Reverse Seared Ribeye on the Traeger

in partnership with Meater
There is nothing quite like a delicious bite of perfectly cooked reverse seared ribeye steak that you’ve cooked on your Traeger Grills. It’s one of those “Traeger basic” cooks that you should master when you get cooking on a Traeger– because you’ll never go back to cooking steak without reverse searing it. You end up with edge-to-edge perfection and an amazing sear that ensures every bite has a bit of smoky flavor and an incredible crust.

REVERSE SEARED RIBEYE

Ribeye is without a doubt one of my favorite cuts of meat. It’s well-marbled, flavorful, takes on the Traeger wood-fired flavor really well and is available widely at every grocery store no matter where you are. Ribeyes are on the more expensive side when it comes to cuts– but even an inexpensive/choice ribeye steak can turn out amazing and gourmet with this technique.

HOW TO ELEVATE THIS STEAK

To elevate this steak– regardless of whether you’re cooking a waygu steak or a choice steak– is to add a little compound butter after the sear. Adding butter to a cooked steak adds some velvety moisture back to the meat, some salty notes and a pop of amazing flavor depending on what you put in your compound butter.

COMPOUND BUTTER

Making a compound butter is insanely easy. All you need is about 1/2 a stick of softened butter and some flavorful ingredients to stir into it. If your butter isn’t room temperature when you need it, stick it in the microwave (in a bowl) for about 15 seconds until soft but not melted. Once you’ve stirred in the ingredients, compound butter goes back in the fridge or freezer to firm up, so even if you over-melt the butter a bit, you can recover.

FLAVORS FOR COMPOUND BUTTER

The sky is the limit for compound butter. You can make all sorts of butter mixtures, that will complement your cooking in incredible ways. For this one, we did a simple mixture of chopped Serrano chiles, cilantro, and garlic salt from Jacobsens. We didn’t want the butter’s flavor to be too strong, so the slight heat from the Serranos paired with the cilantro, gives it a slightly southwestern feel and taste. We recommend using salted butter as your base, as it adds more flavor to the end result. If you use unsalted butter, add a generous amount of salt as one of your stir-in ingredients.

Once the butter is mixed, transfer the mixture to a piece of Saran Wrap and roll the butter into a log. Then pop the butter in the freezer while you cook your steak, and you’ll have the perfect compound butter for this reverse seared steak once you pull it off the Traeger.

WHAT IS A REVERSE SEAR?

Reverse seared steak is a staple in our home, and will be in yours once you give it a try. There are many ways to reverse sear a steak, but we do it on our Traeger grills and you can copy this procedure using your oven if necessary.

There are two steps:

1. Cook low and slow until 10-15* below desired finish temperature (produces edge-to-edge results)
2. Cook hot and fast until 5* below desired finish temperature (produces an amazing crust)

PROCEDURE

A reverse seared steak is first smoked or cooked at a lower temperature until the internal temperature is 10-15* shy of your desired finish temperature. We cook our steaks on the Traeger at temperatures between 180* and 225* normally, which produces a slightly smoky environment using the Traeger wood pellets. If you’re in a hurry, you could bump the temperature up to 275* if needed.

After the steak cooks at that low temperature until 10-15* below your desired finish temperature, you transfer the steak to a searing hot griddle, grill grates, or pan and sear both sides of the steak until the Meater Thermometer says to pull it off the heat. This is usually about 5* shy of your desired temperature because your steak will continue carry-over cooking a few more degrees.

PRIMARY INGREDIENTS

• Steak (we used 1.5″ thick ribeye steak from Snake River Farms)
• Seasoning of your choice (we used Spiceology Salt Pepper Garlic blend)
• Binder (we used Fresh Vintage Farms almond oil)
• Butter, softened
• Fresh Serrano pepper, chopped
• Cilantro, chopped
• Salt (we used Jacobsen’s Black Garlic Salt)

WHY COOKING THIS ON THE TRAEGER WORKS 

While you can reverse sear a steak in your oven, you will be doing so and lacking the delicious wood-fired flavor that comes from cooking on your Traeger Grills. Rather, take the extra time and effort (it’s not much) and fire up your Traeger Ironwood XL (or any Traeger you have!) to produce an amazing reverse seared ribeye steak for your family to enjoy. Cooking it low and slow on the Traeger to start gives it a bath in that instantly-recognizable Traeger wood pellet smoke, which imbues the steak with extra flavor. The slow and low temperature ensures edge-to-edge perfect cook.

And then crank the grill temperature up and add a set of Grill Grates to your Traeger to get an amazing grill mark crust on your finished product.

The good news– your kitchen stays clean and cool and your dinner ends up with that instantly-recognizable Traeger flavor. Win-win!

