Reverse steak tenderness

[LJS 20]

Hi Kamado People

I did my second reverse sear with a 2.5-inch-thick sirloin and the result was great. Applied a good rub/spice and brought internal up to 40C slowly about 40minutes this took and rested, followed by a quick high temp sear, now the taste is superb, and I reckon can’t be beat by the normal grilling method. However, I feel the steak needs to be more tender, comparing tenderness to normal thickness and grill, reverse searing the steak is not as tender as a standard 1inch steak would be grilled over hot coal and grill.

I will appreciate any tips, tricks or advise on improving tenderness?

Keep smoking

[BobE 149]

Welcome to the forum LJS, glad you joined and thanks for sharing the pictures of your cook!  I'm not a huge fan of the reverse sear, but have enjoyed using a sous vide method to get the meat up to the desired temperature before searing.  Best of luck finding what works best for you.  

[LJS 20]

Thank you for the information BobE. I might give the method A try. 

[fbov 288]

18 hours ago, LJS said:

2.5-inch-thick sirloin ... now the taste is superb, and I reckon can’t be beat by the normal grilling method. However, I feel the steak needs to be more tender ...

Two things. 

 

Beef has a tradeoff; tender cuts have less flavor. Sirloin is a sweet spot with flavor in a fairly tender cut. But it's tenderness depends on how it's served...

 

Beef has a grain; cut across the grain it's tender. Cut with the grain and it's not. We can ignore this fact in tender cuts; for the flavorful cuts, like sirloin, it's very noticeable. Brisket is the poster child for cut direction... and it's easy to see the grain. Sirloin may need a slice to reveal what's inside.

 

In this case, the cross-cut direction was parallel the fat cap, not across it. Easy to see this in slices; hard to see when whole. 

 

Have fun,

Frank

[LJS 20]

Cheers Frank 

This information will be of great help. Last night I cut thin slices and the sirloin is actually very tender. 

[lnarngr 136]

12 hours ago, fbov said:

Two things. 

 

Beef has a tradeoff; tender cuts have less flavor. Sirloin is a sweet spot with flavor in a fairly tender cut. But it's tenderness depends on how it's served...

 

Beef has a grain; cut across the grain it's tender. Cut with the grain and it's not. We can ignore this fact in tender cuts; for the flavorful cuts, like sirloin, it's very noticeable. Brisket is the poster child for cut direction... and it's easy to see the grain. Sirloin may need a slice to reveal what's inside.

 

In this case, the cross-cut direction was parallel the fat cap, not across it. Easy to see this in slices; hard to see when whole. 

 

Have fun,

Frank

This is why I have been unsatisfied with sirloin! 

Frank!!! 

Time to try 'em again! 

[LJS 20]

Hi Peeps,

We just had along weekend. Reversed my 3rd test. I did go for a more tender cut the EYE FILLET.

I reversed my 1^st tomahawk steak and it is freaking awesome; I don’t want to eat any other steak and cooking method again, just killer taste and enjoying the cook. I am allowed to wish.

14 days aged Tomahawk, then coated with a dry rub ( Loot N Booty Everything Rub). I slowly took temp up to 45°c I then opened vents and let the heat jump up, followed with a quick sear on the grill. I lifted the steak as high as I could to get more smoking flavor and it works well.

Next I will try my own bacon – any links to this is appreciated.

Keep smoking.

 

[retfr8flyr 1,502]

Welcome to the forum! Post your cooks in the cooking section and you will get more replies. 

[Smokingdadbbq 430]

I would suggest your tenderness is related to when you season, if you're up for it try this exact method and report back and let us know what you think.

 

Ahead of cook day

1) 24 hours before you want to eat (36-48hrs is also fine, but 24 is plenty) season your steak well with diamond kosher crystal salt.  This is the least salty sea salt but still has all the tenderizing power needed to do its magic.  

 

2) Put the steak on a cookie sheet/drying rack uncovered in the fridge and let the air dry out your outer surface area.  In 24 hours the colour of the meat will turn darker red and become drier to the touch.  So much so dry rubs will no longer stick to the surface without a binder.

 

Cook day

3) Two-three hours before you're planning to eat remove the steak from the fridge.  We now need a binder for your rub, you can use duck fat spray, olive oil, hot sauce or almost anything else... personally (and trust me on this) I prefer franks red hot buffalo sauce (you won't taste it, promise).  A few drops is enough to slather over all the surface areas (not soaking, just enough).

 

4) Add your rub, be careful not to use one with more salt since you have already seasoned the steak.  I hit it with a layer of garlic powder, then onion powder, a little celery seed (umami), some black pepper, some smoked paprika and a dash of cyan.  Pat the steak and repeat on the other side.... go fire up the grill

 

5) Set up your grill for indirect 225... a 1" steak isn't thick and will cook pretty quick.  I'd set a timer for 15min to flip the steak and repeat... 20-35min you will be at an internal temp of 114 which is when I remove the steak and set aside on a plate while I crank the heat.

 

6) I go maximum fire mode now with my grates as close to the fire as possible.  800 degrees and 30 seconds per side or so and your done

 

 

 

[lnarngr 136]

On 1/27/2020 at 9:39 PM, LJS said:

Hi Peeps,

We just had along weekend. Reversed my 3rd test. I did go for a more tender cut the EYE FILLET.

I reversed my 1^st tomahawk steak and it is freaking awesome; I don’t want to eat any other steak and cooking method again, just killer taste and enjoying the cook. I am allowed to wish.

14 days aged Tomahawk, then coated with a dry rub ( Loot N Booty Everything Rub). I slowly took temp up to 45°c I then opened vents and let the heat jump up, followed with a quick sear on the grill. I lifted the steak as high as I could to get more smoking flavor and it works well.

Next I will try my own bacon – any links to this is appreciated.

Keep smoking.

 

That Thang would have been great even if cooked in a toaster oven! 

I don't think the extensive prep tomahawk ribeye and standard prep sirloin compare directly, even though the cooking method is the same. 

Fantastic steak though! 

[LJS 20]

Agreed a sirloin cant compare to rib eye. I will be testing the method suggested by smoking daddy  Canada on a scotch steak

 

once again thanks for all the feedback  

[Smokingdadbbq 430]

On 1/29/2020 at 7:10 PM, LJS said:

Agreed a sirloin cant compare to rib eye. I will be testing the method suggested by smoking daddy  Canada on a scotch steak

 

once again thanks for all the feedback  

How did it go 

[LJS 20]

Could cook total fire ban. I will post as soon as i do the cook.