I learned a new word today. That word is “butyraceous” [byoo-tuh–rey-shus], an adjective meaning “having the qualities of butter,” according to Merriam-Webster. The word seemed to be destined for the urban dictionary, which does have a definition for it. However, I’ll leave that definition to your imagination or your own search in that online dictionary. Spoiler alert: It’s not that exciting. We’ll get back to this word as I have a question regarding its usage.
Beyond learning new words, I’ve been experimenting with cooking techniques to occupy my time during this pandemic when I’m not hiking, reading, writing, being horrified by the news, watching one online TV series after another, eating, drinking or shopping to keep up with our eating and drinking. I should add staring blankly into space, but I’m not sure if that constitutes an actual activity. As far as the drinking activity is concerned, I think someone has been breaking into our house and drinking our wine while we’re asleep.
My latest experiment involves brick cooking, in which a brick wrapped in foil is placed on meat to provide more complete searing. One of the best brick cooking applications I’ve used is in reverse searing steaks. It provides the crowning touch to this wonderful method of cooking steaks. If you haven’t reverse seared steaks before, you may never cook steaks any other way again. Basically, reverse searing is exactly the opposite method from the method we all first learned, in which steaks are seared first and finished over moderate heat. By beginning the cooking process slowly, the steaks are tenderer, juicier and your desired doneness will be more complete throughout your steak. Searing at the end finishes the job.
Now for your chemistry lesson, which you can skip over in this paragraph if you have the intellectual curiosity of the current occupant of the White House. By giving the meat a more complete sear or browning with brick cooking, it allows for a greater Maillard reaction. The Maillard reaction, first described by the French chemist Louis-Camille Maillard in 1912, is a complex chemical reaction that, in this instance, occurs when browning or searing meat. It also occurs when baking bread, roasting coffee and brewing beer. Why do we want the Maillard reaction to occur? It’s because the Maillard reaction creates that almost indescribable, yummy, savory taste referred to by the Japanese word “umami”: that sublime fifth taste, along with salty, sour, sweet and bitter. Other examples of foods with a strong umami taste include soy and fish sauces, cheeses and mushrooms.
The two methods I’ve used for reverse searing have begun either in a low-temperature oven or by sous vide (French for “under vacuum”). Here’s what I’ve used for the oven method: https://www.jessicagavin.com/how-to-reverse-sear-a-steak.
Alternatively, the steaks can first be cooked using the sous vide method, requiring a special appliance called an immersion circulator. The result is more precise and ultimately better; however, the sous vide method takes longer, and either way, produces a superior steak than the traditional method. Because sous vide cooking requires a special kitchen appliance, you may not use it enough to justify purchasing. Being a kitchen geek, I can justify almost anything that yields a better result, is within my budget and for which I have room — and for some I don’t. Just don’t talk to me about kitchen gadgets like microwave s’mores makers and the like.
An immersion circulator can be used to cook many things with superior results, but here’s the basics of sous vide steaks: The steaks are sealed in a vacuum-sealed pouch or by removing air in a heavy-duty food storage bag such as a Ziploc freezer bag. The air needs to be completely removed so the steaks cook evenly without air bubbles insulating the steaks as the machine circulates the heated water while maintaining a preset precise temperature. I thoroughly season the steaks and throw a couple of whole peeled garlic cloves and a sprig or two of thyme or rosemary in the bag with the steaks. I use a nice finishing salt and pepper on the steaks just before serving as, in the slow-cooking process, salt draws moisture from the meat, making it drier and tougher. Use a stockpot or heavy-duty container with enough room to allow for proper circulation around the vacuum-sealed steaks.
If you use a freezer bag, make sure the desired water temperature is achieved by the immersion circulator, then partially seal the bag with the steaks in it and slowly immerse the bag in the water to force the air out. When the air is totally removed from the bag, clip it to the edge of the container, making sure it’s fully submerged. Your steaks will be cooking for about two and half hours so take a hike or read a book while the machine runs.
For 1 ½- to 2-inch sirloin strip or ribeye steaks cooked to medium rare, I set the machine for 129° and set my timer for two and a half hours. The length of time is not nearly as important as the temperature, because the food is maintained at a precise temperature throughout, so don’t be concerned if you don’t get back to them immediately. However, in the case of these steaks, it should be long enough that the meat has reached the desired temperature and the muscle fibers have sufficiently broken down as the steaks slowly cook. At the end of two and a half hours or so, your steaks are ready to undergo Monsieur Maillard’s magic reaction.
From this point, whichever method you’ve used, either sous vide or a low-temperature oven, the instructions are much the same. Thoroughly dry the steaks with paper towels; discard the garlic cloves and herbs, as they’ve done their job if using the sous vide method; coat your preheated medium-hot, heavy-duty skillet with a tablespoon or so of high-temperature oil such as grapeseed oil; and place the steaks in the pan. Quickly put a sheet of foil on them, put your foil-wrapped brick (or in my case, a small patio paver) in a smaller pan to distribute the weight evenly and put the pan with the brick on top of the steaks.
It can get smoky, so make sure your kitchen is well-ventilated before starting. It only takes about 45 seconds on each side to get a good sear using a brick, creating your much-desired umami taste. You can check for your desired doneness with an instant-read thermometer with the internal temperature of your finished medium-rare steak reading between 130° and 135°. After searing, remove the pan from the heat, transfer the steaks to a cutting board, loosely cover them with the foil you used in the pan and let them rest while deglazing the pan.
After the pan has cooled down a bit, return it to medium heat, pour about half a cup of decent red wine into the pan and let it reduce to about half. Next, whisk in a couple of pats of butter while scraping up any of those good Maillard reaction leftover bits, slice your steaks, pour the red wine reduction onto the plates and place the sliced steaks on the reduction. I’ve reverse seared and brick cooked nice thick pork chops and flank steak with excellent results, too.
This all brings me to my question regarding the use of the word “butyraceous.” If a delicious steak is “like buttah,” is a reverse-seared steak using a brick “beyond butyraceous”? Just a stray thought as I stare blankly into space.
