He's also one of the authors of the $625 book, Modernist Cuisine. The book is all about pushing the cutting edge of science to explain and understand food.
@@beck204 I *think* those shots are simulated for the purpose of illustration. Aside from the steaks, the pan and burner stay consistent, and the frying/bubbling on the underside seems strange. I think those are cross section images of steaks that were cooked in whatever method they're demonstrating, and then comping them in to the pan background and adding steam/oil spatter.
I love that we’re talking about special effects and trick cinematography on a recipe video. Goes to show how impressive this degree of production is and how much the audience responds!
@@theyrecousins I agree it’s simulated but it looks perfect, like Hollywood level perfect. Is a dude in his kitchen throwing out 500-hr level CGI for a 10 second clip? We are missing something here.
@@beck204Just out of curiosity, I played around with it a bit, and I don't think it'd take anywhere near 500 hours. This is probably 90% not CGI. It's probably a real pan chopped in half, real meat, etc. Maybe even real fire that's just on a loop for the background. They're almost definitely using particle world or particular in After Effects for the oil splatter and bubbles effects. Add in some simulated smoke and flames if necessary, and you're good to go. Definitely a phenomenal job, and super helpful view, but it's probably a few hours to do it once, and 10-15 mins to repeat it once you've got the workflow down.
Got to admit that this type of content is very rare on TH-cam. Thank you for this wonderful and well explained video. I just discovered your channel and immediately subbed.
Insane! So much information packed in one video, had to rewind and watch at various points. Also, in terms of production, today's video looked like what I would imagine a video version of Modernist Cuisine would look like. Kudos.
I've been looking for the perfect technical tutorial on how to cook the perfect steak that conveys what I've intuitively picked up to friends and family, and this is the one. @@ChrisYoungCooks, you've got extremely high production quality, and you're able to articulate the nuances with enough concision to make tough technical concepts accessible. Plus, whatever the heck you did to make the cutaways work, amazing job.
@@hab1b1 It looks like a knIndustrie borosilicate glass pot. I personally wouldn't try this at home. Borosilicate glass is perfectly capable of withstanding the 400F temperature he's using. But it has a much higher potential for catastrophic failure than a metal pot. It was a great choice for the video, to enable people to see the deep frying in-process. But you won't like the burns you'd get if, over time and hard use, the pot develops a crack and bursts when filled with hot oil. knIndustrie sells this pot for boiling pasta. Still not great if it breaks on the stove, but that's only 212F instead of 400F.
Yesterday, I made some reverse-sear steaks and what I thought was a mistake, leaving my steaks out for 20 minutes and then searing them in the cast iron on medium turned out to be one of the best steaks I've ever made. After I took the steaks out of the oven I got distracted with finishing the roasted potatoes. Normally I take my hot oven steaks and throw them immediately in a hot pan and often, the steak goes way past medium. I actually prefer the reverse-sear (and wait) method because you can do large groups with this two-step process. Ripping hot pan is "the best" is somewhat of a myth to getting a good crust. Thanks for this video.
I’ve been using a Combustion inc thermometer for a few weeks now. My steak cooking method has evolved as a result. I cook in a 200° oven until the internal temperature reaches 105°. I then sear In hot pan with a generous portion of oil. It’s not deep frying, but it’s close. After resting the internal temperature is right around 130°. I like the idea of resting before searing. I suspect I will have to cook to a higher internal temperature initially. Thanks for the great information. I love your thermometer.
the production value on these is insane. Holy shit the cross section views are perfect! also thanks for the wonderful customer support for your predictive thermometer. I had an issue and emailed support and got a very good response in less than 30 minutes and my issue was resolved! this is just excellent!
This is by far the best basic steak tutorial on TH-cam. Really good animations make it really intuitive and the presentation style is tasteful. Love the no frills just reality approach.
Really nice content. For work I helped a chef who was writing a book and we did several experiments on browning. I agree that excessive temperatures are not needed, also because the Maillard reaction also occurs at lower temperatures. What is important is the drying area, it is necessary to prevent the steam from raising the steak from the Pan and lowering the temperature, increasing the gradient of liquids towards the surface. To do this we have found that a light weight is always needed which forces the steam to exit laterally, speeding up the whole process. And this applies from steaks to vegetables. give it a try chris
That makes complete sense when you think about it: smash burgers always require a weight and they’re best known for having that wonderful crust. Different application, I know, but in principle it’s similar.
Wow...where has this guy been my whole life? I'm a long time subscriber and fan of Chef Steps and now I find out this guy started it. So much well delivered information with none of the USUAL BS . Chris your my new favorite go-to cooking guy!
1:30 is a phenomenal shot. The cinematography and vfx in this video is next level, not sure who you're working with for production but hot damn, you nailed it feeling like the video form of the modernist cookbook
Thank you for noticing that match shot. It took me and my shooter about 3 hours to get the two shots just right. And I only had that one chance with that steak on the ripping hot grill to get it right. After the first flip it would have marks forever. Spent 15 minutes rehearsing the flip to get the timing and height right!
@@ChrisYoungCooks I'm gonna' be honest - I kinda' took that transition for granted, but it was gorgeous and smooth as heck. You and your shooter and editor did a phenomenal job.
I didn't even notice the transition at first but then when he put it down I was like "wait a minute, I'm sure that steak was in a pan just a moment ago". The cross sectional views really blew my mind though, they look totally real but I can't understand how it'd even be possible to get that shot irl so I've decided the only possible explanation is magic.
@@mattwood1977 They pioneered a lot of the cross sectional shots in the modernist cuisine cookbook, but I always assumed they would only really work in stills. Getting the same shots on video is wild
This is so great! I have a simple electric stove and a cast iron pan, and just through trial and error I noticed that my steaks turned out better when I had the dial set to 7 or 8 as opposed to 9 or 10... that the steak cooks internally by way of the water boiling is a revelation. At the lower temperature, I can cook my steaks without filling my house full of smoke, and they cook to proper doneness. I was frustrated by the fact that when I had it ripping hot, I would cook the steaks until the sear was borderline burnt, and it STILL was too rare in the middle. Now it all makes perfect sense! Thank you so much for your experimentation and taking the time to make the video!
