How to Cook Red Meat Indoors When It's Too Damn Cold to Grill

We grill for many reasons, from the joy of working with red-hot coals and gas-fueled pyrotechnics to the opportunity to chew the fat with friends over a few beers while watching the meat sizzle. Even if frigid temperatures have forced you inside, you don’t have to give up the pleasures of grilling. 

These three red meat recipes let you baste, marinate, sear, sizzle and MacGyver your way through the cold winter months.

Reverse Sear Steak

If your technique for cooking the perfect steak combines direct and indirect grilling, the “reverse sear” will give you all the thrills of live fire grilling in the warmth of your own kitchen. The reverse sear will work its magic on anything from a thick rib eye to a hefty tomahawk.

Gear: cast-iron or heavy-bottomed pan • sheet pan and baking rack • meat thermometer

Cooking time: two beers

Preheat your oven to 225°F. 

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set a baking rack in it. Generously salt and pepper both sides of a rib eye (or your favorite steak) and place it on the rack.

Place sheet pan on the middle rack of your oven. Let steak cook until the internal temperature is 10°F below your desired degree of doneness. For medium-rare, rosy pink steak, the magic temperature for the desired degree of doneness is 135°F. 

A 1.5-inch thick, 1-pound steak should take approximately 30 minutes; thicker steaks will take substantially longer. 

As soon as your steak comes out of the oven, heat a cast-iron or heavy-bottomed pan on high heat until it is smoking. Add a tablespoon of olive oil and transfer your steak straight into the pan. Sear for 90 seconds per side, or until you get a beautiful crust. Slice and serve immediately.

Yield: 1 steak

Maple-Glazed Bacon-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin

Pork tenderloin is economical, crowd-pleasing and tender as its name suggests. But it is a lean cut of meat that can be unforgiving if overcooked on a grill. An oven minimizes that risk, while perfectly crisping the maple-glazed bacon that seals in all the flavor.

Gear: baking rack • meat thermometer

Cooking time: one beer

Preheat oven to 425°F

In a small bowl, mix four tablespoons of maple syrup with one tablespoon each of dry English mustard, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Pat down the first of two 1-pound pork tenderloins with half the dry rub.

Set out a 12-inch sheet of plastic wrap. Lay out eight strips of bacon in a north/south direction on the plastic wrap, with the bacon strips overlapping a bit. Set the first tenderloin in an east/west direction on the edge of the bacon closest to you.

Lift the closest two edges of the plastic wrap and roll it up to wrap the first half of the tenderloin. Peel back the plastic wrap and keep rolling until the bacon fully mummifies the tenderloin and the overlapping bacon adheres to itself.

Repeat with the second tenderloin.

Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set a baking rack in it. Set wrapped tenderloins on the rack, seam side down. Bake on the top rack for 20-25 minutes, or until bacon is super crispy and tenderloin is at least 145°F in the center. Baste generously with maple syrup at the 12- and 17-minute point. 

Remove from oven, cover loosely with foil and let rest for five minutes. Slice each tenderloin crosswise into 1-inch pieces.

Yield: serves four

Pineapple and Hoisin-Glazed Pork Ribs

Nothing scratches the BBQ itch like these juicy, tender Chinese-style spare ribs  — especially when they are cooked in a reconfigured oven that is jury-rigged to mimic the indirect heat of a grill.

Gear: blender or food processor 

Cooking time: a full six-pack

The dry rub

Combine one teaspoon each of salt and pepper, one tablespoon of dry mustard, three tablespoons of Chinese five spice. Reserve.

Pineapple hoisin glaze

2 tbsp. fresh ginger, grated

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp. brown sugar

⅓ cup hoisin sauce

1 cup fresh pineapple, skin and core removed (about ¼ of a pineapple), or canned pineapple or pineapple juice.

½ tsp. chile pepper flakes

Blend in a blender and reserve.

Set oven to 300°F and set one rack on the lowest setting and one rack in the center.

Brush one full rack of St. Louis-style ribs (3–4 pounds) with two tablespoons of oil. Sprinkle the spice rub generously over the ribs, then pat it down.

Cover a sheet pan with aluminum foil and place it on the lowest oven shelf. Place the rack of ribs directly onto the center shelf of the oven, directly over the foil-wrapped sheet pan (now your “drip pan”).

Roast ribs for about 2½ hours, or until they have a distinct rosy color and the meat recedes from the edges of the bone.

Baste ribs generously on all sides with pineapple hoisin glaze and cook for 20 more minutes. 

Remove ribs from the oven, cover lightly with foil and let rest for 15 minutes before carving up and serving. 

Yield: serves two as a meal, four as an appetizer