Most people suck at poker too just like most people are fish when it comes to ordering steak.

Again, the red liquid in meat is not blood. It's protein filled water which makes it delicious and juicy. There is no blood in the meat you buy at a supermarket.

It really isn't that difficult to get clean/better quality meat in the U.S. Organic beef, either grain fed, grain finished or grass fed can be found even in many supermarkets. For those with freezer space it's easy most places to buy a quarter beef. More and more farmers markets and co-ops have producers who raise their animals the right way.

As a modestly informed consumer I understand that the issue with U.S. beef these days isn't growth hormones for the most part, it's overuse of antibiotics. U.S. cattle produce more appealing steaks because of the use of grain feeds (in feedlots) versus conventional grazing on grass. It's not hormones.

With all due respect and not to politard this thread but Euro bans had/have at least as much to do with protecting domestic farmers as with protecting Euro consumers from U.S. meat.

/derail

I get the impression it is much easier to get good quality beef in the US than the UK, where I am. In the UK you need a proper quality butcher and you can get top quality meat, not sure about every supermarket but the average I see in tesco doesn't look good at all.
If anyone in the UK doesn't have a decent butcher near them, you may be living in the wrong place(!) or more easily solved, there are many sources online for beef that will rival almost anything; there is a wagyu herd in Wales for instance. Is it as good as the Japanese? No idea, probably not, but the food culture in the UK has changed dramatically over the last 20 years or so. There are clear differences between cultures in Europe and the US but US/Euro arguments are boring.
Edit - link in case any UK based people are interested in trying it:
http://www.wagyu.net/

On a related note, while reading Modernist Cuisine I learned that while resting meat after cooking obviously is to keep the juices from spilling out when you slice into it, the mechanism is usually misunderstood.

Most people (myself included until I read it) think that cooking draws the juices to the center, and resting allows them to redistribute. False.

What actually happens is when you rest dissolved and degraded proteins slightly thicken the juice as they cool, making juice less likely to spill out when the steak has rested and is cut.

same. standard for me. Never tried the super heavy salting.

Have also salted a whole tenderloin in the fridge overnight and it was freaking delicious and super tender.

Kenji says to salt immediately before cooking (<2 mins) or >40 minutes before cooking. Anything in between and you are drying out your steak.

Hi All,

Figured I'd let my wife out of the kitchen for a night and put all the lurking I've been doing in this thread the past few days to use.

Went to B.B&B and picked up an iron skillet.

Went to the grocery store and had the meat guy slice me off a 1 1/2" thick bone in ribeye ($7.99 per pound.)

Came home and let it sit for 90 minutes or so. It was still pretty cold but it was getting late.

Followed the reverse sear method that Diablo described a page or two back. I'm going to list what i've done just to make sure I didn't mess anything up.

- put some kosher salt and black pepper when I put it out to warm

- rendered the fat on the edges for about 2 minutes per edge on medium heat (electric stove)

- cooked 3 minutes per side on medium heat

- covered with foil and let rest for six minutes

- turned stove to high... started smoking like crazy.

- seared for about 50 seconds each side

- covered with foil again and let sit for five minutes

- pulled sweet potato fries out of the oven


The meat was not the same thickness throughout and I didn't cook it even. The edge parts I thought were great but perhaps a little greasy.

The closer it got to the bone though some was nearly purple and raw. I threw those pieces back on the same skillet, but they came out super greasy.

I wasn't thrilled with my performance but figured I'd post some pics so maybe I can improve for next time.

Also, the house is very smokey and greasy feeling. Wife is not in love with that. Normal? Perhaps the Ducasse (sp?) method is better suited for us.











EMC's





Any advice is appreciated!


Josh

wtf that looks amazing! you should be very proud with that. If you want the meat closer to the bone to be a bit more cooked perhaps try standing it up with the bone side on the pan for a few minutes.

Also pissing of wives/gfs with cast-iron steak smoke is completely standard. It'll go away in a day or two. You can try different setups like a fan directed towards an open window etc to reduce the amount of smoke.

Yeah that looks like in the top 10% in this thread.

i have a hard time believing this cutting a steak with a fork bidness

Top couple books I've ever read. Do you feel the same?

Is it really that good? I was thinking about getting Modernist Cuisine as present for my wife, but I was reading some of the Amazon reviews of it and there were quite a few reviews that said that it had a ton of basic errors in it.

Of course, the reviews weren't all bad. A lot of people liked it too.

