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can also cook steaks the real way. >> JASON: We have steak, my friend. >> Thanks to our friend, Kent Schoberle. Thank you so much for joining us, man. >> Thank you. >> Now Kent, you're from Augustus Ranch. Tell us a little bit about the ranch. >> We manage about 5,000 acres. It's a fifth-generation
family-run operation. >> Sorry, it sounded like
you said 5,000 acres. >> That's big. >> It's pretty big. >> It's large. >> When you think about
how big Texas is, though, I mean, there's a lot of land in Texas. It's one of our greatest resources. We do everything ourselves
from start to finish, so everything is born, raised, grown, finished on the ranch. Then it goes about a half
hour away to be processed, where I personally do the
butchery, oversee the process. >> I'm sorry, so you take a knife and you just carve up the corpse of a cow, and it becomes delicious meat. >> Pretty much that's how it works. >> How long ago did you cut these cuts? >> These steaks were
cut about 24 hours ago. The animal was alive about 15 days ago. >> I don't think I've ever
had meat this fresh before. >> Well, see, that's something
I never really think about. Can you usually tell? If I were to buy a cut of
meat from the grocery store, or the local butcher, or
whatever, how fresh is it? >> Really depends, so in a lot of cases, the conventional marketplace, we'll say, where you buy meat at the store, a lot of times that meat has traveled
several thousand miles, started in one place, gone couple thousand
miles to another place, then shipped couple thousand
miles to another place. Really, when it comes to freshness, it's more about the quality
and how it was handled than specifically how fresh
the meat is, in my opinion. >> Well, and keep in mind there are places that advertise the fact that they have aged meats, which basically means
they just sit on a shelf and I don't want to say
the R word, but they rot. >> True, dry aging is a process
of basically controlled rot. >> Really? >> Yeah, that's aged.
>> That sounds horrifying. >> Every time you hear the word
aged, substitute the R word. >> The same as cheese, though. The same as like a nice aged cheddar, 60-day, 90-day, one-year cheddar. >> That's how we get alcohol. >> That's just aged grain. >> Yeah.
>> That's a good point. >> Yup.
>> All right, so we have a few different cuts here. Walk me through this. >> Okay, so you think of an animal, a cow. It's enormous. There's a lot of different muscles. There's hundreds of different
cuts you can get from that. This is a rib eye. This is a thick rib eye. It's a one-bone rib eye. That's kind of like the king of steaks. I mean, a lot of people,
that's their favorite steak. It's one of the most
highly sought-after steaks because you barely need
to do anything to it. You can just look at it
and throw some salt on it, and it's going to be delicious. >> Sounds good. You see, this is my speed. >> This is gigantic. I can't get over the size. >> Mm, won't be gigantic in this belly. >> It's also pretty pricey, all right, so you're going to be paying in the, for a really good rib eye
from a reputable source, in the 20s per pound for that rib eye.
>> Oh, wow. >> The next one we have, going by budget, more of a midrange is going
to be a chuck eye steak, so the chuck eye steak is
not actually that different from the rib eye,
anatomically, on the animal. Chuck eye comes from an area
farther into the shoulder, whereas the rib eye
comes from farther down into the loin, so-- >> So both the chuck eye and the rib eye, I notice a lot of marbling in there. They got a lot of fatty tissue. >> That's right, that's right. They're marbled, which means
there's less room for error when you're cooking, as well. It's kind of like a self-basting mechanism when you've got marbling in the meat. The chuck eye is a really
great midrange steak. Next we've got a sirloin flap, more commonly known as bavette. >> See, this one looks like
the priciest, fanciest one compared to the rest of these, I think. >> Really? >> Yeah, which tells you
exactly how little I know about meat.
>> Okay. >> When the butcher says, "Really?"
>> "Really?" >> You know you're screwed. >> Yeah, yeah. >> Well, it's a good steak. Don't get me wrong. It's one of my favorite steaks. >> He's judging you. He's judging you.
>> That's fine. No, let's judge away. I once bought meat from a guy
in a parking lot of a Motel 6, so, you know. >> All right, I bet it was fresh. Coming from a guy that
loves the liver, the heart, the tongue, all the weird
stuff, I'm into all of it, so-- >> Right on. >> So you do organ meat, huh? >> Oh yeah, oh yeah, organs.
>> Wow. [Brian and Jason guffaw suggestively] Oh, that's the--
>> Yeah, yeah.
