"Dry aging" steak with fish sauce

[gfweb]

Dunno. He did say 140F...was his "done " temp or something to that effect.

[Anna N]

Dunno. He did say 140F...was his "done " temp or something to that effect.

I couldn't understand why he didn't take into account some carryover cooking. I would never willingly cook a steak to 140°F but I'd certainly know by the time I was ready to cut into it it would be closer to 145 or even 150°F.

[rotuts]

I think many of us are interested in this process

 

but some have missed the point based on the 'sur la plate' :  

 

aging : you do all this stuff, and im very much thinking its well worth it should you be able to plan ahead   but

 

cooking is up to you, its not the fish-aged process.  so lets leave to Cookn' to you

 

I can see this   I can see this well

 

in the past I used to use  " 3 crab " fish sauce   now  I only use " red boar 40 "

 

its very intense  1 - 2 drops for what I use suits me

 

so  get a steak or two you might enjoy   "" cooked your way ""

 

and try it  

 

for me Id have to go back to a more 'dilute' fish sauce  perhaps Thai or use 1 - 2 drops of the RB 40 on each side

 

the cheese cloth or its equivalent is important and that you have a very cold refrig

 

just saying

[ElsieD]

I'm thinking of giving this a shot. Can I use a defrosted steak or does it have to be a fresh one?

[cdh]

Frozen works fine. 

[rotuts]

Use what you got, and then if its not 'the best' use fresh

 

please post your resuls

 

this has gotten that Hornet in the Bonnet for me to try 

 

steaks i might not get  :  some 2 " strips

 

for me, I always trim off all the fat and the covering tendon that wraps these  steaks 

 

why ?  well beef fat, the extras  I don't need

 

and for me my philosophy is :

 

do the work in the kitchen, all the work, so you can enjoy the plate and your friends

 

ie  Id never serve a lobster 'dans la shell'  Id rather do the work in the kichen

 

that';s just me

[scamhi]

the cheese cloth or its equivalent is important and that you have a very cold refrig

 

just saying

 

 

Why is the cheesecloth so important- why couldn't the steaks be left open on a rack in the refrigerator? What does the cheesecloth do?

[ElsieD]

So I put a 1 1/2" strip in the fridge to thaw. My fish sauce is Red Boat 40. It is an unopened bottle and I have never used it before as I previously used Three Crabs, I think. If as Rotuts said it is pretty pungent stuff, should I use a bit less than if I were using Three Crabs?

[rotuts]

I think the cloth is a buffer for uneven air distribution and evens out the drying

 

you might be able to use an old but deliciously clean cloth i.e. and old sheet  as long as the sheet  has no\

 

detergent 'flavor'

[rotuts]

for the Fz steaks  :  Id thaw, pat dry, and use 2 - 4 drops of the RB40 on each side.  just enough for a thin film

 

use your very clean finger to slide those 2 - 4 drops around.  wait a bit and do the other side as the first.

 

RB40 is all the FS you need, just a lot less and so much flavor

 

don't drop that bottle and get rid of the rest before you drop them and move to Mexico

 

just saying

[mmille24]

I'm sure paper towels would be sufficient. Cheese cloth seems like a total waste.

[scubadoo97]

Dunno. He did say 140F...was his "done " temp or something to that effect.

yikes

I watched without sound

[rotuts]

yes, paper would work, but very difficult to peel off

 

'cloth' clean and of any kind would be easier. 

[rotuts]

i.e. save those old 100 % cotton pillow cases.

[ElsieD]

So my steak, a strip loin, has thawed and I have just applied a thin film of fish sauce to both sides and around the edges. That RB 40 sure is pungent. I put one of those finger bandages over the finger I used to spread the sauce around and I still had to thoroughly wash my hands afterwards to get rid of the fishy smell. I'll report back in a week.

[ElsieD]

Here i am again, well short of a week. On Monday night I went to take my steak out of the vacuum pack and oopsie, it was wrapped in cheesecloth. Step 2 had been performed ahead of step 1. So I figured the best thing to do was to eat it so I cooked it sous vide for an hour at 132. You could definitely taste that something had happened to the steak in that it seemed beefier. Tenderness was not an issue as it was a Prime cut to begin with. I will try it again doing it the "right" way when I next want a steak.

