HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!

[Ernest]

WELL DANG!! That's a beautiful steak!

[Dewesq55]

That is very cool. I am turning 60 at the beginning of April. Today I got the word that I have permission to buy myself an Anova as my present from the GF. I'm very excited. When I checked out the new butcher today where I bought the goat meat, they had some rib-eyes in the case that had so much marbling they almost looked like waygu. All I could think about when looking at them was how awesome they would be cooked sous vide and a reverse sear.

DEW

[Dr ROK]

Did a poor mans sous vide tonight with the final sear on the gasser. Here are pics and step by step info.

Here's how I hooked up the pit probe so it didn't fall into the water. the paper clip helped keep the probe vertical. Without it the probe would tilt to the left or right depending on where I moved the transmitter.



How the entire set up looked.



Steak seasoned with S & P, 5 cloves garlic, about 10 thyme sprigs.



Cooked at 135 F for 1 1/2 hours. Took out of bag, reserving juices, and seared in pan that was heated on gas grill. If you sear in the house, you need to make sure you shut the smoke detectors off . Seared in pan to get some fond going for the red wine sauce. Took out of pan and continued sear on grill grates that I'd turned upside down. This is the steak resting as I prepare the red wine sauce.



Here's a few shots of the steak plated with the red wine sauce. Look at that consistent color from edge to edge! I'm tellin ya, this was top sirloin, but it tasted and chewed like rib eye. The Mrs. was freaking out it was so good.





The Mrs. plate. Usually there are all kinds of scraps left that she cuts off. She's not one to eat ANY gristle or fat.

[Ernest]

That's pretty cool but it takes away the fun part of guessing (cooking)

[Dr ROK]

Just stumbled across this sous vide set up. Not sure what it's going to cost, but it looks like it'd be an awesome machine/technology. I subscribed to the email list, so when it comes back into stock I'll find out. Love the phone connection that "learns" how you want things cooked and the refrigeration technology.

http://cookmellow.com/meet-mellow/#

[Ernest]

Much appreciated Dr ROK!

[Dr ROK]

Ernest, I was going through a Chef Steps BBQ class and ran across this info that I thought you'd be interested in. Sounds like a great experiment for you to try and report back
"So, should you smoke your food before or after you cook it? Smoking prior to low-and-slow sous vide cooking has the advantage of allowing the flavor and color to continue to develop. The components of smoke react with the components of food in a way that is a lot like the Maillard reaction (the reaction between amino acids and sugars found in all protein-rich foods, in which molecules keep reacting to one another in ever more complex ways, helping to develop rich aromas and deep, brown color). Once these reactions have begun, they’ll continue to evolve as the cooking continues inside a sealed sous vide bag. This means that the patina of smoke will darken, the rind will become chewier, and the smoky flavor will mellow.
If you want a more vibrant, traditional pit-smoked flavor, then we recommend smoking afterthe sous vide cooking step. Some barbecue pundits claim that you cannot get proper smoked flavor after the food has been cooked. But this is demonstrably false—try it and see. In fact, try both ways of combining sous vide with smoking to discover which you like more. Whatever your preference, once you’ve experienced the remarkable texture and consistency of sous vide food—combined with the convenience of only having to tend to a smoker for a few hours—we predict you’ll convert readily."

[jmott7]

Gorgeous, man. Really.

[Ernest]

Thank you Crai....Meathead. I think Sous vide is more of convenience and flexibility with tenderizing as a plus. Nothing beats caveman cooking. I just finished my experiment and I see no reason for a 72 hour cook for beef short ribs. I won't go past 54 hours. I prefer the texture of 54 hour ribs. Both were quite beefy, much more beef flavor than braised ribs. Money well spent. Next, I'd like to drop some chicken legs in before work and just brown them for dinner after work.

[Meathead]

I have a sous vide supreme box and it is fun. Chef Ryan and I did a dinner for a special friend a couple of weeks ago where we cooked 13 2.5" thick tomahawk pork ribeyes from Compart farms. We needed three sous vide machines. Then we pulled them out and seared the snot out of them on a 5' long japanes hibachi where the coals were about 2" below the meat. Then a morel cream sauce underneath. Fantastic stuff.

That said, a while back I took two identical buffalo ribeyes and did one sous vide and another indirect charcoal grill. I then seared them both at the same time on a hot direct charcoal grill. The sous vide was a bit more tender, but the red neck sous vide (reverse sear) was much better tasting because it had picked up smoke during the slow portion of the cook. It also had better color.

[Dr ROK]

You're killling me holmes!

[Ernest]

Here's beef short ribs after 65 hours. Silky, still slice like a steak. Very very very beefy flavor. No need for teeth. Very very satisfied.

[Ernest]

This is right out of the bag Seared in my cast iron with salt little beef tallow. Didn't change much, just a little crisp.

[Ernest]

That's what we all did. Ate it right there at the cutting board

[Dr ROK]

I think I'd be standing there at the cutting board eating slice after slice after slice after slice. They gotta be "Hell with my company, these are mine" good.