I did a couple of NY Strips Saturday night using reverse sear, for the first time, on my Webber grill. Used two bricks to separate the direct/indirect zones. Also the bricks can be moved to get charcoal level where you want it to be from the rack & make a flat bed of coals. Left a gap between the bricks for airflow & heat transfer. Had coals about 2" under rack. Two handfuls of water soaked hickory chips for smoke.
Took steaks up to 120 F on indirect side with lid on. Turned & checked temp every 3 minutes with thermo-pen thermometer. Then move them to the direct side & no lid. Had to turn very regularly because of the heat intensity. When they reached 133 put a pat of butter on each side for final turn.
The good: the most evenly cooked medium rare steaks I have ever done. No zoning of doneness! Now I wish I had a photo, but the cross section was medium rare from top to bottom.
The not so good: the intense heat caused the fat rind on the back side to contract. More so on one steak than the other causing the steak to start to deform. Used a knife to cut the rind but hated to have to do it. Also, didn't quite get the sear I was going for.
What I'll do different next time. Lower the coal bed another inch. On the indirect side wait longer between turns. 4 or so minutes. Move to direct zone @ 115 F, maybe 110 F. Finally, put butter on when I move to direct side and maybe apply an additional time or two.
The steaks were from Tech farm so were good cuts and nicely marbled for NY's. Inch think. Marinated in soy sauce for an hour
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Originally Posted by johnnylightnin
That's why I went the sous vide route - predictable and perfect results every time.
