Stuffing Fillets

Joel Ferman

What are your stuffing methods for steaks? I have never messed around with this and am thinking maybe minced bacon and shrimp might be a good stuffing.
Any suggestions? Once I figure out what and how, i'll post pics of the result.
-Joel

djm5x9

<p />Joel:[p]Strip steaks are the best candidate for stuffing. One way is to slice the steak almost in half, fill, and use tooth picks or skewers to hold while cooking. If you are good with a knife and have a thick strip steak you can penetrate the steak from one end creating a long stuffable cavity.[p]Pictured is the first method, the latter is better. I use crab, shrimp, or crawfish when I stuff steaks.

Joel Ferman

djm5x9,
I am pretty good with a knife. Here's what I was thinking. Cut as you described using the long cavity and sewing it with fishing line. (I was trying to think of something edible that would work to sew with, but no luck as of yet... I was thinking a strand of pasta, but it would surley break) I was also playing with the idea of mincing it into almost a sludge, then injecting the sludge.
Your thoughts?
-Joel

djm5x9

Joel:[p]If the strip steak is somewhat rectangular in shape cut from the short side making a long, deep pocket (need a really sharp knife). A single tooth pick can be used to seal the opening. Depending on your stuffing it may need to be precooked. Looking forward to your visual creations!

Hammer

Joel Ferman,
I tried a stuffed filet the other night in a restaurant that was stuffed with blue cheese, and garlic. It was good, and needless to say simple.
The question I have is, is if you stuff a filet; what temps; etc would you sugges if it is stuffed with items like shrimp, crab meat etc;?
Hammer

DrEgg

Joel Ferman,[p]You may be on to something here. A whole new approach to stuffing meat.[p]How about surgical suture? One type we use is called Chromic. I believe it is made from cat intestine and is fairly quick to dissolve. Use it to suture cuts inside the mouth, so should be safe to eat. Also, it comes packaged sterile.[p]Let me know if you want to try it, and I'll send you some.[p]DrEgg[p]PS - I'm pretty good with a knife too, but never thought I'd be doing surgery on my steaks. What a hoot![p]

mollyshark

DrEgg,[p]Isn't that the technique Mr. Toad suggested to use in his pork loin now instead of cutting it straight through? I first saw it at an eggFest a zillion years ago and have been doing that since.[p]mShark

Unknown

Joel Ferman, Unless you have an injection needle with a large sized hole in the needle, that sludge is gonna clog the needle.[p]As to something to use to hold the steak together, when you say fishing line, I am imagining what we refer to in the Midwest as steel leader or "spider wire." If you are refering to mono-filament line, this stuff will melt at the the higher temperatures commonly used for grilling steaks.[p]I do have a suggestion that will work for securing the steak. When I roll ribs to make more grill space on my cookers, instead of using bamboo skewers to hold the rib ends together, I use large sized paper clips. [p]I sterlize large sized steel coated paper clips by boiling them in water for ten minutes. Make sure you do not have the gray colored style of paper clip as these might be zinc coated. Once the paper clips are sterilized, you can unroll them and bend them to suit your needs. These should work for holding the steak together.[p]Beverages,[p]JDB

Mark

Joel Ferman,
Try cutting a pocket in the steak. Insert the knife into the meat with a hooking motion to open the pocket. A sharp knife is a must. The smaller the opening the better, close it with a toothpick. Crab, cheese, garlic they all work great.
Mark

DrEgg

Mollyshark,[p]Does he (do you) suture the hole closed? I stuff pork loins also, but usually with sausage or cheese or carrots. Solid items. Never thought about using a paste and sewing it closed.[p]Huh.[p]DrEgg

Joel Ferman

DrEgg,
As stupid as it sounds (seeing as how I eat other animals) cat intestine sounds really nasty. Do you know if it has a flavor? Do you think a scalpel would be a good tool to dig a hole in a steak? If so where can I find one? One last thing, what material do they use (I think it's a fiber) for stitches in humans? Would that work?
-Joel

StumpBaby

Joel Ferman,[p]Momma uses cat intestines to keep her vericose veins under control..she rinses them out and slips em on over her legs..believe it or not..momma has small legs..so that cat intestine is not a problem. Momma says it puts just as much pressure as needed on them veins. I think that those veins ain't ever gonna get betta..but at least they're covered up..cause not many people wanna see mommas legs..it's not cause all of that nasty hair..it's on accounta all them vericose veins..poppa says mommas legs look like a Rand McNally road map with all them blue veins poppin out..I asked poppa if he knows so much about maps..why is we always getting lost when we go on them long trips...sometimes when poppa can't answer a question..he just look at you real mean like and say nothing..that's what he did that day.[p]Only thing wrong with them cat intestines is when momma went swimmin in the creek and forgot to take em off..they shrunk up like you read about..momma's legs looked awful funny that day..sorta like sausages stuffed into casings..but pretty soon wasn't so funny no more cause mommas toes started getting real big and sorta turned blue..they looked like hairy blueberries..that scared the majeebers outta me...we ran to get poppa..and he come down with his wittlin' knife..and cut those intestines off of momma...poppas real good with the whittlin knife..you shoulda seen the naked women he carved outta oak..poppa said we should keep that our little secret..anyway..he only cut momma in six places..which I think was pretty darn good..seein as how plumped up she was inside that intestine....momma said she was glad she wasn't wearin cat intestine underwear..cause that coulda been really bad..some things it hurts to even think about..I'm slowly getting a moonshine habit of my own...[p]StumpBaby

DrEgg

Joel Ferman,[p](Still laughing). Guess maybe I should have left the cat gut part out. Actually, I think it is a synthetic now, but was originally made from cat gut. I have used it many times to suture wounds inside of people's mouths, and no one has ever reported a taste to me. Plus, at the high heat, I think it may be completely dissolved by serving time.[p]As for the scalpel, they are extremely sharp, but probably too short to make a very big hole. Also, they dull very quickly. I'd stick with what you've got.[p]The sutures we use in humans are too numerous to go over here (and not a very exciting topic). The fibers can be permanent (nylon, silk, etc) or disolvable (cat gut, polyglycolic something or another, etc). The fiber can be arranged in a monofilament (feels like piano string) or in a braided fashion (feels like thread).[p]Anyway, more info than you probably wanted. I'm serious about sending you a little "suturing kit" if you want it. Always good to see someone willing to experiment a little (or a lot). LOL[p]DrEgg