Thursday, July 12, 2012

Carnage du Jour - 11 July 2012

I never would have thought to do this, so credit goes to Heidi for this very successful experiment.

Ever use those smoker bags?
You know, heavy foil bags with wood chips in the interstices that can go in the oven or on your grill to smoke foods.
If you haven't, you should. They work a treat, and the food at least can be spectacular.

Sure, we've done salmon in there (delicious); chicken and pork chops too.
But steak?
Really?
Really.

We had a pretty massive bone-in ribeye in the fridge, and we had some hickory smoker bags waiting to be used, so ... why not?
Well, I had never heard of a smoked steak before, so I was a bit hesitant at first, but what the heck, right?

Just a bit of salt on each side of the steak (after patting it a bit drier than usual), and in it went.
These things start at 500F for the first 10 to 15 minutes with the oven door cracked as in broiling.
That does two things:
  • It keeps the bottom element going (with the bag on the lowest rack position) so the chips really start smoking.
  • It lets all that great smoke aroma waft out into the kitchen and enhances whatever level of hunger is extant.
Once that first bit has been done, it's down to 375F with the door shut for the balance of the cooking.
The steak took about 20 minutes total, and we had some roasted asparagus and a nice pesto pasta salad to go with.

Oh, I forgot to mention: it was spectacular! The meat was as tender as we've ever had, the flavour was wonderful, and the texture (beyond the tenderness) was a revelation. Frankly, I had no idea that cooked meat could taste or feel like that, and now that I do, I'll certainly be cooking steaks this way again.

Try it, you'll like it.
Enjoy!