It is essential to remember to go back and work with what you know. We had a meat-centric workshop that allowed us to cook a variety of steaks in the same way and observe the results. We cooked five naked steaks in the CVap at 54°C for one and a half hours. They were a skirt, a filet, a hanger, a flat iron and a rib eye. After cooking we cooled them down in our Irinox blast chiller. When they were cold we we brushed them with smoked soy butter and grilled them. We were able to add a bit of char as the meats came to a warm temperature. We let them rest, then sliced, and tasted.
We were looking for that perfect medium rare. Rare meat tends to be cool and slightly chewy while medium rare meat is juicy and tender. Beef cooked to medium is still tender, but slightly dry and less flavorful. Each steak was uniformly cooked. The cooking and chilling set the meat like a custard. The steaks were extremely juicy. Cooking the various cuts at the same temperature for the same amount of time illlustrated their differences. The the skirt steak and rib eye both needed additional cooking time to firm up, set really, and tenderize. The hanger steak, which we usually cook longer, was beautifully cooked. The flat iron was juicy and tender. The filet felt slightly dry and over-cooked. This chef brought in his own meat so we would be working with the same exact steaks he uses in his restaurant. Meats change. Calibrate your cooking.
Years Past
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