>> I try to mimic a heart beating. >> That's the butcher symbol. If you're too embarrassed to
order a liver or a kidney, you walk up to your butcher, and you go, [Brian and Kent laugh] and if he nods and grabs
some meat, you're good, but if he takes his gloves off and winks, find a new butcher. >> This is a sirloin
flap or bavette steak. It's become more popular recently. It's kind of like a thicker skirt steak. It's similar to a hanger steak in the way that the
grains run in the muscle. >> So is this particularly tender meat, or in what way does the
consumption experience-- >> Sure, sure.
>> differ from the others? >> So--
>> How is it different when you eat it? I like consumption experience. >> Consumption. When--
>> Thanks, Data. >> When consuming a steak. >> I'm told the humans
enjoy eating meat. [laughs] >> So tenderness level, the bavette or sirloin flap
is not going to be as tender as something like the chuck
eye steak or the rib eye, and in fact I've actually doused this guy in a little bit of olive
oil and red wine vinegar, salt and pepper last night just to give it a little
extra touch of tenderness. It's not always necessary, but that's one of the things that I do if I buy cheaper cuts of
meat, like a top round, or a beef heart steak,
or something like that. I'll marinate it in a little
red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper overnight. Tenderizes it. It's delicious. The eating experience is wonderful. >> And who's this final guy here? >> This final guy is what
we call a ranch steak or a shoulder center steak. It's actually from the outside
of the arm, the triceps area. I oftentimes refer to myself
because our anatomy's the same. All the muscles are in all the same spots as they are on a cow, so--
>> So this would be roughly, what, here?
>> That would be like right here, right here.
>> All right. >> Tricep area, so you can actually--
>> Show him your udders. [Brian laughs] All right, so what's the
secret to cooking a good steak? >> Well, there's four pillars, okay? There's going to be
meat selection quality, so that has to do with actually
selecting the cut of meat, where you're getting it from. There's a lot of different variables. Inherent tenderness of a steak, which relates to a few different things, the genetics of the animal, what part of the animal it comes from, how heavily it's used, is it lean? Does it have a lot of intramuscular fat? Does it have fat covering? There's preparation, what you're going to do with
that steak before you cook it. There's the cooking technique, so how you actually cook the steak to get it that golden-brown crust, juicy, well-cooked piece of meat, and final handling, so what you're going to do with
the steak once it's cooked. You're going to let it rest. You're going to slice it. There is some couple steps
in there you want to do to make sure it's the best. >> Going to go out on
a limb here and assume that since you're the one
who butchered this animal, that we've got the
selection thing figured out, so next up is, what, preparation? >> That's right, preparation. First, you want to make sure that your meat is closer
to room temperature. Now, there's a lot of
different opinions out there. There's even some wacky methods
where you freeze your steak and then coat it in corn starch and salt. I'm a fan of taking the steak
out of the refrigerator, getting it closer to
room temperature, okay? It's close to room temperature, it's going to cook a
little bit more evenly. It's actually going to take
a little bit less time. Preparation involves
little things like that, so bringing it to room temperature. We don't want a bunch of water
on the surface of the steak. >> I totally would have
figured the reverse because that, of course,
looks aesthetically pleasing to have that kind of sheen around it. >> Glistening.
>> Yeah, yeah. >> Well, you've also got these friends who have their own
techniques that they guard. It's like, "Oh no, I've cracked the code." I had this one friend
who would take a steak and, like, soak it in this mixture of, like, Italian dressing
and all this for days, and keep it in the fridge. Everyone's got their little voodoo that they put on the meat. It's kind of crazy, right,
that you don't need to do that? >> You don't need to, but like
I say, it's very subjective, so there's definitely
a lot of different ways to approach it, but if you start with good meat, you don't really have to
do too much more to it to get a really great steak. We're actually going to get
this guy into the oven right now because it's going to
kind of cook slow and low till it gets to a certain
point, and then we'll sear it, so first thing we're going to
do, we're going to take it, we're going to put it
on our roasting rack. This is going into a 250-degree oven. It's going to slowly
come up to temperature. First thing I'm going to do
is I'm going to pat it down. I don't want any excess
moisture on the meat. >> What does that do if you
do have excess moisture? >> Excess moisture can turn into steam, and steam can prevent the
process of browning of the meat, getting that nice crust. >> I'm guessing we
don't want boiled steak. We want-- >> No, no.
