Featuring Northbound Coffee Roasters & Salant Family Ranch

Coffee & Chile Rubbed Ribeye was inspired by the Exploring the Source interview with Northbound Coffee Roasters. Their craft roasted coffees have such crisp bold flavors that from the time I left Mount Shasta, heading north back to Oregon, my mind wandered about how to use their coffee in recipes. Why not a Coffee & Chile Rubbed Ribeye!?!

Why Coffee & Chile?

Coffee beans are naturally acidic, the roasting process decreases the acidity the longer/darker it roasts. Environmental factors also can play into the acidity of coffee: type of bean, climate & elevation of the location they are grown all effect the beans themselves. Processing the beans and roasting are the last two steps that can affect acidity before getting the coffee beans to your cup.

Because of the acidic nature to coffee, grinding the roasted coffee and adding it to the spice rub acts as a natural meat tenderizer. The flavor of the coffee influences the overall flavor of the rub as well.

Adding smoky elements such as ancho chile powder and chipotle powder boost not only the overall flavor of the rub but compliment the coffee flavor. Other spices help round out the flavors – onion, garlic, black pepper, cumin, kosher salt and brown sugar.

Reverse Searing – Is It Necessary?

In a basic answer, no reverse searing is not necessary. In this case, the steak I got from Salant Family Ranch was a 2.25 lb over 2″ thick ribeye! (Ya, gotta have an impressive cut of meat for social media 😎)

The reverse searing process in this case was a good option. Because of the size of the ribeye low and slow is the best option in this case instead of direct grilling. With reverse searing, the first step in the process is roasting the meat low and slow, this allows the temperature of the meat to slowly rise.

Think of a prime rib, you want to cook it low and slow to retain the color of the meat to be consistent throughout the roast which is what i achieved with reverse searing.

Once the meat reaches your desired temperature, removing the meat from the grill to rest while the grill heat is increased to 600+ degrees to get a nice crust on the outside.

Try Smoking Low and Slow to Boost the Flavor

In this recipe, I not only roasted low and slow I added mesquite chunks to the charcoal. The mesquite enhanced the flavor of the ribeye even further! The Coffee & Chile Rubbed Ribeye took on the smoke flavor nicely, plus also worked with the Coffee & Chile Rub to enhance its flavor too.

So back to the original question, is reverse searing necessary? As I said, it is not necessary but depending on the type and size of your steak it maybe something to consider. Reverse searing is not a quick process, so if you are looking for a quick weeknight meal this may not be for you.

Direct grilling the Coffee & Chile Rubbed steak is definitely a great option too!

Whether your cooking method is direct grilling, cast iron searing, under the broiler or reverse searing preparing the steak is the same. Rub the premixed spice mix on the outside of the meat.

Let the spice rubbed steak rest in the refrigerator for at least one hour but you can go up to 6 hours. This will allow the acidity in the ground coffee to begin doing its magic on the meat. As it is a meat tenderizer this step will add to the quality of the final steak.

I Don’t Have a Grill but I Want to Reverse Sear?

If you want to do a reverse sear but don’t want to fire up the grill or don’t have one, no problem! Use your oven to do the low and slow. Preheat your oven to 250°, place the spice rubbed steak in the oven on a sheet pan with a wire rack.

To end up with a medium rare steak, slow roast the steak until the internal temperature is 125-130°. Remove the steak from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes. Resting between the low and slow and searing allows the steak to relax and retain the juices. At the end of the reverse searing process you won’t need to rest the meat.

Heat a cast iron pan or turn on your broiler. You can even sear under your broiler. Sear the steak for a few minutes on each side to develop a nice crust.

Be aware of how long you are cooking the steak to get the sear. Depending on the thickness of the steak, the internal temperature could rise to take your nice medium rare steak to a medium.

Does it have to be a Ribeye?

Absolutely not, the steak could be any type you like or have on hand! Keep in mind the reverse searing time will be dependent on how thick the steak is and the overall weight. Example- This 2.25 lb ribeye used in this recipe took 45 minutes at the low and slow portion of the reverse searing. But a thinner cut of steak may only take 30 minutes to get to the medium rare temperature desired.

Also the cooking time for the reverse sear step may also be a factor. Example- the thick cut of steak I used was about 2″ thick. I could get away with a searing time longer to get more of a crust on the steak. This is because the internal temperature will not increase as fast as a thinner steak. Keep these tips in mind when planning on doing a reverse sear cook.

I recommend using a wireless thermometer during the cooking process because it will allow you to monitor the temperature rise of both the low and slow process and the temperature of the meat when searing. There are many different brands of wireless meat thermometers on the market, this is the one I am currently using.

Enjoy!

Looking for other Beef Grilling Ideas? Browse Recipes here.