I always end up smoking up the whole house when I use a cast iron for searing. I’ve always been more of a grilling guy and love a heavy sear with some charring, but doing that indoors gets out of hand fast. I’m trying to avoid all the smoke, and I also want to prevent getting that gray band from searing too long.
I’m thinking about picking up a torch for searing instead. For those of you who use a torch, any specific brands or models you’d recommend?
Also open to any general thoughts, recommendations, or advice — still pretty new to all this.
by CMoney9817
29 Comments
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Just commenting so I can see the answers too lol.
Watching
Use a higher smoke point oil. Like rapeseed/canola or avocado.
Make sure your pan is ripping hot before adding the oil.
Make sure the steak is properly dried off before you sear.
Use a sheet of kitchen towel each side. Do it until the towel barely gets damp.
I think any time you have ripping hot oil and you add animal protein and fat, you’re gonna get smoke. I just open the windows and sliding door to vent as best I can, run the hood fan over the oven on high.
You don’t need very long if it’s hot enough, and as you said searing too long gives you that grey band. Sometimes I see people saying a minute or two per side which I think is way too long. You’re just searing the outside, not trying to cook anything.
You’re not gonna get the same kind of sear on stainless steel or whatever that you would get from actual fire, so if you remember that and settle for a nice indoor sear instead of waiting for char like you’d expect over a fire, it won’t take long.
I take my cast iron out to the grill and heat it up and then sear the steak in the pan outside while it’s on the grill.
If you want to move the searing outside and you have the space, you can get a portable burner for less than $100 (some in the $50) range. I have the grill gun from grillblazer.com. It’s fun to torch the steaks and people enjoy watching when I have parties (it’s overpriced but I still love the thing).
If you have a grill, use a charcoal chimney. Gets ridiculously hot very fast.
https://gugafoods.com/categories/torches-seraring/
Highly recommend one of these options. They are on the pricier side, but are highly well made and long lasting. You may also be able to find similar ones somewhere else cheaper without the namesake markup ! (also recommend Guga foods and associated channels on YouTube if you haven’t seen them before already.)
You can also by attachments such as this one: https://www.bookeranddax.com/searzall (however this particular one is always sold out) to spread the thin flame of a torch evenly for an even easier searing process.
I personally love torches especially in regards to sous vide, plus it’s just fun lol
The nice thing about a pan is that you can butter baste which I think makes a big difference. Torch is nice for larger cuts but I rarely use it for a normal steak.
Yes, please use a torch and never look back! See my profile.
Get a high smoke-point oil. I can recommend Zero Acre’s product cultured from sugar cane, though it’s not cheap, it’s neutral flavored and smokes at around 500F. If I want something flavored, I use homemade ghee (also high smoke point) made from fresh butter from a local dairy (it’s easy to make with a little patience), as tests have shown half the ghee sold in the US is adultered with vegetable oil.
Get a little portable butane burner and do it outside. Easier and more fuel efficient than doing it on the grill. It’s awesome.
High temps go outside, so I’d crank up the grill and do a quick sear on it or get a cast iron pan/griddle and put it directly on the grill.
I bought a camp chef propane range off marketplace for my outdoor setup next to my bbq and my smoker. It’s expressly for cooking things my wife doesn’t want the house smelling like: seared steaks, smash burgers, fried chicken. Also came in clutch when we did a kitchen remodel.
https://preview.redd.it/kxjcods5l5bf1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3858aafffd064dd90138ad002f58fea0e766e331
Here’s what I use.
Broiler works great for me, I live in an apartment
Not bad
I use one and I got the one from harbor freight with the igniter
A torch takes a long time, so I never *only* sear with a torch. At least, this is true with a Bernzomatic TS 8000. Sometimes I’ll do it while *also* searing with a cast iron.
What’s your vent hood like? If it’s a weaker one or one of those microwave hoods, it’s not going to be enough.
Before I got a better vent hood, I used my outdoor wok burner. It’s a PowerFlamer and can go to 160k BTU.
I sear my steaks on my turkey fryer outside. I just put my cast iron on it. Haven’t seen a smoky house since.
If you don’t have a gas grill with a side burner you can look into a portable induction stove or butane burner
100%. Su-vgun or something similar. Much faster, easier, good result. It’s like sous vide but for seating. Only one drawback, you need to buy propane.
Install a real exhaust fan.
Torches are trash. You also don’t need smoke show hot for a good sear.
Consider ‘painting’ the oil on the meat instead of putting the oil in the pan. This should reduce the amount of oil that overheats.
I thought I had to have a torch to do this right, but after trying this method I never use my torch other than with odd shaped stuff that you can’t get a good sear with in a frying pan. I also don’t go over 350F and use avocado oil. Zero smoke in the house, just a bit of splatter if you use too much oil. Never going back to a high heat sear or a torch for steaks.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZY8xbdHfWk&feature=youtu.be](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZY8xbdHfWk&feature=youtu.be)
Thanks again for whoever posted this link not long ago!
weber smokey joe plus a mini vortex equals a searing machine. little more set up but that thing gets hot af
Personally, I can always taste gas when I torch sear anything, so I would vote for an alternative like the pan on the outdoor grill method