The Reverse Sear

With a bonus harissa "ketchup" glaze

Jun 06, 2023

notice the exterior is seared but the juiciness of the interior extends all the way to the edge without that deep dry-browning that makes meat taste stringy.

I am a huge fan of the reverse sear for the following reasons:

It’s easy to master.
It produces a more tender product.
It produces a much more flavorful, even sear.
It turns cheaper cuts of meat into restaurant-quality cuts
It’s less messy to prepare
You get better pan-drippings

The general idea behind the reverse sear is to keep the temp of the meat below 115 for as long as possible so the meat remains tender. At this lower temp, the enzymes within the proteins naturally tenderize the meat. By bringing the temp up too fast, you lose this natural tenderization and typically dry out the meat. Yes, in many cases you get a harder exterior crust that’s deeply penetrated into the meat, but in exchange, the meat is dry.

But what about the flavor of that hard crust, one typically asks? The great news is that you get a better more flavorful crust by using the reverse-sear method. As the meat cooks, it releases moisture. The outside will dry and lightly “set”. Therefore, by the time you are done with your low and slow oven or grill roast, your meat is much drier on the exterior than when it was raw. When you do sear or grill the partially cooked product over high heat after the slow roast, the meat browns much quicker and harder in the absence of that moisture AND the pan or grill doesn’t end up a mess. Nothing can brown in the presence of steam, that’s why the goal is to release that moisture before the hard sear. It’s science; you get that beautiful browning, but only on the surface of the meat, leaving the interior full of moisture - flavorful and tender.

One step I take when doing a reverse sear on a whole roast is to slow-cook the meat, then allow it to sit for hours before the final sear. The meat will release moisture, but I use this in the final sauce and reintroduce that at the final step, basting the meat with the flavorful drippings and other aromatic elements.

In this recipe, I made my own “ketchup” using the meat trimmings and pan drippings. My recipe for the ketchup is a simple one: tomato sauce, sugar, sherry vinegar, garlic, zaatar (a middle eastern spice blend) and harissa for spice.

Final Step: SALTING

This is the most important step. Dry-brining a large steak or cut of meat is a must. According to Sasha Marx of Serious Eats “Dry-brining is a catchy term for a very simple process of salting and resting food before cooking it. Some people call this process "pre-salting," which is kind of like "preheating" an oven—doesn't make a ton of semantic sense, seeing as salting and heating are the steps, and nothing precedes them, but that's a debate for another day. Dry-brining achieves the goals of traditional brining—deeply seasoned, juicy food—without the flavor dilution problem that affects proteins brined in salt solutions”

I couldn’t have said it better myself. The salt penetrates the meat, then it brings the meat’s natural water to the exterior. But doesn’t this make it dry you may ask? No, at this point, the moisture goes back into the meat with the salt. It continues this process until you cook the meat, tenderizing and seasoning along the way. I prefer to salt my roasts overnight in the fridge, but even 1 hour of “pre-salting” works.

Here are the steps for the tenderloin:

Salt your tenderloin from 1 hour to 24 hours
Rub the meat with avocado oil (don’t salt again) and slow roast at 225 F until the internal temp hits 115 (for med rare). At this point allow your meat to rest. Save the pan drippings and begin your sauce.
When the meat is cool, throw on a blasting hot grill and cook on all sides until the internal temp hits 125 (for med rare).
In the final minute, begin basting your meat with the “ketchup” or glaze.
Allow your meat to rest 15 minutes before slicing.
Enjoy.