Grilled to perfection

Reverse-searing method rewards you with a juicy steak always cooked to an even doneness, complete with a charred crust

The quest to cook the perfect steak has been a challenge since slabs of meat were roasted over fire. But what constitutes a great steak?

It should take you through a complex strata of textures and flavors: dark crust, rosy meat, tenderness balanced by chew.

You want a steak you can sink your teeth into. There should be a perfect ratio of meat to fat — and there should be blood. Without those luscious steak juices, a steak would be merely delicatessen roast beef.

Tri-tip delivers all of that. A cut popularized in Santa Maria, California, and the surrounding area, this crescent-shaped steak from the bottom of the sirloin slices like brisket and eats like steak, with a rich, beefy flavor. But like all thick cuts, it poses a challenge: Grill it directly over high heat as you would a strip or skirt steak and you risk burning the exterior while leaving the center undercooked. Cook it low and slow, as you would brisket, and you lose the caramelized crust.

Enter reverse-searing, an ingenious grilling method that combines the low and slow smoking of traditional barbecue with the high heat charring practiced at steakhouses. It takes the guesswork out of grilling steak, rewarding you with a juicy, perfectly cooked slab of beef every time.

With this simple two-step process, you first cook the steak slowly — for 30 minutes or so — at 250 degrees, the temperature used by pitmasters to barbecue brisket. Once you’ve warmed the center of the meat to 110 degrees, you rest the steak on a platter and raise the grill’s heat to a searing temperature of 600 degrees. You then char the exterior of the steak directly over the fire until sizzling, crusty and dark brown, bringing the meat’s internal temperature to 125 degrees (for rare) or 135 degrees (for medium-rare).

Reverse-searing offers several advantages over traditional direct grilling over high heat, in which steak goes from undercooked to overcooked in a minute or two, requiring precise timing that inexperienced grillers may find daunting. During the initial stage of reverse-searing, the internal temperature of the meat rises gradually, so it’s easier to monitor and achieve the doneness you desire. Also, the meat cooks more evenly this way, ending up with uniform color and doneness from top to bottom, not a graybrown ring of meat just beneath the crust and a reddish-blue bull’s-eye in the center.

Because the meat rests between the two stages, which allows it to relax and become juicier, the steak can be served hot off the grill right after its final sear. That means no more lukewarm steak and not having to keep hungry people waiting. Perhaps the biggest advantage to reverse-searing is the ability to smoke the steak by adding hardwood chunks or chips to your low fire. That step infuses thick cuts with the haunting flavor of barbecue and adds a spectacular dimension of flavor.

ANDREW PURCELL/THE NEW YORK TIMES Reverse-searing allows thick cuts of steak to cook to an even doneness and develop a charred crust. Makes: 4 servings Total time: 45 to 55 minutes, plus lighting the grill 1 large or 2 small wood chunks (such as oak, hickory or mesquite) or 1 cups wood chips Canola oil, for greasing the grill grate 1 tri-tip steak (about 2 to 2 pounds; see note) Coarse kosher or sea salt Freshly ground black pepper Granulated onion or garlic (or both) 1. If using wood chips, soak in water for 30 minutes. Set up your grill for indirect grilling and heat to 250 degrees. Clean and oil the grill grate. 2. Remove the tri-tip from the refrigerator. Generously season it with salt, pepper and granulated onion or garlic (or both) on all sides. 3. Place the tri-tip, fat-side up, on the grill grate away from the heat. Insert a remote thermometer probe, if using, deep into the center of the meat. If you soaked wood chips, drain them. If using a charcoal grill, add the wood chunk(s) or chips to the coals. If using a gas grill, place the wood chunks under the grate over one of the burners, or place the chips in your grill’s smoker box. Close the lid. Indirect grill the tri-tip to obtain an internal temperature of 110 degrees, which will take 30 minutes or so. Transfer the tri-tip to a platter and let it rest for at least 10 minutes, or as long as 1 hour. 4. Just before serving, heat your grill to high. On a charcoal grill, rake the coals into a mound in the center of the grill, adding fresh coals as needed. Let the new coals burn until glowing red. On a gas grill, simply set the burners on high. 5. Return the tri-tip to the grate directly over the heat, fat-side up, and reinsert the thermometer probe, if using. Direct grill until the top and bottom are sizzling, crusty and dark, and the internal temperature is 125 degrees for rare or 135 degrees for medium-rare, 3 to 6 minutes per side, turning with tongs. 6. Transfer the tri-tip to a cutting board and thinly slice across the grain. (You do not need to rest the meat a second time.) Take time to notice the even color and doneness of the meat and to appreciate the intoxicating aroma of the wood smoke. Serve at once, while the steak is still hot. Note: Tri-tip, the triangular or boomerang-shaped steak cut from the tip of the sirloin, is also sold as Newport, Santa Maria, triangle and bottom sirloin tip. This technique also works with any thick steak, such as top round, sirloin or picanha or three-fingerthick porterhouses and tomahawks.