>> seared or cooked. >> How long is it going to be in there? >> Probably 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the thickness-- >> Let's get that in there, then. >> Yes, so I'm going to salt this guy. Heavy salt. >> JASON: Anything special about the salt? >> This is coarse-grained kosher salt. I find it sticks to the meat really well. I'm going to get all areas of the meat. >> BRIAN: And you haven't done
anything else to this rib eye beforehand.
>> Nothing, not a thing except it is closer to room temperature, so it will actually cook a little quicker
>> Well, you could see even the way it handles,
it just flops around. I mean, it really is just flesh. >> JASON: Like a bunch of meat. >> That's right.
>> Almost. [Jason laughs] >> So right before we
pop this in the oven, we're going to stick this
internal probe thermometer, so this is just going to help
us get exact cooking results, so we know exactly when to
take it out of the oven. >> Does that live in
there while it's cooking? >> That's right, that's right.
>> Really? >> How have I never heard of this? You've never heard of this, have you? >> No, but the kitchen is
an alien territory for me. >> This is ovenproof, so
the cord goes in the oven. This little device goes on the outside, so we're going to stick this right through the side of
the steak into the center, which is where we want
to gauge the doneness. We're just going to go
right into the oven. >> So 250 degrees--
>> 250. >> BRIAN: That doesn't sound like a cooking temperature to me. Forgive me. >> No, no problem, so I'm
going to set the alarm on this. >> You're forgiven-- [Brian laughs]
dummy. >> I thought I was teeing up
a new subject of conversation, but instead I just got "You're
forgiven for being dumb." >> You're okay.
[Brian laughs] 250 degrees in the oven
is a low temperature, but the whole point is to
slowly bring that steak up to a rare temperature before
we finish it with a sear, kind of like sous-vide. I'm looking for about 120, 120-degree internal
temperature for this steak 'fore we take it out,
finish it with a high heat. >> I heard that when
it comes to hamburgers, from a safety perspective, you
don't necessarily want rare because it's all ground meat, and an external pathogen
could get mixed in with all the other stuff, whereas, if I remember correctly, with a steak, it's kind of a sealed thing. In the inside there's going to
be no disease in there, right? >> That's true. The inside of the steak is sterile. As long as you have good quality meat, and you trust the source
that it's coming from, I have no problem eating
a piece of raw meat, whether it's ground, or
it's a steak, sashimi, uh-- >> Now, is that as far as beef goes, or just like raw meat, full stop. >> Depends on the person. Ruminants, like beef, lamb, goat, I would say those are going to be safer than something like pork or poultry. >> Tell me, you ever chopping up a cow, and you just kind of
[lips smack], just grab just grab some.
>> Absolutely. [Brian sighs excitedly]
>> You ever just, like, cut it open and then just
like put your face in there, and just like--
[Brian laughing] and then look around,
hope nobody was looking, because that's awesome. >> Too specific.
>> I haven't done that. >> Too specific.
>> Too specific? Okay, well, that's cool. I mean, I--
[Brian laughing] I haven't either.
[Brian guffawing] >> So we've got a couple
simple ingredients to go with our steak. The most importantly, we have good meat. We've got salt, kosher. I like coarse salt. Bigger granules just work better. We've got flaky sea salt, which is for finishing,
especially a nice, thick steak. You slice it open, sprinkle a little bit
of salt flakes on there just from extra flavor, and then we've got fat. >> Are those just like two
different types of fat? >> This is butter. It says the word butter on it. >> This is butter. This is for finishing, so I never use butter
for high-heat cooking. Butter has got a much lower melting point than something like
cooking fat, all right? All you really need, in my opinion, is beef tallow and pork lard, okay? >> What is the difference
between the two of these? >> One of them is from a cow. The other one's from a pig. >> Wait, but outside
of that it's just fat? >> That's right. They actually, these two
different types of fat are actually from the
same part of the animal, the kidney fat. It produces the cleanest,
best-tasting fat. We've got the beef version and
we've got the pork version. >> And so what do you do? You just rub fat on the fat? >> We'll put the fat in the hot pan right 'fore the steak goes in, and that's going to help get
us that nice golden-brown crust that we're looking for, so we're going to use the fat
for the high-heat cooking. We'll use butter, in
some case, for finishing. Then we've got salt, and we've got pepper. >> Okay, when you say high-heat
cooking, is that different? I assume this is we're just
warming up the rib eye, but everything else is, what, in a pan? >> Super-hot pan with some fat. That's going to help get
us this nice hot crust. In fact, if you go to a restaurant, you see them cooking a
steak in a pan or a grill, they've got these big overhead vents. They're cooking that steak really hot, and that's kind of one
of the biggest things that, as a home cook, it can be a challenge if
you don't have a good setup for cooking in a really hot pan. It's going to produce smoke,
might set off your fire alarm. Super-hot pan is what one of the things that sets
apart a really good steak. >> Cooking time. [hands smack] >> So we're heating up this pan. Before we put the fat
and the steak in there, it's got to be ripping hot. >> Okay, so are we making a, what, a rare, a medium, a well-done steak? >> I'm going to go for medium rare-ish. >> Yeah.
