dcarch

BTW Keith, Amazing post you did. It never occur to me that thin steak is a very good option. Tonight I went to Shoprite (supermarket here in NYC). Porterhouse was $4.99 a lb regular is $10.99 a lb. But the steak was like only 1/2" thick which I normally don't buy. I bought two, and did the same as your way, sous vided at 128F, seared on 575F cast iron pan. Amazing!. Back to OP's steak concerns, it is MHO that in any cooking, not just for steaks: The oven temperature should not be changed to control timing of internal temperature. External temperature is very specific for a given recipe to develop the proper caramelization, crust crispiness, browning of specific rubs, etc. In any case, within reasonable range of changes to external temperature, say +-20 degrees F, based on the laws of physics, the variation to timing will be insignificant. Given time, internal temperature will reach to desired temperature no matter what. Don't risk over cooking your meat. That's the absolute disaster in making steak. dcarch

Sigma, "I don't know if you are babbling to hide that you don't know what you are talking about, or whether you still believe that the time it takes a steak to get to temperature is not affected by the temperature of the oven so long as you are above 100 C. " ​I admire your great knowledge in scientific matters, as well as your sophisticated sense of humor. dcarch

That is a perfectly scientific way to make great steak. Just one small thing to be aware of, for thin steaks, the placing of the thermometer probe full time in the meat can effect the reading due to the higher conductivity of the metal shaft of the probe. Try this quick experiment: Wrap some paper towel around the probe's shaft just above the tip, and pour some hot water over the paper. You will see the tip will be reading a temperature rise from the paper towel even the measuring tip sensor is not in the hot paper towel. Also, butter has a very low smoking point. You may want to try clarified butter instead. dcarch

That's not really true, is it? Won't hotter air dry the outside layers faster allowing them to heat to a higher temperature which will increase the speed at which the heat penetrates the center? In other words, the boiling point of water is only limiting when the exterior surface is comprised mainly of water. The heat of the oven changes that variable. Also, the differential between surface and interior temp determines the rise in core temperature after cooking, so the different temperatures in an oven do have a significant impact on the calculus of cooking. The outside layer may get dried out, then there is the next layer, the next layer, the next layer ------- each layer has water, meat is about 75% water. Until all the water is boiled away, no temperature can get higher than 212F (normal atmospheric pressure). You may be able to find on Youtube many videos showing you can boil water on fire, using pots make of paper. The water will not allow the paper to get hotter than 212F. "The heat of the oven changes that variable." Conductivity is a constant, not a variable. Nothing can change thermal conductivity of a sustance. dcarch Uh, I never said that conductivity is a variable, I said that the temperature and thickness of the outer crust is dependent on oven temperature, a fact which none of your water boiling paper refutes, or even contemplates. The Point is that meat cooks as a result of conductivity, and the time to temperature of the center of the meat depends on the conductivity, the thickness and the exterior temperature, the last of which is determined, in large part, by the heat of the cooking medium. The fact that water cannot get hotter than 100 C is a limiting factor to how fast the center will cook, but it does not follow that the heat of the air inside an oven has no effect on cooking time once it is above 100 C. I am absolutely not sure why you need to get to that degree of details in the thermodynamics for the purpose of general understanding of major factors effecting cooking. I said "A little science", water boiling point, and conductivity are all you need to be aware of when you cook to control quality of the end result. Otherwise you will need to know the boiling point of fat, conductivity of bones, relative humidity of air, velocity of convection in the appliance, surface infrared radiation conditions, insulating quality of the crust, capillary action of the meat's grain structure ----------------------------------------------!!!! Of course the heat in an oven effect cooking, it burns the outside quicker, but water's boiling point and conductivity constant prevents the heat from getting to the center quicker. However, a 2,000 F furnace will turn your steak to vapor in a very short time. dcarch

