[keith grima]

Hi Guys,

I know this may sound stupid but I need help using a thermometer on grills/pans. My problem is, lets say I am frying a steak and want to hit 63c. What happens is the steak is almost overdone from the outside and first few centimeters of the the inside and the core never hits that temperature. And obviously I am afraid to turn the gas down since I do not want it to end up boiling(trying to maintain the perfect sear)

I don't have this issue with roasts since I am doing slow cooking. The issue is when I cook rib-eye ,beef fillet, chicken breast. One more thing, the food must never leave the pan. so for example a steak must start and finish in the pan and not finished in the oven.

Can you spot failures in my method what am I doing wrong?

 

[millionsknives]

You can turn the heat down, it won't affect the sear you already have.  Just make sure it's not swimming in fat in a skillet.  Take a paper towel and remove some grease if you have to.

I will give you some general advice

1) Leave the steak out like an hour before you cook.  You can season it with salt and basically dry brine in this time

2) Measure in the center of the steak, away from any bones.  Bones will spike your reading higher.

3) Dry your steak or it will never brown

Now on searing, there are two schools.  You can sear it hard before, or after.   For me, it depends on what I'm cooking on and also the size of the steak.  3 lb bone in ribeye? reverse sear on the smoker absolutely.  Kind of thin 1" ribeye?  Sear it on each side, then turn down the heat.

If you're doing the sear first, then the more rare you want your meat, the hotter you need to sear.  The goal is to get a good maillard reaction on the outside before you overcook the rest.

 

[keith grima]

Ok lets say its a thick burger ... I first get a good sear then reduce the heat to low so it cooks slowly until it hits medium?

 

[millionsknives]

With a burger, I suspect by the time you sear each side it is pretty close to medium already.

Also, make an indent in the middle so when it shrinks up you don't get a ball.  It should stay more or less patty shaped. 

 

[keith grima]

Should a sear be done on extremely high heat(smoking hot) ?

 

[mikelm]

Curious, Kieth-

Why must it "never leave the pan"?

Rules out warm and blast, sous vide and other perfectly valid techniques for getting a hunk of meat to a perfect medium rare, medium, or whatever and then putting a nice crust on it.

Mike

 

[keith grima]

I know there are many ways how I can cook meat, but this current scenario I am trying to tackle at the moment is if the meat had to start and finish in the pan.

I tried burgers 2 days ago, they turned out great at 63 but the issue is that if I pulled out my pen a couple of millimeters the meat was at 70.

Is this normal behavior if meat does not leave the pan or is my heat source to high after I gain my sear?