Beef

[PrivatePilot]

I love our air fryer as well but for some thick things you need to lower the temperatures versus what something calls for in a regular oven….so if it calls for 450, try 375 or 400. If it calls for 400, try 325.

We use ours a ton. For things like chicken strips or French fries or whatever it’s insanely fast, but for thicker things like smoked pork chops (something that comes to mind that we enjoy often from Halendas) lower temperatures still yield a fast cook but doesn’t overdo the outside while not heating the inside.

As for sous vide, my BIL has one….just the model that clips onto any regular pot and does it’s thing. Looks like a hand blender. The results are indeed awesome for sure. When we’re out on their boat for a weekend he’ll often do up a few small roasts and then bring them and toss them in the fridge. All they need to be ready for an awesome roast beef dinner then is 30-45 mins in the oven or bbq on low just to warm up.

 

[Lightcycle]

I love our air fryer as well but for some thick things you need to lower the temperatures versus what something calls for in a regular oven….so if it calls for 450, try 375 or 400. If it calls for 400, try 325.

We use ours a ton. For things like chicken strips or French fries or whatever it’s insanely fast, but for thicker things like smoked pork chops (something that comes to mind that we enjoy often from Halendas) lower temperatures still yield a fast cook but doesn’t overdo the outside while not heating the inside.

Good advice, will try that.

Edit: Just checked. Our cheap air fryer only has one setting. On/Off. The temperature dial turns it into a regular convection oven. Boo.

 

[GreyGhost]

Our friend and roommate had a sous-vide. We used it a lot when we were living with her. That thing was amazing, meat perfectly cooked through and through every single time. Huge appliance though, low on the priority list for a standalone device.

This is in contrast to our new air fryer, can't get the hang of that thing. Looks done on the outside, undercooked/raw on the inside. But not all the time.

Annoying.

People swear by these air fryers, maybe it's just ours.

If you want to put together a sous-vide setup get a small cooler, a hole saw and the cooker. The cooler keeps temp much better than the typical plastic tub (and can be used as a cooler between cooking so less big single purpose crap to store).

 

[PrivatePilot]

Good advice, will try that.

Edit: Just checked. Our cheap air fryer only has one setting. On/Off. The temperature dial turns it into a regular convection oven. Boo.

That’s all an air fryer is really, just a small-sized convection oven with a huge heating element and a high speed fan. Small confined space + fast airflow + big heating element = Fast.

Just turn down the temp. As long as the fan is running at a high speed still….it’s an “air fryer” for all intents and purposes.

 

[crankcall]

I’m seeing new kitchen ranges that now comes with an air frier. I’m not sure I get it yet.
CTC has a sous vide gizmo that clips onto a pot on sale for $69.00 . Turn any pot with a lid into sous vide . As long as you can reverse sear with a screaming grill or fry pan , may be a good way to idiot proof a steak .


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[Mad Mike]

I’m seeing new kitchen ranges that now comes with an air frier. I’m not sure I get it yet.
CTC has a sous vide gizmo that clips onto a pot on sale for $69.00 . Turn any pot with a lid into sous vide . As long as you can reverse sear with a screaming grill or fry pan , may be a good way to idiot proof a steak .


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I think the 'air fryer' feature is just stretch marketing the 'convection' oven. We have that feature on our new range. We also have the 3 year older version of the same range, the only difference is the new one came with a wire 'air fry' basket.

Put your food in a wire basket, put the range on convection and voila! You're upgraded.

 

[GreyGhost]

I think the 'air fryer' feature is just stretch marketing the 'convection' oven. We have that feature on our new range. We also have the 3 year older version of the same range, the only difference is the new one came with a wire 'air fry' basket.

Put your food in a wire basket, put the range on convection and voila! You're upgraded.

Dont forget air sous-vide. I think the marketing department could use some french lessons. I suspect that is just rebranded convection as well.

 

[backmarkerducati]

I have a Sirloin roast in the sous vide for tomorrow's dinner. Will be in almost 30 hours....

Many grocery stores flip their beef. Basically it sits on the shelf (in the package) and turns brown on the top as the blood sinks down. They take it out of the package and flip it so the red side is up and the brown side is down, new package and new date. Some stores are far worse than others and some have even worse practices....

I like Costco for beef/steak but keep in mind the steaks are mechanically tenderized and this can be a bad thing for bacteria... Min cooking temp in the middle should be considered.

