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**BBQ_Bill** · July 18, 2017, 11:02 PM

On the maiden voyage, being this SV machines very 1st cook, I Sous Vide cooked those 4 ribeye steaks in my earlier photos.
Ran them at 133.5°F, verified with my Thermapen, cooking them right at 2 hours.
Each steak put out around 1/4 cup of liquid into its individual bag during that time.
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At the 2 hour mark, I pulled and "painted" each steak with unsalted butter and then rubbed each one with 50% 1/16" cracked black pepper, and 50% Kosher Salt (by weight)
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At that point I added oil to a heated cast iron skillet while continuing to heat that skillet on my hottest burner to the point where the oil was slightly smoking.
I then seared those 1-1/2" thick steaks as well as searing each of the steaks edges.
Next, I pulled my pre-heated smallish cast iron steak skillets from the oven, placing the 4 steaks on these skillets.
Next, I poured the juice from the SV bags over each one and then served them to the eaters.
Each small steak skillet was sitting on its own individual wooden trivet.
(Looked really good, but I was too busy to take photos)
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Seriously, these fine ribeye steaks were as close to high quality "restaurant" steaks as they could get.
ALL eaters (including myself) agreed that they were excellent in their edge to edge doneness, with a rich full flavor, BUT we all felt that they were missing something.
YUP, we ALL missed the KBQ SMOKE FLAVOR!
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So there you have it folks.
As far as we four are concerned, perfectly cooked, seasoned and seared steaks just don't measure up to steaks that have been put through the KBQ and have been "bathed" in light blue smoke.
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My wife summed the whole experience up by saying..."This steak is soooo good, but I do miss one thing. I miss the smoke flavor. I guess I'm spoiled." (Yes babe, we ALL are!)
'Nuff said!

Smoke On!

**Breadhead** · July 18, 2017, 11:45 PM

Originally posted by BBQ_Bill View Post

On the maiden voyage, being this SV machines very 1st cook, I Sous Vide cooked those 4 ribeye steaks in my earlier photos.
Ran them at 133.5°F, verified with my Thermapen, cooking them right at 2 hours.
Each steak put out around 1/4 cup of liquid into its individual bag during that time.
-
At the 2 hour mark, I pulled and "painted" each steak with unsalted butter and then rubbed each one with 50% 1/16" cracked black pepper, and 50% Kosher Salt (by weight)
-
At that point I added oil to a heated cast iron skillet while continuing to heat that skillet on my hottest burner to the point where the oil was slightly smoking.
I then seared those 1-1/2" thick steaks as well as searing each of the steaks edges.
Next, I pulled my pre-heated smallish cast iron steak skillets from the oven, placing the 4 steaks on these skillets.
Next, I poured the juice from the SV bags over each one and then served them to the eaters.
Each small steak skillet was sitting on its own individual wooden trivet.
(Looked really good, but I was too busy to take photos)
-
Seriously, these fine ribeye steaks were as close to high quality "restaurant" steaks as they could get.
ALL eaters (including myself) agreed that they were excellent in their edge to edge doneness, with a rich full flavor, BUT we all felt that they were missing something.
YUP, we ALL missed the KBQ SMOKE FLAVOR!
-
So there you have it folks.
As far as we four are concerned, perfectly cooked, seasoned and seared steaks just don't measure up to steaks that have been put through the KBQ and have been "bathed" in light blue smoke.
-
My wife summed the whole experience up by saying..."This steak is soooo good, but I do miss one thing. I miss the smoke flavor. I guess I'm spoiled." (Yes babe, we ALL are!)
'Nuff said!

Smoke On!

Hmmm... I appreciate your love for the KBQ cooker. I will never buy one but I follow this thread because you guys are Kick ass BBQ dudes.

I appreciate your love of the taste of light blue smoke. We all strive to get that off of whatever cooker we are using.

However... if I'm grilling USDA Prime steaks, screw the smoke flavor!

