Tonight's dinner: Sous vide vs pellet grill

[jt13]

I've been wet aging some moose steaks for almost 3 weeks now and tonight is the night that the magic is going to happen. How should I cook them?

 

[MO Betta]

Chose SV, but if it were me I'd hit it with the S&P and throw it on a hot grill - medium rare and "down the hatch." I do like to throw a little butter on the steak once I pull it off the grill to rest.

 

[jryoung]

Grill, sous vide is for soft boiled eggs.

Question on the wet aging. Was it frozen previously?

 

[Deleted member 38069]

I always use my SV for precious meat but my want to try something new leads me to the low and slow pellet grill option. Let us know how it turns out!

 

[jt13]

Grill, sous vide is for soft boiled eggs.

Question on the wet aging. Was it frozen previously?

Yes, previously frozen. As it thawed every few days I drained all the blood out and resealed the bag. After about a week it had stopped producing liquids and has been sealed since then.

At this point it is so tender that I am fairly certain I could poke a finger clean through it with little effort

 

[jryoung]

Yes, previously frozen. As it thawed every few days I drained all the blood out and resealed the bag. After about a week it had stopped producing liquids and has been sealed since then.

At this point it is so tender that I am fairly certain I could poke a finger clean through it with little effort

Interesting, have you done it this way before? Exposing to oxygen, and draining fluid seems to go against most wet aging technique.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Why would you put a tender steak into a water bath to cook it? Also, why low and slow on the smoker?

Get that grill as hot as you can, flash sear the steaks, baste with butter infused with thyme and garlic and eat it medium rare. Sprinkle with kosher salt just before eating.

 

[jt13]

Interesting, have you done it this way before? Exposing to oxygen, and draining fluid seems to go against most wet aging technique.

I've done it this way probably a dozen times now, however I will say that this has been the longest. I usually do about 10-14 days for deer but the moose seems to continue getting better the longer it sits.

Might have something to do with the larger muscle fibers in the moose or that it didn't get to hang very long before it was cut up and frozen

This is what got me started into playing around with wet aging: https://www.themeateater.com/cook/butchering-and-processing/the-why-and-how-of-wet-aging-big-game

 

[jt13]

Why would you put a tender steak into a water bath to cook it? Also, why low and slow on the smoker?

Get that grill as hot as you can, flash sear the steaks, baste with butter infused with thyme and garlic and eat it medium rare. Sprinkle with kosher salt just before eating.

This length of moose backstrap is a pretty hefty cut of meat that I would prefer to cook whole as opposed to pre-slicing it into steaks before hand. When I've tried the regular "hot and fast method" before it resulted in an overcooked outer layer with an extra-rare center.

 

[Gerald Martin]

That is what the sear is for. It will give you a crust that seals in the juice and will let it cook without drying out.

 

[Gerald Martin]

When I say hot, I am meaning 375-425 degrees. I don’t know how high you can get a temperature on your grill. I am sure it will be good however you eat it. You are correct in keeping it whole while cooking.

 

[Gerald Martin]

What time is dinner?

 

[jt13]

When I say hot, I am meaning 375-425 degrees. I don’t know how high you can get a temperature on your grill. I am sure it will be good however you eat it. You are correct in keeping it whole while cooking.

I can get the pellet grill up to about 425. I was probably too hot in previous attempts when using the gas grill. Maybe I'll give that another shot on the next one!

 

[Jorgy]

I sous vide a chunk of a precious whitetail back strap this winter, then threw it onto a screaming hot grill. It was a picture perfect piece of wild game. Eatting it though, meat texture was mushy, really disappointed. Ended up feeding the leftovers to the dogs. I sous vide a lot of things, but a back strap never again.

 

[MTHunter1321]

I sous vide a chunk of a precious whitetail back strap this winter, then threw it onto a screaming hot grill. It was a picture perfect piece of wild game. Eatting it though, meat texture was mushy, really disappointed. Ended up feeding the leftovers to the dogs. I sous vide a lot of things, but a back strap never again.

I had the same experience with a piece of antelope back strap. I didn’t even feed it to the dogs it was so bad. Haven’t used my SV since, just stick to a reverse sear with my traeger. I do think I left it in the SV too long though, but I don’t want to risk ruining that prime cut of meat again!

 

[jt13]

40 minutes at 160 on low smoke followed by 5 minutes on each side at 425 on the cast iron grill grates

Before:

After:

 

[LuketheDog]

I had the same experience with a piece of antelope back strap. I didn’t even feed it to the dogs it was so bad. Haven’t used my SV since, just stick to a reverse sear with my traeger. I do think I left it in the SV too long though, but I don’t want to risk ruining that prime cut of meat again!

If you leave it in too long I hear it will get mushy. I've done SV a handful of times, 2 hours is the longest I've done before searing in a ripping hot cast iron for a minute or so each side and the meat has been great every time. I've done moose backstrap, elk, and bighorn steaks, throw a pat of butter and some fresh herbs in the bag before you seal it up and cook.

 

[Deleted member 38069]

Let's see the finished product!

 

[JoltnJoe]

Reverse sear!