>> Is that cool with you guys? >> Oh, are you kidding me? Yeah, oh, that's where I'm at.
>> Complete approval, so how hot are we getting? >> Hot enough so it's almost
beginning to smoke, all right? So this has been on here. You can see it's actually
starting to smoke. >> BRIAN: Oh yeah, holy cow, it is, yeah. >> JASON: Now, is that treated in any way? >> No, this is just
straight cast iron pan. There's some little fat
residual, probably, left over. You season it after you clean it. You want to get it hot. Once it's hot, you put your fat in there, and then the steak. Well, the fat's definitely going to help get that nice crust on the steak. The steak's not going to stick to the pan. It's going to kind of fry a little
bit, the outside, the steak. It's going to add flavor. It's going to lubricate everything. >> Is there such a thing as too much fat? >> I mean, some people
really pour on the fat. I use just a little bit, but it kind of depends on the cut as well. >> Okay.
>> Do you usually get it from your butcher? Because I know most people like, "Oh, just Crisco," or whatever. >> No! >> Oh, ooh, somebody touched a nerve. >> No, no, no, no, no.
[Brian laughs] Get it from your butcher,
lard or beef tallow. Those are the best fats
when you're cooking meat. >> Lard is pig fat. Beef tallow is beef fat. >> That's correct.
>> Got it, okay, done. >> So our pan is smoking hot. I'm going to move it
off for just a second. I'm going to season the
steak, little bit of salt. >> BRIAN: Just straight-up
salt, that's it. >> JASON: Yeah. >> I actually already
salt and peppered this a little bit earlier, so hopefully we're not
going to kill anyone. >> This is which one? >> This is lard.
[fork clanking] >> JASON: Brian's kind of
known for his lard techniques. >> Oh yeah?
>> Yeah. >> BRIAN: Yeah, it's called
eating the lard. [laughs] >> KENT: So you can see this is really-- >> Oh my god.
>> nice and hot, okay? I'm going to grab our steak. >> This is the bavette. >> This is the bavette steak. Lay it down away from you so you do not splatter fat towards you. >> Right, right.
>> Oh sure, yeah. >> KENT: So you should hear that sizzle as soon as it hits the pan. If it's not sizzling when it hits the pan, it's not--
>> Not hot enough, yeah.
>> Got to be hot. It's on high heat right now, and cooking in that fat.
>> So how do you know when you've got enough of this? >> You can kind of time it based
on the thickness of the steak, and when you kind of see the bottom edges start to curl up a little bit. They'll get a little bit brown. >> BRIAN: That's an indicator
of that browning layer kind of tightening everything? >> Exactly.
>> It's probably going to take some trial and
error if you're just starting off. >> KENT: Absolutely, the more
you do this at home, too, the higher your meat-cooking
IQ's going to be, and if you're going to burn something, just burn the [bleep] out
of it and start over. It doesn't matter. You're going to learn. >> It's good to know that it's like it's not
the end of the world if you mess up a steak.
>> Yeah, just... >> KENT: Save it. The next time you make chili, dice it up, throw it in the pot, cook
it into tender submission. >> Oh, brilliant.
>> Mm. >> So as you can see, I'm wearing an apron because as we're doing this,
there's water in the steak, and--
>> I think something just got me, actually.
