Smoke or Sear First?

TraegeringSaling

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Is it better to sear first, then slow smoke? Or to slow smoke first, and then sear/cook higher temperature? ...to get more smoke flavor.
 
Smoke first give a better even doneness to the meat. I found if you sear first you can end up with overcooked on the outside and raw in the middle. Reverse sear not only gives a good smoke, but tends to cook the middle then the outside so a better overall experience.
 
Reverse sear is the way to go. First smoke at a low temp for an hour or so then sear. The benefit is that you get a consistent cook throughout the meat before searing. Cooking to temp is crucial, but the results are amazing. Here's a reverse seared ribeye on the Traeger.

 
I always smoke my rib eye to 110F then onto my Grill Grates on the gas BBQ, making sure the temp on the grates is at least 350F- 400F.
Then take off at your doneness, mine is 132F
 
I do it the way Dav does
 
Reverse sear is the way to go. First smoke at a low temp for an hour or so then sear. The benefit is that you get a consistent cook throughout the meat before searing. Cooking to temp is crucial, but the results are amazing. Here's a reverse seared ribeye on the Traeger.

GM - that ribeye looks great! For those of you that smoke then sear, 2 questions:
1) At what smoker temp do you smoke, and for how long (either time or IT)
2) At what temp do you sear, and do you close the grill cover (either your Traeger or a gas grill) during the sear?
 
Last edited:
GM - that ribeye looks great! For those of you that smoke then sear, 2 questions:
1) At what smoker temp do you smoke, and for how long (either time or IT)
2) At what temp do you sear, and do you close the grill (either your Traeger or a gas grill) during the sear?
I personally smoke the steaks at 200 until and IT of 100, then place my grillgrates in the grill and turn the traeger up to 450 and sear them until an IT between 125-130. I enjoy doing nice diamond marks on the steaks so sear for a min and 15 seconds then turn the steak about 45 degrees and repeat the time, then I flip the steak and do it again.
 
Many different methods. I preheat my smoker to 225F and cook until the IT is 110F. I then remove the rib eye and put them on a preheated Grill grate on my gas BBQ. To me this is the same as leaving it on the Traeger, the only difference is you don't use up a lot of pellets which you would at 450 - 500F.
 
the only difference is you don't use up a lot of pellets which you would at 450 - 500F.

And the TIME waiting for Traeger to get to 500° when the gas grill is only minutes for that and you can have it READY and waiting... (y)
 
I bought myself a heat thermometer where I can measure the temp of the grates, I go for 400F.
 

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