How to prepare chunks of meat with a crust

These techniques apply to all types of meat where the thickness/type is such that the goal of the preperation is to reach a specific internal temperature while simultaneusly creating a nice crust. Please note that for most cuts of meat seasoning is highly recommended. This will not be covered in this technique description.

Special Equipment

• Probing meat thermometer that can be used in an oven. Does not have to be a fancy one. Wired ones should be available for a price under 25 Euros.
• Convection oven

My 2 prefferred methods

The sear and bake method

This technique is prefferred if you are preparing meat that is frozen. You can take it directly out of the freezer. No thawing needed. You can still use this method if your meat is not frozen but the results will be slightly worse. This method is usually faster then the second one.

1. Sear the meat in a pan until you have a desirable crust all around. If your meat is frozen this can take some time. In this case do not worry about overcooking. The still frozen core will prevent the layer of meat below the surface from overcooking. If your meat is not frozen try to limit the searing time to around 30s - 1m per site.
2. Put the meat in the convection oven at 100°C with the probe inserted. Leave it in the oven until the desired temperature is reached. Depending on the thickness of the meat there can be some carry over cooking. This can be prevented by directly slicing the meat after taking it out of the oven.

The bake, cool, sear method

This technique is prefferred if you have more time and/or want to achieve a better result than the first one. Although I personally like to use the sear and bake method for frozen meat this techinque can also be used for frozen meat. Just be aware that it will take longer.

1. Dry your meat with a paper towl. Put it in the oven with the meat thermomentor probe inserted. Set the temperature of the oven to 10°C - 20°C above your desired target doneness. Reaching your desired temperature will take some time. Depending on the thickness of your meat it can take multiple hours. A typical steak will take ca. 30m. The last degress of temperature increase take the longest. If you want to reduce the overall time you have to wait increase the temperature. Be aware that this will result in the meat not being as evenly cooked as it otherwise would be.
2. After reaching the desired core temperature take the meat out of the oven and let it cool down to an internal temperature of 40°C. Pat the meat dry with a paper towl. Sear the meat in a pan for 30s - 1m on each site. Serve directly afterwards.

What is the desired doneness?

Short Answer

How ever you like your meat.

Long Answer

Different cuts of meat have different flavour experiences at different levels of doneness. Depending on what you are preparing this can be somewhere between 50°C - 90°C for beef. Some people will tell you that everything above 60°C for a beef steak is a crime. I agree in the sence that my preferred flavour profile for this specific cut would be somewhere around 54°C with some carry over cooking. But you do you. If you like your ribeye at 70°C, cook it that way. If you are cooking for other people ask them for their preferences. Do not forget that sometimes there are other concerns besides flavour. You might feed people with health conditions that require higher safety margins in regards to what is an acceptable risk when eating meat that has not been completly pasteurized.