Quick Aged Steak

[lemans]

So I took a 12 oz sirloin steak , put it in a gallon zip lock with 2 Tps fish sauce. Took out as much air as I could, and put it in the fridge for three days. Each day
Massaged the meat and turned it over. Then at the end of 3 days took it out of the bag and wrapped it in cheesecloth.. did not rinse it !!
Then back it fridge on a wire rack over a pan so that it had air circulation all around
Three days later .. ready for the grill
Now rinsed and patted dry, SPG on to the 400 degree
Grill 4 mins each side 145 IT.. absolutely tender and delicious.. sorry no pics.. family made 6 days work disappear in mins.. will do it again

 

[chef jimmyj]

That method should put some FUNK on the beef.

...JJ

 

[lemans]

It was goooood!

 

[SmokinAl]

It sure sounds good!

Al

 

[chilerelleno]

I bet it was tasty-n-tender, but....

:worthless

 

[gearjammer]

Never messed with fish sauce.

Didn't it taste fishy?

  Ed

 

[lemans]

Not at all. It was great . Delishous way to make a good steak , great!
Let's make steak great again!!!
And I don't want to get political...

 

[chef jimmyj]

 
Never messed with fish sauce.

Didn't it taste fishy?

  Ed

Fish Sauce is very Salty so you get a Brine effect. Although distinctly Fishy when raw, takes on a Umami rich almost nutty taste when cooked, especially at high temp, with no hint of fishiness. I add Fish Sauce to a whole variety of Soups, Sauces and Gravies. Really good added to Spaghetti Sauce, aka Grandma's Sunday Gravy!

I have tried a few and find Golden Boy Brand or super premium Red Boat to be the most mild and less stinky out of the bottle...JJ

 

[gearjammer]

Thanks for the explanations, Lemans and Chef JJ.

I'm going to get a bottle and give it a go.

I'll let everyone know how it turns out.

  Ed

 

[smokinadam]

So I took a 12 oz sirloin steak , put it in a gallon zip lock with 2 Tps fish sauce. Took out as much air as I could, and put it in the fridge for three days. Each day
Massaged the meat and turned it over. Then at the end of 3 days took it out of the bag and wrapped it in cheesecloth.. did not rinse it !!
Then back it fridge on a wire rack over a pan so that it had air circulation all around
Three days later .. ready for the grill
Now rinsed and patted dry, SPG on to the 400 degree
Grill 4 mins each side 145 IT.. absolutely tender and delicious.. sorry no pics.. family made 6 days work disappear in mins.. will do it again

awww shucks... if I only waited with the NY strips that I had the other day that I bought a whole one and had cut up this past January and finished the last one on Tuesday. This would even make those probably tender and good.

Thanks for posting Lemans. I will now explain why there's a bottle of fish sauce in the fridge.

 

[marctrees]

When I am gonna want a beef steak, (bone in Rib, Porter/Tbone, NY strip Whatever was on sale and now in the freezer) I take it out 2-5 days before cooking.

Take OUT of plastic, Rinse off frost, (i dont have a Vac sealer)  DRY off,  Put in fridge, set on OPEN plate w paper towel folded underneath, let defrost in fridge.

Leave in fridge uncovered, other than maybe a paper towel loose.

Next day, DRY ALL moisture on steak AND plate.

Flip over.

Toss out old towel it was on.

If another day, same, dry off everywhere, flip.

Cooking day, take out in early morning.

Gently spice (i use a small amount of Schilling Montreal)

I LOVE addition of Worcestershire, other than it impeding searing.

Let sit in ambient whatever 73f room, in some air movement.

Flip over to dry mid day.

I myself, cook to Rare.

Really Rare.

Bride gets hers Well.

Chef Jimmy or others, PLEASE chime in if I'm inviting problems.

But I will say, I also, for 45 years, have enjoyed totally Rare hamburgers, but ONLY if ground on small time historied premises.

NEVER the Tube stuff from  ?who knows where?.

Just my personal method.

Would NEVER do same w pork or poultry, ONLY Beef.

The only complication is, if the steak is close to 70f when put on to cook, the center will cook to temp faster. Before sufficiently "searing"

But for me, I prefer this method overall.

When lazy, just do all the same, in a HOTTTT cast iron pan.

Oversized pan, w not huge steak, start first side on one side of pan, after searing, flip to other hotter unused yet side of pan.

