Bullseye Searing Question

[BethV]

This might be a kind of stupid question but, when you sear at 500 + on the bullseye, do you keep the lid closed or open?

I smoke my meats on my 590 and take them off about 20° lower than what I want the final product to be. Then I turn up the bullseye to 500 to sear it and to take it up to that medium rare temperature. I'm afraid if I close the lid, I will be taking the chance of over cooking the meat. If I leave the lid up, the temperature drops.

If anyone has a suggestion on how to do this correctly, I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[SmokeZilla]

That‘s actually a great question and one I have wrestled with for many years. In my opinion, a number of variables come in to play. On my vertical, old fashioned stick burners you could not genetate enough BTU’s to leave the door open and sear unless you wanted to put a tree in the burner chamber My propane grill could achieve ~800 degrees after I modified the venturi and burner tubes so it was no problem. My RT700 has hit ~580 degrees unassisted and is capable but the pellet consumption goes up significantly and I’m too cheap to burn my money in that manner. With the cover down, I also noticed the semi-dense red meat items seem to retain more moisture with the top closed. I have to admit I compromised by using the GrillGrates and using a thermal laser themometer have hit almost 700 degrees which scares me but gives me a heck of a quick sear on the grate side or flat side, reduces the pellet monster’s appetite, and doesn‘t take so much time that you would notice it using your pull 20 degrees below your desired wellness methods. (I call that the Argentinian hibachi method.) I don’t have a 590 but a friend tells me his can hit 625 with grill grates and he has been very successful doing pre-sears and starting his cooks at a high temp while ‘burping’ the grill until the temp lowers to his desired cooking temperature (the opposite of reverse searing and more of a traditional grilling method). I have been a silent fan of many of your cooking techniques and tips so I feel confident you will get it dialed in as your dishes are varied enough that ‘one size won’t fit all’ with your capabilities. Sorry for the long drawn out reply but my general thought is meats or items that are saturated with fluids (e.g. fatty meats) are less vulnerable to moisture loss and drying out if the cover is open which makes it acceptable but it may also, slightly impact your rig‘s fan life as it continuously trys to hunt and correct for the loss of BTUs/heat. But the MTBF (mean time between failure) duty cycle of the fan Is quite long and during you smoker’s lifetime may not be noticeable. Just my thoughts, grill on!

 

[BethV]

@SmokeZilla thanks for your response. I feel pretty comfortable and confident with my 590. And I use it strictly for smoking at low temperatures which is why I have the bullseye. You have some good points here. I need to play with this new toy a little bit more.

 

[Greg Jones]

I don’t know that keeping the lid open or closed during a fast sear would have any significant impact on the final internal temp of your cooks. Keeping the lid closed on cheeseburgers will help with the melt, but beyond that? One factor that could influence your open/closed decision is the fat content of what you are cooking. Lid open on fatty cooks and you likely will get constant flare-ups. Lid closed on fatty cooks and you can get a more exciting flare-up when the lid is opened and the grill gets a rush of oxygen. Always a good practice to burp the lid a little to help avoid that.

 

[Mike]

Right or wrong, I close my lid. If for nothing else to keep the temp as high as possible during the searing.

 

[BethV]

@Greg Jones Thank you. The last thing I want is a fire in the pit! When opened, I watched the temp drop from 500 to 350 fast.
@Mike I have not used riot mode yet, but what if I set it to riot mode for 5 minutes, open the lid, start searing with the lid open. Temps will drop quickly but I would think I would get a good seer without the risk of increasing the internal temperature of the meat. Just a thought.

 

[charlesrshell]

@BethV I haven't seared any steaks yet on my Bullseye. The Bullseye gets hot fast. When I sear my first steaks I am going to just take the steaks off the grill at the right temp for a few minutes, turn the grill up, and when she is hot enough put the steaks back on for a good searing. I am not going to use my sear plates to see how goes it. If it works good, one less thing to have to clean. I am lazy lazy!! LOL

 

[Dean]

When you sear a steak the IT of the bullseye does not matter.. Its a sear..Cooking on "Open Flame" thinking... When you open the lid-the unit IT will of course drop. It measures the bullseye IT.. Not the grate temp for the sear... {Grill Grates good idea here..} The open lid will just keep the unit going full blast.. because it is trying to get up to temp set... Also 3-15 inch grill grates will fit the bullseye... FYI

 

[Buckeye1]

Beth

I see you got your Bullseye !!!

 

[BethV]

@Buckeye1 YES! I originally didn't think so as I didn't get a confirmation. But the order did go through. I got lucky!