Ribeye 67.2 mm thick (Sous-Vide & Equilibrium Review)

The Ribeye, one of my favorite cuts, happens to be very prevalent in the groups, hence my inclination to use it as my muse. This prompted me to make another post on Equilibrium Processed Proteins. I've written a lot on EQ processing and Delta-t cooking, but I am finding disparate methodology, which inspired me to write another article on this method. 

When I come across posts relating to time, I always attempt to answer but always suggest reading Dr. Baldwin's book on SV. Before attempting this cooking method, the required reading should be "A Practical Guide to Sous-Vide Cooking by Dr.Baldwin." but sadly, out of ignorance or not knowing it's available, people skip this essential information.

How about those nifty apps that can help with times and temps? Conceptually apps are incredible, but they fail to operate as advertised. See my article Sous-Vide Apps & Guides "Should you use them"

I've come across many posts that don't understand the basics. I often see group members suggest, post, or discuss processing times for proteins that will never achieve a state of Equilibrium. I wrote a specific article that addresses this issue called "Time to Temp? Can you tell the difference?  

This is a pretty big Ribeye that weighed in at 3.3 lbs  (1497-grams) and 2.96-inches thick (67.2 mm). I used an electronic Caliper to determine the thickness and to find the middle for probe placement. 

After tying with butcher's twine, I Dry-Brine with 1% Fish Salt (Faux Aging). If you prefer just salt, I would suggest starting out with 0.60% Salt. How to calculate percentage? 1497 grams X 1% or .01 = 14.97 grams. I was not concerned about the bone weight because this percentage is very minute. I've seen people use up to 1.5%.

To ensure maximum diffusion of the Fish-Salt, the Ribeye was placed in the refrigerator for 4-Days. Three days is minimum for Fish-Salt, but this protein was very thick and needed more time. 

I used my Polyscience Chef-Series Immersion Circulator because it has been calibrated to match the Thermo-Q-Blue. I could have used my Hydro-Pro-Plus to monitor times, but it is not as precise as the Thermo-Q. The Hydro-Pro-Plus logs times in increments of 10-Minutes whereas the Thermo-Q can log in increments of 1-Sec, 5-Sec, 30-Sec, etc. In this case, I wanted to log times with seconds.

As you can see from the chart, the required time to reach E.Q. was 05:19:41. If I can be candid for a moment: Do I believe the protein would have suffered in any way as in terms of mouthfeel and looks had I only processed to 132.5f at the time of 04:15:03? Would I have been able to distinguish a 1/2 f? Absolutely not. In fact, a whole degree and maybe two would have made very little difference in mouthfeel or what it visually looked like in terms of doneness. The purpose of this post is to recognize that the times required to process proteins can take longer than one assumes. As pointed out in my article "Time to Temp," you cannot differentiate doneness by observation. 

I've said this before in past articles, but many would have underprocessed by the time and been perfectly happy with the results. Unknowingly, and I can only assume the mitigation for underprocessing happens during the sear. Whereas my sears only take about 45-60 secs aside, their's may take longer. I've seen ridiculous posts like....." S.V. a 2-Inch Ribeye for 2-Hours and seared for 3-4 Minutes aside." 

People regularly lament over doneness, and the advice given by many in the groups is often counterintuitive. The recommendation given by many is to increase the temperature, whereas the resolution should have been to increase the time to achieve equilibrium. I.E., the person prefers 137f but, because of underprocessing and because they don't know, end up with an internal temp of 133f. So the fix is not to increase the temp but to extend the time. I always refer them to Dr. Baldwin's tables when I see these issues. Unknowingly, you use the Delta-T method when you process at higher temps and pull early, but you would never know unless you use a probe. I've written about Delta-T HERE. 

I'll touch on shocking but just briefly. It takes a lot of Ice!!! People do not cool proteins adequately. It takes a tremendous amount of Ice to cool proteins. I've seen people go crazy over food safety guidelines related to pasteurization but never about shocking properly. If you are curious about cooling foods according to the USDA or FSIS standard, give it a search. I always have 60 plus pounds of Ice on hand to cool proteins. 

How did I finish? Rethermed at 133f until 122f. Smoked at 180f for 60-Minutes. It was set aside to crank on the heat. 

The potatoes were boiled until tender, cut in half, tossed with schmaltz, caramelized onions/garlic, green onion, and threw on a perforated pan and placed on the smoker.  

The Broccolini was blanched for 60-Secs and shocked in ice water.  Sauteed with garlic and some herbs and steamed until perfect. A splash of lemon juice to finish. 

The sauce: A roux made with butter and flour, purge (reserved juices in the bag), stock, and seasonings, and finished with a bit of cream.