I'm not a regular poster ITT but definitely lurk and have only contributed one steak for review. Put me down as a maybe for this competition! Depending on when it is, I think I can swing it. I don't have a sous vide so I wouldn't be able to use that cooking method, but open to pan, grill or reverse sear...
I understand the idea of no thermometers but it goes against what I think makes us better steak cooks. We aren't part of the he-man steak cookers club, we use science and technology to make us better than randoms who think they can handle a grill just because the steak doesn't kill them afterwards. Someone using a thermometer is a good thing, not a bad thing.
Lots of truth to this.
I'm also rethinking allowing SV. Yes, it's a foolproof interior, but it's an uphill climb to get a mega-elite sear. So why not go with all methods available?
Why not award a difficulty multiplier like they do in gymnastics. Certain meat has a certain multiplier and the contestant picks his/her own meat of choice.
Just let everyone cook their damn steak whatever way they like best FFS.
And no way that the "final" round would be a prime rib... lol and WTF?!?!?!?
This whole "competition" thing just seems plain wrong to me. I can't believe that the no-brainer move isn't for everyone to just cook and eat steaks in the same spirit as is being done for the Pielebration.
Finally, what's up with HT's derogatory slag about grilled onion? Grilled onions are ****ing fantastic.
here are the posters who have confirmed, if we can get 3 more then we'll have a nice even 16. if not, i propose that we figure out a system to randomize a few byes in the round of 16
rules (not to be set in stone just yet, open to suggestions/changes):
-initial bracket pairings will be randomized in some way
-any cooking method is acceptable- oven reverse sear, #teampan, #teamgrill, liquid aluminum, etc (i'm open to allowing sous vide and a longer time window)
-we will be cooking with the ribeye cut because lol @ other cuts
-thickness of cut is up to the user, but thicker cuts should be given more weight when judging interior and overall aesthetics
-steaks will be judged on 1)interior, 2)crust, 3)gray band, 4)overall aesthetics, with all the contestants putting it to a majority vote. i'm also cool with doing it olympic/gymnastics style where judges give a 1-10 score on each category, add them up for a total and then average the scores for a winner. thoughts?
-ideal target temp will always be 125-130 for a true medium rare
-bonus points for wine/liquor/side dish pairings? (not set on this one, just throwing it out there)
-once bracketed and scheduled for a match, each contestant must post a preliminary pic itt of their raw cut, and at least one picture sometime during the cooking process. i think it would be fun to live blog each round in some capacity, and those who are online are encouraged to heckle and talk ****.
-each contestant will be given two hours to present their submission (should be enough time to fire up coals/bring to temp in oven and put everything together)
-winners move on to the next bracket until we are HU for the championship
am i forgetting anything here? let's do this!
I'm interested but all comes down to timing for me. I'd love to be in but if I make the bracket uneven use me as an alternate.
Just let everyone cook their damn steak whatever way they like best FFS.
And no way that the "final" round would be a prime rib... lol and WTF?!?!?!?
This whole "competition" thing just seems plain wrong to me. I can't believe that the no-brainer move isn't for everyone to just cook and eat steaks in the same spirit as is being done for the Pielebration.
Finally, what's up with HT's derogatory slag about grilled onion? Grilled onions are ****ing fantastic.
SMH. Just unreal.
I gotta go; my steak is boiling over.
Grilled onions are delicious, of course. But a famous poster in another thread posted LOL pictures of a grilled onion and I was taking a swipe at him.
I don't like the idea of intentionally outlawing helpful tools just because ups degree of difficulty. Who wants to eat a suboptimal steak?
Just have everyone cook a steak however they want and post how they did it, then discuss who did what best. "Best SV", "Best RS", best overall sear, best Sparks, best deansteak. Giving awards to everyone is the proper thing to do in 2017 anyways, and we get to flood the thread with awesome steaks.
Please pardon the crappy kitchen lighting at my new place. Anyway, the all-butter cook is one not to be neglected. Used about 1.5 sticks total but the crust it builds makes this technique completely worth it.