Comparisons · Two ways of cooking
Reverse searing or Searing
The same final minute, reached from opposite directions. Thickness decides which is right, and there is a threshold.
What each one is
Reverse searing
Bring the food up slowly on indirect heat, then finish it hot and fast over direct. One method, two heat configurations, in that order — which is exactly why the technique and the fire arrangement are described separately here.
Searing
Very hot, very short contact to develop surface colour and flavour. Not, despite the persistent belief, a way of sealing in juices.
Where they overlap
- Both use direct heat.
What actually differs
| Aspect | Reverse searing | Searing |
|---|---|---|
| The fire it needs This is the difference. Everything else about the two techniques follows from where the fire is relative to the food. | Indirect heat, Direct heat | Direct heat |
| What it suits | Thick steaks, roughly 3 cm and up; Anything where an even interior matters more than speed | Finishing a reverse sear; Steaks and chops |
| What it does not suit The more useful half of the comparison, and the half most published guidance leaves out. | Thin steaks, which have no interior to protect | Cooking anything through |
| Cookers that can do it | 11 of the 11 modelled | 7 of the 11 modelled |
Which one, for what
Conditions rather than a verdict. Each line below is a thing one of them can do that the other cannot, or does without arrangement where the other needs it — taken from the what each cooker is documented as doing, rather than from a preference.
Reverse searing, if:
- Thick steaks, roughly 3 cm and up.
- Anything where an even interior matters more than speed.
Searing, if:
- Finishing a reverse sear.
- Steaks and chops.