>> Yeah, yeah. >> Exactly. I've ruined so many shirts,
literally, by cooking, and cooking, and not thinking about it. >> I cooked bacon without
a shirt once, only once. >> This is a bit of a thicker steak, and because of this steak,
the way that the fibers are, it's going to kind of
shrink up a little bit. You can almost see it
happening in the pan. It's kind of shrinking up a
little bit and getting thicker. >> BRIAN: Holy cow, yeah, you can because when you first laid
it, it barely fit in there. >> This is a unique steak, so not all steaks act
like this steak does, so knowing a little bit about this cut, how to best prepare it, goes a long way. We've got a 350-degree oven under here. After this is seared on both sides, this is going to go into the oven for just a few minutes to finish. >> Oh, okay.
>> Cool, that's great. >> That's it.
>> So basically, you're prepping the
outside for that crispy browned experience--
>> That's right. >> BRIAN: and the inside is
what's going to really happen by sitting at 350. >> Right, these other
two steaks that we have are a little thinner, so there's no need for
those to go in the oven. >> Got it.
>> This one, as you can see, it's getting
a little bit thicker. It's a pretty thick steak, so it's going to need a little
extra heat from the oven to finish cooking, so
let's check this out. We're going to pick this up, flip it to the other side, like so, so you can see that nice
crust on the outside. That's the Maillard reaction, okay? It's a chemical reaction that happens where the amino acids are changing, and the sugars are reducing, so you're getting this nice,
crusty, deep, meaty flavor, and you want that on the
outside of your steak. >> Can we talk about something
that I've heard is a myth, the idea that you're
sealing in the juices, like that's, I mean, clearly juices are
squeezing out all over it. I assume that what we're really doing is creating an aesthetic experience that creates that seared crunchiness up against the tenderness of the meat. >> Exactly, and flavor-- >> Yeah.
>> right? The flavor that you're getting from that nice, deep,
caramelized crust is awesome. Yeah, that sealing in the
juice, I don't buy that. >> Yeah, and look at how juicy it is. I bet you feel dumb after patting all that
moisture off of there. [Brian guffaws]
[Kent laughs] >> Well, that's a lot of fat. There's fat coming out of the
steak as it cooks, as well. I'm going to go ahead and
throw this into the oven. I just felt it, and it's rare. >> People say this thing
like you touch on your hands where it's like this is
well-done and that's rare. What is that business? >> All right, there's a few
different ways to do it, okay? The way I like to do
it is to take my hand. You touch your thumb to
your pointer finger there. >> Yep.
>> Feel your thumb pad with your other hand.
>> Okay. >> KENT: So that's kind of rare. It's kind of soft. It's barely just tensed up. Now do the middle finger. See how it kind of
tightens up a little bit? >> Oh, wow, wow.
>> Exactly. >> I do feel the difference.
>> So that kind of tightens up a little bit. >> [chuckles] Yeah, he
hasn't eaten human before. [Brian and Kent laugh] >> KENT: So middle finger, that's going to be about medium rare. There's still a little give to it, but it's starting to firm up. Now you do your ring finger there. It's really starting to firm up. >> Oh, that's great. That's way--
>> Now, your pinkie, well-done, you know, if you
like your steak like this, I can't help you. >> No judgment here.
>> You're a monster. [Brian laughs]
>> No, I'm just joking. Some people like it well-done. That's fine. Pick a more marbled cut
if you like it well-done. That's all I got to say.
>> Yeah, okay. >> So how long do we want
to let that sit in there? >> Three or four minutes. You know, every time I get asked about the amount of time it
takes for the steak to cook, it's always different. What temperature is the
steak when it goes in? How hot is your oven? You got to feel it or temp it with a internal
probe thermometer. >> Oh my god.
>> Little smoky, so we're going to test it here, so that's still feeling
a little rare to me, okay?
>> Can I? >> Yeah, absolutely, touch it. That's pretty soft, still. >> BRIAN: That's softer
than even this, right, so this is ultra-rare. >> KENT: When your pan goes in the oven, make sure you grab it by a towel, >> Yeah.
>> all right? Couple more minutes in there. We're going to get to medium rare. We're going to let it rest. Also, keep in mind we brought this to room
temperature, just about, before we cooked it, so it's going to take a little less time. >> Got it. How does all this math change
if it's refrigerated meat? >> KENT: Well, the inside's
going to be a lot colder, so the heat transferring to
the interior of that steak's going to take longer, and you might end up with a little bit more of a
black-and-blue type of steak where you got a really well-done outside, a really pink interior. That's not a bad steak. >> Little more uniform, though, is what you prefer?
