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The great ribeye challenge

ncbbq
ncbbq Posts: 257
edited July 2012 in EggHead Forum
Well last night was ribeye for dinner, but with so many contradictory constraints it made for a bit of a challenge that only an egger could over come. I like to cook steak at high temp for a nice sear and have found that thin steaks are almost impossible to cook right at high temp. So I get some good 1 - 1 1/5 inch thick ribeyes at a recent sale at Harris Teeter. The wife tells me that we don't need that much meat and we need to split one. No problem right? Well I recently received the news that the wife is with child (I found out on Father's day for a bit of irony). The doctor says no pink meat and everything needs to be well done. Well I don't like shoe leather so the issue is cooking one ribeye to two levels of doneness. So I cook it until about medium rare to medium. Then I cut it in half length ways and put her side back on to render it inedible. In the meantime mine carried over to about medium. I would have preferred medium rare but I can live with medium. Her's was well done, so sad for her. I guess she is in for about 7 more months of shoe leather. All and all I guess it wasn't that big of a challenge, but certainly not a list of constraints I had met in the past. Sorry, I should have taken a picture of the finished halves but mine was too good to wait. I rubbed it up with some Dizzy Pig Cow Lick prior to cooking. It was very good, at least mine anyway.

Comments

  • Get a sous vide. You can have med rare steaks that are perfectly pasteurized and safe to eat for anyone. They are $300 but well worth it not to have to eat charcoal for 9 months!
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • Here is some lamb that I did for 4 hours and some short ribs I did for 5 days. Check out how the ribs are med rare after 5 days! Both of these were 100% pasteurized and perfectly safe to eat for anyone.

    Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos

    Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos

    No need for her to suffer with overcooked food.
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • Mayberry
    Mayberry Posts: 750
    First and foremost, Congratulations on the new baby! My wife is currently pregnant with our 2nd. We tend to go more hippie than not with pregnancy fears, so I've looked into this a lot. Our OB is an old school Army doctor, so he says all the fears are mostly unwarranted and to ignore them. We still err on the side of caution most often. That being said, freezing meat for 3 days kills most all known bacteria that could hurt your wife. So, as long as you freeze and thaw steaks, she doesn't have to eat well done. Even in a restaurant, out doctor says that medium-medium well is fine. He says the crusting from charbroiling steaks to well done is carcinogenic and more risky than undercooked meat. All in all, do what you're comfortable with. The only risk in pregnancy with any food is that if there is a bacteria and you both eat it, you can get sick, flush it from your system and recover. Your wife is feeding a baby, and the same bacteria could prevent needed nutrition from reaching the baby during development. I have never gotten sick from a steak I've handled and cooked. Restaurants are where I'd be more leery about what she eats. Anyway, just my two cents. Good luck with the pregnancy. If it's your first, there's nothing in the world as fulfilling as being a parent.
    Athens, GA
    XL BGE, Large BGE and RecTec590
  • chuff
    chuff Posts: 255
    ...Good luck with the pregnancy. If it's your first, there's nothing in the world as fulfilling as being a parent.
    Or as terrifying. When my son was born I don't think I got her up above 30 mph at any point on the drive home from the hospital. 
    XL BGE
  • ncbbq
    ncbbq Posts: 257
    edited July 2012
    Thanks @Mayberry and congrats to you as well. It is my first and have no clue what to expect so I haven't really questioned what they've told me. I did wonder about the meat thing though. I always thought with beef as long as you seared the outsides you could eat the middle raw if you wanted. Chicken is a different story. But the wife wanted the meat done so at least I found a way for mine to still be appetizing.

    The Cen-Tex Smoker, those pics look great. You have had me intrigued by the sou vide when I have seen you talk about it on other threads. It definitely looks interesting.
  • LizzieSamps
    LizzieSamps Posts: 894
    @ncbbq - Congrats on such great news!  Sorry to hear your wife has to eat well done, YUCK!  I think there is a big misconception of well done.  Most people serve well done, WAY over done.  
  • Squeezy
    Squeezy Posts: 1,102
    @ncbbq - Congrats on such great news!  Sorry to hear your wife has to eat well done, YUCK!  I think there is a big misconception of well done.  Most people serve well done, WAY over done.  

    Sadly true!
    Never eat anything passed through a window unless you're a seagull ... BGE Lg.
  • ncbbq
    ncbbq Posts: 257
    @LizzieSamps, that reminds me of my dad's grilling. He has one temperature, WAY over done. Thanks for the laugh.
  • LizzieSamps
    LizzieSamps Posts: 894
    @LizzieSamps, that reminds me of my dad's grilling. He has one temperature, WAY over done. Thanks for the laugh.
    Same here, I don't let him cook anything now except sides!
  • Newbbqer
    Newbbqer Posts: 78
    Congratulations ncbbq!  As a father of three, there truly is nothing like it in the world!  
  • ncbbq
    ncbbq Posts: 257
    Thanks for the encouragement @Newbbqer, I have no idea what I'm in for.
  • Newbbqer
    Newbbqer Posts: 78
    In for the best time of your life!  Trying at times (I won't lie), but always great fun.  Plus you'll have to cook for one more now!

  • smak
    smak Posts: 199
    @ncbbq try cutting the steak in half (crosswise) before cooking. I try to get a piece of the chain and the eye in each piece. wrap each half around once with butcher's twine to hold everything together.

    I do this regularly to make thick steaks more portion friendly.  
    smak
    Leesburg, VA
  • brianwdmn
    brianwdmn Posts: 371
    Congratulations @ncbbq, you are embarking on a journey of a lifetime. My youngest is 20 now, but even though it's been a while I remember the experiences you and your wife are going through as if it were yesterday. Definitely check out the sous vide.
    Marietta, East Cobb, GA
  • ncbbq
    ncbbq Posts: 257
    Thanks for the tips and encouragement guys.