Cook The Ultimate Filet Mignon: How to Reverse Sear Steak

Everyone loves a good steak but cooking the perfect one at home can be intimidating, especially if you like expensive cuts or wild game. That’s why we want to share our favorite and sure-fire method for getting that crispy outside and juicy center – reverse searing.

In this case, we’re going to focus on making the ultimate filet mignon. We’re talking about fillet mignon because we want you to be able to buy expensive cuts of meat with confidence, and because it’s so lean, the cooking process is also comparable to wild game. So whether you’re shopping for the best center cut fillet, or cooking up something from your latest hunting trip, this method is for you.

The Cooking Methods

We believe the best way to enjoy a steak is by cooking it over fire. So we like to use the Big Green Egg or the Traeger Wood Pellet Smoker Grill. However, we realize not everyone has access to a grill, so we also want to go over how you can reverse sear a steak using both your oven and a cast iron skillet.

Seasoning the Steak

You know the only proper way to season a steak is with our Bearded Butcher Blend seasoning. It’s sugar free, MSG free, and doesn’t contain any anti-caking chemicals.

We like to wait to season our cuts until right before putting them on the grill in order to avoid the salt drawing out any moisture. And we like to season them liberally on both sides. 

Cooking with the Big Green Egg

1. Set up your Big Green Egg for indirect cooking so we can smoke our cut of steak. 
2. Smoke the steak until the internal temperature reaches 110 degrees. We like to use an instant read thermometer to avoid over cooking.
3. Remove the steak and convert your Big Green Egg over to direct cooking.
4. Once the big green egg reaches 600 degrees, put your steak back on to sear it.
5. Remove steak, wrap in butcher paper or tin foil, and let rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Cooking with the Traeger Wood Pellet Smoker Grill

1. Set up your Traeger grill to smoke at 225 degrees. 
2. Place your steak up on the smoke shelf, insert the meat probe and smoke until it reaches an internal temperature of 110 degrees. 
3. Pull out steak to let rest and raise grill temperature to 500 degrees.
4. Make sure the bottom shelf is on the lowest rack and put your steak back on. Having the bottom shelf so close to the flames helps give your steak that beautiful sear. 
5. Remove steak once it reaches 123 degrees (medium rare), wrap in butcher paper or tin foil, and let rest for 5-10 minutes serving.

Cooking with an Oven and Cast Iron Skillet

1. Set your oven to 275 degrees (we’re using a higher temperature here because we’re not smoking the meat) and set your cast iron skillet inside to warm up.
2. Once your oven is heated, remove the skillet, throw in your cut of steak.
3. On your stovetop, melt a pat of butter in your cast iron skillet.
4. When the steak reaches an internal temperature of 110 degrees, move it from the oven to the cast iron skillet. 
5. Sear cut of steak for about one minute on each side with the skillet turned up high and butter in the pan to get a nice crust.
6. Transfer the steak back to your butcher paper or tin foil and wrap up for 5-10 minutes. 

Finished Product: The Ultimate Filet Mignon

All three methods for reverse searing result in the perfect juicy piece of steak. Great outside texture but with an inside that is moist and done to perfection.

The Big Green Egg gives more of a charcoal flavor and crust, while the Traeger gives a smoky flavor; the skillet gives a buttery taste, but all three results are nice and juicy.

We hope this helps you understand the best (and our personal favorite) way to cook the perfect steak at home; and if you want to watch a video breaking down the three different methods, you can head over to our YouTube channel. 

Or, stay right here and check out the video walkthrough of each process, presented exclusively by The Bearded Butchers!

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