Heart of Cooking

Cooking Ribeye Steaks

Biting into a big piece of juicy ribeye steak is one of life's greatest pleasure. Cooking the steak at the perfect temperature is a delicate process that can easily make or break your dinner plans. The cooking methodology is an important choice. There are various methods that ribeye steak can be cooked, there's the grill, reverse sear, smoker, pan-fried, oven finished, salt baked, and then there's sous vide (Stanbroke,2019). Each of these methods have their own distinct advantages and disadvantages, we will focus on the sous vide method for this recipe.

Sous Vide Method

Sous Vide is a French term that is translation as "under vacuum" (Williams, n.d.). This describes the process that makes this method different from other cooking methods, the food is cooked within a vacuum-selaed package and submerged in a controlled temperature water bath. This cooking method was initially developed by French kitchens in the 1970s to cook tough meats with minimal shrinkage, but it has since then been applied to cooking vegetables, sauces, seafood, and all kinds of meat. In the past, sous vide cooking is not commonly seen or used because of its need for specialized equipment that are not usually part of a regular household kitchen. The emergence of value-priced circulation equipment and household vacuum sealers enabled it to make its way into more and more restaurants and homes.

Key Advantages of Cooking Sous Vide:

• Juices and flavors are "locked in" instead of evaporating or burning off.
• Because the temperature is controlled, cooking consistency is increased which contributes to meat tenderization.
• Meal preparation and storage is enabled and simplified. Meals can be prepared and stored in the refrigerator way ahead of time.
• Sous Vide components take up just a small amount of space which is perfect for small and tight kitchens.

Temperature

One of the biggest advantages of using the Sous Vide method is having precise control of the temperature, the entire meat will cook at the chosen temperature. The variability of heat from fire or coal and the timing requirement is simplified in this cooking process; all that is left to decide is at what temperature would one want their steak cooked? The doneness of a steak is determined by the maximum internal temperature it reaches while cooking, donness has a major impact on the steak's juiciness and texture. The higher the temperature, the more juice escapes the meat.

Here's a table to show the different donness based on temperature:

(Lopez-Alt, 2023)

Cooking Time

Cooking using the Sous Vide method takes the guessing game out of timing, but that does not mean that time is not a factor at all. The temperature can be set and the food will not exceed the set temperature no matter how long you leave it in the water, but the length of time affects the tenderness of the meat (Lopez-Alt, 2023). The longer the meat is cooked, the more the meat becomes tender; but a steak that shreds in your mouth may not be ideal. Chef Kenji Lopez-Alt (2023) did some experiments on cooking time of different cuts of meat that are one and a half to two inches thick and came up with the data shown below. Please note that steaks that are cooked under 130° F should not be cooked longer than two and a half hours for food-safety reasons

Here's a table to show the different donness based on temperature:

Strip, Ribeye, Porterhous, and Butcher's Cuts

Ingredients

Steaks should ideally be 1.5 to 2 inches thick, thinner cuts of steaks would make finishing trickier. Using thin steaks runs the risk of overcooking the steak in the process of finishing the steak for texture and presentation. Depending on your choice of steak finishing method, the garlic oil and butter would be relevant.

• 1.5 to 2 inch ribeye steak.
• A bulb of Shallot.
• 1.5 tsp kosher salt.
• 1 tsp ground black pepper.
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 sprigs of Thyme.
• 2 tbsp of butter.
• 1 tbsp garlic oil
• Maldon finishing salt

Recipe

1. Preheat the precision cooker to the desired temperature.
2. Season all the sides of the steak with the kosher salt, pepper, and powdered garlic mixture.
3. Peel and cut the shallot into slices.
4. Spread the shallot slices on top of the steak.
5. Roll the Thyme sprigs in your palm a few times to release the oil.
6. Place the sprigs on top of the steak.
7. Vacuum seal the steak using a vacuum sealer.
8. Place the steak in the water bath.
9. Remove the steak from the bath at the desired time frame.
10. Remove the Thyme sprigs and shallots.
11. Gently pat the steak dry with napkin.
12. Finish the steak using your desired method.
13. Serve and enjoy. There is no need to let the steak rest when using this method.
14. Maldon salt is optional finishing salt and can be added according to taste.

Finishing

A noticeable feature that a Sous Vide cooked steak lacks is color. The dark brown color and or grill marks are not something that you can get from a Sous Vide steak right out of the bag. The color and presentation can be achieved through finishing and the options are stovetop frying, torching, and grill finish. Do not finish the steak too long, it already is at the desired temperature and no further cooking is necessary. add butter during stovetop finishing or after finishing with other methods.