"Fish sauce" can be great, with manyyy uses, including this, like the Worcestershire.                   Marc

 

[gr0uch0]

Thanks for the idea, Lemans:  JJ is right about the fish sauce.  By itself, it's pungent, fishy, and quite salty.  By the time it's been through a marinade or cook, it's awesome.

Question for all:  once opened, what's the shelf life for a bottle?  I've not bought it previously, as I so seldom use it.  I've always gone to my favorite Hmong restaurant and asked them if I could have a small sauce "to go" ramekin when needed previously.

 

[lemans]

Ya know I never asked what the shelf life of the fish oil is, but it is like $2,25 a bottle

 

[marctrees]

Groucho- My personal thoughts, AND I don't like to use anything if I don't feel it's sufficiently "fresh"

Most larger Grocery stores have it in their Asian section.

Or an Asian store.

In a bottle, I would feel fine in my fridge for months.

Have done that for years.

My opinion.

Marc

 

[chef jimmyj]

Fish sauce is in hospitable to all Pathogens and only a handful of Halophilic Bacteria , Salt tolerant bugs, can tolerate conditions during the 6-12 month fermentation, they too die eventually. Some molds can grow but that is infrequent. Here is a quote from...

http://cooking.stackexchange.com/qu...mperature-and-how-do-i-know-when-its-gone-bad

There is no legal requirement in the U.S. for fish sauce to bear an expiration date, but most manufacturers put dates on the label anyway, since people are more inclined to trust foods that tell us when they should be discarded. These dates tend to be three to four years from the date of manufacture, which is actually on the conservative side in light of industry guidelines. The Handbook of Indigenous Fermented Foods in the ASCA Countries (published by the Association for Science Cooperation in Asia, a science-policy organization) ascribes to the condiment a shelf life of five years.

I had a 750ml bottle of Golden Boy in the refer 3 years with only slight crystallization.

As far as Warming Beef on the counter...Intact meat can be at room temp 1 hour with no issues. NEVER warm Ground Beef. As far as Very Rare, optimal results are actually achieved with very Cold Steaks...JJ 

 

[marctrees]

Chef - The hamburger I never let warm up, but only beef steaks, and occassional Chuck roast.

And the hamburger, stored in the fridge, more than a day or so, if it gets funky in any way, I toss it.

We live in TX, VERY careful to keep stuff cold from store to home.

All cold stuff goes in specifically all foam cooler, it holds the least residual heat energy.

Packed tight, towel on top under lid if not full.

Most sensitive stuff toward center.

Foam trays always against the cooler walls.

Like if I bought Deli sliced turkey, DEFINATELY slap it intimately next to the milk jug, or frozen bag of veggies etc.

Always bag foam trays to outside of bag, meat to meat inside bag.

Etc.

My baggers look at me like I'm nuts when I ask them that first few times, till I calmly explain.

But then they still don't usually get such basic science, and still think I'm nuts.

AND, once home, alot of stuff gets temporarily tossed in the freezer (separated to cool optimally) when unpacking bags, even if eating next day.

We are 30 minutes away from our Meat source.

Lotsa HOTTT weather.

  Marc

 

[gr0uch0]

Thanks, boys, for the intel.  Like I said earlier, I have a "go-to" Hmong restaurant who are very willing to give me a shot or 3 of fish sauce--as I eat there at least once every couple of weeks--on an as need basis.  For those in a major metropolitan area, finding these types of products is fairly easy.  For those in population bases of less than 50K, well, not so much.  Sure, it's only a few bucks if I order online--but by the time I've ordered up all those few bucks for "one offs", there's a sizeable investment for things that will likely go bad or I only use in one recipe, unless I use it for the next 30 days' worth of meals.  In this case, looks like the shelf life is plenty long, and a few rubles on this can be used over several months, if not years.

Last Q from me on this topic:  refrigerate or no?  My restaurant has it as a condiment on each table at room temp.  Appreciate your feedback.

 

[chef jimmyj]

 
Thanks, boys, for the intel.  Like I said earlier, I have a "go-to" Hmong restaurant who are very willing to give me a shot or 3 of fish sauce--as I eat there at least once every couple of weeks--on an as need basis.  For those in a major metropolitan area, finding these types of products is fairly easy.  For those in population bases of less than 50K, well, not so much.  Sure, it's only a few bucks if I order online--but by the time I've ordered up all those few bucks for "one offs", there's a sizeable investment for things that will likely go bad or I only use in one recipe, unless I use it for the next 30 days' worth of meals.  In this case, looks like the shelf life is plenty long, and a few rubles on this can be used over several months, if not years.

