How do you like your steak cooked?

[SauRoNZA]

Wait never knew about the soap people, washing it to me was bad enough

And then the flip side of that is the mushroom fallacy that people believe you can't rinse off because it will retain water which has been proven completely false by I think Heston Blumenthal.

 

[Zellephant]

Yeah you can't cock up slow cooking...by it's very design that's what you use it for.

I was rather referring to the open fire kind of vibes and a whole rack not cut into pieces.

Also....your "feeling" may be far from accurate but you deem it acceptable.

I didnt say “slow cooking”, I said “low and slow”. Ie - low heat, slowly cooked, but still not “slow cooking” like in a crock pot. Low and slow is the only way to properly cook a rack of lamb. Also, it’s no longer a “rack” once you have cut it into individual pieces, then it’s just “rib chops”.

So I knew exactly what you meant by “rack”

But anyone cooking a full rack of lamb over open fire, has no business cooking. You can do it on the fire, but then it must be in a Dutch oven, or at least wrapped in foil for the first 2 hours over very low heat.

You should only be using open fire on a rack of lamb to sear it at the start, or to add some colour, crisping at the end.

Still no “need” using tools. Doing it on feel is perfectly possible.

argentina is the place for magnificent steak

parillas everywhere

Yes. I didn’t forget about them. Was just responding to Sauranza claiming you shouldn’t ever be cooking based on feeling alone.

Just because someone has been doing it wrong for a very long time doesn't make it right.

Sure. If you say so. I’m sure the UNESCO world heritage intangible culture accreditation giving to various Mediterranean cuisines or French cultural gastronomy will disagree.

And yes you can do it without the tools, but why take the risk? And those nonnas use tricks that equate to food thermometers anyway so it comes back to the same thing really.

Because it so much more rewarding when done with feeling and passion, instead of clinical instruction following.

You said it, chemistry...science. The artistry is in the presentation.

No, presentation is important, but always comes second to preparation. Anyone who doesn’t believe their is artistry in the preparation of food, has not lived food culture properly.

As they say, there are two types of people, those who live to eat, and those that eat to live. I definitely live to eat, and the preparation of the food is as much a part of that than the actually eating.

After chicken has been in brine, surely a light rinse is a good idea??

Why is the chicken in brine that needs to be rinsed? The point of brining chicken before cooking it is to draw moisture out of the skin and the help it crisp up better. After brining, you just let it air dry for a hour or two uncovered in the fridge, then let it get up to room temp again, and then straight into a hot oven. Works like a charm.

 

[SauRoNZA]

For what? You're also spreading any bacteria from the chicken around the kitchen. But brined chicken should have very little

On the flip side you have the Americans so obsessed about this that you can't use a wooden cutting board (although it's the most anti-bacterial of all) and can't do a Youtube showing them how you washed everything and your hands in between otherwise they lose their minds.

They would literally die if they saw cooking in Africa.

 

[Brian_G]

Why is the chicken in brine that needs to be rinsed? The point of brining chicken before cooking it is to draw moisture out of the skin and the help it crisp up better. After brining, you just let it air dry for a hour or two uncovered in the fridge, then let it get up to room temp again, and then straight into a hot oven. Works like a charm.

Whatever gets you happy. I'm talking about purchased commonly packaged frozen chickens in brine.

If you want crispy, cook for longer


Too busy today, bye

 

[SauRoNZA]

But anyone cooking a full rack of lamb over open fire, has no business cooking. You can do it on the fire, but then it must be in a Dutch oven, or at least wrapped in foil for the first 2 hours over very low heat.

You should only be using open fire on a rack of lamb to sear it at the start, or to add some colour, crisping at the end.

Ever heard of indirect heat? You put it off to the side, no dutch oven required and let it do it's thing for an hour.

Then you sear the fat on the direct heat and boom job done.

Better than any oven option.

 

[SauRoNZA]

Whatever gets you happy. I'm talking about purchased commonly packaged frozen chickens in brine.

