About The Backyard Sear
Jeremy Mullis
I am a backyard cook in Florida. This site is where I write down the numbers I wish somebody had handed me: what temperature, how long, and what to do when the cook has already gone wrong.
What I am known for
Five things, and the people who eat my food would list them in roughly this order.
- reverse-seared steak
- brisket
- pulled pork
- ribs
- homemade mac and cheese
The last one is not barbecue and it is on the list anyway, because a plate of ribs is not finished without it. Reverse sear is the first one for a reason: it is the technique this site is named after, and it is the one that changed how everything else on the list came out.
Why the numbers here are sourced
Most grilling advice online repeats a temperature nobody can trace back to anything. Every temperature, time, and ratio on this site traces to a source, and where two respected authorities disagree I would rather show you both than quietly pick the tidier one.
That is a written rule rather than an intention. A claim that cannot meet it does not publish, which is also why you will not find a gear review here that pretends I tested something I have not.
What I cannot tell you
I cook in Florida, so I cannot tell you from experience what it takes to hold 250 F when it is 20 F outside and the wind is moving. The cold-weather guides here are built from the mechanism and from sourced figures, and none of them claims I ran the cook.
The rule runs the other way too. What I can tell you about is salt air eating a grill from the outside in, getting a rig through hurricane season, and what 90% humidity does to bark and to the stall, none of which the Texas and Kansas City assumptions behind most barbecue writing account for.
How this stays free
Some gear links here are affiliate links, which earn a commission at no extra cost to you. They never change a pick. Every recommendation names the reader who should not buy it, and nothing on this site is paid placement. The full rule is on the affiliate disclosure page.
The one test
Would I say it across the table to someone who just ruined a brisket and wants to know why? If it passes that, it ships. If it reads like content, it gets fixed or cut.
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