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How to cook a filet mignon?

Cullum
Cullum Posts: 215
edited May 2012 in EggHead Forum
How do you suggest cooking a filet mignon on the egg? Thanks for the feedback!
«134

Comments

  • travisstrick
    travisstrick Posts: 5,002
    Get a very hot fire going and sear the steak close to the coals with a lowered grid of some kind. Once you get the amount of char you like, take the steak off. Let the egg cool off to about 400 or so degrees. Put the steak back on with a raised grid and cook to temp. I do 135 for med rare. Sometimes I melt some butter on top at the end.
    Be careful, man! I've got a beverage here.
  • Cullum
    Cullum Posts: 215
    Get a very hot fire going and sear the steak close to the coals with a lowered grid of some kind. Once you get the amount of char you like, take the steak off. Let the egg cool off to about 400 or so degrees. Put the steak back on with a raised grid and cook to temp. I do 135 for med rare. Sometimes I melt some butter on top at the end.
    Thanks! Do you wrap your steak in foil when you take off when letting the egg cool down?
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    I give it a healthy dose of Drambuie or Glayva just before throwing them on. I like to hot tub them and do the cook at lava temps.

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • travisstrick
    travisstrick Posts: 5,002
    I don't. Some do.
    Be careful, man! I've got a beverage here.
  • I give it a healthy dose of Drambuie or Glayva just before throwing them on. I like to hot tub them and do the cook at lava temps.
    +1 on the hot tub then finish on the egg. best steaks ever (I have a sous vide so that does make it easier). This is a ribeye but you get the idea. 


    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • Terrible steak pic. This one's better
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • Eggbertsdad
    Eggbertsdad Posts: 804
    Regarding the hot tub method, what temp should the water be?
    Sarasota, FL via Boynton Beach, FL, via Sarasota, FL, via Charleston, SC, via The Outer Banks, via God's Country (East TN on Ft. Loudon Lake)
  • tazcrash
    tazcrash Posts: 1,852
    I think the Mrs will have me committed if I ever said, "We need to get a hot tub". "really? Sounds great", "Yep, I hear you can make great steaks in it,  wait, who are you calling?" 

    Bx - > NJ ->TX!!! 
    All to get cheaper brisket! 
  • Whatever you want your internal to be. I set the one above at 140 and left it in for an hour. It was med rare throughout. Then you hit it with extreme high heat from the egg for 45 sec per side. It's med rare tip to tail and charred on the outside. I love it on steaks but it's the best way to do chicken or fish ever. Perfectly cooked and juicy with the awesome flavor from the egg on the outside. 

    It's harder to do if you don't have a reliable way to hold water temp but it produces crazy good results. The cool thing is, you can leave it in there for hours (all day) and it will hold at your selected temp until you are ready to finish. Throw some in when you go to work and you have dinner in the time it takes to heat the egg when you get home.
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • actually, that one was done at 133 degrees
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • Cullum
    Cullum Posts: 215
    Whatever you want your internal to be. I set the one above at 140 and left it in for an hour. It was med rare throughout. Then you hit it with extreme high heat from the egg for 45 sec per side. It's med rare tip to tail and charred on the outside. I love it on steaks but it's the best way to do chicken or fish ever. Perfectly cooked and juicy with the awesome flavor from the egg on the outside. 


    It's harder to do if you don't have a reliable way to hold water temp but it produces crazy good results. The cool thing is, you can leave it in there for hours (all day) and it will hold at your selected temp until you are ready to finish. Throw some in when you go to work and you have dinner in the time it takes to heat the egg when you get home.
    What is the hot tub method?
  • Seal it in a food saver or suck the air out of a zip lock and place it in stable temp water at your desired temp. It will cook it through and hold it at that temp until you are ready to finish. When ready, you season it and hard sear it to produce the Mailard reaction (caramelizing) and you have food cooked perfectly throughout with an awesome crust.

    If you have a reliable way to hold water temp, it's a great way to cook. Made way better when you have an egg to finish on. 
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • I think the Mrs will have me committed if I ever said, "We need to get a hot tub". "really? Sounds great", "Yep, I hear you can make great steaks in it,  wait, who are you calling?" 

    No lie. Get a sous vide ($400) and skip the hot tub. I would hate to be in there gettin frisky and bag of forgotten shrimp comes bubbling up. That might be a deal killer in my house :)


    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817

    If you use a vac seal do a manual seal before the vacuum completes so you don't flatten the meat. Water can be anywhere over 100 but I wouldn't go over the finish temp myself. Nice looking steak CT!

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • Cullum
    Cullum Posts: 215
    I think the Mrs will have me committed if I ever said, "We need to get a hot tub". "really? Sounds great", "Yep, I hear you can make great steaks in it,  wait, who are you calling?" 

