Saturday afternoon brought a steady stream of shoppers to the butchers of Arthur Avenue and Flushing’s Korean markets, with thick rib-eye steaks in high demand. Labor Day weekend has put grilling on the agenda for many across the city. But in conversations with home cooks and chefs this week, a different technique is being discussed: reverse-searing.
The approach calls for bringing steaks to temperature in a low oven—usually around 250 degrees—before finishing them with a brief, high-heat sear on the grill. The goal, according to several cooks interviewed near the Union Square Greenmarket on Friday, is even doneness without the gray band that can form around a steak’s edge when it’s grilled from start to finish.
Paul Kim, a sous chef at a Midtown bistro, said he’s been recommending the technique to friends hosting rooftop cookouts. “It’s easier to get the center right,” he said. “You don’t have to worry about burning the outside and having a raw middle.”
On supermarket shelves this week, prices for boneless rib-eye hovered above $20 per pound at most Manhattan grocers. But some shoppers said the extra effort required for reverse-searing was justified by the results. “If you’re spending this much on a steak, you want it to come out perfectly,” said Marisol Torres, heading home from Essex Market on Saturday morning.
With backyard and rooftop gatherings set for the long weekend, the method appears to have moved from restaurant kitchens to home grills. Some purists remain loyal to traditional grilling, but reverse-searing is drawing attention among those hoping for reliable results during the city’s late-summer cookouts.