The Gray Band
The zone of overcooked meat between the seared crust and the medium-rare center — caused by steep thermal gradients during cooking.
The gray band is the ring of overcooked (gray-brown) meat visible between the seared crust and the pink/red center of a cooked steak. It's the visual evidence of a steep thermal gradient — the outer layers exceeded the target temperature significantly before the center reached it.
What causes it: High-heat cooking creates a large temperature difference between the surface and center. While the center slowly climbs to 131°F, the outer layers blow past 160°F into well-done territory. The gray band is this overcooked zone, where myoglobin has fully denatured (gray-brown color) and muscle fibers have contracted (tough, dry texture).
Gray band width by method: - Direct high-heat grilling: 8–12mm - Sear-first, oven finish: 5–8mm - Reverse sear: 1–2mm - Sous vide + brief sear: 0.5–1.5mm
Why you want to minimize it: The gray band tastes like well-done steak — dry, firm, less flavorful than the juicy center. A thick gray band means a significant portion of each bite is overcooked. In a 2-inch steak with 10mm gray bands on each side, the overcooked zone represents roughly 40% of the cross-section. With 2mm gray bands (reverse sear), it's less than 10%.
How to minimize it: Use methods that create shallow thermal gradients before the sear. The reverse sear's low oven phase brings the entire steak to near-target temperature before searing. Sous vide eliminates the gradient entirely. Then apply the briefest possible sear at the highest possible temperature — this creates the crust without pushing heat deep into the interior.
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