Give me a well brined (overnight) piece of meat, preferably with Pink Himalayan Sea Salt, allow me to put it in a vacuum sealed bag and then in my Magic hot tub at 131° for 4 to 10 hours, or whenever I'm ready to eat it, and then let me take it out of the SV bag, blot it dry with paper towels and then paint on some "Beef Love" and then Sear it on my charcoal starter.😆

When that steak is done... I'm going to hit it with some very freshly ground pepper out of a pepper mill that I can adjust for the size of pepper chunks that go on to my steaks.

Guess what... I like the taste of USDA Prime beef MUCH more than I like light blue smoke!!!🤗

I can put light blue smoke on select grade steak, but I WILL NOT put it on USDA Prime steaks!

Now... let's talk about pork ribs, butts and other cuts with light blue smoke, and I'm all in.👍

**BBQ_Bill** · July 19, 2017, 08:46 AM

Mike, my buddy and I had 2" ribeye steaks prior to this that were seared on the top of the KBQ, then spritzed and rubbed and then smoked in the KBQ at 225°F (I think... will consult my notes) until they hit 135°F internal.
He also had these first SV steaks.
Mike said the KBQ steaks were better than these SV steaks.
I also had one of the KBQ steaks and agreed with him.
Some don't like smoke on steaks, some do.
My boss prefers them as you do, no smoke.
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Mikes's suggestion after eating the SV steak was to:
1) SV to 133°F
2) Sear on the Weber.
3) Rest a bit and try them out.
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I PERSONALLY think that my buddy Mike just wants another ribeye steak!

**Ernest** · July 19, 2017, 08:55 AM

I don't like smoke on steak or lamb.
But reverse engineered steaks on KBQ are some kind of special. It's not regular smoke.
But SV just produces a spectacular steak.
What if you KBQ the steak at low temp, vacuum seal and cool it. Then let it swim in the hot tub time machine?

Are you going to make me buy steaks for an experiment?

**BBQ_Bill** · July 19, 2017, 09:30 PM

Ernest, I agree that KBQ smoke is special.
AND, I am not the only one that thinks this way in my circle of friends and family.
I also agree that SV is remarkable in its ability to cook to perfection.
Experiments are in order, and I for one am going to be trying for the SV + KBQ = perfection thing.
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The problem of brisket bark changing into mush in the SV is heavy on my mind though...

**BBQ_Bill** · July 19, 2017, 09:55 PM

Well Breadhead, I have several briskets wet aging and being held at 32°F to 33°F.
(These are choice cryovaced full packers)
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Could easily pull one out to try this.
Probably could simply leave it "as is" in the bag and put it into my 6 gallon chili pot?
Would this 800 watt Anova unit I bought be enough to do the job?

**hogdog6** · July 19, 2017, 11:28 PM

Learned this from Ernest :" I Sous Vide chuck roast at 135 for 48 hours. It turns into ribeye."
I do this then I refrigerate overnight, put in the freezer for about an hour while getting the KBQ fire started and let in take on smoke until it hits 140*. I've done this several times for family and friends they they all cannot believe how delicious it is. I have not yet used the spurge (despise that word) for a sauce but you all have inspired me to do so next time.
A couple friends have still not guessed or been told what cut of meat it is. Recently I did 2 chucks for 4 of us and by the end of the night both were gone. Try this and you will be hooked. My wife whom eats very little meat cannot resist 2nds every time I do this cook.
I love brisket but prefer this over it. (I know I just spoke BBQ blasphemy).

**Breadhead** · July 19, 2017, 11:49 PM

Loving BBQ Briskets is not required. Knowing how to smoke it so you blow people's mind when they taste it is required.

For some strange reason how you smoke a brisket is your report card when BBQing. Thankfully, a brisket, a pork butt and a chuckie are all the same cook... except for the trimming and preparation. Then there's the cooking time to reach probe tenderness.