There has to be at least a million. dcarch

That's not really true, is it? Won't hotter air dry the outside layers faster allowing them to heat to a higher temperature which will increase the speed at which the heat penetrates the center? In other words, the boiling point of water is only limiting when the exterior surface is comprised mainly of water. The heat of the oven changes that variable. Also, the differential between surface and interior temp determines the rise in core temperature after cooking, so the different temperatures in an oven do have a significant impact on the calculus of cooking. The outside layer may get dried out, then there is the next layer, the next layer, the next layer ------- each layer has water, meat is about 75% water. Until all the water is boiled away, no temperature can get higher than 212F (normal atmospheric pressure). You may be able to find on Youtube many videos showing you can boil water on fire, using pots make of paper. The water will not allow the paper to get hotter than 212F. "The heat of the oven changes that variable." Conductivity is a constant, not a variable. Nothing can change thermal conductivity of a sustance. dcarch

There is fat, and there is oil. In addition to taste, it's about mouth feel. Oil can't give the same mouth feel. Ice cream = fat Puff pastry = fat Bacon = fat Leaf lard is priced because it lacks flavor dcarch

1. Get a good probe digital thermometer. Put it in boiling water and time how long it takes to get to 212 degrees F. then put it in ice water and time how long it takes to get to 32 degrees F. Don't worry too much if it is off by one or two degrees. This test will give you an idea how long it takes for your thermometer to read the correct temperature. The faster the time the better it is. 2. You can take the steak out to measure, but not necessary. 3. Insert the probe into the center of the thickest part of the steak (the coldest spot), and the reading is the temperature you are looking for. 4. You may want to check temperature in a few areas just to be sure if you have gotten the coldest spot. Your oven temperature setting should be based on what the recipe calls for, not what the thermometer tells you. If the temperature is still low, let the steak stay there longer. ---------------------------- A little science here: not required for making good tasting steaks: Once the oven temperature setting is above 212F, The steak interior does not get hotter faster even you set the temperature hotter. The boiling point of water in the steak will keep the temperature at 212F, and it cannot get any hotter. The timing of how fast the inside gets hotter is mostly determined by the thermal conductivity of the meat, that is a constant which you cannot change. Have fun, and let us know how it turns out. dcarch dcarch

You know when you are cooking something you can smell it in the whole house? Because air molecules can move around by "Brownian Motion" and natural convection current due to temperature differential and even out eventually. Have you ever burnt something and the whole house is filled with smoke? If your kitchen is connected to other rooms with good circulation, you are probably OK. Again, a CO detector is good to have. dcarch

As I remember, CB 135F, B 131F. Yes, I have a special smoker, which has an ultrasonic humidifier. I can smoke at low temperature for a long long time without having the meat turn to jerky. dcarch

You often hear people say, "I made brisket, and it was falling apart tender". To me falling apart is not really tender, you still have to slice thin across grain to make it chewable. Sous vide, really low and really slow, can in fact make the meat fiber tender, and you don't have to slice across the grain to make it chewable. I did a side by side test. Sous vided corned beef had 5% less shrinkage, which means juicier and more tender meat, and it also means the meat is 5% cheaper. dcarch

Thanks. That's me, always making something new. But that is not a good quality, I am too impatient and tooo lazy to follow recipes. The chopped liver looked a little different in texture than what you normally see is because I put some gelatin in the mix. I thought that might help molding a little easier. The brisket's shape was like that because it was my intention to use some of it for slicing to put on bagels the next day. Yes, I would try to make the dishes again, probably with some different ingredients for fun. Brisket was very good, sous vided 48 hours. dcarch

Of course you don't mean to remove the enamel on the pan. Hahaaa! dcarch

Sigma "-------but I think that in order for intricately plated food to be attractive, and thus appetizing, it both needs to be executed with a high level of technical skill and it needs to have a well thought out reason for taking the form it does.---" I have to disagree with you 1000 %. This forum is not all for top notch professional chefs, very few have super skills here. Besides, many meals posted are done in a big hurry. As I said, we are here to practice, learn and have fun. We are here to give positive motivation to all. To imply that one should not post anything unless the execution is perfect is, IMHO, not the idea of this forum. You can criticize someone if someone asks to be criticized, otherwise don't. Not everyone has thick skin like me. dcarch