 

[Lightcycle]

Dont forget air sous-vide. I think the marketing department could use some french lessons. I suspect that is just rebranded convection as well.

Air sous-vide. Is that like powdered water? Just add... um....

 

[PrivatePilot]

I’m seeing new kitchen ranges that now comes with an air frier. I’m not sure I get it yet.

I think the 'air fryer' feature is just stretch marketing the 'convection' oven. We have that feature on our new range. We also have the 3 year older version of the same range, the only difference is the new one came with a wire 'air fry' basket.

Put your food in a wire basket, put the range on convection and voila! You're upgraded.

It's the same thing. An "air fryer" is just a tiny convection oven, with the only real difference being a way smaller space (so a more focused heat) and typically a much stronger fan to really hammer the super hot air around the food. The term "air fryer" is just marketing basically to make people think it's something different.

We've always had convection ovens. Way more consistent cooking and no bottom-burning. For example, when we cook a turkey for Christmas or whatever, it can literally be in the oven all day in our big turkey pan, and at the end you can just use a paper towel to wipe everything off the bottom - nothing burns on because the heat isn't focused, it's being carried forcefully by the air blowing out of the convection vent.

You just have to be careful when buying however as convection ovens come in "cheap" or "good". The cheap ones just use regular old elements with a fan to move the air around, but are less effective vs a true convection - the more expensive/good ones actually have regular heating elements as well for the normal bake function (no fan), but have a completely separate heating grid enclosed just before the fan so that the regular heating elements don't get used at all. The latter is more consistent and less likely to burn things.

But a convection oven is not good for some baking, IE cakes, where you need a bottom focused heat. This is why all convection ovens that are part of a full range also have a regular bake option.

Many grocery stores flip their beef. Basically it sits on the shelf (in the package) and turns brown on the top as the blood sinks down. They take it out of the package and flip it so the red side is up and the brown side is down

Brown doesn't necessarily mean bad. It just means it's deprived of oxygen, generally because the side that is stuck against the cling wrap is completely sealed.

Video: Why does my steak look that brown colour? - Steak School by Stanbroke

steakschool.com

 

[nobbie48]

Chicken is the worst , the fresh killed chicken goes into a chill bath to quickly cool the meat where it picks up a huge amount of water , bacon also you can see it steam in the pan .


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Bacon loses 60% of its weight when cooked, fat and water.

My wife avoids eating fats so when we go out for bacon and eggs she typically cuts away the fat. One day I told her to order the turkey bacon and she started cutting away the white part. "It's white turkey meat"

 

[Lyndsay]

OK. I haven't been on here for a few days and some of you had some comments that I wanted to respond to.

Finding a farmer and talking to them works best. Find out when they are sending a cow off to be butchered and be prepared to jump in then, or let them know you want a cow, or a portion 1/4 or 1/2. They may have some others interested and you each get an equal share. If you can provide these other people it's even better as this way you also get to specify, to a degree, how you want it butchered; mostly steaks, mostly roasts, ground and stew, pre-made burgers and or sausage (extra costs). I usually just get a nice mix, and opt for the off-cuts ground and left as stew meat. I can then prepare my own burgers etc. the way I like. I was lucky with the butcher they used the last time and they actually cut the cow and packaged it in thirds for us, equal number of each type of meat. previous to that we've had a get-together where we had to lay all the meat out and apportion it out equally in my garage.

Is it cheaper to hunt than buy meat? For me at this point, yes, if I don't take my time into account. I have a buddy that repacks my cases so ammo is cheap. My guns are old and I've had them a long time, so they've paid for themselves. The newer stuff I have, a muzzle-loader and a crossbow each shot two deer the first year I had them, so I guess they're paid off as well. It costs me $90 to have a deer butchered, so if you get 50 lbs of meat, that's $1.80 a pound. Probably not cheap for the burger and stew meat, but a good deal for the chops, roasts and steaks.

With regards to my time, you can buy the meat cheaper at the grocery store, especially in a bad year. One year we got one deer which we had to split 3-1/2 ways. Figure for rifle season only that's 15 man-days of earnings lost for maybe 75-100 lbs of meat, not counting all the time acquiring a licence, practicing shooting and buying gear. And then there was also all the hours I spent alone hunting with the bow and muzzle-loader with no luck. Luckily I don't just do it for the meat, I love being out in the woods and if I see deer, that's great; if they're legal to shoot, that's a bonus.

