Show Us Your Meat, and We'll Show You Ours

[Sully]

So here is a rack of ribs I made a dry rub for. I used to buy the, pre-rubbed but they are difficult to find in Harrisonburg so I found a decent Kansas City Rub recipie I like online and have been using it lately. It's pretty good.



Next up is somewhat controversial. So I hadn't had a good car project in a long time and really wanted to build something. My Styrofoam cooler method for Sous Vide worked pretty well and delivered an amazing steak. But this type of Styrofoam allows water to eventually seep through it so it wasn't a long term solution to cooking. I was also hoping to get some better insulation so that maybe I could maintain 160 degrees for longer to cook other things. I bought some foam board insulation and tried to cut it at school with no real tools and failed pretty miserably. Nothing was square and I used a whole tube of glue to get it to look somewhat boxish. Luckily I had enough foam to do a second run but I tried a very similar method as the first and the results still weren't great. I went ahead and ran with these anyway. Below are some pictures of the build, test, and first cook. Sorry there were no post cook pics but I was busy manning the sear skillet and throwing steaks off 3 at a time and they were all gone before I even finished searing my own steak and at that point I had to eat and get the grill ready for my grilled peaches dessert which I forgot to take pictures of :roll:

I realize now I don't have a pic of the initial build or the process really but I can walk you through it a little.
I started with nothing but foam insulation 2" thick (pink board). I then cut it into a box shape based off a drawing I made in google sketchups. I glued all the pieces together with a special foam insulation glue but didn't have enough clamps and wasn't sold on the glues strength as it isn't meant for this style of support so I wrapped several bands of duct tape around it to hold it. I then decided duct tape would supply a good covering support method and already had a larger roll so I wrapped the entire box (both boxes, made two) in the tape. I ran out of tape and switched to the gorilla brand which I'll come back to. The lids are double thick with the top layer measuring the entire size of the finished box and the second layer fitting inside the box so I get a nice tight lid. I may eventually dip the outside but I don't know.

I had trouble determining a good liner but eventually decided I wanted something strong and durable and easy to wipe down so I chose to pick up some aluminum sheet metal and fit it the box. (This, and the foam is where the majority of the cost come from but I enjoyed the build so it was more for fun anyway) I got a big enough sheet to bend it all the way around the sides so only one seam going up and I left an extra 2" on top to bend over and cover the foam. I used another sheet for the bottoms and made a sort of cake pan that I hammered around the bottom to get a snug fit and wrapped with a piece of tape to hold it in place while I put the liner in place. I originally planned to spot weld them but the shop I used to work at only has a ginormous spot welder that would have blown a hole through it so I ended up with some industrial adhesive and that plus the snug fit in the box holds it together. Lastly I secured the top flaps with more tape and then since the gorilla tape seemed stronger and had a more durable shell, I wrapped the entire box with the gorilla tape. I chose not to glue the line in because I may want to remove it at some point and redo the outside foam board.

I also glued/taped a piece of aluminum on the bottom of the lid just to protect it plus help the insulation keep the heat in. Since my panels weren't all that square, I ran a bead of that sprayable insulation in all the seams before I inserted the liner. Then I sealed the line seams with silicone that through research I found that many aquarium guys use so it should be fairly safe although the food never comes in contact with the box or the water within it. I inserted the extra probes I bought for my Maverick et-733 and silconed them in then shot more sprayable insulation behind them to help stabilize them.

So now pictures:


Thermometer check


First water test, First box started at 160 and dropped 10 degrees in two hours, second started at 135 and dropped to 131 in 3 hours


So my dad was curious about this method and he decided we would have a big party to test them. Why he would think a big crowd is a good way to test an unproven method is a good idea is beyond me but whatever I was up for the challenge. The science was there to back me up. So we found a deal (9.99 per lb) at Tom leonards where you buy the whole tenderloin and they cut it into filets for you. So we found a 8lber and had it cut into about 13 steaks.

He wanted his with a little seasoning so my dads is already missing but you get the idea.

All sealed up and weighed out.

And we're cooking


I had 11 steaks cooking at once because I miss-counted. Only needed ten. Come back to that later. I had both boxes going and had 6 in one and 5 in the other. One box was cooking at medium at around 140 degrees and the other was a medium rare at about 133. It was a lot of meat and I didn't let them sit out very long ahead of time so I fought for the first 30 minutes adding more hot water every 3-7 minutes. My et-733 made it a breeze as I had both alarms set and they warned me when they went out of their threshold. Its wireless too so I was even able to go out and bs in the garage with people while they cooked


I left them a little over the hour cook time because my sides were running slightly over due to losing track of time. Think I went two hours or so because it also helps ensure bacteria is dead all the way through. Lucky I did because the steaks were a few degree under when I took them out probably due to the volume of steak and the lack of circulation equipment but the skillet brought them up to the correct temp without overcooking so they were still perfect. (I'm talking like 1 to 2 degrees off, nothing serious or unsafe)
Cooking


My side: Bacon Wrapped asparagus with a brown sugar sauce(not yet applied)



I was searing three at a time which I think sucked more heat then I realized because my last batch took awhile to sear all the way but they didn't overcook so it was still good. Doing this many may call for two skillets going concurrently and an assistant to cut open bags. Everyone loved the steaks though and some said it was the best steak they had ever eaten. You get a real good taste of beef throughout which impressed some too. (It seems common sense that you would, but I don't taste the beef flavor that much in a regular steak) Its almost like eaten the meat fresh off the cow but its got a better texture and its warm throughout.

I did a quick freeze technique on that extra steak right in its vacuum bag in an ice and water bath and refrigerated it. I gave my dad some instructions and he's going to try one of two methods to reheat it without overcooking it. Either simmer in water for 15 min then sear or low temp oven for 15 min then sear. Normally you could just put it back in the box and cook again I suppose but I brought the boxes back to school with me.

Once again, I wish I had a picture of the finished product but they were all gone by the time I sat down to eat and that was literally only 5 minutes after the first one came off the skillet. I inhaled mine and moved on the peaches which I also forgot to take a picture but they are peaches cut in half and then grilled face down to get some grill marks then flipped and filled with brown sugar until it caramelizes/liquefies, take them off and top with a scoop of ice cream. Enjoy

I will probably be doing another cook this week so I will post pictures of that then.

The boxes hold heat well but probably not much better than a regular cooler which I was going to use but was hoping to get better heat retention this way. I'll keep experimenting with how long I can maintain heat. I need to add drain plugs to make adding water and draining after use easier.

Sidenote: Normally I would use a big pot of heated water to bring the temp up more during cooking but luckily my water heater at home is turned up super high and it comes out of the kitchen tap at 161 degrees so that was a definite help when doing this many steaks.