Never seen you before! This content is absolutely amazing. I'm a butcher of 16 years and an avid home cook. Always looking to experiment and learn the best. This video is so well done. Your script, production, presentation - all superb. Subscribed instantly
As someone living in a poorly ventilated apartment with no hood and no grill (something that is probably not terribly uncommon in cities) learning about cold searing kind of changed my life! I went from not having a good seared steak (or pork chop/loin for that matter) for years to being able to have one whenever I wanted. It's not perfect, and doesn't produce a crust quite as luxurious as a traditional sear method does but it gets extremely close, is easy, time efficient and most of all produces no smoke and very little or no splatter so cleanup is nothing. That is my favorite method for searing or cooking steak in general, these days. Though I did want to try deep frying (before I found the cold sear a couple years ago) because it was also a no smoke method and I thought it'd produce a perfect crust. I'm glad you tried it. Cooks illustrated has a great breakdown on the cold sear, for anyone interested. I'm sure there are other resources as well.
I have a cheap backyard/camping propane burner. I set it up outside and throw my cast iron right on the burner, using a cheap infrared thermometer to get my pan temperature right -- I like to start at 650F then I turn the heat way down for basting. My electric stovetop can easily get the temperature I want but the smoke is too much inside. Works perfect for me.
Butcher and ex chef here. Great video. Through a couple decades of personal experience i've been proselytizing the reverse sear/three-stage grill (temper, turn often, and double rest)/sousvide. Nice to get a bit of intuitive science behind it.
I feel so good about myself after watching this video! I taught myself searing steaks in a Manhattan kitchen with a nearby smoke detector that could not be disabled so I had to figure out how to do it without setting it off, yet get that nice brown coating under 2 minutes! I ended up using the sous vide technique, then leaving it out to dry on paper towels and cool off for about 20 minutes, and then searing it in a cast iron skillet that was preheated for about 8 minutes on the not very powerful gas stove. That seems to check most of the boxes to get a good sear, and once I had perfected this technique, it really did! The only thing missing was the charbroil marks (I do like some of those). Recreating that with a torch wasn't super successful. Now I have a nice outside charcoal grill, but honestly deep frying it sounds really appealing too. I might have to try that.
Wonderful video! The graphics, the production, the science, the narrative are all on point. Not only your thermometer is a step above the competition, your knowledge transfer skill is next level as well! 👍
This matches my experience when cooking thick steaks, though one additional step I usually take is to do a long dry brine beforehand.. like three days salted and uncovered on a rack in the fridge. This really desiccates the surface of the steak so it spends less time boiling off water and more time searing. Anecdotally it seems to help with an even sear, my assumption being that there are fewer patches where steam got temporarily trapped under the steak. Also, when searing thinner steaks like a skirt steak, I think higher heat is helpful. You want to sear hard and fast so the crust develops before it gets overcooked in the center, and getting the exterior as dry as possible to start with is even more important here.
When you do the dry brine, do you notice the steak shrinking and requiring a shorter cooking time? I am still experimenting with how much less time to sear the steak on cast iron after dry brining since it overcooks faster.
Chris, I just plain out love your Channel. Production and content quality are really up there and really educational. I might even get your thermometer if you keep reminding me with good videos :P
I need you, mad scientist bbq, ethan chlebowski, and charlie anderson to do a collab or something. The amount of research, experiments, and the like you all do is wonderful and I wish more people came across all your videos. I tend to pan sear more, but I prefer to use a charcoal grill when I can. Dry brining is also a technique I've been enjoying recently.
I really love the stuff you do, Chris. Obviously, the production value is amazing. But I also love the way you take concepts that could be difficult and make them accessible them without dumbing them down too much. The simplicity and effectiveness of your convection animations is a great example. As a PhD student currently working on pitching my thesis project, it’s a skill that I appreciate, especially at the moment.
I normally dont subscribe to random videos in searching for something - but holy smokes did you earn it the cutaways, easy listening, tone of voice, knowledgable, engineering, cinematography - oh my Excellent work!
I went to a restaurant once and they said their steaks were off because their grill wasn't working, and they could only do deep-fried stuff. Remembering the meat fondues I'd had as a kid, I persuaded them to do some eye fillets in the deep fryer for 1min. Best-cooked steak I've ever had. Locked in all the moisture immediately, searing on all surfaces pretty much instantly. Not at all oily.
Remember that 'locking in moisture' is not a real phenomenon, the crust doesn't prevent the loss of water, the speed of cooking just means that water isn't lost.
All is revealed! I'm Swiss, so I grew up eating all forms of Fondue, especially meat Fondue. No wonder those little chunks of beef in hot oil taste so good!
Having tried the deep fry before it is really good but as you said it is a lot of extra work. My current go-to is allow to air dry over night in the fridge salted. Then pre-sear in the pan. Season steak with other non-salt toppings or aromatics and sous vide. Then cool and re-sear on a skillet again. Seems to give me the best crust when comparing crust to effort.
So pre-sear if you will before sous-vide and then a quick sear afterwards 🤔. I’ve wondered about pre-searing vs post-searing for sous-vide (apologies, the terms only make sense in the context of sous vide cooking). The pre-sear makes more sense but pretty much every recipe suggests doing it after.
Searing twice is legit. Gives the meat 1/4 of an inch in a chance to cool, so there's less gray band and more sear. However, a little gray band is not the end of the world.
Brilliant video. Just yesterday I cooked ribeye steaks with sous vide and did a 2 minute, 500° sear. The steaks were perfect but my kitchen was filled with smoke. I was already considering searing at a lower temperature when I found your video. Thanks for the variety of cooking options. I'll stick to sous vide but now I'll sear at a lower temperature.
You have no idea how much I love this video. I'm a numbers guy, so knowing exactly WHY I'm doing what I'm doing in the kitchen helps a ton. Great video.
In what can only be considered the highest of compliments, this felt like a special edition of Good Eats. I was expecting an Alton Brown style physical prop as soon as you pulled out the whiteboard. Well done and well played!
Great video! You did what Ethan Chlebowski does, but without the extra 30min of filler. I can't believe you don't have more subscribers. You just got one!
Keep it up. The quality of the content, the filming, the special effects and the work behind it is crazy. It's difficult to explain in words how excellent your content is from every point of view. Impeccable. Continue like this and you will reach the top of the audience too.