Thank you everyone. Attempts in plating food is fun, whether successful or not in your end results. A forum like this one is a playground for experiments and classroom for learning. Nibor, it's just the automatic controls of the camera that gave the greenish hue to the liver. dcarch

Nothing is ever 100%. Yes, there will be a tiny tiny tiny amount of CO, I am sure, but it will be so so so tiny, that it is of no concern medically speaking. If your CO detector can't detect it you probably are OK , for the limited cooking time you subject yourself to in 24 hours. The gas jet from your stove is designed based on Venturi principle of aerodynamics. It draws air and mixes air to give you complete combustion. However, if you blue flame is yellowish, you should have a qualified plumber to adjust the air intake of the flame system to the burner. dcarch

Thanks everyone. It was fun making and sharing the liver dish. That is a mold I made using food grade silicone rubber. Very easy to make. Because it is silicone, it is non-stick and can take high heat, I have used it to bake bread, which is also lot's of fun. Kenneth, yes, that's shiso from my garden. A very strong flavored herb, works with liver, which is very strong in flavor. Sigma, it is not surprising that you feel that way. It seems to me that's your general feeling with any plated food, from your comment on the Dinner thread, "I feel like the posting of this stuff is some sort of performance art whirring straight over my head." But I do appreciate your taking time to comment, and I thank you. Any comment, good or bad, is what I am looking for here to keep on improving. dcarch

Answering an old question on this thread: What's the BTU output? 1 gallon of Propane ~= 4.23 lbs ~= 91500 Btus 1 lbs of Propane ~=22000 Btus 20 lb tank of propane holds approx 4 gallons of propane (approx 366000 BTUs) dcarch

There are more features in a digital camera than you can use, but the most useful for me are these two: A big view screen that can be flipped backwards. A remote control. Tip: Buy an extra rechargeable battery and store the battery in you refrigerator. It takes no room. All batteries have limited rechargeable cycle, and they get very weak or expire after a few years of use. In a few years, some special replacement batteries can get extremely expensive. For my simple Coolpix, it is $70 to $100 now. dcarch

"---unvented gas stoves can emit CO into the air.---" Not really true. CO is generated if you are running out of oxygen in the space. So make sure you have fresh air (open window) to replenish oxygen consumed and get a good CO detector. dcarch

Well, there is a big difference, 2" is a 100% thicker than 1". You will get a 1,000 different ways to make perfect steaks. You can't trust many of the "perfect" ways that will work for you, including my "perfect" way. Not only that, don't trust your oven can give you accurate 370 F either, it can be off by 40F or more. One thing you can trust is to get a high quality instant-read digital probe thermometer, and measure steak internal temperature. You should also look up the meaning of "resting" and "carry over heat". Forget about what you see on youtube famous chefs' testing steak done-ness by touching. Salt and pepper is all you need for a good steak. Don't get fancy with rubs or seasonings. dcarch

How thick is the steak? dcarch

Happy Rosh Hashanah! Made a few things for the occasion, I think. Not sure if either one is authentic. I would appreciate suggestions. Chopped liver, more like liver pate. I used chicken liver. There is nothing special about the recipe, just schmaltz and gribenes in the mix, in addition to other ingredients. The chopped liver was served on home made puffed rice cookies. And Sosu vide brisket with sautéed figs, glazed carrots and onion. Fig chutney made from the inside of the figs on the brisket. L’chaim! dcarch

"----OMG, I'm almost afraid to follow all that yumminess,--" You have a good sense of humor! Are you kidding me?! Stunning dishes, delicious and beautiful to look at. dcarch

As requested, this is my very sophisticated photo and lighting setup. The light is always in the closet with the broken plastic container, and the camera is always mounted on a tripod in the same closet. Picture time - hang light on a hook, open tripod, one top view of the dish and one side view. Done in less than a minute. No composition, no creative dramatic angles. The camera is on auto focus and auto exposure, there is nothing for me to do except "click, click". Why is all this too complicated and too time consuming? dcarch