Steak Porn

[Sarah_Kirschbaum]

The best thing about Sous Vide is that it turns steak into fast food on those evenings when you just dont know what to eat. I have a good amount of steaks vacuum sealed in the freezer, just pick one, drop it in, 2 hours later - dinner.

I’m not quite sure how the grill crowd defrosts the steaks. I’ve put the steaks in the fridge overnight, and it’s still frozen! The only solution I can come up with is either defrost on the counter or in a water bath, then put it in the fridge. Or I have to prepare 2+ days early and keep it in the fridge.

I always thaw under cold water when I need it same day. Takes just a couple of hours at most, depending on the thickness of the steak. If I do that early afternoon, I will just take it out of the bath when thawed, dry it off, salt, and leave on the counter until time to cook (we also eat early).

[Mikko_Tuomi]

Anything on the surface will be killed by salting and then heat from cooking. Bacteria doesn’t magically penetrate beef.

Often true, but not always.

There are halotolerant pathogens that cause food poisoning, and ribeyes especially usually have a gap between the spinalis and the eye, which you will not be able to cook past pasteurization temperature, unless you like your meat well done.
It’s just not worth it.

[Bill_Tex_Landreth]

Too many big words.

[Mark_Golodetz]

I think that’s a good question, and one you could experiment with. I usually set it to 125F and then finish it pretty aggressively. it’s important to dry your steak once out of the sous vide before searing

The chief advantage of sous vide in my mind (for steaks at least) is that sometimes that kind of textural difference can actually be a good thing. You can make a $12 choice grade filet taste like a $35 cut if finished properly. In my experience it seems to elevate lesser cuts (but I’ve stopped using it for very good meat). The second advantage being the ability to time your cook really well. One of the greatest hacks I’ve seen recently is to make your mashed potato puree, set it in a bag, then drop into sous vide at 165 until ready to serve!

Another plus for sous vide is if the people eat a different times, then all you have to do it heat the pan, take the steak you want to prepare, and sear it from the sous vide bath.
The timing for that on a grill or oven will be very hard. This happens regularly with 3 kids…

We blind tasted three steaks; one reverse sear, one cooked normally and one sous vide. The first two were neck and neck, reverse sear just winning. A distant third was SV.

[Mike_Evans]

The best thing about Sous Vide is that it turns steak into fast food on those evenings when you just dont know what to eat. I have a good amount of steaks vacuum sealed in the freezer, just pick one, drop it in, 2 hours later - dinner.

I agree. I have quite a few steaks in the freezer, and it’s a mindless job to just put the steak from freezer to water bath and have a steak almost ready in 2 hours. Just need to finish off with reverse sear. I just have to remember to set up the sous vide 3-4PM since the kids get hungry pretty early.

I’m not quite sure how the grill crowd defrosts the steaks. I’ve put the steaks in the fridge overnight, and it’s still frozen! The only solution I can come up with is either defrost on the counter or in a water bath, then put it in the fridge. Or I have to prepare 2+ days early and keep it in the fridge.

I use my immersion circulator with the heat turned off to rapidly defrost a steak in cold water.

[Brian_Tuite]

The best thing about Sous Vide is that it turns steak into fast food on those evenings when you just dont know what to eat. I have a good amount of steaks vacuum sealed in the freezer, just pick one, drop it in, 2 hours later - dinner.

I agree. I have quite a few steaks in the freezer, and it’s a mindless job to just put the steak from freezer to water bath and have a steak almost ready in 2 hours. Just need to finish off with reverse sear. I just have to remember to set up the sous vide 3-4PM since the kids get hungry pretty early.

I’m not quite sure how the grill crowd defrosts the steaks. I’ve put the steaks in the fridge overnight, and it’s still frozen! The only solution I can come up with is either defrost on the counter or in a water bath, then put it in the fridge. Or I have to prepare 2+ days early and keep it in the fridge.

I use my immersion circulator with the heat turned off to rapidly defrost a steak in cold water.