I've been cooking steaks for over 2 years now. I've always nailed down the crust and can get that mahogany surface with any steak, but the center is always a problem. This video detailed exactly what I was doing wrong. Not to mention, your cinematic shots are great and as a biologist I can say your explanations are spot on. Sub well-deserved
@@filipsvedlund4539 probably running too hot so that when his crust was finished to his desire amount the center didn't have time to cook to the way he liked it. That or vice versa with too little heat and inside being over cooked.
@@filipsvedlund4539 Cooking on far too high of a heat and not using a reverse sear or sous vide method. I never once thought that the water beneath the steak's surface prevents the inside from getting to a certain temperature, but if you ass blast it with heat like I've been doing, you'll get a much larger grey band.
Thank you for this video. It was very informative. I recently purchased a Combustion Inc thermometer as well thanks to watching a Kenji Lopez video. I reverse sear using a two zone charcoal Kettle grill.
Incredible video! I am a fairly sophisticated home chef with a decent set of skills, and I love how this video breaks down, scientifically and mathematically, what is happening during the cooking process. This makes it very easy to learn conceptually what is happening and not just a specific technique for cooking, which is fantastic! I eat all other proteins but I don't eat beef, yet the concepts being discussed here will be very informative for preparations of pork, lamb, chicken, etc. Thanks!
I personally like Guga's method of searing over extremely hot flames on the charcoal grill, avoiding grill marks, and then putting in a thermometer and let it finish cooking in indirect heat by searing over the hot zone, and finishing cooking over the cold zone.
Based on the video and your comments, I will experiment with sort of a hybrid. During the searing phase, instead of deep frying, I am getting a small cast iron grill pan, that has raised ridges. I will char some beef fat, make into smoked tallow. Fill the pan around 3/4" with tallow, bring to 350 F and sear while gently moving the steak. Edit: BTW I have seen recent videos testing a newly released wireless meat thermometer in deep fryers, for whatever reason, the ambient temperature had been off during deep frying. Puzzling.
One of the technically best produced videos on foods I have encountered on TH-cam. And the content, i.e. the super interesting angle on searing, is outstanding!
Great video! I particularly enjoyed the comparison of reverse sear methods. I'm "Team Shallow Fry with Radiant Heat." I cook sous vide and sear using a cast iron or carbon steel skillet with ~375-400°F fat (50% ghee and 50% beef tallow] about ¼-inch deep. I flip frequently and hit the top with a Searzall while frying the bottom. This speeds up searing, gives a tiny touch of char, and eliminates unwanted surface moisture on the steak before I flip again. The Searzall softens the torch's flame and eliminates flare-ups in the fat that would be a problem with using a torch alone.
Can we take a moment to appreciate the fan used for the top-down shots to prevent that lens from fogging up every time they flip those steaks? 10/10, Chris and Team! You guys killed it once again. I'd love to see some behind the scenes on how you guys prepare for these videos. Did you cut a pan in half for this or is this a little movie magic?
For the life of me, I can't figure it out... If the pan was cut in half then juices would be dripping over the edge. When I first thought it I thought it was computer generated... then the zoom in made me throw that belief out the window, it was far too details. How in the hell they get those cross section videos is beyond me, incredible film making trick I would love to know how it was done.
@@dylanevans5644 the pan and steak are cut, the rest is simulated. You can see the animation repeating if you look closely. Still amazing work, I was wondering too at first!
I've been going with the sous vide + torch method, but I've been considering getting a deep fryer for my steak for a while now, and I believe I now have my mind made up. Steak fried in tallow/lard sounds divine.
My preferred method is cast iron over wood, because you still get the char flavours without the inconvenience of a grill. Also, man I love your videos. You're maybe the third person I've enabled notifications for. So well shot and explained and the perfect amount of depth. Love it.
What a fantastic video. I love the science in cooking. I do a lot of what you do. I salt my steaks for at least 24 hours before cooking them. I also remove them from the fridge at least 2-3 hours before cooking. I always reverse sear on my Kamado Joe Ceramic smoker. Get them to about 105 degrees, let them sit for 15 minutes while the grill cranks. I have to admit though I was looking for 500-600 degrees there. I then seared on my soap stone with Wagyu beef tallow. I am now going to measure the surface temp with my laser thermometer and go for 350-400. I am somewhat frying it in Wagyu beef tallow, just not submerged. Thanks for the very informative, and very well done video!
This is probably the best 'food' video I have watched. It is very informative and told in a wonderfully straightforward, simple way. (This reminded me of the Christmas science lectures which are given in front of a lecture theatre of children). Everything is told in a very easy to understand way but the final result is that one is much more knowledgeable because of that approach. The production of it is excellent and thank heaven, there is no insane background music. Thank you.
Nice info, I actually was able to figure out a bit of it on my own. One thing not discussed that's important to me is that the fat caps on cuts like new york strip or rib eye get fully converted into an edible form with no chew, it does wonders for the flavor of the steak bites. Only way I know how with my cooking set ups is with the trusty old cast iron well heated and transfered into the oven after searing, sacrificing the basting step for a better result on the fats. Oh and if it's not dry brined in the fridge for 24 hours I'm not cooking it.
Great scientific explanations I didn't find anywhere else on youtube (while I have seen Guga performing similar experiments, I always felt the science to answer the ultimate "why" was missing). Thanks for adding the missing puzzles and keep up the great work! Your channel is massively underrated but I am sure 1mn subs will come soon!
I actually really like a lot of my food cooked to what most people would consider just a little bit burnt. I like the medium picture best, but the high end still looks way better than the low to me. I do like pink in the middle, but a very seared and crispy crust makes it many times better. It might just be the addition of a little texture, that's a big thing for me.
Definitely agree that resting prior to the final sear makes so much sense. Switched to that process this season and so much happier with the end result.
Love the graphical and thorough video. 🔥 I use an asphalt/weed torch, like you use to clear areas of scrub brush. I have a empty grill willed with bricks that I put my meat on to sear sets of meat or roasts all at once. I can usually knock out 4 tri-tips, a pack of chicken thighs, or 10 steaks, all in one go, taking less than 5 minutes tops. The bricks reflect heat back and do a good job brown searing the undersides while I put a more brown sear on the top side. I'll usually only flip once. I'd love to see you tackle flame searing in-depth. What I love so much about sous vide and my torch is I can render the fat on steaks so that it's not rubbery and quite delicious to eat, similar to the crispy liquified fat on well-cooked bacon. I don't exactly know what's going on here to make fat go from gross to edible but it's worth an investigation. 🤜🤛 Thanks for all you do! ♥
Awesome approach to a cooking/food science video! Well thought out explanations and pacing, real examples with numbers and visualizations, and showing perfection versus practical.
