The only way I've ever done skirt, flat iron, or flank has been high heat, but none of these cuts were as thick as yours. Still, I wonder if a quick cook on high heat is the preferred method, even though the meat is thick.
From CI:
The few recipes I looked at are utilizing high heat whether gas or charcoal. They insist that skirt needs an IT of 130 in order to be at it's most tender.
"Medium-Rare? Not With This steak
Cooking most steaks to 125 degrees, or medium-rare, delivers the juiciest, most tender results. But skirt steak is one exception. When a piece of beef is heated, its muscle fibers shrink in width, separating them from one another and making them easier to chew. For cuts like strip steak, which have comparatively thin fibers, the amount of shrinking, and thus tenderizing, that occurs when the meat is cooked to 125 degrees is sufficient. But skirt steak has wider muscle fibers that need to shrink further, and thus require cooking to 130 degrees, before they are acceptably tender.
However, this tenderizing effect doesn’t continue the more you cook the steak. Once any cut of meat hits 140 degrees, muscle fibers begin to shrink not just in width but also in length, and that causes the meat to toughen again. This lengthwise shrinking also squeezes out juices, which means your steak will end up not just tough but also dry."
Anyway, CI made their own Vortex by cutting the bottom out of an Aluminum roasting pan.
So now CI has the Vortex prototype, discovered MH's Afterburner method, and the next thing will be the Sear & Sloe.
I'm sure you'll get good answers from these folks here!.
--Ed
Leave a comment: