Shoutout to my old sous chef who said to always sear a roast cold

He told me to pull a prime rib straight from the fridge and put it right into a 500 degree oven, which went against everything I'd learned about bringing meat to room temp first. I tried it on a 12 pound roast for a party of 30 last fall, and the crust was perfect while the inside stayed a steady medium rare. Has anyone else found that the old 'let it sit out' rule is actually wrong for big cuts?

2 comments

2 Comments

coleman.christopher2d ago

Your old sous chef was onto something. That fridge-cold start gives you way more time to build a crust before the inside overcooks. I do the same with thick pork chops now. Pull them cold, pat them bone dry, and you get a sear that sticks. Letting big cuts warm up just steams the outside.

the_robin2d ago

Yeah, my old sous chef knew his stuff. Took me burning like three expensive ribeyes to finally listen to him. I was so stuck on that "room temp" rule I read in a magazine once. Now I just grab the steak straight from the fridge, salt it hard, and into the pan. The crust you get is unreal, and no more gray band.