Good info here, you taught this engineer a thing or two! That was a really cool cut away shot with the split pan and sizzling meat. At the 6:50 mark you state "the heat vaporizes any remaining water at the surface within seconds". However I think the sous vide steak will have more nearby sub-surface water present that slows or decreases the intensity of the sear. I think sous vide will start to go out of favor as the experts now have us all worried about micro plastics. The higher the temp the more available the particles are.
Fantastic video and outstanding content! I cook steak daily. I have tried all techniques. You don’t address broiling which steak houses use. I have grown quite fond of my propane broiler. There is a definite learning curve. I often broil from beginning to end. However, I also Sous vide sometimes and use the broiler to sear the steak. Would love to see you do a video comparing this technique to others. Great channel. Appreciate the science!
Great video, glad to see someone backing these ideas up with tests and demonstrations. A bit surprised you didn't test searing with an infrared burner, feels like that's a great option to conveniently get that 1800 degree or so sear super quick.
Great video and very informative. There's a flavor that charcoal brings to the table that I haven't found anywhere else yet. I like to sear over the flames for 2m total, 30s flips in between, then cook in indirect heat - I'm more concerned with the flavor than the "crust" you get. The flavor, in my opinion, is unbeatable.
The similar effect could be replicated on a charcoal grill using the grate rotating technique. By cycling the steak in and out of the hot zone you are exposing the steak to a cool grate surface for short bursts of extreme heat but before burning. I was able to achieve almost same result as low temperature pan searing but with the added charcoal flavor.
3:38 You have misunderstood the principles of heat transfer. There are three primary mechanisms of heat transfer: conduction, convection, and radiation. You are correct about the boiling point of water limiting the conduction and most convection heat transfer, but neglecting the radiation component is a significant oversight. Radiation becomes the dominant heat transfer mechanism at higher temperatures.
I watch tons of cooking/grilling channels to make the perfect steak. Nice to see someone science the hell out of it, along with the amazing visuals, math (yes math in cooking) and quasi physics. I'm an immediate subscriber. Keep it up sir!
Oil temp will drop a lot if it's shallow and impede a good sear. Specific heat of oil is much less than h2o. That why deep fat is recommended- oil temp won't drop as much.. Cast iron for vessel helps.
Dude answered my questions on what I was missing and how I can cook a steak better. As well as thoroughly and scientifically show different methods. Thanks.
I was sold within the first few minutes. As someone who trained as a chemist and now an avid amateur cook......I love people who combine the two. You bet I subscribed. Will be back for more!
What a fantastic video. Informative, simple to understand, and just a great video! It's like I have been looking for this video without even knowing it.
Amazing video and extremely informative!!! I loved the presentation style and content!! Thank you Chris! I’ll test frying. I wish you success with your company
This is the first video of your I've watch and I AM IN LOVE! Such good content with great visual presentation! I don't usually make purchases just from a YT video cuz I'm broke lol, but man I want that thermometer. Thanks again for making the video!
The production level of your content is amazing!
agreed, i don't even cook and i enjoy the information and quality of the videos
This production is absolutely nuts!
The film making is so good its distracting from the information. Good thing its so beatiful, I will watch it again.
I need to understand how he got the cutaway shot
Agree
This guy is the crossover between engineering and cooking that I always wanted
He's not a chef, he's a food scientist.
Check out the book "The Food Lab" if you want more science/data based cooking
@@zsxking Thank you
Follow Dave Arnold. And read liquid intelligence if you are in to drinks
He's also one of the authors of the $625 book, Modernist Cuisine. The book is all about pushing the cutting edge of science to explain and understand food.
Your style of cross-section cooking videography is incredibly informative, not to mention satisfying to watch.
How does he do it?
@@beck204 I *think* those shots are simulated for the purpose of illustration. Aside from the steaks, the pan and burner stay consistent, and the frying/bubbling on the underside seems strange. I think those are cross section images of steaks that were cooked in whatever method they're demonstrating, and then comping them in to the pan background and adding steam/oil spatter.
I love that we’re talking about special effects and trick cinematography on a recipe video. Goes to show how impressive this degree of production is and how much the audience responds!
@@theyrecousins I agree it’s simulated but it looks perfect, like Hollywood level perfect. Is a dude in his kitchen throwing out 500-hr level CGI for a 10 second clip? We are missing something here.
@@beck204Just out of curiosity, I played around with it a bit, and I don't think it'd take anywhere near 500 hours. This is probably 90% not CGI. It's probably a real pan chopped in half, real meat, etc. Maybe even real fire that's just on a loop for the background. They're almost definitely using particle world or particular in After Effects for the oil splatter and bubbles effects. Add in some simulated smoke and flames if necessary, and you're good to go. Definitely a phenomenal job, and super helpful view, but it's probably a few hours to do it once, and 10-15 mins to repeat it once you've got the workflow down.
the video production on this is wildly good...and i wanna know the story behind all these half-pans and grills 🙌
He is millionaire with famous book
So he can
Got to admit that this type of content is very rare on TH-cam. Thank you for this wonderful and well explained video. I just discovered your channel and immediately subbed.
Idk it looks medium rare to me
This is the best steak video in so many ways
- Science & Technique actually grounded in physics laws
- Cinematography
- Cutaway angles
🙏
Right? I'm an engineer who went into TV / Film production. I'm on the same page with you.
@@ChrisYoungCooksare you carnivore yet? You should be. This is everything I wanted it to be.
Ditto!
Hard to take a guy seriously with a hairdo like that 😂😂
Insane! So much information packed in one video, had to rewind and watch at various points. Also, in terms of production, today's video looked like what I would imagine a video version of Modernist Cuisine would look like. Kudos.
Thank you so much!
I've been looking for the perfect technical tutorial on how to cook the perfect steak that conveys what I've intuitively picked up to friends and family, and this is the one.