I don't know about cooking the exotic species over in Africa etc. but wouldn't be surprised if over-cooking is necessary to kill all parasites etc. Here in Ontario it's not an issue and you can cook it the way you like. The problem is most people try to cook it like they would cook beef. That wouldn't work, as venison doesn't have marbling (except for the neck meat) so it will burn very quickly. My go-to is to marinate the chops or steak for a couple of days in a teriyaki style marinade (I just recently found a good one as a satay recipe that's great as a marinade) and then cook it on the BBQ. nice and rare works for this because the oil in the marinade works like the marbled fat to prevent burning. Once you've had wild game properly prepared you realize how good it is. I've had gamey meat a few times, but just realized it was my fault for not preparing it properly. Last spring's turkey for example. The first half we simply put it on the smoker and cooked it slow. It was gamey and tough and we really didn't enjoy it. Later, we brined the second half and did it on the BBQ with sauce and it was great.

Just my thoughts, sorry for the rambling.

 

[nobbie48]

OK. I haven't been on here for a few days and some of you had some comments that I wanted to respond to.

Finding a farmer and talking to them works best. Find out when they are sending a cow off to be butchered and be prepared to jump in then, or let them know you want a cow, or a portion 1/4 or 1/2. They may have some others interested and you each get an equal share. If you can provide these other people it's even better as this way you also get to specify, to a degree, how you want it butchered; mostly steaks, mostly roasts, ground and stew, pre-made burgers and or sausage (extra costs). I usually just get a nice mix, and opt for the off-cuts ground and left as stew meat. I can then prepare my own burgers etc. the way I like. I was lucky with the butcher they used the last time and they actually cut the cow and packaged it in thirds for us, equal number of each type of meat. previous to that we've had a get-together where we had to lay all the meat out and apportion it out equally in my garage.

Is it cheaper to hunt than buy meat? For me at this point, yes, if I don't take my time into account. I have a buddy that repacks my cases so ammo is cheap. My guns are old and I've had them a long time, so they've paid for themselves. The newer stuff I have, a muzzle-loader and a crossbow each shot two deer the first year I had them, so I guess they're paid off as well. It costs me $90 to have a deer butchered, so if you get 50 lbs of meat, that's $1.80 a pound. Probably not cheap for the burger and stew meat, but a good deal for the chops, roasts and steaks.

With regards to my time, you can buy the meat cheaper at the grocery store, especially in a bad year. One year we got one deer which we had to split 3-1/2 ways. Figure for rifle season only that's 15 man-days of earnings lost for maybe 75-100 lbs of meat, not counting all the time acquiring a licence, practicing shooting and buying gear. And then there was also all the hours I spent alone hunting with the bow and muzzle-loader with no luck. Luckily I don't just do it for the meat, I love being out in the woods and if I see deer, that's great; if they're legal to shoot, that's a bonus.

I don't know about cooking the exotic species over in Africa etc. but wouldn't be surprised if over-cooking is necessary to kill all parasites etc. Here in Ontario it's not an issue and you can cook it the way you like. The problem is most people try to cook it like they would cook beef. That wouldn't work, as venison doesn't have marbling (except for the neck meat) so it will burn very quickly. My go-to is to marinate the chops or steak for a couple of days in a teriyaki style marinade (I just recently found a good one as a satay recipe that's great as a marinade) and then cook it on the BBQ. nice and rare works for this because the oil in the marinade works like the marbled fat to prevent burning. Once you've had wild game properly prepared you realize how good it is. I've had gamey meat a few times, but just realized it was my fault for not preparing it properly. Last spring's turkey for example. The first half we simply put it on the smoker and cooked it slow. It was gamey and tough and we really didn't enjoy it. Later, we brined the second half and did it on the BBQ with sauce and it was great.

Just my thoughts, sorry for the rambling.

Fishing to save doesn't make sense unless you live on the water. Occasionally one hears of people that exceed limits to pack the freezer but they don't get any respect. Like most activities it's a hobby with a bit of the expense paid for.

The other factor is it's fresh today not last week.

 

[Scuba Steve]

Fishing to save doesn't make sense unless you live on the water. Occasionally one hears of people that exceed limits to pack the freezer but they don't get any respect. Like most activities it's a hobby with a bit of the expense paid for.

The other factor is it's fresh today not last week.

I have fish in the river behind me and deer in the field. Haven't bothered with either but it would be cheaper I could get a deer from the deck of I wanted.

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