Last Q from me on this topic:  refrigerate or no?  My restaurant has it as a condiment on each table at room temp.  Appreciate your feedback.

You will find an equal number of Web posts for suggesting each, I have done Both. While refrigeration is not needed if stored in a cool dark place, bottle of Golden Boy in my frequently used ingredient cabinet 2 years, temp fluctuation is an enemy of Fish Sauce. I have since as mentioned above, now refrigerate...JJ

 

[chef jimmyj]

Marc...Noticed in your last two posts that, " You don't trust Tube Beef and Your Butcher Grind goes bad in a few days. " Just a bit of Industry info...All Packer Beef and especially Tube Ground Beef have to have a shelf life that takes the meat from Feed Lot to Grocery Store to your Refer. This takes Weeks, with multiple handlings and transfer in and out of trucks and warehouse refers. There are always mishaps and recalls but in general, Nobody in the food biz has stricter HACCP programs, more detailed inspection and oversight and more stringent Sanitation Practices than Meat Packers. Employees enter the plant in street clothes but then must change into sanitized uniforms, covered head to toe. They then walk through a UV hall and chemical foot bath to eliminate any contamination in the locker room. Once on the floor, any bathroom stops or Breaks result in repeating the entry process with fresh clothes and such. On the line, there are lots of eyes watching the processing and the Line is shut down at regular intervals, during the shift for equipment breakdown and sanitation. Having come from several generations of Butchers and working in grocery Meat Departments, I can tell you Your small Artisanal Butcher ain't doing half of that! When I purchased Tube Beef for my restaurant we were guaranteed 2 to 3 week shelf life at 36°F or lower. On a small scale, I prefer to buy 3 pound 80/20 Chubs. On more than one occasion I have used half a chub, squeezing the meat out like tooth paste, twisting the plastic shut air tight, place the remainder at the back of a lower shelf in the refer and after 7 days found the Beef as fresh as the day I opened the package. Ground Beef from a the Grocery and even a trusted Butchr only lasts 3-4 days if not frozen. When I was teaching, I would take my students to a Slaughter House small town Butcher Shop. I took the tour so many times, they gave me the run of the place with my students, They had some stringent sanitation practices but nothing compared to the National guys. And just like National packers, Trim went into the grinder unless they got a specific order for a custom blend or 100% ground Chuck, Round or Sirloin...JJ.  

 

[SmokyMose]

Marc...Noticed in your last two posts that, " You don't trust Tube Beef and Your Butcher Grind goes bad in a few days. " Just a bit of Industry info...All Packer Beef and especially Tube Ground Beef have to have a shelf life that takes the meat from Feed Lot to Grocery Store to your Refer. This takes Weeks, with multiple handlings and transfer in and out of trucks and warehouse refers. There are always mishaps and recalls but in general, Nobody in the food biz has stricter HACCP programs, more detailed inspection and oversight and more stringent Sanitation Practices than Meat Packers. Employees enter the plant in street clothes but then must change into sanitized uniforms, covered head to toe. They then walk through a UV hall and chemical foot bath to eliminate any contamination in the locker room. Once on the floor, any bathroom stops or Breaks result in repeating the entry process with fresh clothes and such. On the line, there are lots of eyes watching the processing and the Line is shut down at regular intervals, during the shift for equipment breakdown and sanitation. Having come from several generations of Butchers and working in grocery Meat Departments, I can tell you Your small Artisanal Butcher ain't doing half of that! When I purchased Tube Beef for my restaurant we were guaranteed 2 to 3 week shelf life at 36°F or lower. On a small scale, I prefer to buy 3 pound 80/20 Chubs. On more than one occasion I have used half a chub, squeezing the meat out like tooth paste, twisting the plastic shut air tight, place the remainder at the back of a lower shelf in the refer and after 7 days found the Beef as fresh as the day I opened the package. Ground Beef from a the Grocery and even a trusted Butchr only lasts 3-4 days if not frozen. When I was teaching, I would take my students to a Slaughter House small town Butcher Shop. I took the tour so many times, they gave me the run of the place with my students, They had some stringent sanitation practices but nothing compared to the National guys. And just like National packers, Trim went into the grinder unless they got a specific order for a custom blend or 100% ground Chuck, Round or Sirloin...JJ.  

Good to know!
Thanks, JJ!