An interesting question about Direct Grilling Vs Reverse Searing came to us via Instagram. (Yes, folks, Steven Raichlen sees each and every one of your questions and we always try to respond.)
Why do you cook tri-tip (or any large steak) by direct grilling sometimes and by reverse-searing other times?
The short answer is that when it comes to barbecue, there are many ways to skin the proverbial cat.
The longer answer involves tradition, patience, and time.
Why Use Direct Grilling for Tri-Tip?
In the case of tri-tip, the traditional way to cook it—as practiced in the place of its birth, Santa Maria, California—is by direct grilling over a wood fire on a grill with a raisable and lowerable grate. (The latter, aptly, is called a Santa Maria grill.)
After seasoning the meat with salt, pepper, and granulated garlic (some people also add oregano), you direct grill it, but work over a moderate fire to cook this thick cut of sirloin to medium-rare without burning the exterior. Slow and moderate are the operative words here: if you cook the tri-tip too fast or too hot, you risk burning it or making it tough.
But direct grilling—even when going slow and moderate—requires constant attention. You need to stand at the grill for 20 or 30 minutes, surveying and turning the meat. And it tastes best served within a few minutes of being done.
The Case for Reverse Searing Your Steak
Reverse-searing produces similar results—crusty exterior, tender succulent sanguine meat—with more control and considerably less effort.
As a refresher, in reverse searing, you indirect grill the tri-tip (or other thick steak) at a medium-low heat (250 degrees) until cooked to an internal temperature of 100 degrees. This takes about an hour, then you let the meat rest as long as you desire.
Then, at the last minute, when you’re ready to serve, you increase the heat to high and sear the outside of the meat until crusty and browned and the internal temperature reaches 125 degrees for rare, 135 degrees for medium-rare, and 145 degrees for medium. You can serve it hot off the grill because you’ve already rested the meat.
Reverse searing has a lot of benefits. You get a uniform red or pink color inside (no more “bullseye” effect, in which the periphery of the steak is grey and the inside raw and purplish red). You take control of the timing: no more mad scramble to cook the meat perfectly at the last minute.
Plus, if you’re working on a charcoal grill, you can add hardwood chips or chunks to the fire to smoke your steak as well as cook it. Of course, if you’re direct grilling over a wood fire, you also get a smoke flavor.
Direct Grilling Vs Reverse Searing
So why doesn’t everyone reverse sear? Well, if you’re a fire-obsessed person, like I am, you like standing at the grill, smelling the smoke, waltzing the meat from hot spots to not-so-hot spots while the wood smoke stings your eyes and perfumes your clothes.
There’s something vigorous—even reckless—about direct grilling, and I believe that translates to the taste of the meat.
But reverse-searing can be a useful technique for cooking a thick steak, like a tri-tip or porterhouse, and it definitely belongs in your repertory!
Do you have a preference? Do you have another question? Let us know on social media! (See below.)
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