AND THE MEATER MAKES IT EASY!

Cooking a reverse seared ribeye on the Traeger is extra easy when you use your Meater wireless thermometer system. It’s paired app tracks the progress of the cook and provides you with prompts throughout the process about next steps, when to pull the meat, and an estimate on how soon your cook will be finished. Grab yourself a Meater today– it’ll make everything easier!

STEP-BY-STEP

• Preheat your Traeger Grill to 225* with the super smoke feature.
• Season your steak by first applying a binder of oil and then seasoning all over.
• Add your Meater probe to the meat and pair it with the app.
• Set the desired finish temperature to 135*.
• Place the steak in the preheated grill and cook according to the Meater directions.
• While the steak cooks, make the compound butter by combining the butter, cilantro, chiles and salt and mix until well blended.
• Transfer the butter to a piece of Saran Wrap and roll into a log.
• Refrigerate or freeze the butter until the steak is cooked.
• When the steak has reached 120*, pull it from the grill and tent it with foil.
• Heat up your grill to super hot and use Grill Grates to get them super hot.
• Pull the steak from the tent and place on the hot grates to sear.
• Cook 90 seconds per side (rotating for best results) or until the Meater Thermometer prompts you to remove the meat (130* usually).
• Put the steak on a cutting board and tent with foil.
• Add three 1/4 inch slices of the prepared compound butter log to the steak while it rests.
• Once the steak rests for 10 minutes, slice it against the grain and serve.

ALTERNATE RECIPES/PRODUCT LINKS

Here are some other great steak recipes on my blog:

• A use for leftover steak: steak salad with ponzu
• Seared zabuton steak
• Steak with chimichurri
• Grilled picanha

There are some great recipes for compound butters in my cookbook, which you can pick up here!

Products used in this cook:

• Traeger Ironwood XL
• Grill Grates
• Meater wireless thermometer system: the Meater is now integrated with the new Traeger grills for ease of use. Some of the features I love about the Meater: Longer Range: Bluetooth to WiFi range extension built-in up to 165ft. Stand-Alone Mode: Cook without the use of your smart phone.
  • Multiple Probes: Dual temperature sensors in each probe can monitor internal meat temperature up to 212°F and ambient / external temperature up to 527°F simultaneously.
  • Guided Cook System: Walks you through every step of the cooking process to guarantee perfect and consistent results. You can also set up custom alerts / notifications based on temperature and/or time.
  • Advanced Estimator Algorithm: Estimates how long to cook and rest your food to help plan your meal and manage your time.

Did you make this recipe?
I’d love to know how it turned out!
Leave a review below or snap a photo,
share it on Instagram and tag me at @ThisJewCanQue

Reverse Seared Ribeye on the Traeger

thisjewcanque

Two simple steps and a quick compound butter later and you will have the best, most delicious and juicy reverse seared steak on your table in under an hour. Trust us, you won’t look back.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Course beef, main, meat

Cuisine American

Servings 2

Equipment

• Traeger grill
• Grill Grates or cast iron griddle
• Meater thermometer

Ingredients

  

• Steak we used 1.5″ thick ribeye steak from Snake River Farms
• 4 tbsp seasoning of your choice we used Spiceology Salt Pepper Garlic blend
• 2 tbsp binder we used Fresh Vintage Farms almond oil
• 1/2 stick butter softened
• 1 fresh Serrano pepper chopped
• 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
• 2 tsp salt we used Jacobsen’s Black Garlic Salt

Instructions

 

• Preheat your Traeger Grill to 225* with the super smoke feature.
• Season your steak by first applying a binder of oil and then seasoning all over.
• Add your Meater probe to the meat and pair it with the app.
• Set the desired finish temperature to 135*.
• Place the steak in the preheated grill and cook according to the Meater directions.
• While the steak cooks, make the compound butter by combining the butter, cilantro, chiles and salt and mix until well blended.
• Transfer the butter to a piece of Saran Wrap and roll into a log.
• Refrigerate or freeze the butter until the steak is cooked.
• When the steak has reached 120*, pull it from the grill and tent it with foil.
• Heat up your grill to super hot and use Grill Grates to get them super hot.
• Pull the steak from the tent and place on the hot grates to sear.
• Cook 90 seconds per side (rotating for best results) or until the Meater Thermometer prompts you to remove the meat (130* usually).
• Put the steak on a cutting board and tent with foil.
• Add three 1/4 inch slices of the prepared compound butter log to the steak while it rests.
• Once the steak rests for 10 minutes, slice it against the grain and serve.

Video

Keyword reverse seared ribeye steak, ribeye steak, Traeger reverse seared steak, Traeger reverse seared steak with bourbon sauce, Traeger ribeye