Hillbilly Sous Vide Ribeyes

fiver29

Made these last week and forgot to post a couple pics.  I'm sure someone will ask so I posted the link to the recipe.  Someone else posted it a while back and I can't remember who.  Mr. Egg went past the 750 mark and kept going.  I only did a 30-45 second sear per side at those temps.  Was in the cooler for a little over an hour.  I grilled 9 of these in less than 5 minutes.  I had zero complaints.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/04/cook-your-meat-in-a-beer-cooler-the-worlds-best-sous-vide-hack.html

Here it is when it went past the 750 mark:

Mike_the_BBQ_Fanatic

Looks great

Black_Badger

Nice cook man, good work.

I've noticed when i go nuclear for a sear like this and twist the dome thermo all the way around the dial that it often needs calibration afterwards. Might be worth a quick check.

Cheers -
B_B

nolaegghead

yeeeehawww!  looks delicious!

Jstroke

Looks steller. Im just around the corner--ahem-next time

bgebrent

Great job!!  Those look delicious!!

fiver29

Black_Badger said:

Nice cook man, good work.

I've noticed when i go nuclear for a sear like this and twist the dome thermo all the way around the dial that it often needs calibration afterwards. Might be worth a quick check.

Cheers -
B_B

Really?  I never knew that.  I will give a check!

NPHuskerFL

We all gotta a little hillbilly in us...some more so than others  
Giddy-up!  I'd hit that!  Nice work  

https://youtu.be/OGoiiwxTWeE

Darby_Crenshaw

this is more like 'hot tubbing', no?  why go thru the trouble of the cooler and all if what we're only really achieving in such a short period is the (desirable) raising of the chill-box temp to warmer-than-room temp?

i like to hot tub because it yields a steak with perfect cross section of medium-rare together with a sear to your liking. ..but i don't think it's really cooking it the way sous-vide transforms the thing over a number of hours.

just drop the steaks in airless ziplocs, into a bowl of hot tap water.  change it out when the water cools noticeably, and refill.  no math, no thermometers, less water.

who was the guru on the old forum that started with hot tubbing? AZRP?  one of the best hacks all-time i think

Raymont

@Darby_Crenshaw. - Hot tubbing, cooler method and  SV are essentially all the same subject to time and temp. A good quality 1" steak SV at 125 degrees for 1 hour is all you need and wouldn't really benefit from much longer. Tougher cuts (flat iron) benefit from longer bath times. A cooler can hold more water than a pot, and will hold temp longer. If water temp is less, (e.g. 110), you would need to sear longer/cook to desired temp while at 125 degrees you are really only adding sear marks.

Darby_Crenshaw

i know that for an hour it is essentially the same, which makes me wonder why go thru the true sous vide process with a big cooler and all.

when sous-vide initially hit the streets, it wasn't about merely taking the chill out of the steak (which is what hot tubbing is about), but more about extended periods of time under vacuum and in strictly controlled temps in order to literally alter and transform the food. 

sous vide for an hour isn't going to do anything to a steak really other than kill the chill and bring it closer to target temp, meaning all you have to do is sear.

but sous-vide for 24+ hours wil achieve a completely different thing.

my point is, for an hour, to warm up a steak, it's a bit of a stretch to be calling it sous-vide.  you might get some hurried quasi 'aging' flavors (by encouraging enzymes to work a bit quicker), but it ain't gonna transform or break anything down.  it's just an excellent way to get the meat to room temp and beyond, for evenness' sake in cooking.

Raymont

I think we are saying the same thing -SV/hot tubbing/pot or whatever we want to call it for 1 hour doesn't transform meat/flavor like a long bath but as you note it's about getting "eveneness". There is benefit for bath for an hour at your desired temp when you are cooking numerous steaks or different cuts/thickness. Using the SV or hot tub ensures perfect doneness and it helps me spend more time with guests, not worry about timing and/or I can work on side dishes/poor the wine. It takes out all the worry of rare or charred- It's medium rare every time. I do freely admit I prefer the taste of a reverse sear steak, especially on ribeye where the hot grill melts the fat better. SV filet's are tough to beat. 

fiver29

Darby_Crenshaw said:

this is more like 'hot tubbing', no?  why go thru the trouble of the cooler and all if what we're only really achieving in such a short period is the (desirable) raising of the chill-box temp to warmer-than-room temp?


just drop the steaks in airless ziplocs, into a bowl of hot tap water.  change it out when the water cools noticeably, and refill.  no math, no thermometers, less water.

To your first question.  I don't have a hot tub.  That's the point of using a hot tub.  Consistent temp in a large body of water.

To your second point.  No way I would ever do that.  You HAVE to have a consistent temp over time so you don't run the risk of having harmful bacteria grow in your food.  No way ziplocs and a bowl of hot water does that at room temp.  That's the whole point to using a hot tub or a cooler.

I suggest reading the article I posted above.  It isn't true sous vide.  That's why I called it a Hillbilly method as well.  

Also, I couldn't fit 9 of the steaks I had on a large egg.  I had to do them in 2 batches.  They were all [perfectly] done in less that 5 minutes with no gray matter.  Done in the cooler.  Next time I have to cook that many steaks I will cook them again the same way.  They come out more tender and juicy that way as well.  Just my .02

Darby_Crenshaw

to your first reply.  "hot tubbing" is name only.  only one merson uses a hot tub that i know of, and it's as a joke.

to your second point: an hour in hot water in a ziploc is not the least bit dangerous, the consistency is required for extended periods not for an hour.

my point is that an hour is not sous vide and does not require overanalyzing and vacuum sealing and thermometers.especially when (as they show) they are using simple ziplocs themselves from which they simply suck the air. 

four hours? sure. you want to follow guidelines re bacteria.

it's no less safe to use a ziploc in a bowl of hot water than to do the hill-billy hack.  the issue is when you do it for extended periods.

fiver29

I disagree.

Cheers.