@@ChrisYoungCooks, you've got extremely high production quality, and you're able to articulate the nuances with enough concision to make tough technical concepts accessible. Plus, whatever the heck you did to make the cutaways work, amazing job.
what fryer appliance did you use at the end there?@@ChrisYoungCooks
medium rare pork chops are the best
@@hab1b1 It looks like a knIndustrie borosilicate glass pot. I personally wouldn't try this at home. Borosilicate glass is perfectly capable of withstanding the 400F temperature he's using. But it has a much higher potential for catastrophic failure than a metal pot. It was a great choice for the video, to enable people to see the deep frying in-process. But you won't like the burns you'd get if, over time and hard use, the pot develops a crack and bursts when filled with hot oil. knIndustrie sells this pot for boiling pasta. Still not great if it breaks on the stove, but that's only 212F instead of 400F.
Yesterday, I made some reverse-sear steaks and what I thought was a mistake, leaving my steaks out for 20 minutes and then searing them in the cast iron on medium turned out to be one of the best steaks I've ever made. After I took the steaks out of the oven I got distracted with finishing the roasted potatoes. Normally I take my hot oven steaks and throw them immediately in a hot pan and often, the steak goes way past medium. I actually prefer the reverse-sear (and wait) method because you can do large groups with this two-step process. Ripping hot pan is "the best" is somewhat of a myth to getting a good crust. Thanks for this video.
I’ve been using a Combustion inc thermometer for a few weeks now. My steak cooking method has evolved as a result. I cook in a 200° oven until the internal temperature reaches 105°. I then sear In hot pan with a generous portion of oil. It’s not deep frying, but it’s close. After resting the internal temperature is right around 130°. I like the idea of resting before searing. I suspect I will have to cook to a higher internal temperature initially.
Thanks for the great information. I love your thermometer.
I liked your scientific approaches and especially the pan-steak cross-section cooking presentations. Subbed!
the production value on these is insane. Holy shit the cross section views are perfect! also thanks for the wonderful customer support for your predictive thermometer. I had an issue and emailed support and got a very good response in less than 30 minutes and my issue was resolved! this is just excellent!
This is by far the best basic steak tutorial on TH-cam. Really good animations make it really intuitive and the presentation style is tasteful. Love the no frills just reality approach.
Really nice content. For work I helped a chef who was writing a book and we did several experiments on browning. I agree that excessive temperatures are not needed, also because the Maillard reaction also occurs at lower temperatures. What is important is the drying area, it is necessary to prevent the steam from raising the steak from the Pan and lowering the temperature, increasing the gradient of liquids towards the surface. To do this we have found that a light weight is always needed which forces the steam to exit laterally, speeding up the whole process. And this applies from steaks to vegetables. give it a try chris
so like a bacon press? or something long and thin across the middle?
@@russellmzlike the bacon Press. I suggest something like the chef Press that allow evaporation
That makes so much sense. Chef presses are a luxury gadget I’m struggling to justify but I’m glad to have my intuition corroborated!
That makes complete sense when you think about it: smash burgers always require a weight and they’re best known for having that wonderful crust. Different application, I know, but in principle it’s similar.
@@BarneyCarroll How about the bottom of a cast-iron skillet??
This is the best steak cooking process video I've seen. Great job and thank you!
Wow...where has this guy been my whole life? I'm a long time subscriber and fan of Chef Steps and now I find out this guy started it.
So much well delivered information with none of the USUAL BS . Chris your my new favorite go-to cooking guy!
Love the effort of cutting things in half just for the shots
Things like this show, that he really cares about his content. Outstanding
Beicse he doesn't need youtbe3
He is millionaire , with selling 300% doolar termemiter
1:30 is a phenomenal shot.
The cinematography and vfx in this video is next level, not sure who you're working with for production but hot damn, you nailed it feeling like the video form of the modernist cookbook
Thank you for noticing that match shot. It took me and my shooter about 3 hours to get the two shots just right. And I only had that one chance with that steak on the ripping hot grill to get it right. After the first flip it would have marks forever. Spent 15 minutes rehearsing the flip to get the timing and height right!
@@ChrisYoungCooks I'm gonna' be honest - I kinda' took that transition for granted, but it was gorgeous and smooth as heck. You and your shooter and editor did a phenomenal job.
100% worth it. Chef's Table level cinematography @@ChrisYoungCooks
I didn't even notice the transition at first but then when he put it down I was like "wait a minute, I'm sure that steak was in a pan just a moment ago".
The cross sectional views really blew my mind though, they look totally real but I can't understand how it'd even be possible to get that shot irl so I've decided the only possible explanation is magic.
@@mattwood1977 They pioneered a lot of the cross sectional shots in the modernist cuisine cookbook, but I always assumed they would only really work in stills. Getting the same shots on video is wild
This is so great! I have a simple electric stove and a cast iron pan, and just through trial and error I noticed that my steaks turned out better when I had the dial set to 7 or 8 as opposed to 9 or 10... that the steak cooks internally by way of the water boiling is a revelation. At the lower temperature, I can cook my steaks without filling my house full of smoke, and they cook to proper doneness. I was frustrated by the fact that when I had it ripping hot, I would cook the steaks until the sear was borderline burnt, and it STILL was too rare in the middle. Now it all makes perfect sense! Thank you so much for your experimentation and taking the time to make the video!
Beautiful, as soon as you showed the heat transfer coefficient I knew you would deep fry the steak. I love applying science to the culinary arts.
Excellent advice! Thank you,, this is precisely what I was looking for! I'll be ordering a thermometer too.
Never seen you before! This content is absolutely amazing. I'm a butcher of 16 years and an avid home cook. Always looking to experiment and learn the best. This video is so well done. Your script, production, presentation - all superb. Subscribed instantly
Thank you for the kind words.
I wanna piggy back and say the same. definitely looking forward to perusing more of your content!
As someone living in a poorly ventilated apartment with no hood and no grill (something that is probably not terribly uncommon in cities) learning about cold searing kind of changed my life! I went from not having a good seared steak (or pork chop/loin for that matter) for years to being able to have one whenever I wanted. It's not perfect, and doesn't produce a crust quite as luxurious as a traditional sear method does but it gets extremely close, is easy, time efficient and most of all produces no smoke and very little or no splatter so cleanup is nothing. That is my favorite method for searing or cooking steak in general, these days. Though I did want to try deep frying (before I found the cold sear a couple years ago) because it was also a no smoke method and I thought it'd produce a perfect crust. I'm glad you tried it.