Yeah I have to agree if I was somehow unfortunate enough to buy that I would also rinse it off so you aren't wrong there.

But it is definitely worth it to pay that little bit more and get the properly fresh chicken that didn't get pumped full of **** and flown across the world.

Our local chicken is pretty affordable, even the fancy free range stuff.

 

[Brian_G]

Yeah I have to agree if I was somehow unfortunate enough to buy that I would also rinse it off so you aren't wrong there.

But it is definitely worth it to pay that little bit more and get the properly fresh chicken that didn't get pumped full of **** and flown across the world.

Our local chicken is pretty affordable, even the fancy free range stuff.

Someone keeps giving them to us for braaing, kind of hard to say no :-/

 

[quovadis]

Yeah I have to agree if I was somehow unfortunate enough to buy that I would also rinse it off so you aren't wrong there.

But it is definitely worth it to pay that little bit more and get the properly fresh chicken that didn't get pumped full of **** and flown across the world.

Our local chicken is pretty affordable, even the fancy free range stuff.

Gotta wonder where all that 80,000 tons of chlorinated bone-in / brown meat chicken shipped across the ocean from the US gets consumed in SA... AGOA ftw.
.

 

[Zellephant]

Whatever gets you happy. I'm talking about purchased commonly packaged frozen chickens in brine.

If you want crispy, cook for longer


Too busy today, bye

Okay. Yes I didn’t consider frozen chicken. I really don’t know why people buy that IQF frozen stuff. It’s pure exploitation disclguised as a cost effective option for poor people.

It’s no cheaper than buying fresh whole birds, especially once you calculate the water weight which is lost the moment you cook it.

I buy fresh, free range whole birds that don’t shrink when cooked for R69.99/kg. Why anyone would pay R129.99 for a 2kg IQF pack that’s 15% water.

Ever heard of indirect heat? You put it off to the side, no dutch oven required and let it do its thing for an hour.

Then you sear the fat on the direct heat and boom job done.

Better than any oven option.

In a weber maybe, but not over open fire….

 

[SauRoNZA]

In a weber maybe, but not over open fire….

Do it all the time, you just put it off to one side of the grid with minimal coals.

Ideally do the sear/crust first otherwise you'll need to make fire again later.

Although these days much prefer to do this kind of stuff in the pizza oven.

 

[notayoba]

Do it all the time, you just put it off to one side of the grid with minimal coals.

Ideally do the sear/crust first otherwise you'll need to make fire again later.

Although these days much prefer to do this kind of stuff in the pizza oven.

View attachment 1886438

For this type of thing, including a whole fillet I cheat.

I sear on the braai, maybe 2 minutes per side on a very hot fire, then put it in the oven at 180 for about 15-20 minutes. Comes out perfectly, and if the guests drink enough beer, they think you are a braai master.

Works especially well for a whole fillet. A big part of the process is getting the meat to room temperature before braaing.

 

[Zellephant]

For this type of thing, including a whole fillet I cheat.

I sear on the braai, maybe 2 minutes per side on a very hot fire, then put it in the oven at 180 for about 15-20 minutes. Comes out perfectly, and if the guests drink enough beer, they think you are a braai master.

Works especially well for a whole fillet. A big part of the process is getting the meat to room temperature before braaing.

Agree on getting meat to room temp before cooking. No matter the cooking method, it’s very important.

But cooking fillet over the coals and the in the oven, how do you add fat, since both of these are fat negative - and it’s hardly as if fillet has any fat to loose in the first place?

I avoid fillet like the plague unless it’s going to be drowned in sauce. Madagascan green peppercorn is a firm favourite. But mushrooms work just as well as fillet here, and cost a lot less.

I have always had to find ways add fat to the fillet (cooking in butter, then cream etc).

 

[SauRoNZA]

For this type of thing, including a whole fillet I cheat.

