I tried using a blowtorch for finishing steaks and got mixed results

So I gave this a shot after seeing it on a food show, charred the outside on a ribeye in about 30 seconds flat. But the inside came out way more rare than I wanted, like blue rare instead of medium-rare. Has anyone else struggled to dial in the timing with a torch versus a regular pan sear?

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pat_fisher241mo ago

Funny enough, the real trick might not be technique but temperature. @drewgonzalez is right that carryover cooking is basically a non-factor with a torch, but nobody talks about resting your steak on a warmed plate before hitting it with the flame. I cold seared one straight from the fridge and the inside was practically raw while the outside looked like charcoal briquettes. Last week I let a strip steak sit out for 45 minutes, patted it bone dry, then torched it and the inside came out a perfect medium rare. The torch just blasts the surface so fast that if your meat is ice cold in the middle, you get that weird blue rare ring every time.

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drewgonzalez1mo ago

...and once you pull it off the heat the carryover cooking on the inside barely goes anywhere with a torch.

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