Low oven first, ferocious pan last

Reverse-searing sounds like something off a cooking show, but it's honestly the most relaxed way to cook a thick steak — and a thick bone-in T-bone is exactly what the method was invented for. A low oven brings the steak up to temperature gently, edge to edge, with no grey band and no guesswork. Then one short, ferocious sear at the end builds the crust. You'll need a meat thermometer and about an hour, and most of that hour is yours — the steak looks after itself while you sort the sides.

1 hr 5 mins 2 servings Prep 10 minsCook 55 minsMain CourseAmerican

Ingredients

  • 1 Your Farmer grass-fed beef T-bone steak (about 500g)
  • 2 tsp sea salt flakes
  • 1 tsp cracked black pepper
  • 1 tbsp vegetable or rice bran oil
  • 30g butter
  • 2 sprigs fresh thyme (optional)

Instructions

Heat the oven to 100C (conventional). Set a wire rack over a tray, pat the steak dry and season it all over with the salt and pepper.

1 T-bone steak2 tsp sea salt flakes1 tsp cracked pepper

Put the steak on the rack and into the oven for 45–55 minutes, until a meat thermometer reads 46–48C in the thickest part of the sirloin side. The thermometer is essential here — the oven stage runs on temperature, not the clock.

Rest the steak on the rack for 5–10 minutes while you heat the oil in your heaviest pan until it just starts to smoke. Pat the steak dry one more time.

1 tbsp oil

Sear 60–90 seconds per side, pressing gently so the whole surface makes contact. Hold the fat edge against the pan with tongs for 30 seconds.

Add the butter and thyme for the final 30 seconds and spoon it over both sides.

30g butter2 sprigs thyme

No long rest needed after a reverse sear — give it 3–4 minutes, then carve both muscles off the bone, slice across the grain and serve with the pan butter and a scatter of salt flakes.

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Pack B & Pack D shares — T-Bone (~500g)

Your Farmer CSA grass-fed beef share — vacuum-sealed steaks, roasts, mince and sausages, paddock-to-plate NSW & ACT delivery
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Why Reverse-Searing Suits the T-Bone

The usual way to cook a steak — hard heat first, rest after — works from the outside in, and on a thick bone-in cut that means a band of grey, well-done meat before you reach the pink. Reverse-searing flips the order. A 100C oven brings the whole steak up gently and evenly, so the centre is one colour edge to edge; a screaming-hot pan then has just one job — crust. It suits the T-bone doubly, because the gentle oven all but closes the gap between the lean fillet side and the bigger sirloin side. The two-muscle problem that trips people up over direct heat mostly solves itself at low temperature. And because the long warm-up dries the surface, the final sear crusts faster than a fresh steak ever could — salting well before the oven stage helps here too, drawing moisture out and then back in as seasoning. The T-bone is the thickest steak in our meat boxes, which makes it the right cut to learn this method on. Your Farmer® steaks come from smaller-framed, 100% grass-fed cattle — there's a reason we reckon they make better steaks.

Swaps and Variations

The method transfers to any steak 3cm or thicker — scotch fillet, sirloin, a thick rump. A hooded barbecue set up for indirect heat around 100–110C works as the oven, and adds a whisper of smoke. Doneness is dialled at the oven stage: pull at 46–48C for a final medium-rare, or 51–53C if the table wants medium. For where every cut sits and how each one likes to be treated, keep the guide to every beef cut bookmarked.

Storage and Leftovers

Raw and thawed, the steak keeps 2–3 days in the coldest part of the fridge. Cooked, it keeps 3 days airtight — and reverse-seared leftovers actually reheat better than most steak, because the meat is evenly cooked all the way through. Ten gentle minutes in a 120C oven brings slices back without pushing them past pink. Cold works just as well: thin slices over a salad, or in a roll with horseradish cream. The bone goes to the stock bag, as always.

Frequently asked questions

Can I reverse-sear without a meat thermometer?

Honestly, no — the oven stage has no visual cues, so you'd be flying blind. If you don't have a thermometer yet, cook the steak hot and fast instead, and put a thermometer on the shopping list; they cost less than the steak.

Is the oven temperature for fan-forced or conventional?

The 100C given is conventional. For fan-forced, set it to about 90C. Cooler is always safer with this method — it just takes a little longer.

Do I still need to rest the steak at the end?

Only a few minutes. The long gentle cook means the juices are already settled — the big post-sear rest a regular steak needs doesn't apply here.

My steak took longer than 55 minutes in the oven — did I do something wrong?

No. Ovens run differently, and a steak straight from a cold fridge starts further behind. Trust the thermometer, not the clock — it's done when it reads 46–48C, whenever that is.

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