I tried the reverse sear method on a steak

[MillCreek]

https://www.seriouseats.com/reverse-seared-steak-recipe

I dug one of my cryovac packed prime ribeye steaks from Costco out of the freezer and I was planning on doing my usual sous vide and sear method.  I typically sous vide the steak for a couple of hours at 125 degrees and then do a 60 second sear on each side in a red hot cast iron skillet.  This gives me a final temp of 135 or so.

I found the above article and decided to give this method a whirl.  I unpackaged the steak from the cryovac, put it uncovered on a rack on a plate in the fridge for 24 hours to dry out and form a pellicle.  I took it out of the fridge, brought it to room temperature, seasoned it, put it on a rack in a baking sheet and put it in the oven at 250 for 45 minutes to an internal temp of 115 degrees.  I then seared it for 60 seconds on each side in a red hot oiled cast iron skillet. 

The final temp was just over 130 degrees and was beautifully and evenly cooked edge to edge.  It had a beautiful seared crust and was very tender.  It was a bit more rare than usual, so the next time I try this, I will cook it to an internal temperature of 118-120 to see if my final temp is my preferred 135 degrees. I preferred this method over the sous vide since it had a better crust.  The sous vide steak comes out damp from the cryovac, and even though I pat it dry, the residual moisture inhibits crust formation.  Drying it out for 24 hours in the fridge was like a quick dry aging, and I think it helped the crust.

PS: I also might use the convection oven feature next time to see if I get better air circulation for a more even cook.

[K Frame]

Don't try to sear then sous vide. You'll cry at the result. It is not good.

Re the meat being wet when it comes out of the sous vide, that is an issue. I've tried a couple of things to get around it, including letting the meat rest for a few minutes before drying it off and then oiling the hell out of it. That gives somewhat better results.

[sumpnz]

That is how I usually cook thick steaks.  Btw, we buy huge NY strip or ribeye roasts and steak them at home so we can get much thicker steaks than you can usually buy. 

The exception is we usually salt the meat 8-24 hours before cooking.  That lets the salt penetrate through most of the meat and enhances the flavor quite a bit vs 10-30 minutes before.