Bullseye Reverse-Sear or Pre-Sear

[Stratus Smoker]

Ok! So which works best. I see a lot of threads on reverse-sear, but none on pre-sear. A renowned chef I watched one day pre-sears his steaks over an open flame then places the steaks on a cooler part of the grill to finish cooking. He says searing the steak upfront locks in the juices.

 

[Waterboy]

If you want any smoke flavor on your meat you need to start at a low temp. Pellet cookers have a hard enough time producing smoke flavor but do it best under 250. Also the smoke interacts with meat best when it is colder. If you sear first you won’t get that second level of flavor that smoking gives you.

 

[Mike]

Reverse sear is the way to go for sure!

 

[rgreenberg2000]

They both work great, with similar, but slightly different end products. Try both ways, decide which YOU like best.

Oh, and that whole "....locks in the juices...." thing has been debunked as a myth many times. Searing (pre or post) gives you great flavor via the Maillard reaction. It does NOTHING to seal in any juices. Proper resting of a steak after cooking by whatever method you choose, allows the remaining juices to redistribute themselves resulting in more juice on the fork, rather than on the cutting board or plate.

On a positive note, you absolutely have to eat more steak so you can experiment with these methods!

R

 

[ricwoodard]

I personally love the pre sear method for steaks on the 590.

 

[Greg Jones]

Google sear steaks seals juices and you will see many, many sites that report that is a myth (As has already been mentioned above). Reverse sear is the way to go.

 

[Uncle Bob]

I'm with @rgreenberg2000 , as with anything to do with taste/preferred outcome, each person brings their own expectations and preferences. Sort of why discussions about "how much smoke is enough?" and "what's the best fuel.....?" are not really very meaningful as the answers are completely subjective for the most part.

I can, and will, sear at either end of the process with what I consider equal results for the most part. Selection of which methods depends on which cooker I'm using, how thick the cut is, and another variable or two involving fuel and time. Reverse sear is somewhat of a trendy thing at this time (sort of like bacon wrapped stuff......and I LOVE bacon). Either way works though.

 

[Lager1829]

From amazingribs.com
Myth: Searing Steaks Seals In The Juices