the grill had been on high for about 10-15 minutes before they went on.
I figured 3 minutes on both side would give them a good sear with the grill on high.
I had to leave them on the grill for like 5 or 6 minutes a side to get even this amount of color.
In the past I'd coat the meat in an oil & toss them into a cast iron I'd been heating up inside, that I then take out to the grill so I don't smoke up the house.
I figured that I wouldn't need the oil, so I didn't use any.
Does oil help with color?
by thoruen
29 Comments
It looks like the grill was not hot enough.
Grills, you gotta get to like 600+ and let sit for a couple minutes at that heat.
When you flip it, you have to flip it onto an unused section of the grill. It’s pretty difficult to get right
You don’t sear on low heat?
The grill isn’t hot enough. Perhaps there is something wrong with your regulator. With that being said, cast iron is going to give you a better sear regardless. You may want to skip the grill.
Turn the grill on and try again
You should be able to only hold your hand an inch or two above the grill for a couple of seconds. Buy an infrared thermometer.
You may know best but the front of my grill is way colder than the back. They meat would need only 3 mins to actually cook, nevermind sear
Three suggestions:
1 – Use the cast iron on the grill with oil, on high heat, turning often – every 20 seconds, moving them around the pan every time you flip. You’ll get nice, even, deep caramelization and Maillard effect.
2 – A lot of people haven’t gotten the notification, but grill marks haven’t been a desirable thing in about about a decade. They signify charry, parallel lines of burnt with very, very little caramelization in between.
3 – Get a temp gun. There’s no way this grill is hot.
Did you pat it dry before grilling?
Use a pan…
Use a torch
I have a nexgrill. It just won’t get hot enough to sear. Try searing on a chimney starter with your grill grate on top. If you have a torch you can heat the top while the bottom is browning.
Always need oil of some sort. Oil helps transfer the heat and even out the browning. Without oil, only the parts in contact with the grate will get heat quickly (thus grill marks). The parts without physical contact is only getting radiant heat (radiation, which is heavily blocked by the shield plates) and convection heat (which is hot air). The oil is the actual searing medium.
Before you oil, make sure you dry the outside really well.
After you turn your grill on, have a fight with your misses about something silly, when she starts talking you to again, the grill is hot enough. If she still gives you the cold shoulder, it’s a cold grill.
Hotter! As hot as you can get it although in my experience a gas grill isn’t great for searing. Charcoal or cast iron skillet/griddle imho. As hot as you can go and sear as quickly as you can.
Weber spirit was challenging to sear well, walkout thermos brand grill, super easy (but hard to not burn anything else I was cooking).
But that seems like a regulator tripped. Check out your owners manual.
I have a cast iron plate which I use on the grill to avoid splatter and smoke in the house. 3 minutes a side seems like a lot since they are already cooked.
I’d say the answer to “what am I doing wrong” is “using the grill”. I don’t say that to be a jerk. I’ve never had any success getting the kind of sear we all look for on a propane grill. I just don’t think most of them get hot enough. I’ve had world class results on the stove, using a carbon steel pan, a shallow pool(1/8″) of ripping hot beef tallow, and moving the meat around constantly while it sears. Hope that helps.
Dry the meat. Let it rest. Keep drying it.
Heat up the grill over 600.
Apply a thin coat of avocado oil to the grates after it’s heated up. Wait a minute.
Then put the meat on and in your case, close the lid for 90 seconds. Flip.
After more disappointing grill-sears than I’ll ever admit to, I broke down bought myself a cheap induction burner so I can pan sear outside. I like it so much that I’ve given up on sous vide steaks altogether.
Grills got to be like 500 plus. Ideally you want to have the grill marks within a minute or two. Honestly it maybe easier to get a cooking torch. You won’t have the trouble of heating up 500+ square inch surf.
Typically, a gas grill can’t generate the BTU’s required for a hot/fast sear. You should consider a GrillBlazer or a charcoal chimney.
This looks like a propane grill, since its winter you may need to warm your bottle up a little depending on where you live. I am in a reasonably cold climate and after awhile of leaving the grill on the bottle/regulator will freeze up a little and the gas will flow slower. Try bringing your tank indoors the day before then try again.
This is one of the reasons I don’t SV anything thin. The time it takes to develop crust is enough time to cook it.
It’s a learning experience, isn’t it?
So out of the gate, 6 minutes a side and you might as well have just cooked them on the grill. Probe those bad boys after that, and you’ll find they’re well above your target temp. Even 3 per side might be enough to cook those through without the SV step.
But you didn’t get the sear, so something went wonky. In no particular order, the first two things I’d check: Was your chicken properly dry before the sear? Is your grill actually getting as hot as you expect?
If the meat isn’t dry, it has to steam off all the water before it can sear, and that can take time and lead to overcooking.
Likewise, that seems to be a gas grill, and those can be prone to burners not getting as hot as they should if you haven’t cleaned them in a while, or done proper maintenance on them. With a 10 minute pre-heat, I’d be expecting 500F+ temps in there, and probably more on the metal itself. Doesn’t look like you were getting that.
Buy a really cheap cast iron griddle at Walmart and keep it on your grill. Heat that up on high heat for about 20 minutes and that’ll give you a ripping hot surface to sear on.
Pat dry, high heat.
Natural gas or propane? I love my natural gas grill for a lot of things, but it doesn’t get hot enough to sear. In winter, not even close.
Propane gets hotter but not as hot as induction, so I use a cast iron pan on an induction burner (outside, to avoid the smoke problem – I live with a vegetarian and we don’t have a commercial grade hood).
Depending on the meat, a light amount of avocado oil (I use the spray). No need for that with duck – plenty of fat there!
Meat surface needs to be dry. Depending on what I’m cooking I’ll dry brine before sous viding, but in any case patting off any moisture after sous viding will help.
Get a cast iron grill. Put it on your gas grill. Get it HOT. sear da meats.