What Cheap Cuts are You Using

hey all,

Nice to see chefsfeps putting some cheaper cuts in the recipe archive.

I was wondering what cheap cuts everyone else here is using and to what degree of success.

For example, I love boneless short rib for steak on a hot grill. I'd like to introduce sous vide to "par cook" it to medium rare (not a braise or long cook) before flashing on the grill, but does anyone know if I'll get the same texture/result as if I were to just cook it the entire way on a hot grill?

I'm also thinking of cooking pork collar like a pork chop, but I see chefsfeps cooks the pork shoulder for 24 hours. I love pork collar grilled over high heat, and would like to do the same with the short rib steak above but am unsure if I would get a desirable result.

Any suggestions or thoughts?

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Comments

Francois_346702

`Hi Lou,

I used chuck in the past, but still it was a long sous vide cooking of 12-14h or so... But worth it...

Pork belly, pork or lamb shoulders are a good option but again, you need to cook long, that is the principle of tough cuts. If you want to make them taste and more importandly chew like a tender more expensive cuts, you need to break all the collagen, so you need to cook slow and long...

Enjoy cooking !

Lou_34544

Francois,

Is there something going on when grilling tough cuts like a short rib or pork collar that it achieves in the short cook time that can't be achieved with a par cook sous vide (not an extended cook time?)

Is the heat of the grill enough to melt the collagen in those tough cuts?

Jack_Mayer_85396

Although not nearly as economical as they used to be, I'm a huge fan of Hanger Steaks and boneless short ribs. Short ribs cooked SV for a long time and finished on a grill/CI pan or torched. Hanger steaks just quickly cooked in a CI or black steel pan. Both cuts take wonderfully to a dry rub or marinade.

Lou_34544

So no one would recommend cooking a short rib steak for an hour like a strip and searing?

brian_martin2001

the shortest time I've ever seen short ribs cooked is 12 hours. I'm pretty sure if you cook short rib (steak or otherwise) for an hour, you'll end up with a very tough cut of meat.

brian_martin2001

Using a grill with high intense heat for a short period of time will do little to nothing to effect collagen breakdown. That includes "par cooking". Tough cuts need long slow cooking to breakdown collagen. You can cheat a little by using a pressure cooker, but you still need an hour ast least for must tough cuts. It should also be noted that a pressure cooker will only ever give you well done meat. You seem to be trying to combine sous vide and traditional methods to reduce overall cook time. Unfortunately the physics of cooking using these two methods will not allow it. You really don't seem to grasp what sous vide is and is capable of. You really might want to consider doing some in depth research into the types of cooking your proposing, especially with the things you're trying to cook.

Lou_34544

I'm confused - some of my favorite steaks have been "tough cuts" like skirt, hanger, short ribs, grilled quickly over hot coals.

The problem with simply grilling quickly is consistency - I'm wondering if I can get the same affect with a pre cook sous vide then high temp sear.

I don't want the texture of braised short ribs - I want the texture of short ribs cooked briefly over screaming hot coals, Argentinian style. But I don't have the screaming hot coals and am wondering if sous vide can help get part of the way there

brian_martin2001

If the only thing you're looking for is too have a tough cut of meat, why even bother with the sous vide? Sure, throw it in your water bath for an hour, you'll keep it still nice and tough.

The cuts you mention spend a brief time on the coals, but it doesn't break down the collagen. It seems tender because of the way it's cut thin and against the grain. If you take any of those cuts, and just with that brief intense sear, and cut it with the grain, it'll be tougher than a car tire.

I'm not suggesting cook it to a braise like texture, you can achieve a nice steak tender texture, with short ribs anyway, with a 24 cook. It depends on what you're looking for. But if you're looking just for a brief intense sear, you're not looking for collagen breakdown. the texture is manipulated by the way it's cut, not actually being changed.

If you're not going to be grilling it, how are you planning on serving it? I would certainly hope you're going to finish it with either a torch or a sear in a skillet. You can achieve the same type of thing as a grill with a sear on those.