Your hot is probably too hot. Your crust looks a little on the black side. Do a medium high and avoid some smoke.
Did you use any oil or just fat?
Get yourself a good digital meat thermometer. Will give you a better idea of where you stand after medium heat cooking. Sounds like you pulled it off a bit early for your liking.

You're doing it wrong then. Most of my tenderloins can be cut with a fork. This is whole tenderloin cut into slices tho

I don't read many cook books and really just wanted to see where it recommended cooking chicken SV. Ended up reading quite a bit more than I planned. Not sure if I'd drop $450 on it but looks like solid in depth info all around

So i'm thinking of getting a sous vide machine and have done exactly zero research so far. How much do they cost / is there any brand in particular that is better than others?

Is there much cleaning/maintenance involved?

There is really only one 'sous vide machine' that is the sous vide supreme (or SVS demi). Otherwise you are looking at two options
1) immersion circulator - i think these start around $1k and you attach it to a large bin of water. It heats and circulates the water. This is what restaurants use. They are accurate and versatile
2) pid controller with probe - basically an outlet + thermometer that you use to control a crockpot / slowcooker. Set temp, plug crockpot in to controller and insert probe into water (don't touch side). Controller turns crockpot on and off to regulate temp. Usually accurate to 1F or so. These are about $150 and require crockpot

A5 Wagyu is way too fatty, I think. It's only good for shabu shabu otherwise you are just eating a mouthful of fat. For steak I would actually prefer some A3 wagyu.

Josh,

First off, as has been said, that looks pretty damn good to me!

But some specific comments:

"- cooked 3 minutes per side on medium heat" this for a 1.5in bone-in will get you to somewhere around medium rare on my range - looks like yours is about the same temp. Sounds like you should prob go a little bit longer, slightly towards the medium side of medium rare.

"- turned stove to high... started smoking like crazy." you're gonna get some smoke here and make your house smell like steak when pan searing. but like freakin said, medium high is prob hot enough - I get a little smoke when searing mine, but def nothing crazy. and yeah, your sear is a little darker than i prefer (but still looks v good!)

"- pulled sweet potato fries out of the oven" strong move w/ SP fries.

"The meat was not the same thickness throughout and I didn't cook it even." bone-in is tougher than boneless to cook exactly even, and when pan cooking, you're gonna have uneven cooking if the steak is uneven thickness. Either get a flat steak or finish this in the oven.

"The edge parts I thought were great but perhaps a little greasy." that's because you got a good looking well-marbled ribeye. Maybe try a NY strip next time for a still very flavorful and delicious, but less fatty steak.

"The closer it got to the bone though some was nearly purple and raw." yeah just a function of the uneven thickness. either the narrow parts will be overdone or the thick parts will be underdone if you pan cook an uneven steak.

I have this: http://www.auberins.com/index.php?ma...7d2fc51419400c

I use it with my crockpot. You can also use it with a rice cooker. From what I've read/experienced there are a couple of advantages to this setup:
- initial cost
- large capacity
- easy to clean
- sensor and crockpot are both cheap and easy to replace and are the most likely things to break

Disadvantages:
- no water circulation, so temperature is not totally uniform (but it's still pretty good)
- the system is slower to react, so you can really only control cooking temperature to +/- 1 degree, though this may be more accurate with a rice cooker
- not a nice clean setup, it looks like a science experiment

Also you probably need to buy a vacuum sealer.

I don't doubt that the temperature control issues with the PID controller would be a deal breaker for someone like Thomas Keller. I use it primarily for cooking relatively cheap meat though, so it is more than accurate enough for me.

Thanks for all the feedback everybody. Can't wait to do it again.

Next time we get ribeyes should I ask for boneless?

What does the bone add to the steak?

The bone adds favor, and the meat right next to the bone is more tender. The downside is the bone cooks more slowly, so the meat near it will be less done than the rest of the steak.

The bone is also useful if you make your own stocks.

If you obsess about the steak being perfectly evenly cooked then I'd probably recommend boneless.

if i have a bone in steak i generally cook it on the grill. All boneless steaks have been cooked on the stove in the last 2ish years.

You did a fine job. A slight tweak will yield a slightly less charred crust and a slightly less purple result.

It's very close to awesome though. Try a boneless for a little easier timing.

My last two ribeyes. Let steak sit out in room temp for 30mins to an hour depending on how much time I have. S&P a little before cooking. Put cast iron in 550 degree oven and turn stove on high. Render the fat for a minute or so and then 1-2mins per side depending on how thick it is.

josh, go boneless iyam. especially if youre just starting.

much easier to cook boneless.