Cooks illustrated has a great breakdown on the cold sear, for anyone interested. I'm sure there are other resources as well.
Cold sear has blown my mind. It's going to be my go to method for a while.
I'm in the same situation. I pan sear steak multiple times a week and it smokes up my apartment.
I have a cheap backyard/camping propane burner. I set it up outside and throw my cast iron right on the burner, using a cheap infrared thermometer to get my pan temperature right -- I like to start at 650F then I turn the heat way down for basting. My electric stovetop can easily get the temperature I want but the smoke is too much inside. Works perfect for me.
Butcher and ex chef here. Great video. Through a couple decades of personal experience i've been proselytizing the reverse sear/three-stage grill (temper, turn often, and double rest)/sousvide. Nice to get a bit of intuitive science behind it.
I feel so good about myself after watching this video! I taught myself searing steaks in a Manhattan kitchen with a nearby smoke detector that could not be disabled so I had to figure out how to do it without setting it off, yet get that nice brown coating under 2 minutes! I ended up using the sous vide technique, then leaving it out to dry on paper towels and cool off for about 20 minutes, and then searing it in a cast iron skillet that was preheated for about 8 minutes on the not very powerful gas stove. That seems to check most of the boxes to get a good sear, and once I had perfected this technique, it really did! The only thing missing was the charbroil marks (I do like some of those). Recreating that with a torch wasn't super successful. Now I have a nice outside charcoal grill, but honestly deep frying it sounds really appealing too. I might have to try that.
Interesting video, thanks! Love the science behind the process.
Wonderful video! The graphics, the production, the science, the narrative are all on point. Not only your thermometer is a step above the competition, your knowledge transfer skill is next level as well! 👍
This matches my experience when cooking thick steaks, though one additional step I usually take is to do a long dry brine beforehand.. like three days salted and uncovered on a rack in the fridge. This really desiccates the surface of the steak so it spends less time boiling off water and more time searing. Anecdotally it seems to help with an even sear, my assumption being that there are fewer patches where steam got temporarily trapped under the steak.
Also, when searing thinner steaks like a skirt steak, I think higher heat is helpful. You want to sear hard and fast so the crust develops before it gets overcooked in the center, and getting the exterior as dry as possible to start with is even more important here.
When you do the dry brine, do you notice the steak shrinking and requiring a shorter cooking time? I am still experimenting with how much less time to sear the steak on cast iron after dry brining since it overcooks faster.
3 days is more than just brining... it start to cure the meat. I only dry brine overnight (until the surface is dry) before cooking.
Wow, what an superb way of show n tell! Beautiful production aswell as entertaining... and mouth watering.
Loved the video, it reaffirmed some of the techniques I thought were working best for me. Definitely going to try searing by deep frying!
I made an almost perfect reverse seared steak tonight at home but I learned so much from this video! THANK YOU!!
Love your stuff, Chris! Insane production level as always
Chris, I just plain out love your Channel. Production and content quality are really up there and really educational. I might even get your thermometer if you keep reminding me with good videos :P
I need you, mad scientist bbq, ethan chlebowski, and charlie anderson to do a collab or something. The amount of research, experiments, and the like you all do is wonderful and I wish more people came across all your videos.
I tend to pan sear more, but I prefer to use a charcoal grill when I can. Dry brining is also a technique I've been enjoying recently.
Yes! All this, plus Joshua Weissman being sent a fake invitation leading him to a highly remote location populated by wild, hungry animals.
The illustration quality in this is very impressive!
The visuals, the crosscut views of the cooking steaks blew my mind. Together with the fantastic info what a gem of a video.
I really love the stuff you do, Chris. Obviously, the production value is amazing. But I also love the way you take concepts that could be difficult and make them accessible them without dumbing them down too much. The simplicity and effectiveness of your convection animations is a great example. As a PhD student currently working on pitching my thesis project, it’s a skill that I appreciate, especially at the moment.
I normally dont subscribe to random videos in searching for something - but holy smokes did you earn it
the cutaways, easy listening, tone of voice, knowledgable, engineering, cinematography - oh my
Excellent work!
Thats how i felt
I went to a restaurant once and they said their steaks were off because their grill wasn't working, and they could only do deep-fried stuff. Remembering the meat fondues I'd had as a kid, I persuaded them to do some eye fillets in the deep fryer for 1min. Best-cooked steak I've ever had. Locked in all the moisture immediately, searing on all surfaces pretty much instantly. Not at all oily.
Remember that 'locking in moisture' is not a real phenomenon, the crust doesn't prevent the loss of water, the speed of cooking just means that water isn't lost.
All is revealed! I'm Swiss, so I grew up eating all forms of Fondue, especially meat Fondue. No wonder those little chunks of beef in hot oil taste so good!
@@fabe61thank you for educating people
But isn't the oil they use toxic seed oil or it'd be too expensive to replace once used too much?
@@steemium not sure... I would hope it would be tallow, but that's probably unlikely... probably soybean oil or sunflower oil hmmmmm
Amazing video, just what I was looking for. Thank you.
I really appreciate all the hard work you did to get the cutaway shots of the steak and the skillet together while cooking.
Having tried the deep fry before it is really good but as you said it is a lot of extra work.
My current go-to is allow to air dry over night in the fridge salted. Then pre-sear in the pan. Season steak with other non-salt toppings or aromatics and sous vide. Then cool and re-sear on a skillet again. Seems to give me the best crust when comparing crust to effort.
So pre-sear if you will before sous-vide and then a quick sear afterwards 🤔. I’ve wondered about pre-searing vs post-searing for sous-vide (apologies, the terms only make sense in the context of sous vide cooking). The pre-sear makes more sense but pretty much every recipe suggests doing it after.
Searing twice is legit. Gives the meat 1/4 of an inch in a chance to cool, so there's less gray band and more sear. However, a little gray band is not the end of the world.
Too much time and work.
Brilliant video. Just yesterday I cooked ribeye steaks with sous vide and did a 2 minute, 500° sear. The steaks were perfect but my kitchen was filled with smoke. I was already considering searing at a lower temperature when I found your video. Thanks for the variety of cooking options. I'll stick to sous vide but now I'll sear at a lower temperature.
Wow! I have watched many videos on how to sear meats, and I think I can say this one was the ultimate!
