The Perfect Steak Sear using the Cold Grate Technique

Grill marks = flavour, everyone agrees. The brown crust that forms when meat is exposed to high heat known as the Maillard reaction, creates the most flavourful bites. So, why are we content with food that only has a few lines of flavour? What if we could have a flavour all over the place? We can do it! The Slow ‘N Sear and the Cold Grate Techniques make it both possible and simple.

Why are we so used to grill marks?

It's no surprise that we've come to believe that a grill marked steak looks delicious and it does. Those grill lines are an instant wow factor however that wow factor doesn't necessarily flow through to the taste. Most grills (even those in restaurants) do not get hot enough to give the food an all-over sear. They instead rely on the heat from the cooking grate to do the majority of the cooking. The meat that touches the grate browns nicely, but the rest of the surface cooks without adding any extra flavour. This is why, when you cut into a grill-marked steak, you usually see tan banding around the outside edges rather than the wall-to-wall colour you get with the Cold Grate Technique.

There will be no tan banding here! This reverse seared ribeye from Cold Grate has a wall-to-wall uniform interior colour.

This problem is perfectly solved by the Slow ‘n Sear's patented design. 

• The fully walled basket keeps coals away from the kettle wall, allowing heat to remain inside the grill.
• The basket's slightly angled walls promote an even burn of fuel and concentrates the heat.
• The basket itself is large enough to hold enough fuel to generate super-high temperatures (1000 degrees Fahrenheit or higher).

A cold cooking grate is essential for a perfect sear.

Now that we've created an intensely hot sear zone, we'll let the fire do the cooking rather than the grate.

• Instead of heating up your cooking grate, do everything you can to keep it COLD and out of the way of your intense radiant heat.
• Use a thin wire grate to prevent heat energy from being stored, and put it on at the last minute so it isn't hot when the steak is first placed on the grill.
• Maintain a two-zone fire, with only a portion of the grate above the sear zone.
• When it's time to flip, rotate the grate so that you're always sear with a cold grate and a very hot fire.

 The below video goes through the full process to prepare and cook the perfect steak using the "Cold Grate Technique" and the Slow n Sear Weber kit.