$299 portable outdoor pizza oven. Pretty interesting. Reviews say temps over 900 degrees no problem. And heats up fast. I'm thinking this would be perfect way to sear steaks when they come out of the sous vide, which is a summer time staple for us in CT. My current method (have I described this before?) modified from an Alton Brown idea, is to fill a BBQ chimney up with hardwood charcoal, let it get super hot, and then just place the whole thing down on top of my steaks resting in a cast iron pan (so the steaks are in the small bottom cavity of the chimney where the paper goes when you start it). Super hot coals are right on top of the steaks. Does a pretty good job but a) no way is it 900 degrees, and b) you get ash falling onto the steaks, and c) you can only do 2 smallish steaks at a time. The Uuni might be better. And I could make pizzas too.
The other issue with getting the perfect crust, besides temperature, is getting rid of moisture on the surface of the steaks. They come out of the sous vide covered in moisture, and this impedes the crust because as the moisture evaporates under heat it creates an insulating layer. So you have to dry the steaks really well with paper towel before searing. But I'm never satisfied with the drying. I wonder if there is some higher tech (chemical?) way to get the moisture off the surface?
pitmasters around the country are muttering to themselves at your use of a bbq as a searing station, "At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"
I have heard that leaving raw steak uncovered in the refrigerator for a couple of days, until it appears dry and leathery, produces excellent results kind of like dry-aged beef. Maybe this technique would work for sous vide?
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$299 portable outdoor pizza oven. Pretty interesting. Reviews say temps over 900 degrees no problem. And heats up fast. I'm thinking this would be perfect way to sear steaks when they come out of the sous vide, which is a summer time staple for us in CT. My current method (have I described this before?) modified from an Alton Brown idea, is to fill a BBQ chimney up with hardwood charcoal, let it get super hot, and then just place the whole thing down on top of my steaks resting in a cast iron pan (so the steaks are in the small bottom cavity of the chimney where the paper goes when you start it). Super hot coals are right on top of the steaks. Does a pretty good job but a) no way is it 900 degrees, and b) you get ash falling onto the steaks, and c) you can only do 2 smallish steaks at a time. The Uuni might be better. And I could make pizzas too.
- jim 11-03-2014 2:54 pm
The other issue with getting the perfect crust, besides temperature, is getting rid of moisture on the surface of the steaks. They come out of the sous vide covered in moisture, and this impedes the crust because as the moisture evaporates under heat it creates an insulating layer. So you have to dry the steaks really well with paper towel before searing. But I'm never satisfied with the drying. I wonder if there is some higher tech (chemical?) way to get the moisture off the surface?
- jim 11-03-2014 2:58 pm [add a comment]
pitmasters around the country are muttering to themselves at your use of a bbq as a searing station, "At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"
- dave 11-03-2014 3:12 pm [add a comment]
I have heard that leaving raw steak uncovered in the refrigerator for a couple of days, until it appears dry and leathery, produces excellent results kind of like dry-aged beef. Maybe this technique would work for sous vide?
- steve 11-03-2014 5:40 pm [add a comment]