Tyler Durden was right. You want to make an omelet, you gotta break some eggs. I wish he told me the same holds true for making steaks in an air fryer. Lately I’ve been noticing air fryer recipes pop up on my Instagram feed, promising perfectly seared steaks. The idea seemed more than plausible as an air fryer is really a convection oven that according to CNET, blows hot air even faster in a smaller environment and more evenly because the food is suspended in basket. I know first hand that it does wonders with Brussel sprouts and frozen tater tots. But what about a $25 New York Strip? As daunting as the idea of potentially ruining a steak might be, I had to try and see if I found a new magical method for cooking steak at home.
I posted a query about air fryer steaks on my socials and received a mixed bag of responses. One person shared an intriguing method: using the reverse sear with in air fryer. I’ve done this method before in an oven and a pellet grill with sterling results on Standing Rib Roasts, Tri Tips, even large bone in ribeye steaks that run about two pounds or more.
But an air fryer can’t accommodate anything that large. So in order to test the method, I had to shell out some coin for a thick steak that was at an inch and a half thick. I settled on a NY Strip and ran with the method shared by my Facebook follower.
I set my Air fryer to 280(he suggested 275 but mine went in increments of 10 degrees) and cooked it for 12 minutes, then searing it off in a hot pan, per his recipe. For added measure I used a Meater 2 Plus, which is a wireless smart meat thermometer to monitor the cook, including the internal temp of the steak and the ambient temp of the air fryer. This was single handedly the smartest thing I could have done because it gave me an inside look to what would go totally wrong.
My first steak cooked in an air fryer was the worst steak I’ve cooked, maybe ever. I’ve had a few duds here and there but mostly because I went the cheap route and bought a tough top sirloin or a sorry looking steak from a budget grocery store. On this occasion I transformed a beautiful NY Strip into a flavorless slab of beef because by time the steak rested, it was cooked well past medium and that’s a stain I’ll carry with me for a long time
But I did learn about a few important flaws in an air fryer, at least mine anyways. My air fryer runs hot and reverse sear only works when you’re sub 275 degrees(thanks J Kenji Lopez!). Not only did my air fryer run hot, it just keeps getting hotter. This became very problematic while I cooked my steak for the full 12 minute duration that was suggested. Halfway through the cook, the airfryer was running at over 300 degrees.
I was shooting for an internal temp of 115(per J. Kenji Lopez’s recipe) which took about 18 minutes. After that I seared the steak off in a pan heated to 430 degrees per my infrared thermometer. I tried my best to get a respectable looking sear but I knew my steak would be woefully overcooked if I went too long in the pan. The result was an under seared steak, medium well steak. All in all it was a tough pill to swallow but I jotted down my notes, dusted myself off and went back for another round.
I coughed up another $25 and tempted the fates once more with my quest for a perfect air fryer steak experience. This time I decided to lower the cooking temp in the air fryer to 250 and break up the cook in half and flip the steak in between. I also decided to pull the steak at a lower temp to 95 degrees to buy myself time to put a really good sear on.
Like before the air fryer ran hot. Though set at 250 degrees I was running at 282 after four minutes. But this time because I split the 12 minute cook time in half, and when I opened the basket, the air fryer cooled down, minimizing the air fryer temperature rise. After the 12 minute cooking time I let the air fryer shut down but I left my steak in there for two minutes while the internal temp rose to my desired temp of 95 degrees. I even let it ride to 100 while I got my pan properly smoking.
This time I cranked my pan up north of 500 degrees before dropping in the steak. I also brought in a bacon press to ensure a more even sear. I knew the steak’s temp would rise 10 degrees after I pulled it from the pan so I seared it on each side till it hit 123 degrees, which took about 2 minutes a side. After 5 minutes or so of resting, my steak’s internal temp hit 133 degrees and I started carving that steak up. I’m still glowing thinking about how perfect it came out. I conquered steak in an air fryer.
But does this mean I’ll do it again? All told it took 18 minutes to cook the steak which is about the time it would take me to do a pan sear and oven finish. While the reverse sear steak came out well, I find the method becomes downright essential with truly large cuts that can’t be pulled off on a hot grill or a good pan. Usually if I’m splurging on a steak I’m taking the time to build a live fire and the just keep flipping method might be the best way to sear a steak.
So while I can endorse this method of reverse sear in the air fryer, I can’t say if I’ll ever bother to do it again. Unless it’s a rainy night and maybe Tyler Durden is over and he reminds me that I’m not the car I drive or the money in my wallet. And I decide to cook him a steak in an air fryer to remind that capitalism won’t fill your life with meaning but it can cook you a darn good steak.
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