Wife and kids are home - see, I can share (still NSFV)

[Taskmaster]

So serious question what are you guys using to season your steaks, and how long do you let it marinate for? I don't have a grill...because I'm a sad sad man, I might have to use a forman.

[Mr Tonka]

I use a dry rub. Press it into the top, bottom and sides of the meat. Usually do that about 30 min before going on the grill.

[Taskmaster]

Originally Posted by Mr Tonka

I use a dry rub. Press it into the top, bottom and sides of the meat. Usually do that about 30 min before going on the grill.

Any brand or type you recommend?

[DSB335d]

Wife asked for a fancy meal last night so I made this.
Dry aged NY Strip (whole foods) wild mushroom risotto, and some roasted asparagus. Creme brûlée for dessert. Sorry forgot to take a picture of the inside. They were prepared med-rare.

[DSB335d]

Stupid app screwed up my pics...

[Crimson92]

Last nights dinner.

[Mr Tonka]

Originally Posted by TheAxiom

Any brand or type you recommend?

I use a "proprietary blend", but this stuff is damn good.

[Mr Tonka]

I'm glad i came in here after dinner! ^^ ALL that looks good!

Whipped this pie up tonight. Sausage is from a hog i killed and had processed. The processor i took it to has won awards for his Italian sausage. It's the best tasting and leanest sausage i've ever had.

[paradoxical3]

You guys are cooking your steak wrong. Sous vide to cook, sear on grill to finish and flavor. That's how the pros do it.

[Gossypiboma]

Originally Posted by Mr Tonka

I'm glad i came in here after dinner! ^^ ALL that looks good!

Whipped this pie up tonight. Sausage is from a hog i killed and had processed. The processor i took it to has won awards for his Italian sausage. It's the best tasting and leanest sausage i've ever had.

Are you using a pre-made crust? That looks awesome.

[Taskmaster]

Originally Posted by paradoxical3

You guys are cooking your steak wrong. Sous vide to cook, sear on grill to finish and flavor. That's how the pros do it.

Wrong? It looks amazing, and I don't eat a lot of steak.

[paradoxical3]

Originally Posted by TheAxiom

Wrong? It looks amazing, and I don't eat a lot of steak.

This will help you understand. Sous vide cooking on the left, normal grill on the right





Sous vide cooks down to the exact degree that you want and maintains the temperature exactly until the entire piece of protein is cooked evenly. With grill cooking if you want a nice sear on the outside but with a pink center than you will inevitably burn the outer layers of the meat, leading to a chewy and tough texture.

Sous vide is perfect. Use it to actually cook that steak to whatever temp you want, and then grill over super high heat for about 30 seconds per side max. This will get you best of both worlds - perfectly cooked meat, plus the maillard reaction for flavor on the outside and a nice look.

Pretty much all of the top steak houses in the world now cook this way. It is also called immersion circulator cooking.

I have had good results with this sous vide machine. Just keep in mind you will still have to sear the steaks coming out of the sous vide to get a nice color and char flavor. Coming out of the sous vide they do not look appetizing without a sear.

http://www.amazon.com/Sous-Vide-Supr...ustomerReviews

[Sgop335]

Very cool, read up some. But not all have that m/c. I use the Traeger wood pellet grill, works well. I also try to buy usda prime steaks only. My local Weis has em.

[Taskmaster]

Originally Posted by paradoxical3

This will help you understand. Sous vide cooking on the left, normal grill on the right





Sous vide cooks down to the exact degree that you want and maintains the temperature exactly until the entire piece of protein is cooked evenly. With grill cooking if you want a nice sear on the outside but with a pink center than you will inevitably burn the outer layers of the meat, leading to a chewy and tough texture.

Sous vide is perfect. Use it to actually cook that steak to whatever temp you want, and then grill over super high heat for about 30 seconds per side max. This will get you best of both worlds - perfectly cooked meat, plus the maillard reaction for flavor on the outside and a nice look.

Pretty much all of the top steak houses in the world now cook this way. It is also called immersion circulator cooking.

I have had good results with this sous vide machine. Just keep in mind you will still have to sear the steaks coming out of the sous vide to get a nice color and char flavor. Coming out of the sous vide they do not look appetizing without a sear.

http://www.amazon.com/Sous-Vide-Supr...ustomerReviews

This sounds expensive, and I didn't even click the link.

Edit: not bad actually!

[Mr Tonka]

Originally Posted by BigBoosting

Are you using a pre-made crust? That looks awesome.

Thanks.

