Objectivist ribeye steak

The reason for the tongue-in-cheek moniker is because this steak is prepared with a lot of measurements, laboratory style I have done quite a lot of reading on food science, modernist techniques, and so on. I have been trying to perfect my steak recipe since I first moved out of home. This is my current "best practice" recipe. The beauty of it is that it is foolproof - PROVIDED you have an instant read digital thermometer and you monitor often!

There are two critical factors here. The first is the quality of the steak. The second is the cooking method. Note that the ingredients list is very simple - this is because great steak needs nothing else. The blue cheese does not announce itself at all - it melts into the steak and subtly gives it more depth.

Needless to say, the steak should be the best you can find. Ideally, you want 50 day dry aged steak with a good amount of marbling. Grass fed cows imply more flavour because the cows got more exercise. Grain fed implies more tenderness and more fat.

Ingredients
- Ribeye steak, rubbed with the following:
- salt, pepper
- 1 clove minced garlic
- butter
- pinch of blue cheese

Method
I always cook my steak in two stages. The first stage is a low temperature slow cook. The second stage is with fierce heat to caramelize the exterior.

The first stage of cooking can be either a slow roast or sous-vide. I prefer sous-vide because of the precision, ease, and neatness. The aim of this stage is to slowly bring the steak up to the level of done-ness that you want. The reason why I subject the steak to a low temperature cook is because McGee and Blumenthal have proven that this denatures more protein molecules and unlocks more flavour compounds. Furthermore, the muscle fibres tend not to shrink as much - when muscle fibres shrink, juices are expelled.

These are the target temperatures you should aim for, for various levels of doneness:

- Rare: 50C (122F)
- Medium rare: 55C (131F)
- Medium: 60C (140F)
- Well done: 65C (149F)

Here is a Wagyu ribeye steak, sealed up in a sous-vide bag with butter, salt, garlic, and blue cheese:



This is what it looks like after coming out of a 52C bath for four hours. This gives it a final temperature of 51C:



At this stage, the steak should be rested. I allow the temperature to drop down to 35-40C. The reason - when the steak is subjected to high heat, the temperature will rise again. If you start cooking it from a base temp of 52C, it will rapidly overshoot the point of doneness you are aiming for.

The aim of the high heat stage is to caramelize the exterior and develop Maillard flavours. Maillard flavours are encouraged by the following conditions:

- alkaline environment
- presence of protein
- presence of a reducing sugar
- high heat
- presence of previous Maillard products (i.e. it is autocatalytic)
- low moisture

Needless to say, the steak must be thoroughly dried. If it is a thin slice of steak, attempting a high heat method such as a charcoal grill will quickly overcook it - so the Maillard reactions can be encouraged with a few simple steps. Alkaline conditions - add a pinch of baking soda. Presence of protein - rub it with more butter. Reducing sugar - add a sprinkle of caster sugar.

Given the above cut of steak was pretty thick, I simply dried it and grilled it over open fire on my Kamado:



Here is the well caramelized steak resting. Check the temperature after the charcoal grill - it should be no more than 55C. Allow it to drop to 45-50C prior to serving:



And here is the result. Note that no juices have escaped from the steak after slicing:



Note that I always serve my steak sliced up like this. Somehow it makes it seem more tender.

Hi Steve, sous-vide is a method of cooking food, sealed in a plastic bag, in a temperature controlled water bath. In my case I use a slow cooker connected to a sous-vide controller. The SV controller detects the temperature in the bath and cuts power when the temp exceeds a programmed threshold. When the temp drops again, it restores power. My SV controller can control the temp of the water to a precision of +/- 1C.

There are numerous advantages to SV cooking:

- Precision. The temperature of the food will never rise above the temperature you have programmed.
- Hygiene. Once the food is bagged you can stack a bag of raw chicken next to veggies, for e.g. - something you would never do otherwise.
- Flavour. Nothing will escape from the bag. You will be surprised how much punch some aromatics will have when cooked sous-vide - so much so that you have to reduce the quantities when compared to a normal recipe. SV carrots are amazing - they retain the flavour of raw carrot but are soft and cooked.
- Convenience. You can cook the food ahead of time, leave it in the bag, and then reheat it in the bag before serving.

I have been cooking SV for 2-3 years now.

John72953 said:

I've often wanted to try that method and I think you've given me hope that I can, and maybe give that slow cooker of mine a bit more of a workout. Do you have a link for the SV controller?

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I am using an Australian made one - Sous Vide at Home. You don't want this one because it runs on 240V. There are definitely some controllers available in the USA which are similar in concept and in price.

If I were you, I would get a SideKIC - at the moment these are US only and not available to the rest of the world. Review here and here. The difference is that the SideKIC is a proper immersion circulator. The SV@H type controllers do not circulate water - so you get hot and cold spots in your water bath. You need to get around this by rotating your bags every so often and making sure your bags aren't crowded.

Don't forget that you will also need a vacuum machine, like a Foodsaver.

If you don't want to sous-vide your steak, an alternative is the slow roast method. Set your oven to 60C (or 140F) and leave your steak in there until it reaches whatever level of done-ness you are aiming for. Ovens are notoriously inaccurate so make sure you check often - every 15 minutes or so towards the end of cooking time. It will be done in about 1-2 hours. The result is different - you get more evaporation from a slow roast steak, so the finish will be more dry and less juicy (but not overcooked if you took care not to overshoot the temperatures as I indicated above).

JackD201 said:

Actually Mark SV makes things so easy it's like cheating

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Exactly SV cooking is viable enough for the home cook that every week at least one dish will be prepared sous-vide. It is the precision I find attractive. I might make another post about a sous-vide confit ocean trout

JackD201 said:

My fantasy is butter poached lobster. My buddies and I have a running joke, I provide the lobsters and they'll provide two buckets of butter. Any cardiologists in the house?

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Oncologist here. And if you sous-vide, you don't need 2 buckets of butter All you need is enough to coat a lobster in a sous-vide bag!

There is no problem putting food from the fridge or freezer directly into the SV machine. As long as it is bagged up and watertight it should be OK.

And another thing ... uncooked meat should NEVER be frozen. The exception is when there is no choice to freeze meat - e.g. tuna or prawns - and even then the meat should be frozen in a commercial freezer. Home freezers damage meat during the freezing process.