Reverse Seared Smoked Ribeyes

You haven't truly had steak until you've tasted Reverse Seared Smoked Ribeyes made with this tasty steak seasoning recipe! The perfect blend of seasoning, dry brining, smoking, and reverse searing creates an irresistibly juicy, flavor-packed smoked ribeye steak—perfectly paired with crispy, creamy air fryer twice baked potatoes.

Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and what better way to celebrate your sweetie than with juicy and flavorful smoked ribeyes? This smoked ribeye steak recipe only takes around an hour to smoke. However, I recommend taking the time to dry bine the steak, which makes all the difference! This might mean doing some prep work the day before.

Dry brining is a technique where you season the steak or other meat with salt (and sometimes other spices) and let it rest uncovered in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight before cooking.

This process allows the salt to draw out the moisture from the meat and creates a flavorful slurry that gets reabsorbed. This enhances the flavor of the meat and tenderizes it. It also helps to retain the moisture of the steak during grilling or smoking and allows for a perfectly seared crust.

Jump to:

• 😍 Why You'll Love This Recipe
• 🛒 What You Need For This Recipe
• 🔖 Ingredients & Substitutions
• 🥩 How to Make Smoked Ribeyes
• 🌡 Steak Smoking Temperatures
• 🍽 Serving Suggestions
• 🤷🏻‍♀️ Recipe FAQs
• 👩🏼‍🍳 Pro Tips
• 🌯 More Steak Recipes
• Did you make this recipe?
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

😍 Why You'll Love This Recipe

• Smoked ribeye steaks have an incredible flavor and are what I would consider a beginner smoker recipe.
• This recipe can be used to make one or more steaks and it only takes around an hour to smoke.
• This would be a great recipe for a special occasion, think Valentine's Day, Galentine's Day, or your anniversary dinner!

🛒 What You Need For This Recipe

🔖 Ingredients & Substitutions

• Steak: Choose between bone-in or boneless ribeye steak. For this recipe, I'm using bone-in ribeyes. I recommend splurging a little and choosing a thick USDA prime ribeye. Prime offers the highest quality, with the most marbling (intramuscular fat). It’s incredibly juicy, tender, and flavorful. If that's too expensive, the next best option is choice. It's still high quality, with good marbling but less than prime. I don't recommend select, it's leaner with less marbling, meaning it’s not as tender or flavorful. It requires extra care when cooking to avoid drying out.
• Seasoning: I recommend this steak seasoning recipe for the best results, however, if you have a favorite spice blend in mind, of course, you can use that instead. Other great options include Montreal Steak Seasoning, or a combination of freshly cracked black pepper, kosher salt, and garlic powder.
• Oil/Butter: You'll need some fat for searing the steak in a skillet. I recommend tallow (see how to render beef tallow for more info). If you don't have tallow, you can use lard (see how to render pork fat). An oil with a high smoke point, like avocado oil, would also work. You'll also need a pat of butter to add to the steak while it's resting.
• Pellets: I like the flavor of mesquite pellets, however, cherry, hickory, pecan, and oak are also great flavor options!

🥩 How to Make Smoked Ribeyes

Step 1: Dry steak with paper towels to remove all moisture. Next, season steak on all sides with steak seasoning, or use kosher salt, freshly cracked pepper, and garlic powder.

Step 2: Place steak in the refrigerator for a minimum of 2 hours, and up to 24 hours. Remove from the fridge before starting your smoker.

Pro Tip: Don't skip the dry brining time, it's where the magic happens!

Step 3: Turn on smoker and add pellets. Set the smoker's temperature to 225°F, then choose super smoke. Place meat thermometer in the thickest part of the steak, then place steak directly on the grill grates. When the internal temp reaches 120°F, remove steak from the grill.

Pro Tip: Keep in mind after searing the steak and resting it for 5 minutes, the temperature will increase by approximately 10 degrees. Removing the steak at 120°F will give you a steak that's 130°F or medium rare, once seared and rested. Adjust the time up or down based on how you like your steak cooked.

Step 4: Oil a cast-iron skillet with beef tallow, lard, or avocado oil and heat until smoking. Add steak and cook over high heat for one minute, then flip to the other side and cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until it's 5 degrees below your final desired temperature.

Step 5: Remove the steak from the pan and top with a pat of butter. Rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Pro Tip: If you tent the steak while it's resting, the internal temperature will get higher and you run the risk of overcooking the steak.

🌡 Steak Smoking Temperatures

Smoke steaks at 225°F for approximately 1 hour or until the internal temperature reaches the desired temperature, minus 10 degrees.

Internal Temperature	Desired Doneness
115/125	Rare
125/135	Medium Rare
135/145	Medium
145/155	Medium Well
155/165	Well

🍽 Serving Suggestions

I like serving steaks with a potato dish like smoked potatoes or these crispy air fryer potato wedges. If you prefer corn, try this smoked corn on the cob recipe. I also enjoy a salad on the side and often serve a simple Arab salad, Lebanese Tabouleh salad, or an arugula and pear salad.

🤷🏻‍♀️ Recipe FAQs

👩🏼‍🍳 Pro Tips

• Whenever possible, opt for thicker steaks (at least 1.5 inches) to prevent overcooking.
• Season steaks generously to allow deep seasoning.
• Use hardwood like oak, hickory, mesquite, or cherry for a balanced smoky flavor.
• Don't skip resting the steak. This step is necessary to allow the juices to redistribute throughout the steak, resulting in a juicier steak.
• If you have steak leftovers, head over to my leftover steak post for some recipe ideas!

🌯 More Steak Recipes

📖 Recipe