I tried using a blowtorch for finishing steaks and got mixed results

So I gave this a shot after seeing it on a food show, charred the outside on a ribeye in about 30 seconds flat. But the inside came out way more rare than I wanted, like blue rare instead of medium-rare. Has anyone else struggled to dial in the timing with a torch versus a regular pan sear?

2 comments

2 Comments

pat_fisher241mo ago

Funny enough, the real trick might not be technique but temperature. @drewgonzalez is right that carryover cooking is basically a non-factor with a torch, but nobody talks about resting your steak on a warmed plate before hitting it with the flame. I cold seared one straight from the fridge and the inside was practically raw while the outside looked like charcoal briquettes. Last week I let a strip steak sit out for 45 minutes, patted it bone dry, then torched it and the inside came out a perfect medium rare. The torch just blasts the surface so fast that if your meat is ice cold in the middle, you get that weird blue rare ring every time.

drewgonzalez1mo ago

...and once you pull it off the heat the carryover cooking on the inside barely goes anywhere with a torch.