    No lie. Get a sous vide ($400) and skip the hot tub. I would hate to be in there gettin frisky and bag of forgotten shrimp comes bubbling up. That might be a deal killer in my house :)



    Do you use the sous vide on all your steaks? Are they more tender that way?
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    I think the Mrs will have me committed if I ever said, "We need to get a hot tub". "really? Sounds great", "Yep, I hear you can make great steaks in it,  wait, who are you calling?" 


    The men in the white suits will be along shortly dear.

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    cen tex... if you are just prewarming for an hour, the tight temp hold isn't critical.  if we were going super long like i'm sure you do, you'd want serious temp control.  but if we back up and just look at the big picture, we're basically killing the chill of the interior, and getting the steak to within striking distance of 'done'. 

    i use hot tapwater and a couple water changes. i don't even bother taking the temp of the water. i just sear to done by feel. 
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • tazcrash
    tazcrash Posts: 1,852
    No lie. Get a sous vide ($400) and skip the hot tub. I would hate to be in there gettin frisky and bag of forgotten shrimp comes bubbling up. That might be a deal killer in my house :)

    LOL thanks CTS, that is an image I didn't need! 
    I think I have to try one stove top, to broker the purchase. 
    I did try a dry run just to get an idea. I took the wife's foreign porcelain coated cast iron dutch oven. Turned the stove on to the lowest setting, and when it got to 135 I turned it off, and the covered pot held the temp for a longggggggg time. 
    Just waiting for the right steak to break this out on.  

    Bx - > NJ ->TX!!! 
    All to get cheaper brisket! 
  • So just curious - if you "hot tub" then sear, you're basically skipping any roasting on the Egg, and bypassing any of that hint of smoke that it would add to the steak, right? 

    I mean, if you're gonna hot tub, then sear - you could theoretically do the sear on your stove, or even on a (gasp) gasser...

    So basically, what I'm asking is - what benefit from the Egg does the steak get when cooking this way?

    Thanks,
    Rob
    Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup... Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. - Bruce Lee
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    edited May 2012
    if you are doing it for an hour, it's not sous vide.  don't overthink it.  some will sous vide a steak at 140 for many many hours.  the steak's own enzymes breaking down flavorless proteins in a similar manner to the way they do when wet or dry aging.  think of it like super-wet-aging.  chicken, fish....  pretty interesting concept.  i have not had it though.

    but if you just want to ensure a perfectly cooked steak, hot-tubbing is one sure-fire way to do it.  as are T-rex and X-ert.

    all those methods achieve the same thing in different ways : they take a cold chunk of steak that would need to be seared to DEATH before the desired internal temp was achieved (leaving an overcooked exterior with much overdone meat surrounding the 'done perfectly' tiny core), and instead raise the entire steak close to the desired 'done' temp, and then the sear is thrown on to drive it home and provide the desirable color and flavor you can only get from searing.  the cook is two parts: raise core temp, and sear.  in the xert, it's done roast-then-sear.  with the Trex, it's sear-then-roast. hot tubbing and sous vide are simply bathe-then-sear

    as in centex's pic, the desired 'done' temp will occur across the entire steak, not just dead center. because the cook has been gentle, and achieved mostly (to be frank) be the water bath
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • hartofatiger
    hartofatiger Posts: 204

    I have cooked them only a couple of different ways, and they were both awesome.  Steaks out 30-45 min before cook.  I don't salt and pepper them until a few minutes before they hit the egg.  I like to T-Rex them, but lately just cook direct at 400-425.  Both ways are great.  Have fun.

    GEAUX TIGERS!!!!!!!!!

  • I think the Mrs will have me committed if I ever said, "We need to get a hot tub". "really? Sounds great", "Yep, I hear you can make great steaks in it,  wait, who are you calling?" 

    No lie. Get a sous vide ($400) and skip the hot tub. I would hate to be in there gettin frisky and bag of forgotten shrimp comes bubbling up. That might be a deal killer in my house :)



    Do you use the sous vide on all your steaks? Are they more tender that way?
    I don't on all steaks but I use it for all my chicken and fish. it makes a huge difference with both of those.

    Think chicken breast that pour out water when you cut into them. I cook them at 140 degrees for an hour. They are perfectly cooked and pasteurized throughout but you never have to go up to the 165 that is recommended for chicken breasts (because at 140, they are totally cooked and safe after an hour) . Chicken and fish have unbelievable texture when cooked this way and finished on the egg. Honestly (full disclosure) they are really good when pan seared too if you are feeling lazy. It just melts in your mouth. You'll never look at chicken breast the same way again. I do like 6-8 unseasoned breasts on Sunday or Monday and leave them in the food saver bags. Then, I just take them out, season, and throw on the egg. Fajitas one day. Mediterranean the next, BBQ, stir fry, teriyaki...whatever. It's the best way to do yard bird ever as far as I'm concerned. 
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • Stike - I understand the philosophy behind it, what I'm questioning is the Egg's credit in obtaining those results. 



