Hot Tub Steaks Overdone...DUHHH!!!!

LFGEnergy

So, hot tubbing a steak tonight, and last few efforts have seemed overdone - way past medium rare IMO, which I had achieved my first effort when I watched both time and temp (with a probe placed in a steak, and pulled at 115F).

Must confess, I have been being lazy with hot tub, thinking temp would never get over my water heater temp, which "somewhere" I read was in the 120-125 range (so, maybe I am not a great reader), and letting steaks linger longer as I finish other prep. Have even let them sit in hot water while party and entertaining was ongoing.

So, tonight I started hot tubbing, grabbed ET-73 from garage, and low and behold I have my water heater set something north of 140F!!!!!!!!! No wonder 3 kids can shower in AM with still enough for me.

So, recommendations to us newbies - ALWAYS cook to temperature, even if hot tubbing. And if leaving in hot water during prep, make sure you dont overcook.

A newbies confessions.......

Little Steven

Dave,

Ya wanna hot tub somewhere around 100*. It cooks fast. I put a pot in the sink filled with 140* water and mix to fill the pot with 100*.Lasts for the whole time. Depending on the size of your sink but if it starts to cool you can add hotter water to the sink.

Steve

CBBQ

Dave,
You start heading towards medium after 125*. So if the meat is already there from the hot tubbing it will always be overdone. In fact it can be overcooked before it hits the grill. When I hot tub I use 100* water. Personally, I prefer cold to room temp meat because I prefer pink/cool center on the steaks.

RRP

one other point you should remember - a dry aged steak -even at just 17 days plus being the end cap you cut off has lost a goodly amount of moisture and is going to cook faster and in my experience hotter! Shorten your cooking time on the egg with aged beef!

mkc

RRP wrote:

Shorten your cooking time on the egg with aged beef!

Seconding this. And if you hot tub dry aged beef, it's REALLY a short cook!

LFGEnergy

Epilogue....

Tonight hot tubbed to 114F internal, seasoned, and then seared over griddle (Pittsburg) at a ridiculous 700F for 20-30 seconds each side, fighting the flames of the butter dollup that turned to instant fuel and flame and trying to keep from burning the roof of the Man Shack off of the garage.

Results - priceless!!!!! incredible flavor, even at 17 days! And I am sure the arm hair will grow back before the 45 day aging of the remainder of the subprimal is complete!

Thanks for input!

skihorn

One of the many reasons to have a Rinnai hot water system! I just dial in the precise temp and get an never ending flow of that water.

Seriously, these tankless hot water systems are great! You never run out of hot water and I can just dial in the temp I know the kids need and don't worry about them getting scalded. I can also keep it at a child safe 115 for general household use and then bumpt it to 130 or higher when I need some extra heat for dried on cheese during cleanup.

Sorry, for going a little OT but my tankless hotwater and my Eggs are the best investments I have made recently. I have two of each - Large and Med BGE, and a tankless system here in League City, and in South Fork, CO. Not very often I can tie them together in the same discussion!

Freddie
League City, TX

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

butter it later and it won't burn, though you may not need it on an aged steak anyway. beef fat is condensed and buttery in itself