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Which Cooking Are You?


luvdunhill

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That was a 2+ hour 129F cook followed by searing in smoking hot grill pan. I was happy and I think she was happy too. I tried to rush with a 131F 1 hour cook with a similar steak and it wasn't nearly as good. I see more steak/chicken on the way as we're doing a "carb cleanse" for 8 weeks and eating almost no carbs (though I don't plan to be crazy strict).

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3 hours ago, Dreadhead said:

I agree with you Jacob but I am unable to achieve that with my current setup and unwilling to fry it.

My most recent attempt:
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I do better on the grill but still nothing like that.

 

You need to make sure that the grill (or pan) is scorching hot, and you have to make sure the surface of the meat is dry.  One way to ensure the latter is to liberally salt both surfaces, which sucks moisture out, and then brush the excess salt off, before cooking.  You won't be able to get the steak house charring in just a hot pan (I use a Searzall in combo with a pan), but you can with a grill.  Hardwood lump charcoal burns very hot.  I would suggest getting a baking steel or a cast iron Plancha, as you want continuous surface area, for a perfect crust (this is why a scorching hot pan works so well, but pans are unwieldy on the grill). One way of achieving the crust on a grill is the Alton Brown Chimney method: light a blazing fire in a chimney starter, and set that over your steak.  Flip and repeat (flip the steak, not the chimney starter, unless you like your hair to be on fire).  

Attached are pics of one of the last steaks I did.  Notice that while the crust is deeply caramelized, there is very little in the way of a grey ring, and the center is perfectly rare (this was probably in the water bath at 118 for several hours).  If it were a prettier cut of meat, this looks like what you would get from a really good steakhouse.  You can see remnants of salt from where I salted both sides to dry them out.  I sear in a combination of butter and olive oil.  Add the oil and butter right before you add the steak. It still makes plenty of smoke, but it should.  The butter helps add that deep caramel color of the crust, but it's not strictly necessary.

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Now I want a steak.

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Moderation is the key Reks but you do what works for you. I did mostly veggie for about 2 years with my wife and it worked well for us. I got my meat fix when we went out or ordered food.

This Korean Fried Chicken place that we tried recently has kimchi coleslaw. It is amazing! Their kimchi is also great.

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Well, keep in mind that I became a vegetarian for ethical reasons.  The health component has been a bonus.  I still eat seafood sometimes (scallops and other sessile filter feeders, primarily), but I've had very few cheat days.  My diet is a lot more varied than it used to be, and I've introduced a lot of really delicious ethnic food to my diet and my home menu.

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8 hours ago, Dreadhead said:

This Korean Fried Chicken place that we tried recently has kimchi coleslaw. It is amazing! Their kimchi is also great.

Oh, do tell!  I fell in love with Bonchon for a while, but I noticed every time I ate there, I got a little sick to my stomach, so I stopped.  I'm hoping it's not something inherent in Korean Fried Chicken, so I'd like to try a different one...

Jacob -- that steak is a thing of beauty.

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