No, it's a pre-made dough ball from the local grocery store but we toss and stretch it into pizza crust. Making *good* pizza dough in small batches is difficult.

Originally Posted by paradoxical3

This will help you understand. Sous vide cooking on the left, normal grill on the right

Sous vide cooks down to the exact degree that you want and maintains the temperature exactly until the entire piece of protein is cooked evenly. With grill cooking if you want a nice sear on the outside but with a pink center than you will inevitably burn the outer layers of the meat, leading to a chewy and tough texture.

Sous vide is perfect. Use it to actually cook that steak to whatever temp you want, and then grill over super high heat for about 30 seconds per side max. This will get you best of both worlds - perfectly cooked meat, plus the maillard reaction for flavor on the outside and a nice look.

Pretty much all of the top steak houses in the world now cook this way. It is also called immersion circulator cooking.

I have had good results with this sous vide machine. Just keep in mind you will still have to sear the steaks coming out of the sous vide to get a nice color and char flavor. Coming out of the sous vide they do not look appetizing without a sear.

http://www.amazon.com/Sous-Vide-Supr...ustomerReviews

One thing i've leaned in my cooking years is that perfection is subjective when it comes to cooked meat.

If the heat is controllable on your grill, you can do a darn good job at having everything cooked evenly. Next time i make a steak i'll post of pic of one of them cut in half. I would say that about 95% of my steaks are cooked to the same doneness. The 2.5% sacrifice on the top and bottom are worth it for the flavor the charcoal delivers.

[AW335TT]

Originally Posted by paradoxical3

You guys are cooking your steak wrong. Sous vide to cook, sear on grill to finish and flavor. That's how the pros do it.

Without sous vide. From a couple nights ago, over a 2" cut.

[Jon@NL]

Originally Posted by AW335TT

Without sous vide. From a couple nights ago, over a 2" cut.

Not bad, but you can clearly see the overcooked 1/4in around the edges of the meat. But still looks yummy and I wouldn't turn it down.

[AW335TT]

Originally Posted by Jon@NL

Not bad, but you can clearly see the overcooked 1/4in around the edges of the meat. But still looks yummy and I wouldn't turn it down.

That's because I gave it a nice crust, I could have minimized that and made it look just like this picture, you can still see a rim around the outside.



But none of those in the picture above have any good color on the outside of the meat.

[danniexi]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

I've tried and tried. I just can't seem to get the hang of it well enough to justify any more experimenting. The grill just does it (in my control) so much better.
CONSIDERING the pan on the grill, though

it does take a while to get used to it. i usually just get the cast iron to be hot as possible with a generous amount of oil. sear the shiet out of the seasoned (salt/pepper) steak on one side (3-4 minutes on one side depending on thickness), sear for one minute on the fatty side, and then flip to the other side. add an ass load of butter with aromatics (garlic/rosemary on the side of pan), let it melt, and constantly spoon the lovely fatty goodness all over the steak for another 3-4 minutes (alain ducasse method of cooking steak). take the meat out, and rest for ten minutes.

i have gone through many cuts of meat to get it right. take lots and lots of practice.

Originally Posted by UncleWede

Did some bow ties and drizzled a bit of vodka sauce on top, but that disappointed.

Sauce should NEVER be drizzled on top of pasta. The pasta should be cooked with the sauce in a separate pan. The next time you do pasta, cook the noodles about 1-2 minutes before being al dente, and add it to a pan that already has the sauce prepared and cooked/heated. toss the pasta into the sauce for another 2 minutes until they are thoroughly mixed together.

if mixed properly, every bite of the pasta will contain the sauce that you made it with. it will taste so much better that way.

[alz0rz]

I eat my steak medium-well.

[Mr Tonka]

Originally Posted by alz0rz

I eat my steak medium-well.

This should look very appetizing to you.

[UncleWede]

Originally Posted by danniexi

Sauce should NEVER be drizzled on top of pasta. The pasta should be cooked with the sauce in a separate pan. The next time you do pasta, cook the noodles about 1-2 minutes before being al dente, and add it to a pan that already has the sauce prepared and cooked/heated. toss the pasta into the sauce for another 2 minutes until they are thoroughly mixed together.

if mixed properly, every bite of the pasta will contain the sauce that you made it with. it will taste so much better that way.

Sometimes, more is less. The bows had more than a generous amount of olive oil in the water, and they were pretty darn good just like that. I just wanted to add a bit of extra kick on a few of them, hence the drizzle. IT was the sauce that really disappointed, not the bows.