cook, you don’t have nearly any of these resources. You’ve gone out of your way to buy a piece of beef that most likely cost you a mini college fortune and you don’t want to completely f*ck it up. Well, the reverse sear is the way to go if you have any doubts in your cooking ability.

steak

Photo courtesy of frenchguycooking.com

The reverse sear is also far superior to the traditional sear first and finish in the oven method because this way your steak is medium rare through and through. You won’t be getting varying gradients of doneness (as shown above). Instead, you’ll get a mid-rare every time.

Plus, it’s summertime and if you’re like me, you don’t have a grill. You won’t be missing it after you take your first juicy bite.

Reverse Sear Steak

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 5 minutesCook time:1 hour 20 minutesTotal time:1 hour 25 minutesServings:2 servings

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 275°F.

  2. Photo by Alex Vu

    Pat dry the beef and season liberally with both salt and pepper. Don’t forget the sides.

  3. Photo by Alex Vu

    Using an elevated rack, place the steak into the oven for 55-60 minutes or until the internal temperature of the meat is 125°F.

    #SpoonTip: Use an instant read thermometer centered at the innermost part of the steak to take the temperature for best results.

  4. Photo by Alex Vu

    Once the internal temperature has been reached, cover in foil and allow for the steak to rest for at least 15 minutes.

    #SpoonTip: While it’s resting it’ll increase in temperature to 135°F.

  5. Photo by Alex Vu

    Once ready to eat, heat up a skillet with the olive oil over medium-high heat. Place the steak into the pan once the oil is hot (but not smoking) to get that luscious char everyone loves.

  6. Photo by Alex Vu

    Add 2 tablespoons of the butter into the pan along with the garlic cloves and herbs. The butter will start to melt and eventually become a brown butter.

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    Baste that steak while it’s searing for 3 minutes.

    #SpoonTip: The brown butter gives off a nutty flavor while the oils from the herbs will make the steak really aromatic.

  8. Photo by Alex Vu

    Flip your steak and continue to baste in the brown butter for an additional minute.

  9. Photo by Alex Vu

    Remove from pan and serve. Drizzle the remaining brown butter over top because nobody needs steak sauce when you’ve got butter.

    #SpoonTip: No need to rest it because you had already done that. One of the major pros of reverse searing your steak is that you can serve your steak immediately while it’s still hot.