5 Reasons to Love RFX for Cooking Steak
We’re super excited for the launch of our new RFX™ system, including RFX MEAT™ and RFX GATEWAY™ (available together as the RFX Starter Kit) and have already had a ton of fun working with it here at ThermoWorks HQ. Among the many things we’ve cooked with it, of course, is steak. And it works great for it. So here we’ve put together five reasons RFX is great for cooking steak, and why it will help you nail your doneness every time.
1—RFX can easily go from the oven to the stovetop or grill.
If you read this blog often, you know we love to reverse-sear our steaks. The control you get from careful cooking followed by a hard sear is the best way we’ve found to get perfect doneness every time. And RFX MEAT goes easily from the oven to the cast-iron pan, or from the indirect side of a grill right to the flames.
2—Fire is no problem.
Cooking a steak in a hot pan inside is a thermal challenge unto itself, but it pales in comparison to the heat of grilling flare-ups. Those high temps are why we usually recommend not using a cooking probe while grilling. (The transitions on our Pro-Series® probes can go up to 644°F [340°C], plenty high for smoking, but too low for flare-ups.) As long as you insert the probe up to the minimum line, RFX MEAT can handle temperatures up to 1000°F (538°C)—high enough to handle the flare-ups that come with cooking deliciously fatty steaks over an open fire, so you can easily track the temp through the whole cook.
3—Extensibility makes you the life of the grill party.
Ok, we’ll throw in one more great reason why RFX is great for cooking steak: Parties. RFX GATEWAY can communicate with over 50 RFX MEAT probes, so you can keep an eye on everyone’s steaks at the cookout and see that they’re all done just right. All the data goes right to the ThermoWorks app, making you the grill master of grill masters.
4—There are no wires.
No matter how you cook your steak, there is going to be some flipping and turning. But with RFX MEAT’s wireless probes, there is no untangling, no removing the probe and hoping you got it back in the same spot again. Cook it like an SCA champion:
“I am a huge fan of the RFX Meat wireless thermometer because I don’t have to worry about wires getting in my way when I’m turning my steak. This gives me more time to focus on getting the perfect grill marks.”
– Anthony Lujan, SCA competitor, golden-ticket recipient, host of the Pitmaster’s Podcast
5—You can watch the carryover easily, graphically.
When your steak comes off the grill, out of the pan, or out from under the broiler, it will continue to cook. Keeping RFX MEAT in the steak will let you watch that carryover as it happens, even displaying the data graphically for you to better understand. Will it stop the carryover? No, but you can take notes in the app about the cook so that next time you can know what to expect from similar conditions. This kind of data analysis is what you need to become a true master of steak cookery.
Of course, this is just what RFX can do for steak! There are a host of other applications where RFX can shine, helping you become a better cook. Check it out, and see how things improve from your already-excellent level. Happy cooking!
When will the orders start shipping?
Orders placed now will start shipping 4–6 weeks from date of order.
Cant wait to receive my pack, specially that it will work with my billows and the rest of my ThermoWorks arsenal in one app. – What I am also looking forward to, is use it in a vacuum bag for Sous Vide and then straight onto the grill.
Yes!
Can you use the RFX with an infra red broiler?
If the temperature stays below 1000°F, it will be fine.
When will this item go on sale?
It is available for preorder now, we have no discounts planned for it.
Coming from Meater to RFX, will RFX use analytics to judge the amount of time left based on the doneness you want? Will it have different meat and cut selections? Those were the some of the influence to get Meater..However, I can’t wait for it not to lose signal!
Our ThermoWorks app currently has a Rate of Change feature that allows you to see how fast your food is cooking and gauge when it will be done. Our product development team is working on a unique way to predict a specific time more accurately. The competition doesn’t currently account for many variables.
Sounds like a superb idea and I’d be willing to try it
A sixth reason is that it makes sous vide cooking of steaks easier and more efficient. Instead of clipping an open bag to the side of the pot so the wired probe can come out of the bag, you just insert the probe, vacuum seal the meat and probe, and drop the bag in the pot.
I have had custody of my Rfx set for 3 Days now. I have used it 5 times so far.
Put a probe in the end of a hotdog and submerged it in a pot of water and boiled it with the lid on. Worked perfectly with no issues. Connectivity was solid the whole way. Even graphed the carry over. Too funny.
Did a small pork roast on a gas grill with no fear of flare ups. Again perfect. I checked the temp on my Rfx probe against my Thermapen both when I pulled it and when the carry over was done. They were spot on at both points.
This is plain entertaining. Will do the sous vide thing and some fryer chicken. I boiled a probe with the hot dog thing, but 350 degree plus hot oil submersion will be a whole different Challenge
I’m glad you’re enjoying it so much! It has actually changed the way I cook meat, and I’ve been at this for a long time!
I’m having issues connecting if the probes are inside a dutch oven or under foil. I thought this wasn’t going the be a problem like it is with competitors. Is there anything I can do to mitigate this issue?
Contact our Tech Support team, they can troubleshoot with you over the phone and cover some of the more technical aspects.
I got my 4 probe setup for Christmas and did my inaugural cook with a beef tenderloin on the smoker. It turned out great using the guides on this blog and I like the RFX system EXCEPT that I don’t get to track the temps of all 4 probes on one graph (like I do with my Signals gear). I’m assuming this limitation is app related? Are there any plans to release an iOS app update that will would give us this capability? Even better: be able to combine my Signals and my RFX probes on a single graph!
It is an app limitation, yes. You can see the combined graph on the cloud.thermoworks.com website. We are trying to find ways to efficiently combine the info in the app, and when we get it right, we’ll release it!