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So, in another post, I made a reference to sous vide. Long story short, it means cooking something, vacuum wrapped, in a water bath. Or at least that's my inderstanding.
Take a RibEye steak for example. 135 degrees is considered medium rare. Well, the high side of medium rare. If you were able to take a rib eye, and put it in a water bath and keep it at a temperature of 135 degrees for a few hours, you would end up with a rib eye steak that was exactly medium rare, all over, from side to side. It doesn't matter how long you hold it at that temp, it will always be medium rare, if the temperature does not rise!
So what happens while you are cooking it (slow and low) at 135, is that the steak becomes very tender. Enzymes that tenderize the meat activate. It's not a tough cut, so there's not a lot of collagen to begin with, but whats there becomes softer, the fat starts to melt, and the whole thing just becomes, well, good.
The only problem is that when you take it out it's not really all that appealing. It's kind of funny looking, and it's not well seasoned. So, to fix that, season it on both sides with some salt and pepper, slap it on a very,very hot grill, or cast iron skillet for about a minute per side and sear it up.
This is what you end up with.
I just use a regular cooler. I use this cooler all the time for things like brining turkeys, psuedo sous vide, etc. At this point the rib eye had been in there for about 3 hours. I started it at 136 degrees, and the steak was still not quite fully thawed. I can handle a 5 degree drop in temp.
Looks like it floated to one side. No big worry, the whole thing maintains a very even temp.
It was vacuum packed to start with out of the freezer, so I just left it that way. You can see, that even though it's fully cooked here, it's not all that appetizing right now.
So, let's season it up and slap it on a rocket hot cast iron griddle for a minute per side and cut it open. Whaddya know, it's seared and beautiful, and evenly cooked from side to side.
Oh, might as well serve it up with a side of au gratin potatoes, some green beans, and a glass of cold home brewed pale ale.
Now, time for a movie, and quite probably a nap.
Take a RibEye steak for example. 135 degrees is considered medium rare. Well, the high side of medium rare. If you were able to take a rib eye, and put it in a water bath and keep it at a temperature of 135 degrees for a few hours, you would end up with a rib eye steak that was exactly medium rare, all over, from side to side. It doesn't matter how long you hold it at that temp, it will always be medium rare, if the temperature does not rise!
So what happens while you are cooking it (slow and low) at 135, is that the steak becomes very tender. Enzymes that tenderize the meat activate. It's not a tough cut, so there's not a lot of collagen to begin with, but whats there becomes softer, the fat starts to melt, and the whole thing just becomes, well, good.
The only problem is that when you take it out it's not really all that appealing. It's kind of funny looking, and it's not well seasoned. So, to fix that, season it on both sides with some salt and pepper, slap it on a very,very hot grill, or cast iron skillet for about a minute per side and sear it up.
This is what you end up with.
I just use a regular cooler. I use this cooler all the time for things like brining turkeys, psuedo sous vide, etc. At this point the rib eye had been in there for about 3 hours. I started it at 136 degrees, and the steak was still not quite fully thawed. I can handle a 5 degree drop in temp.
Looks like it floated to one side. No big worry, the whole thing maintains a very even temp.
It was vacuum packed to start with out of the freezer, so I just left it that way. You can see, that even though it's fully cooked here, it's not all that appetizing right now.
So, let's season it up and slap it on a rocket hot cast iron griddle for a minute per side and cut it open. Whaddya know, it's seared and beautiful, and evenly cooked from side to side.
Oh, might as well serve it up with a side of au gratin potatoes, some green beans, and a glass of cold home brewed pale ale.
Now, time for a movie, and quite probably a nap.