[rotuts]

Excellent for a first try

 

the time in a cold cold ref rig.  wrapped so to does not dry out on the surface, does lead to uniform drying which concentrates the flavor of the beef.

 

if you like the one you just  did, consider doing it again in a cold refirg, 'wrapped' so the meat loses a bit of moisture and also ages.

 

let us know !

[ElsieD]

I think, Rotuts, that you must be the unofficial eGullet cheerleader!

[rotuts]

only if its Sur-la-Plate and maybe  some times mine 

 

i did refrigerator age 'chuck-steaks' a long long time ago in my refry.   4 - 6 days, plain uncoverd

 

well be fore SV  etc.  well before RedBoat.

 

they were 'chuck-et' i.e. fibrous.  i did trim off most of the fat.

 

after 4 - 6 days, i carefully sliced the 'cold' into 1 " pieces

 

I have a cuisinart 11-cup plus machine.

 

I sharpened the blade.  I put the 1 " chunks in the freezer just to get the very firm

 

i did a pulse or 3 in the Cuisi, put the meat back in the freezer to firm up again

 

etc.

 

then I made burger patties and grilled them on very high heat charcoal.  

 

I didn't not know to add beef marrow etc  

 

but I had a good bun, and all the the trimmings

 

best burgers Ive ever made.

[rotuts]

Im wondering if anyone here as tried to age a steak w fish sauce.

 

consider :

 

using fish sauce to age steaks

 

if this doesn't give you an interesting list , just type in the above w Google.

 

I finally go around to trying this w RedBoat40 and a thick sirloin strip.   then SV 

 

my results are here :

 

 

note the ModernistCuisine method in one of the first links

 

3 days sealed , 3 days cheesecloth , conventional cooking.

 

I only did my steak one day in the RB40 , then SV

 

if you like ' aged ' tasted , try some sort of variation.

 

if you have tried this :  how long did you leave the steak w the sauce in the refrigerator ?

 

next time Ill add a little more RB40 initially and leave it for three days.

 

Im unlikely to try the cheesecloth additional time.

 

has anyone done this ?

 

I might even try it on bland flavorless skinless boneless CkBr's

[Shalmanese]

previous eG thread.

[rotuts]

thank you.

 

this didn't turn up !

[Martin Fisher]

I just skimmed the old thread real quick,

 

FWIW, I use Squid Brand fish sauce for some stuff (because it's so cheap, only  $1.99 for 25 fl. oz. at Wegmans), Red Boat 40°N, Red Boat Salt (a little goes a long way) and homemade anchovy salt (mashed anchovies, fish sauce and salt) although I don't currently have any of that whipped up.

 

For the heck of it and to see what happens, I've consider coupling the fish sauce trick with Dr. Blonder's 'rapid' dry aging trick sometime.

It's on the list!

 

[rotuts]

@DiggingDogFarm 

 

nice ref. to fan aged in the frig.

 

bookmarked.

[rotuts]

since the other thread is old ....

 

I know that dry-aging , well dries the meat so as to concentrate the flavor.

 

in a controlled fashion.   that's probably why MC used a cheese-cloth for three days as to slow down the drying.

 

in my area one of the better stores near by has an aging refrigerator next to the service meat counter.

 

about 6 + racks.   they have whole  T-bones in there etc.  UV lights , controlled humidity.

 

you can watch the meat age !

 

initially they priced the cuts  at 24.99 ++  / lbs      they wrapped the meat after it was cut in clear-wrap    no bones.

 

they must have not gotten enough takers.   its now more or less  19.99

 

I succumbed and tried one.  careful conventional charcoal.

 

although the flavor was interesting, it was very very dry even at rare 

 

conclusion :  they use Chuck.

 

moistness in the mouth is both water content and fat content.

 

you dry out choice for 20 - 30 days , even in a controlled environment , you get dried out Choice.