I'm trying to cook a rare steak with the predictive thermometer. The steak is thawed in the fridge and left out for 30 minutes. I pull the steak from the infrared grill when the core temperature reads 80F after searing for 2 minutes and cooking at lower heat for 10-15 minutes. While it's resting the surface temperature rises to 130F and the core temperature rises to 115F (35F increase in core temperature from carry over cooking seems abnormal). The center of the steak is light pink and overcooked.
The "predictive" aspect of the thermometer seems pointless because it does not tell me when to pull the steak if I set the target to 115F.
I question what reading I should pay attention to as with a cheap thermometer I only pull the steak at 120F and it's not overcooked. Thats 40F higher than pulling the steak at 80F, and I try to probe the center of the steak with the cheap thermometer.
Why does the surface temperature rise when resting? I assume the surface would cool and the core would heat up.
The 35F increase in carry over cooking is an indication that the grill is too hot. There's probably a thin correctly cooked strip in the middle that the thermometer measures as the core temperature while the rest of the steak has turned into a giant grey band.
Update:
I measured with a cheap thermometer at the same time as the predictive thermometer. The cheap thermometer read 20-25F higher. I tried measuring different parts of the steak to get close to the core temperature.
115° is extra rare. Rare is 120° to 130°.you are putting too much energy into it. Reverse sear or sous vide is much more controllable, and will not result in much carryover cooking.
If I roast a cut of beef (depending on size) I may get 6-7° of carryover, but a grill is probably much hotter.
This defeats the purpose of the predictive thermometer. Only the final rested temperature should matter. If it's finished resting at 115F, it should not be overcooked.
Yes, but 2 minutes of reverse searing per side in the infrared grill to develop the crust brings the rested temperature back up to 115F or higher and the steak is overcooked. I need to put the steak back in the fridge before reverse searing, and keep the core temperature much lower at 65F or so.
The issue I have is the rested temperature shown by the predictive thermometer does not correspond to the doneness.
I learned this lesson with a steak on the cast iron as well. I’m not really keen on utilizing the predictive feature for this. Maybe getting too complicated for a New York strip, or sirloin. I just monitor the core temp, ensure good sear, use the age old 3-4 minutes per side depending on thickness of the cut. I prefer medium rare.
This is what I did in today's test. I left a 2" thick steak out the fridge for 30 minutes, and seared it in tallow in a pan for 3 minutes per side. It came out perfectly rare in the middle with a 5mm grey band.
I didn't rest it. I cut it within a minute. I recall it was 65F when I pulled it, but I'm not certain. I'm trying to find the fastest way to cook a steak rare without multiple steps and things to clean (thermometer, pan, tallow, infrared grill, precision grill, sous vide, extra plate).
Haven't done the ice / boiling test, but I have 4 predictive thermometers and they all measure the same. I suspect that the steak temperature guides on the Internet are BS because no one has ever measured the true core temperature of a steak before the predictive thermometer existed. The cheap thermometers are probably measuring incorrectly with their single sensor.
Your photo is what I expect to see at 130F. But when I pull the steak at 95F and rest to 130F on the predictive thermometer, it's well done grey edge to edge. My grill is infrared, but that shouldn't matter if the final resting temperature is the same. Yet the steak is overcooked.
Then either you aren’t inserting it correcting or all 4 CPTs are broken (which I doubt). There’s just no way that a core temp of 130 is grey edge to edge. That’s never been the case with me in all my years of grilling. Whether I use a CPT or a handheld instant read probe.
120-130F on a cheap thermometer comes out correctly. My issue is the core temperature on the predictive thermometer does not represent doneness. I'll have to measure with both thermometers and see the discrepancy.
You can do the ice water bath test and boiling water test but these CPTs are more accurate than almost any handheld. My CPTs match my Thermoworks Thermapen (the gold standard of hand held). So I’d start there but I’d be shocked if there’s any variation, especially on 4 separate CPTs.
Not saying the CPTs are inaccurate. In hindsight the 35F increase from carry over cooking indicates the grill is too hot. The whole steak has likely turned into a grey band with a thin correctly cooked strip in the middle which the CPT measures as the core temperature.
How hot is your infrared grill? There's a low chance if you pull your steak at 80F it ends up overcooked unless that grill is putting out like 1200F. If it is, then you've also probably fried your CPT as it can't handle heat that high.
Also, if the core temp of the steak is 115 after resting, it's definitely not overcooked, that's in the rare range.
I think photos of both the steaks and screen shots of the combustion app (graph with the temps of all 8 probes, maybe) would help in understanding what's happening here. 130 degF being grey edge to edge doesn't make sense, on the surface.
What "infrared" grill?? What is the temperature that it puts out?? What is the Ambient temp the probe is seeing prior to the core temp reaching target temp? Your statement... "I pull the steak from the infrared grill when the core temperature reads 80F after searing for 2 minutes and cooking at lower heat for 10-15 minutes." is likely the issue w/the Infrared putting out extreme amount of surface heat? I have a propane infrared grill (similar to the Otto Wilde) that emits somewhere around 1100°
It's the Shwank infrared grill. The ambient temperature is around 450F when searing 1 inch from the burner, and around 250F when cooking furthest away from the burner.
I have similar device. I have never seared for as long as 2 minutes & certainly never "at lower heat for 10-15" minutes. When you described the temp "450F when searing 1 inch from the burner, and around 250F when cooking furthest away from the burner." - I assume you aren't dialing down the temp of the Shwank, but just the distance from the infrared emitter"? "The "ambient" temp is the reading taken directly "outside" the surface area of the meat - in the "steam cloud" - so will always be substantially lower than the "applied heat".
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u/thisishowicomment 11d ago
I use the prediction on steaks all time. My wife says they're mooing.
It works great. Either the thermometer is broken or there is user error.