You know when people say, “This tastes too salty.” It’s actually the iodine they are tasting. If you use as much iodized salt as you should to let do all of the wonderful things salt does, then it would be inedible. That’s why a good uniodized salt is used in cooking. Usually kosher since it is easier to pinch and sprinkle and also why any finishing salt is uniodized.
The reverse sear is the way, the truth, and the light. Highly recommended.
I find that suspect. I cook with kosher salt (I don’t think I have any iodized salt in the house, but that’s not on purpose. I just have kosher, sea, and canning salts), and I’ve definitely had “this tastes too salty” happen to me when I, well, use too much salt. (Though that salt level proves to be just right for my wife, who would salt salt.)
I totally agree with that but the level of “too salty” is a lot higher with uniodized salt. I suspect since so many households use iodized salt that that particular flavor is associated with the salt and that saying “It’s too salty” really means “I taste too much iodine.”
But here the test of that, measure out equal parts iodized and uniodized salt (fraction of a gram) and taste them. Does one taste “saltier”?
Yeah, I have a sous-vide setup, but I almost always prefer to reverse sear steaks. Sous-vide does give you a perfect temp all the way through, but the dry heat of reverse sear means you’ll get a MUCH better crust when you sear it.
I use a traditional sear (start with a really hot pan, sear both sides, then cook slowly, either in the pan or the oven until the interior is done.) I like that the ending is less critical – i’m always afraid I’ll overcook with a reverse sear, and then I’m stuck because it still needs to be seared.
You definitely need a thermometer to do it well. I’ve guessed before, but a thermometer is a small investment for an expensive steak. And you can get one that beeps at you when it’s up to temp in case you get distracted.
you leave a thermometer stuck in your steak as you cook it? And it goes beep when it’s at temp?
I have a traditional “yeast and roast” thermometer that stays in the roast, but you need to peer at. And I have a fancy electronic thermometer that is super accurate, but it’s a hand-held thing with a spike, you don’t leave it IN anything, you poke it in and look at the digital display, then you pull it out and wait until the next time you want to check. I love my digital thermometer, but it doesn’t let me walk away from a warming steak.
Yes. A probe thermometer. But you can check in every so often as well with a regular thermometer like a Thermapen. I’m more likely to use the former for a roast, but I’ve used it with steak.
For home cooking most people need to do a reverse sear because your standard residential kitchen oven just isn’t hot enough to sear the outside and get a rare-to-medium interior in one stage. A good steakhouse, however, will use a commercial gas broiler capable of temperatures in excess of 1,000 °F (Ruth’s Chris actually does theirs at 1,800 °F) which gets a nice thin cooked layer on the outside with very little gradient, and then they just finish it on a pan with some butter to get a caramelized crust. They have to do this because the low temp ‘bake’ or sous vide would just take way too long, and steak houses don’t want to pre-cook steaks because of wastage and hygiene rules. Although the broiler on your oven can’t do this, you can get a good approximation with a really hot charcoal or hardwood grill fire but it takes good control over the coals and a fine touch.
It is almost impossible to overcook with sous vide because you are never getting to a temperature that would overcook the steak, and the juices are sealed in with the meet so it won’t ever dry out, hence why sous vide and final sear is such a good technique for home cooks who don’t have the experience of grilling a couple hundred steaks a night for years. It’s as close to no-skill-required as any cooking can be as long as you follow instructions.
BTW, once you throw the steak on the pan or grill for a sear, most people want to move it around or check it or something. Don’t; just sear it for 60-90 seconds, flip it over, and do the same for the other side, then pull it off and let it rest for a few minutes while you finish the potatoes and sides. If you want to be really classy, throw the plates in the oven at 300 °F.
Stranger
You can combine the methods to make it absolutely fool-proof. Sous vide to just under desired temp and a few seconds in a searing hot pan to get the char.
I mean, sure. But I doubt the OP has a salamander laying around.
Well, you’re always going to sear with a sous-vide, but the sealed bag means that the outside is always going to be pretty moist. You can dry it off with paper towels, but it’s not going to be as dry prior to the sear like in a reverse sear.
Just a heads up: The only uniodized salt I have is kosher, and that has less salt per volume (of powder) due to its shape, So only compare salt of the same granule size.
I’ve heard of steakhouses in fact sous viding beforehand and holding, then finishing under a salamander to order.
Or use a mortar and pestle to make a fine powder of each and compare. I’ve made “popcorn salt” with our mortar and pestle.
I suppose some might. The problem is that with sous vide you create a potential for bacterial growth, and so once the meat is done cooking if it isn’t used immediately it needs to be chilled in an ice bath and put into the reefer, and then heated back up before searing. I personally keep meets cooked sous vide style in the refrigerator for 4-5 days without problems but in a commercial food service environment pre-cooked meats have a limited allowable time for usage and steak is really expensive—most restaurants make little or no margin on a high end cut of beef—so any wastage is really unacceptable.
I never worked in a kitchen that used sous vide so I don’t know what the specific rules or procedures are but it seems like it would be a pain for steak, and most steakhouses either have a dedicated high temp grill or have a process for using a broiler to cook in one step. A steak finished in a Salamander or other broiler isn’t going to have the really thin caramelized finish so you would want to pan finish regardless for a high end steak unless you are specifically flame cooking.
Stranger
Could you not just hold it for the shift or even longer? I know my brother has done 48-hour sous vides with stuff like corned beef. I was trying to find the article where I read about this, but I can’t seem to find it, so perhaps it’s a very niche method in the restaurant world.
I’ve been out of commercial food preparation for a couple of decades so I don’t have knowledge of current procedures (which vary across state and municipal health codes anyway) but there are definite limits on how long you can keep cooked meat at room temperature. There are restaurants that use sous vide extensively, but most of those I’m aware of specialize in fish, pork, nor poultry where you don’t try to cook ‘rare’ anyway, so the cooking that comes with rapid reheating doesn’t really affect the product. I’m sure there are probably restaurants that will sous vide beef ribs or loin, and maybe there are more steakhouses than I know who will sous vide steak but I think at least among pricy chop houses they take pride in being able to grill the steak ‘fresh’, and as discussed above are equipped to do that in a way that home cooks are not.
Stranger
I think pulykamell isn’t saying keep the food at room temp, but in the sous vide. You’re holding it out of the danger zone.