    Again, what benefit does the Egg provide by cooking a steak in this way? It seems to me that the Egg isn't even a necessary variable in this equation.
    Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup... Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. - Bruce Lee
  • No lie. Get a sous vide ($400) and skip the hot tub. I would hate to be in there gettin frisky and bag of forgotten shrimp comes bubbling up. That might be a deal killer in my house :)

    LOL thanks CTS, that is an image I didn't need! 
    I think I have to try one stove top, to broker the purchase. 
    I did try a dry run just to get an idea. I took the wife's foreign porcelain coated cast iron dutch oven. Turned the stove on to the lowest setting, and when it got to 135 I turned it off, and the covered pot held the temp for a longggggggg time. 
    Just waiting for the right steak to break this out on.  

    Sorry for that. Sometimes I'm just not right. Give it a try. It's awesome. I have really found that it makes the most difference on delicate stuff like chicken breast and fish. They are cooked perfectly tip to tail and you can eat them cooked at afar lower temps than you normally could with traditional methods. The egg is an awesome tool to get great flavor on there quickly, which is the key to the whole deal. You only want to quick sear so you get that awesome med rare bite throughout (even on fish and chicken- I know that sound weird, but the texture is awesome and it's perfectly and safely cooked throughout). Don't get me wrong, steaks are great too, but when you can cook a chicken breast safely at 140-145, it's a game changer
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,170
    Okay I'm all in with a local audible-getting too warm to enjoy the spa so I will maintain counting accuracy and ensure the # sealed bags in=# sealed bags out and use it as a huge sous vide albeit at a lower temp. Just gotta keep 'em tethered for ease of retrieval. :D
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
  • Okay I'm all in with a local audible-getting too warm to enjoy the spa so I will maintain counting accuracy and ensure the # sealed bags in=# sealed bags out and use it as a huge sous vide albeit at a lower temp. Just gotta keep 'em tethered for ease of retrieval. :D
    Good call Cap. What's the temp of that tub?


    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,170
    @ Cen-Tex-tops out around 104*F and pretty stable-should be able to get a whole side of beef in there, no problem...:)
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
  • Okay I'm all in with a local audible-getting too warm to enjoy the spa so I will maintain counting accuracy and ensure the # sealed bags in=# sealed bags out and use it as a huge sous vide albeit at a lower temp. Just gotta keep 'em tethered for ease of retrieval. :D
    Good call Cap. What's the temp of that tub?


    i have a time/temp chart that I can take a pic of and post.



    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    HH. not sure what you mean. 

    the egg doesn't do the sous vide part or the prewarm.  it just sears.  and no, it can't achieve true sous vide in an hour of presoaking, because that's not what sousvide is.  but yes it CAN achieve it if you trulyt sous vide, then sear.

    not sure what the question was.

    xert and trex aren't substitutes for sous vide, because thy too only warm the steak over a brief period.  but all three methods are different ways to ensure an evenly done steak.

    a cold steak on a grill cannot be cooked to 'done' temps without developing a wide ring of grey overdone meat around a much smaller center of 'done perfectly' meat. 

    sous vide though isn't only concerned with warming the steak, it (when done for many hours) does other things to the meat that can't be achieved by trex/xert/tubbing

    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • Stike - sorry, seems like we're talking "past" each other (not difficult via this type of medium). 

    At any rate, "sous vide" or its little cousin "hot tub" are a means of cooking, or, in the case of "hot tub" - semi-cooking the steak, such that the internal is all one constant temp.

    Check - got that point. 

    So let's say you "hot tub" to about 125 degrees, then do a quick sear. 

    That "sear" can be done on ANY device which can produce heat high enough to get a searing temp.  It doesn't have to be done on the Egg. 

    So basically, the method I just described (theoretically) bypasses the Egg as a cooking vessel. 

    I guess the way I look at it is - I like using the Egg because of the smoky taste it imparts onto the food.  (yes, other charcoal cookers can do that, but that's a discussion as to *which* charcoal cooker is better, which is out of the scope of this discussion). 

    So, if I use the Egg to cook things because I like the way it makes the food taste (ie, smoky), then why would I want to bypass 90% of that? 

    If the Egg was never invented, folks would eventually come to a forum & say "hey, I found that if you "hot tub" your steak for X amount of time to Y internal temp, then throw on a CI griddle on the stove (or on my gasser) to finish off w/ a "sear" at the end (or beginning), it makes the BEST, most evenly "done" steak I've ever tasted!!!" 

    And this would be withOUT the Egg... I dunno, just an observation...
    Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup... Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. - Bruce Lee