All three will make your taste buds dance...

**hogdog6** · July 19, 2017, 11:58 PM

You are right Breadhead and there is something satisfying about cooking a brisket traditionally that comes out better than you've ever had at any restaurant, maybe it is that strange report card thing you speak of that makes us feel that way.
And you are also correct all three cuts will get the taste buds a rock'n! ðŸŽ¼ðŸŽ¼ðŸŽ¼

**SteinerBBQ** · July 20, 2017, 08:51 AM

Took a vacation day to get a chance to try out the KBQ today. Was painful not being able to get to it last weekend when it arrived, but ended up at the AirExpo with wife. On the plus side my Winco SPF1 1-1/4-Inch Pan arrived last night and it fits great. Going to give a pork butt a shot.

**Spinaker** · July 20, 2017, 09:00 AM

Originally posted by GourmandPhil View Post

Took a vacation day to get a chance to try out the KBQ today. Was painful not being able to get to it last weekend when it arrived, but ended up at the AirExpo with wife. On the plus side my Winco SPF1 1-1/4-Inch Pan arrived last night and it fits great. Going to give a pork butt a shot.

We look forward to seeing your results! make sure we get some pics too!

**SteinerBBQ** · July 20, 2017, 12:25 PM

Wow, the smell is unreal so far! Makes me want to just be outside all day doing yard work.

**johnnylighton** · July 20, 2017, 02:57 PM

Spinaker, Ernest, and BBQ_Bill, thank you all for responding to my questions about times, temps, and poppets for the four meats I initially plan to cook!

I got my KBQ cooker last week and it's a beauty. Very impressive design and construction. And, as everyone has said, perfectly packed for shipping.

Unfortunately my first cook didn't go so well. I'm using red oak. I cooked three slabs of Swift non-injected center-cut spare ribs, and two giant Foster Farms non-injected chickens, all from Costco. The ribs turned out too dry and chewy (except in the center) with little smoke flavor. I couldn't get the temps up high enough to cook the chicken right. I was really bummed and had some buyer's remorse.

The next morning I realized what went wrong: I didn't make the coal bed properly. It was not covering my coal grate nearly enough. The logs were coaling, but they were raised up over the firebox for the most part. I was not waiting for them to break down or helping them to do so with the tamper. This meant the fan was pulling in more air from the outside (from the sides of the firebox) than from inside the firebox. My brain made the mistake of assuming that, because the smoke in the firebox rises up, that it would sink down into the cooker the same way.

As I was thinking about what went wrong, several of BBQ_Bill's posts came flooding back into my head about how he makes sure there is a coal over every coal grate hole, and how he pulls coals down off the logs from the side to ensure the coal bed is there. Thank you, BBQ_Bill for all your detailed posts! And then Bill Karau posted four reasons why temps might not be high enough, and #1 was a < 1" coal bed.

My next cook will be reverse-seared tri tip (searing it on top of the KBQ's firebox!) and another chicken. I will be sure to make a good coal bed! If it turns out, I'll post pics.

**Ernest** · July 20, 2017, 06:28 PM

johnnylighton Oh yeah, yo have to get the logs in there kind of loosely packed. That way they fall into a nice bed of hot coals

**SteinerBBQ** · July 20, 2017, 07:32 PM

275 for 8 hours turned out a pretty darn good first attempt. More than anything, I'm impressed with the quality of the bark that the KBQ puts out. Best I've been able to do since I started smoking last summer. I was worried I may need to spritz it, but doing a search it didn't seem like it was mentioned that often. Ended up glad I didn't as this was the juiciest pork butt I've made yet. It literally started to fall apart in my gloves as I was trying to pull it. A good problem to have I suppose. Will need to solve for that the next go round.

Such a fun machine and the neighbors seemed pretty happy we invited them over to try some.

Two hours to go

Time to pull it

So tender it fell apart in my gloves

Time for the Bear Claws

Bark up close

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