Dry brining steak and roasts using the sous vide

[medtran49]

Gave both techniques a whirl. I'll give them both another try using what I learned today. The steak was pretty good, but it was obvious I made some mistakes.

First, I used too much salt, which I realized today when I was looking up how long to sous vide. You are apparently supposed to use 3/4 tsp per pound. I used a lot more than that. That's what you get when you are only half, if that even, paying attention to a cooking show using the dry brining technique. You pat the steak dry, then salt it, including the sides.

The steak sat on a rack over a pan in the extra refrigerator for about 76 hours, uncovered. Next time, I will only let it set for 24 to 48 hours. The difference in the appearance and feel of the outside was dramatic from yesterday to today. Yesterday midday, the color had deepened some, but the outside still looked pretty much the same. Today, the color was a deep dark red and the outside looked and felt almost leathery, and it crusted that way too when seared. It was a bit unpleasant to chew, but by no means inedible.

I set the temperature for the sous vide at 123 F because that's what one of the articles at Serious Eats recommended for rib eyes. Next time, it will be 120 or maybe even a little less. The steak cooked for almost 2 hours in the sous vide.

Craig set up the charcoal in the chimney, I think it was caseydog who wrote he did it that way, lit the briquettes, let them ash, then put a small grate over the top of the chimney, and seared the steak for about a minute or so on each side.

BTW, we just replaced Craig's Weber 22 inch kettle grill because the bottom air doohickey was toast. Be careful if you are in the market, they are making aluminum grills that are the same price as the last steel one we bought years ago. The steel ones have gone up almost $100. The steel ones come with the side hinged grate, combined with the 10 inch removable round center grill standard. While I was looking at the grills, saw Weber is now making a cone accessory that the wide end goes over the coals on the lower charcoal grate and the smaller end under the upper grate, making a hot spot for searing or stir frying or whatever you might need a small super hot spot for.

Please post your experiences and I'll post what happens next time with the changes noted above.

 

[caseydog]

I have done dry brine and sous vide steaks, and I do my normal amount of salt, which is less than mst TV chefs say to use. I have also only done about 24 hours, give or take and hour. I usually use ribeye.

I actually sous vide at 135F for 60 to 90 minutes, depending on the steak size. It always comes out medium rare. I think Guga at Sous Vide Everything does the same.

I have done the charcoal chimney sear, but only a few times. I'm lazy, and it is a lot of time and effort for one steak. But, it does give a good crust to a steak.

CD

 

[medtran49]

We had a little over 4 pound prime rib roast for Christmas. Plus, i cut off about a 1-3/4 inch thick piece for a rib eye steak for later that was well wrapped and frozen. The prime rib came with the bones sliced off but tied back on.

I salted the prime rib with the amount of salt i would use normally for a piece of meat that size, then placed it on a rack over a sheet pan and refrigerated uncovered for about 36 hours.

The roast was taken out and allowed to sit for a couple of hours. Right before placing into a 200 F oven, i brushed off any excess salt that hadn't dissolved into the meat. You can rub with pepper or any other type of seasoning you want at this point, just not more salt. The roast went into the oven in the middle rack position on the sheet pan and rack it had been on in the refrigerator. It cooked for about 3.5 hours, not quite an hour per pound. We checked the temp with an instant read at 3 hours and it was 108 F. At 3.5 hours, the temp was 123 F. The roast was removed at that time and tented fairly tightly with foil while the side dishes baked in the oven for just over an hour. The oven was then turned up to 500 and allowed to come to temp. The roast was returned to the oven without foil tent and it took about 5 minutes for the fat cap to crisp up nicely.

You can serve immediately after searing with this method, a reverse sear, as the meat has already rested and wasn't subjected to heat long enough to need another rest period.

Use an instant read thermometer instead of a leave in probe to check temp, as the probe being metal will conduct heat to the inside of your roast.

The doneness ranged from med rare on the end pieces to practically rare in the center.

This method works for any size beef roast, 200 F at about one hour per pound, then a sear at 500 F to crisp up any fat cap and to give nice browning to the outside of your roast. Just check the temp in the middle of the roast about an hour before it is supposed to be done so you can adjust cook time if needed. I will say though that very large roasts will have end pieces more toward medium. If you don't want medium done pieces just cut the larger roasts in half and use the new weights to determine cook time.