The quality of the contents is so amazing. He is going to the big youtuber in 2 years, I guarantee.
Thanks Chris! So much good information! what a terrific presentation!
You have no idea how much I love this video. I'm a numbers guy, so knowing exactly WHY I'm doing what I'm doing in the kitchen helps a ton. Great video.
In what can only be considered the highest of compliments, this felt like a special edition of Good Eats. I was expecting an Alton Brown style physical prop as soon as you pulled out the whiteboard.
Well done and well played!
I was thinking the very same thing.
I like science
And math!
This is one of the best video I have seen in a long while.
You’ve got a new subscriber. 😇
excellent video. i used to just get my cast iron searing surface crazy hot on the grill... now ill be shooting for 350° today for my huge porterhouse
Great video! You did what Ethan Chlebowski does, but without the extra 30min of filler. I can't believe you don't have more subscribers. You just got one!
It's probably because he is super awkward on camera and constantly tryin to sell me a meat thermomerter
Keep it up. The quality of the content, the filming, the special effects and the work behind it is crazy. It's difficult to explain in words how excellent your content is from every point of view. Impeccable. Continue like this and you will reach the top of the audience too.
I've been cooking steaks for over 2 years now. I've always nailed down the crust and can get that mahogany surface with any steak, but the center is always a problem. This video detailed exactly what I was doing wrong. Not to mention, your cinematic shots are great and as a biologist I can say your explanations are spot on. Sub well-deserved
What did you do wrong?
@@filipsvedlund4539 probably running too hot so that when his crust was finished to his desire amount the center didn't have time to cook to the way he liked it. That or vice versa with too little heat and inside being over cooked.
@@filipsvedlund4539 Cooking on far too high of a heat and not using a reverse sear or sous vide method. I never once thought that the water beneath the steak's surface prevents the inside from getting to a certain temperature, but if you ass blast it with heat like I've been doing, you'll get a much larger grey band.
Thank you for this video. It was very informative. I recently purchased a Combustion Inc thermometer as well thanks to watching a Kenji Lopez video. I reverse sear using a two zone charcoal Kettle grill.
Incredible video! I am a fairly sophisticated home chef with a decent set of skills, and I love how this video breaks down, scientifically and mathematically, what is happening during the cooking process. This makes it very easy to learn conceptually what is happening and not just a specific technique for cooking, which is fantastic! I eat all other proteins but I don't eat beef, yet the concepts being discussed here will be very informative for preparations of pork, lamb, chicken, etc. Thanks!
I personally like Guga's method of searing over extremely hot flames on the charcoal grill, avoiding grill marks, and then putting in a thermometer and let it finish cooking in indirect heat by searing over the hot zone, and finishing cooking over the cold zone.
Based on the video and your comments, I will experiment with sort of a hybrid. During the searing phase, instead of deep frying, I am getting a small cast iron grill pan, that has raised ridges. I will char some beef fat, make into smoked tallow. Fill the pan around 3/4" with tallow, bring to 350 F and sear while gently moving the steak. Edit: BTW I have seen recent videos testing a newly released wireless meat thermometer in deep fryers, for whatever reason, the ambient temperature had been off during deep frying. Puzzling.
This was an unreal level of a cooking demonstration! Beautifully done, hats off to you sir!
One of the technically best produced videos on foods I have encountered on TH-cam. And the content, i.e. the super interesting angle on searing, is outstanding!
Great video! I particularly enjoyed the comparison of reverse sear methods.
I'm "Team Shallow Fry with Radiant Heat." I cook sous vide and sear using a cast iron or carbon steel skillet with ~375-400°F fat (50% ghee and 50% beef tallow] about ¼-inch deep. I flip frequently and hit the top with a Searzall while frying the bottom. This speeds up searing, gives a tiny touch of char, and eliminates unwanted surface moisture on the steak before I flip again. The Searzall softens the torch's flame and eliminates flare-ups in the fat that would be a problem with using a torch alone.
Can we take a moment to appreciate the fan used for the top-down shots to prevent that lens from fogging up every time they flip those steaks? 10/10, Chris and Team! You guys killed it once again. I'd love to see some behind the scenes on how you guys prepare for these videos. Did you cut a pan in half for this or is this a little movie magic?
I'd also love to know how it's done
He cut one in half in a previous video and probably reused that one.
@@danielleanderson6371 imagine the mess it creates, not sure if that's filmable at all
For the life of me, I can't figure it out... If the pan was cut in half then juices would be dripping over the edge. When I first thought it I thought it was computer generated... then the zoom in made me throw that belief out the window, it was far too details.
How in the hell they get those cross section videos is beyond me, incredible film making trick I would love to know how it was done.
@@dylanevans5644 the pan and steak are cut, the rest is simulated. You can see the animation repeating if you look closely. Still amazing work, I was wondering too at first!
I've been going with the sous vide + torch method, but I've been considering getting a deep fryer for my steak for a while now, and I believe I now have my mind made up. Steak fried in tallow/lard sounds divine.
I vote tallow. Pigs don't live long enough to develop flavour
@@LulaJake Tallow is definitely harder to get a hold of, but I agree.
My preferred method is cast iron over wood, because you still get the char flavours without the inconvenience of a grill.
Also, man I love your videos. You're maybe the third person I've enabled notifications for. So well shot and explained and the perfect amount of depth. Love it.
What a fantastic video. I love the science in cooking.
I do a lot of what you do. I salt my steaks for at least 24 hours before cooking them. I also remove them from the fridge at least 2-3 hours before cooking. I always reverse sear on my Kamado Joe Ceramic smoker. Get them to about 105 degrees, let them sit for 15 minutes while the grill cranks. I have to admit though I was looking for 500-600 degrees there. I then seared on my soap stone with Wagyu beef tallow. I am now going to measure the surface temp with my laser thermometer and go for 350-400. I am somewhat frying it in Wagyu beef tallow, just not submerged. Thanks for the very informative, and very well done video!
"Steak is just water with some shit mixed in it" -- fantastic
What kind of oil you use for deep frying?
I like to cook my steaks by dipping it into molten lava for 5 secs for that perfect creme de la cancer crust.