I sear on the braai, maybe 2 minutes per side on a very hot fire, then put it in the oven at 180 for about 15-20 minutes. Comes out perfectly, and if the guests drink enough beer, they think you are a braai master.

Works especially well for a whole fillet. A big part of the process is getting the meat to room temperature before braaing.

Yeah it really all depends what kind of thing I'm doing an how much active time I want to spend on it, or how many other things I have cooking and don't want to worry about yet another thing.

Reverse seer is is my go to when I'm going big, fillet or lamb or whatever in the oven at 120C or even lower if I have time and the thermal probe to shout at me when it's ready.

Then just throw it on the fire to finish it off, or quickly inside the pizza oven with full flame.

But then other times I kind of want to braai all day and have a few drinks then I'll park it on the side and make other stuff over high heat and kind of eat things in stages as they come off the braai like "starters" and then have the sit down part of the meal with the main event and a potato bake and some green vegetables or corn or whatever.

Part and parcel of any meat, more so than getting it to room temperature which doesn't actually matter that much with low and slow cooking is to salt it the night before and dry it in the fridge overnight. You can very easily make the cheapest of meats far far better for having done that and the crust is always better for it.

 

[SauRoNZA]

Agree on getting meat to room temp before cooking. No matter the cooking method, it’s very important.

But cooking fillet over the coals and the in the oven, how do you add fat, since both of these are fat negative - and it’s hardly as if fillet has any fat to loose in the first place?

I avoid fillet like the plague unless it’s going to be drowned in sauce. Madagascan green peppercorn is a firm favourite. But mushrooms work just as well as fillet here, and cost a lot less.

I have always had to find ways add fat to the fillet (cooking in butter, then cream etc).

If you aren't doing fancy sauce, I've always found doing a herby compound butter (or even buying one of those Parmalat pre-made ones) works great for fillet.

But I agree, generally am not a huge fan of fillet and would rather take a couple of rib eyes and cut them up to serve.

Long gone are the days of giving every person a whole steak.

 

[notayoba]

Agree on getting meat to room temp before cooking. No matter the cooking method, it’s very important.

But cooking fillet over the coals and the in the oven, how do you add fat, since both of these are fat negative - and it’s hardly as if fillet has any fat to loose in the first place?

I avoid fillet like the plague unless it’s going to be drowned in sauce. Madagascan green peppercorn is a firm favourite. But mushrooms work just as well as fillet here, and cost a lot less.

I have always had to find ways add fat to the fillet (cooking in butter, then cream etc).

I coat the fillet with salt, pepper and some oil, sear it, then bake it. Serve it by cutting into slices, and then yes, serve with mushroom/pepper cream sauce. Comes out beautifully crusty on the outside and pink on the inside.

 

[Zellephant]

I coat the fillet with salt, pepper and some oil, sear it, then bake it. Serve it by cutting into slices, and the yes, serve with mushroom/pepper cream sauce. Comes out beautifully crusty on the outside and pink on the inside.

Yeah no that’s what I would do too, or I wrap in in foil with a herb butter and garlic, or wrap it in bacon or so before baking, to get some fat into it. But still, at the price points, I have never really understood why fillet gets the “premium” treatment. Much prefer sirloin or ribeye with a good fat cap. Cook it whole and then slice into serving size steaks that you sear off just before service.

Ribeye and Sirlion just need salt and pepper. No need to fancy sauces.

 

[dualmeister]

https://www.tiktok.com/video/7233376926591765803

 

[Script]

All depends on the cut of the meat, but mostly medium-rare

 

[wbot]

Joop's Place

Serving legendary flame-grilled steaks, fine wine, and great dining in Durban since 1993. Joop’s Place — Avondale, Umhlanga & Westown.

www.joopsplace.com

By far the best I've had ... and got to see Joop eject someone who asked for well done.

Now why would they do that when their ad says this:

 

[rustypup]

Now why would they do that when their ad says this:

View attachment 1886765

Must have changed managers... Joop was... excitable.