Broke people,

Bring your oil to temperature with a dedicated sous vide like the rest of us in the 21st century are doing!

i bought a big dutch oven the other week and want to try making some french fries (and fried chicken) in it one of these days

Econ,

I bet that 20-something Kraft cfo would have made fried chicken and fries multiple times by now.

Yeah, but he has to eat Kraft mac & cheese topped with Heinz ketchup.

Welcome to SF Bay Area sportstalk radio!

The comments are a real rollercoaster!

99 - perfect. lol

i feel the ache . . .
the ache for steak

Is that Lindsay Von's vag? was my favorite reply.

More dry aged goodness. Choice NY Strip from Costco, I think it was 8 dollars a pound. Aged since August 10th, so 35 days. I further trimmed things up, and I have a ton of fat to render out. I only made a couple of small pieces yesterday, and they tasted great (wasn't really hungry, but someone else in the house needed the fridge space I was using to dry age, which is why I trimmed it up.)

I'm planning on buying a couple more roasts in about 2 weeks, and letting one go for like 50-60 days.

What kind of sous vide setup is rated for the kind of temperatures needed for deep frying?

Boney,

Assuming you didn't do it this time, I'd be curious about the following weights next time:

1) starting weight
2) weight of trimmed off pieces
3) remaining weight

Build your own with a solid state relay and PID Thermocouple and you can use it for any heating element.

Just bought a kitchen scale last week, I'll check on the next roast. It's hard to be 100% accurate, though, because I also put a layer of duck fat around the meat to prevent all of it from hardening up (so that there is less waste.) Most of it is removed, but I'm not too careful about it because the leftover fat isn't going to hurt the steak at all.

I've been told that the brown coloration isn't a problem if the meat is still soft, but I'm still a bit skeptical (lol) so I always end up trimming a bit more than is probably optimal. I also was probably a bit aggressive in trimming a bit too much fat off, but that's not wasted because I will render it out and use it over the coming months.

two steaks, one pan



going to be a bit of a challenge as they are different thicknesses



OK, OK



steak one:



steak two:



EMC!

Zero to hero. Beautiful.

Looks really nice. Bit confused what happened to the crust, it looks good in the tray shot and then not very good plated. Lighting issue?

probably a combination of lighting and not having as good of a sear on one side

Someone who knows something about photography (because I know nothing) should take a bunch of pictures of same steak under different lighting conditions. Seems like the lighting plays more into the appearance than the actual steak or cooking.

econ,

Man, I bet you feel like the initial lumps you took from posting a subpar steak or two were worth it, huh?

These two are great, with the thick one looking really outstanding.

Even Sparks took more time than you to get expert!

This is really what this thread is all about--learning from each other and cooking/posting great steaks!

i think what i've shown is that anyone can cook a great steak with practice and the right equipment if they follow the advice in this thread

here's what i did for the most recent attempt:
pat steaks dry with paper towels, add kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to all sides and let rest at room temperature on wire rack for ~30 minutes. i patted them dry again about 2/3rds way through resting since i noticed a lot of moisture being pulled to the sides.

first phase cook with burner halfway between medium and low (both steaks at same time)
i don't add any addition oil or butter, the steak fat is enough for this step
start by cooking on each edge for one minute, then cook the sides, flipping every 30 seconds until interior temperature is 90-95 degrees. this meant i pulled the thin steak a couple minutes before the thick one.

let steaks rest on wire rack for 5 to 10 minutes
add 2 tablespoons canola oil to pan and heat on high until oil just starts to smoke (i also keep whatever grease there is from the first phase in the pan)
sear both steaks at same time for 1.5 minutes per side, adjust steak position in pan halfway through each side to allow oil to redistribute

rest steaks again about 10 minutes before eating

as far as equipment goes, a good timer is big improvement over trying to use your phone (mine kept locking), 12 inch tongs really help with thicker cuts or cuts that start to fall apart during the cook, and a heavy pan is key. i sprung for the 12-inch all clad stainless skillet. it's expensive, but you can pretty much always find a way to get 20% off from bed, bath & beyond. cuisinart has a "multi-clad" line that is a less expensive alternative, or you could go with a lodge cast iron skillet for under $20. i cook on a gas range that really allows me to crack up the heat at the end, so don't know how results would differ on an electric or induction range. oh, and don't forget a good instant read thermometer. i use a thermopop.

i'm getting pretty consistent results with the good old reverse sear in the pan, so i might try some of the other techniques. unfortunately, grilling isn't an option for me.

Econ, I think based on Kenji's advice, patting your steak dry midway through salting is a leak. Salt for at least 40 minutes and let the salty brine get reabsorbed back into the beef.


http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/03/t...ct-steaks.html

Econ,

Glad to have you on team pan!