This is probably the best 'food' video I have watched. It is very informative and told in a wonderfully straightforward, simple way. (This reminded me of the Christmas science lectures which are given in front of a lecture theatre of children). Everything is told in a very easy to understand way but the final result is that one is much more knowledgeable because of that approach. The production of it is excellent and thank heaven, there is no insane background music. Thank you.
Love the Christmas lectures, so that’s a wonderful compliment.
Thank you! Your production and delivery is spot on. Concise, to the point and no unnecessary jibba jabba.
Nice info, I actually was able to figure out a bit of it on my own. One thing not discussed that's important to me is that the fat caps on cuts like new york strip or rib eye get fully converted into an edible form with no chew, it does wonders for the flavor of the steak bites. Only way I know how with my cooking set ups is with the trusty old cast iron well heated and transfered into the oven after searing, sacrificing the basting step for a better result on the fats. Oh and if it's not dry brined in the fridge for 24 hours I'm not cooking it.
Dry brining is a real game changer, and its so simple.
Great scientific explanations I didn't find anywhere else on youtube (while I have seen Guga performing similar experiments, I always felt the science to answer the ultimate "why" was missing). Thanks for adding the missing puzzles and keep up the great work! Your channel is massively underrated but I am sure 1mn subs will come soon!
I agree.
Much Love to GUGA
I could not agree more. Great comment
I actually really like a lot of my food cooked to what most people would consider just a little bit burnt. I like the medium picture best, but the high end still looks way better than the low to me. I do like pink in the middle, but a very seared and crispy crust makes it many times better. It might just be the addition of a little texture, that's a big thing for me.
you should try it done chicago rare.
Definitely agree that resting prior to the final sear makes so much sense. Switched to that process this season and so much happier with the end result.
Love the graphical and thorough video. 🔥 I use an asphalt/weed torch, like you use to clear areas of scrub brush. I have a empty grill willed with bricks that I put my meat on to sear sets of meat or roasts all at once.
I can usually knock out 4 tri-tips, a pack of chicken thighs, or 10 steaks, all in one go, taking less than 5 minutes tops. The bricks reflect heat back and do a good job brown searing the undersides while I put a more brown sear on the top side. I'll usually only flip once.
I'd love to see you tackle flame searing in-depth. What I love so much about sous vide and my torch is I can render the fat on steaks so that it's not rubbery and quite delicious to eat, similar to the crispy liquified fat on well-cooked bacon. I don't exactly know what's going on here to make fat go from gross to edible but it's worth an investigation. 🤜🤛 Thanks for all you do! ♥
Awesome approach to a cooking/food science video! Well thought out explanations and pacing, real examples with numbers and visualizations, and showing perfection versus practical.
Good info here, you taught this engineer a thing or two! That was a really cool cut away shot with the split pan and sizzling meat.
At the 6:50 mark you state "the heat vaporizes any remaining water at the surface within seconds". However I think the sous vide steak will have more nearby sub-surface water present that slows or decreases the intensity of the sear.
I think sous vide will start to go out of favor as the experts now have us all worried about micro plastics. The higher the temp the more available the particles are.
Fantastic video and outstanding content! I cook steak daily. I have tried all techniques. You don’t address broiling which steak houses use. I have grown quite fond of my propane broiler. There is a definite learning curve. I often broil from beginning to end. However, I also Sous vide sometimes and use the broiler to sear the steak. Would love to see you do a video comparing this technique to others. Great channel. Appreciate the science!
Great video, and the science is spot on.
Great video, glad to see someone backing these ideas up with tests and demonstrations. A bit surprised you didn't test searing with an infrared burner, feels like that's a great option to conveniently get that 1800 degree or so sear super quick.
Great video and very informative. There's a flavor that charcoal brings to the table that I haven't found anywhere else yet. I like to sear over the flames for 2m total, 30s flips in between, then cook in indirect heat - I'm more concerned with the flavor than the "crust" you get. The flavor, in my opinion, is unbeatable.
The similar effect could be replicated on a charcoal grill using the grate rotating technique. By cycling the steak in and out of the hot zone you are exposing the steak to a cool grate surface for short bursts of extreme heat but before burning. I was able to achieve almost same result as low temperature pan searing but with the added charcoal flavor.
3:38 You have misunderstood the principles of heat transfer. There are three primary mechanisms of heat transfer: conduction, convection, and radiation. You are correct about the boiling point of water limiting the conduction and most convection heat transfer, but neglecting the radiation component is a significant oversight. Radiation becomes the dominant heat transfer mechanism at higher temperatures.
The amount of information in this video is 🤯 New subscriber!
I watch tons of cooking/grilling channels to make the perfect steak. Nice to see someone science the hell out of it, along with the amazing visuals, math (yes math in cooking) and quasi physics. I'm an immediate subscriber. Keep it up sir!
Subbed for cross section cooking
I just put enough oil in the pan that I might as well be deep-frying it.
Oil temp will drop a lot if it's shallow and impede a good sear. Specific heat of oil is much less than h2o. That why deep fat is recommended- oil temp won't drop as much.. Cast iron for vessel helps.
good ass video
I've been cooking steaks many different ways my whole life and learned so much from "experts."
I just learned learned something new today. Subscribed
Dude answered my questions on what I was missing and how I can cook a steak better. As well as thoroughly and scientifically show different methods. Thanks.
I was sold within the first few minutes. As someone who trained as a chemist and now an avid amateur cook......I love people who combine the two. You bet I subscribed. Will be back for more!
What a fantastic video. Informative, simple to understand, and just a great video! It's like I have been looking for this video without even knowing it.
the sound design for the closeup sections is very nice :) well done whoever paid attention to those little details
This was an insanely good video. One of the best cooking videos I've seen for sure.
I loved the math part! (Applied Math phd speaking 😅)
One of the best educational videos on cooking i have seen.
Thanks!
Amazing video and extremely informative!!! I loved the presentation style and content!! Thank you Chris! I’ll test frying. I wish you success with your company
This was one of the best videos Ive seen. Came across it randomly and now I am subbed and shared this twice already.
You did an insanely good job on the editing and explanation. Subscribed.
This is the first video of your I've watch and I AM IN LOVE! Such good content with great visual presentation! I don't usually make purchases just from a YT video cuz I'm broke lol, but man I want that thermometer. Thanks again for making the video!
dear goodness man, the level of detail in the cross section shots are amazing!!!
This is incredible ... blown away by the production values