I put the steak in the sink and cover it with a couple inches of water

[jordan_whitehead]

The best thing about Sous Vide is that it turns steak into fast food on those evenings when you just dont know what to eat. I have a good amount of steaks vacuum sealed in the freezer, just pick one, drop it in, 2 hours later - dinner.

I agree. I have quite a few steaks in the freezer, and it’s a mindless job to just put the steak from freezer to water bath and have a steak almost ready in 2 hours. Just need to finish off with reverse sear. I just have to remember to set up the sous vide 3-4PM since the kids get hungry pretty early.

I’m not quite sure how the grill crowd defrosts the steaks. I’ve put the steaks in the fridge overnight, and it’s still frozen! The only solution I can come up with is either defrost on the counter or in a water bath, then put it in the fridge. Or I have to prepare 2+ days early and keep it in the fridge.

I use my immersion circulator with the heat turned off to rapidly defrost a steak in cold water.

I also use it to rapidly chill wine

[Andrew_Kotowski]

Anything on the surface will be killed by salting and then heat from cooking. Bacteria doesn’t magically penetrate beef.

Often true, but not always.

There are halotolerant pathogens that cause food poisoning, and ribeyes especially usually have a gap between the spinalis and the eye, which you will not be able to cook past pasteurization temperature, unless you like your meat well done.
It’s just not worth it.

I’m generally even less concerned about this, as if I’m defrosting, there’s a 100% certainty it’s Morgan Ranch or Flannery, which means the steaks are in vacuum-sealed bags when they’re sitting on the counter.

[Mikko_Tuomi]

I’m generally even less concerned about this, as if I’m defrosting, there’s a 100% certainty it’s Morgan Ranch or Flannery, which means the steaks are in vacuum-sealed bags when they’re sitting on the counter.

The contents inside the vacuum bags are not sterile, so you will still have pathogen growth inside it.

The cold water methods listed above are the safest and fastest ways to thaw meat.

Chances of food poisoning are obviously low even if you leave it on your desk for a day, but why risk it when there are safer and faster ways to do it.

[Michael_Sopher]

Dove face-first into the Morgan Ranch stash over the past week - did a flank steak at home on the kamado and then packed the tri-tip steaks and cooked over gas (all I had).

The flank is great stuff, as you’d expect, and I cooked direct over a stack of coals. Hard to explain past “heavy beef flavor,” but it was clear I was eating a steak (if that makes sense)

The tri-tip steaks were an entirely different beast, to the point where I thought the emphasis/flavor was on the high fat content/richness rather than what I’d expect from traditional beef. Just outstanding, with pics below.

That is just perfect color on the flanks. I am doing some by reverse sear next week. Did you target 125 degrees on them or go by feel. I’ve cooked them on the grill by feel before but this is my first round indoors.

And agree on the Tri tip steak… just completely unctuous piece of beef.

[Andrew_Kotowski]

Dove face-first into the Morgan Ranch stash over the past week - did a flank steak at home on the kamado and then packed the tri-tip steaks and cooked over gas (all I had).

The flank is great stuff, as you’d expect, and I cooked direct over a stack of coals. Hard to explain past “heavy beef flavor,” but it was clear I was eating a steak (if that makes sense)

The tri-tip steaks were an entirely different beast, to the point where I thought the emphasis/flavor was on the high fat content/richness rather than what I’d expect from traditional beef. Just outstanding, with pics below.

That is just perfect color on the flanks. I am doing some by reverse sear next week. Did you target 125 degrees on them or go by feel. I’ve cooked them on the grill by feel before but this is my first round indoors.

And agree on the Tri tip steak… just completely unctuous piece of beef.

Thank you! I generally grill by feel, but even more so with flank and hanger, given the thickness. Just takes a couple of tries to get the hang of it on your grill… just don’t make the couple of tries high end wagyu flanks

I don’t know that I’d do flank via reverse sear - given the thickness, you’ll probably have a better shot with a medium-hot fire/coals and then opening/closing the lid to get the right level of sear for a crust. I’d worry that you’d be challenged on a kamado/weber to get the transition from indirect to direct/sear nailed. Cooking direct over a medium fire allows you to get that maillard effect while screwing with the vents to get the optimal sear without overcooking.

