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Reverse Seared Steak: The Complete Guide to Perfect Juiciness and Crust

There is a reason serious cooks talk about reverse seared steak the way watch collectors talk about movements and vintages. Once you understand what is happening in the pan and in the oven, you realise it is less about trend and more about precision. 

Reverse searing is a two stage method that turns a thick cut steak into something evenly rosy from edge to edge with a crisp mahogany crust that snaps under the knife. The process starts low and ends blazing hot. Instead of searing first and finishing in the oven, you flip the order.

You gently bring the steak up to temperature in a low oven or on the cool side of the grill, then you finish it with a hard sear in a ripping hot skillet or over high direct heat. That order of operations is everything

Here is how to do it properly at home. 

First, you start with a thick cut steak, no less than one and a half inches and preferably closer to two inches. Ribeye, New York strip, porterhouse, T bone, or filet mignon all work beautifully because they carry enough internal marbling to stay supple. Generously season the steak with salt and black pepper on all sides. For an even deeper crust later, you can leave it uncovered on a wire rack set over a tray in the refrigerator overnight. That step dries the surface and concentrates flavour while the interior stays protected. 

When you are ready to cook, heat the oven to around 120 to 135°C, set the steak on that rack over the tray, and slide it in. You are not blasting it. You are letting gentle heat slowly raise the internal temperature. This even rise matters because muscle fibres tense less aggressively at low heat, and the steak cooks more uniformly instead of going grey and dry at the edges while staying underdone in the centre.

Cook until the internal temperature is about 6 to 8°C below where you want to finish. For rare, you are pulling around 40°C. Then, for medium rare, aim for 46°C. For medium, around 52°C. Use an instant read thermometer, not guesswork. Size, fat content, and oven behaviour all affect timing, so temperature is the only truth. As the steak warms in the oven, two important things happen. 

First, the enzymes that live naturally in beef are active in this gentle range and begin breaking down some of the tougher proteins, which subtly tenderises the meat. Second, the surface slowly dries. That dry exterior is not a flaw. It is the foundation of your crust.

Once the steak is sitting in that pre sear zone, take it out and let it rest briefly while you heat a heavy pan over high heat. Cast iron is ideal because it holds heat and delivers it fast. When the pan is smoking hot, add a small amount of high smoke point oil, then lay in the steak. Now you are in the sear. You are not cooking the steak through here. You are developing the crust through the Maillard reaction, that deep browning that creates nutty, roasted, beef forward notes. 

Sear one to two minutes per side. Tilt the steak on its edges to render and brown the fat cap. Drop the heat to medium low, add a knob of butter, and baste. At this stage you can spoon in smashed garlic cloves, thyme, or rosemary and wash the meat with the aromatic butter for about two minutes. The final internal temperature should sit at about 49 to 54°C for medium rare after carryover. The steak is ready to slice and serve almost immediately because the slow initial cook already relaxed the juices.

Now, how is this different from the classic sear first method?

The traditional steakhouse logic says you start in a blazing pan to “lock in juices,” then move the pan to the oven to coast to doneness. We now know searing does not lock in anything. It only browns the outside. 

The reality is that blasting a cold steak in high heat at the start creates a thick overcooked ring before the centre even reaches medium rare. You get a red core, then a band of pink, then a wide halo of grey. Reverse searing solves that. Because the low oven step gently warms the steak all the way through before searing, you get an almost uniform blush from edge to centre with barely any grey. You also get more control. 

The low heat stage gives you a much bigger window to hit the temperature you actually want, instead of gambling on a sixty second “pull it now or ruin it” moment. The downside. Reverse searing takes longer and it is not suited to thin steaks. Anything thinner than one and a half inches will overshoot in the oven before you ever hit the pan. 

In that case the classic high heat sear is still practical. If you are cooking a thinner strip for a Tuesday dinner and you simply want fast, pan sear first and finish in the oven. If you are cooking a thick ribeye or a celebratory porterhouse and you care about edge to edge medium rare and a crust that behaves like bark on prime rib, reverse sear is not negotiable. It is the move

Of course, you can master technique at home, thermometer in one hand and cast iron in the other, or you can experience what that level of control tastes like when it is executed by people who do it night after night in a true steakhouse environment. 

For a prime rib carved to order, steak cooked to its ideal temperature, service polished to a shine, and an atmosphere that defines fine dining Jakarta, make your way to Lawry’s The Prime Rib Jakarta. 

Explore Lawry’s menu and see why a slow roasted prime rib and expertly seared steaks remain the benchmark. To plan an evening worthy of the cut, you can book your seat here or learn more about how Lawry’s converge where classic technique with indulgence.  

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