Treedbear
Veteran Member
- Joined
- May 30, 2016
- Messages
- 2,567
- Location
- out on a limb
- Basic Beliefs
- secular, humanist, agnostic on theism/atheism
I had good results using a blow torch to blacken the skins of red bell peppers so I thought why not use it to char a steak after cooking low and slow. I've been using the reverse-sear method, which involves cooking in an oven at 275F for 20 minutes and then searing four sides in a cast iron skillet. It usually came out medium-rare edge to edge with a minimum of grey area around the edge. But that depends on how carefully the searing step is performed in the super-hot skillet. Also it adds the flavor of over-heated oil. So this time I coated with olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, cooked in the oven, and then seared the four sides with a Benzomatic torch like I do with the peppers. Works great! It was much easier to control the exact amount of charring so it remains perfectly medium-rare edge to edge and end-to-end. I was thinking of purchasing a stick-type sous vide cooker so I could get the perfectly even done-ness that reviewers and cooking shows rave about. But they go for anywhere from $60 to $200, and the technique requires cooking for hours at 135F. So it looks like this time I can save some money since it came out perfect in the oven, and along with the torch-charring method the flavor couldn't have been better. Ketchup would have been sacrilege. Very tender too. And this was top-round certified angus prime, which is a very lean cut, but can turn out to be tough. (Hey, I spare no expense.
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