[JDavisRoby]

Morgan Ranch Tri Tips last night. New technique for me. Salted with a hickory smoked sea salt and fresh cracked black & white pepper. Sat salted for about four hours. Used my Traeger on smoke for about ten minutes then cranked up to high and seared using the Grill Grate brand grate. Started on the flat side of the grate then moved it to the side with fins/ribs.

I am normally a big sous vide user and have made many great steaks. These seemed to be the perfect size to just grill by touch.

Served sliced about 1/8-1/4 thick. Were fork tender and then just a hint of smoke and salt. Didn’t pass out from the elations but were pretty, pretty tasty.

[P_Turk]

First time with the Morgan Ranch tri-tip steak as I usually stick to the ribeyes. Pan seared in cast iron pan with a touch of ghee after pre-salting on a rack in the fridge for 5-6 hours prior. Maybe it was the cook but found it a little chewier than a ribeye; however, the flavor, texture, and fat level were very tasty. Paired it with my first Andremily, and the savoriness, meatiness, acidity, and cleanliness of the EABA was a fantastic complement to the richness of the steak.

[Jason_T]

First time with the Morgan Ranch tri-tip steak as I usually stick to the ribeyes. Pan seared in cast iron pan with a touch of ghee after pre-salting on a rack in the fridge for 5-6 hours prior. Maybe it was the cook but found it a little chewier than a ribeye; however, the flavor, texture, and fat level were very tasty. Paired it with my first Andremily, and the savoriness, meatiness, acidity, and cleanliness of the EABA was a fantastic complement to the richness of the steak.
8A22670E-EE0A-4D9F-A4A8-0AD9F2FD6B2B.jpeg79EF4DB0-8FB6-494C-8C35-777269D1D2D7.jpeg

Is it just me or does that not look like tri-tip? Looks more like Zabuton. That said it looks delicious and perfectly prepared!!!

[Marc_Yamawaki]

Is it just me or does that not look like tri-tip? Looks more like Zabuton. That said it looks delicious and perfectly prepared!!!

I was like WTF, what’s a zabuton cut?
It’s literally the name of a seat cushion in Japanese… then I looked it up!

(BTW, a zabuton cut doesn’t even resemble a zabuton cushion since the cushion is square and thin…)

[Brian_Tuite]

First time with the Morgan Ranch tri-tip steak as I usually stick to the ribeyes. Pan seared in cast iron pan with a touch of ghee after pre-salting on a rack in the fridge for 5-6 hours prior. Maybe it was the cook but found it a little chewier than a ribeye; however, the flavor, texture, and fat level were very tasty. Paired it with my first Andremily, and the savoriness, meatiness, acidity, and cleanliness of the EABA was a fantastic complement to the richness of the steak.
8A22670E-EE0A-4D9F-A4A8-0AD9F2FD6B2B.jpeg79EF4DB0-8FB6-494C-8C35-777269D1D2D7.jpeg

The Tri-Tip is a roast not a steak. The fact that they cut it into steak sized strips does not make it a steak. Can’t deny the flavor on these which is great but I wish they would leave it as a roast and sell it as such.

[jordan_whitehead]

The best thing about Sous Vide is that it turns steak into fast food on those evenings when you just dont know what to eat. I have a good amount of steaks vacuum sealed in the freezer, just pick one, drop it in, 2 hours later - dinner.

2 hours=slow food

[Andrew_Kotowski]

Had a colleague in from Milan, which was a hell of an excuse to fire up the AKGrill and the Mill Scale at the same time. Flannery dry aged NY + Morgan Ranch NY and Rib Eye = epic steak dinner. I smoked some bacon and crumbled it on top of Chris Lilly’s Mac and Cheese which is our family’s favorite comfort food dish. Worth buying “Fire and Smoke” just for that recipe! Paired with a 2016 Saxum James Berry. More pics on my IG (link below)

[Bill_Tex_Landreth]

Wagyu Strips @ $33 a pound and a Chuck Roast @ $10 a pound.

[Bill_Tex_Landreth]

As seen at Costco today.