>> Yeah, a little more uniform is better, especially on this rib eye that we have in the oven right now. The uniformity on the
doneness of that rib eye's going to be really even because we're doing it really low and slow versus hot and fast. [steak sizzling]
>> Oh my. >> KENT: So that's getting close. >> JASON: This now feels what
you defined as rare to me-- >> Yeah.
>> Yeah, so to me, that feels a
little bit more medium rare because you feel that. See how it's kind of, it
bounces back a little quicker? >> BRIAN: Okay. >> Okay, now this part is
a little bit more rare, and that's kind of the
nature of this steak. It's a little bit thinner and a little bit thicker on one side, so you're going to get a
little bit of a difference in the thickness of the steak. You can't do anything about that. >> So essentially, you're
deciding on a gradient, right, where it's like you're, the whole thing won't
be rare or well-done, but it'll be kind of like from rare to medium across the board. >> Pretty much, pretty much, so there's certain cuts
like the sirloin flap, the edges are going to be
maybe a little bit more done than the interior of the
thickest part of the steak, so now you got to also
consider once we let this rest, it's going to go up just
a few degrees as well. Those hot juices are still circulating. The steak is still technically cooking. That's why we got to let it rest. If we cut open to this right now, the juices would just [whooshes]. They'd just go everywhere. It'd be a way different eating experience. I'm going to go ahead
and transfer this steak onto the cutting board, okay? >> BRIAN: Ooh, so good. >> KENT: So as it's resting, and you're hungry, and you have the smell, it's going to be really tempting
to cut into it right now and just taste a little piece, or cut into it to see how done it is, but you don't want to do that. You want to let it rest. The juices need to settle
back down and redistribute. You should probably
just go somewhere else. Don't even look at it. Don't touch it. Let it do its thing. We're going to let this
rest at least five minutes. It's finishing cooking. It's actually coming
up a few degrees more. >> When you say the
temperature's coming up, I assume what you mean is like the exterior
temperature is normalizing and reaching the interior. Is that what it is? >> That's correct, so the other
cool thing about this steak, which we'll see once we cut it open, there's really distinctive
fibers in this steak. When we cut slices, it looks almost like a piece
of smoked brisket, right? Because those muscle fibers are really big, so you can see the individual fibers. >> Do you want to cut with the
grain or against the grain? How do you decide how to cut it?
>> Does it matter at this point? >> It does kind of matter,
so think about it like this. Imagine each one of these muscle grains was like a piece of string. If you had to eat that string, would you rather cut it and
eat an entire piece of string, or would you rather cut across the strings and eat little, tiny pieces of string? >> Is there a right or
wrong answer to this? I don't know. >> So basically--
>> Entire piece of string. That's the right answer, Brian.
>> Okay, got it, all right. Go with the grain, with
the grain, got it, got it. >> No, no, against the grain. >> Oh.
>> It's against the grain. >> Ha-ha.
>> Wait. >> Ha-ha, ha-ha.
>> Wait, what? >> Against the grain.
>> Thought it was with the grain. >> Some steaks you don't
have to worry about it, okay? They're already cut against
the grain in the steaks. This steak actually has
a very distinctive grain that you can see, so we want to slice 90
degrees against that grain to give it the most tender bite. >> Ah, okay.
>> Got it, got it. >> KENT: Here's what we're going to do. >> BRIAN: It's happening. Jason, it's happening. >> JASON: Look at all the juices. >> KENT: Little juice on
the cutting board there, so I'm just going to slice
this on a diagonal as such. >> So when you said 90 degree, I assumed that it was, like,
still going to be straight down, but coming in at an angle, it really does, presentationally,
make a huge difference. >> I like coming in at a bias because it just makes a little
bit larger surface area, and I think it just
looks a little bit better on the plate, so-- >> And plus, when you
put that in your mouth, there's pieces of that that are
just the caramelized outside that you get to bite into.
>> That's true. That's true.
>> A little less talk, more cutting. [Brian laughs]
>> Okay, all right, you see those individual fibers? >> Yeah.
>> Yeah. >> That is almost like a smoked brisket. >> I would have wrecked it. [Brain laughs] >> The other way you can
do it is away from you. That's a little bit safer
rather than towards you, so cut away from you. >> And so when you see
that blood coming out, that's not necessarily
anything to worry about. >> Absolutely not.
>> Because I get a little freaked out when I see that. >> Really?
>> Yeah. >> KENT: You know, people prefer
their steak different ways. This particular steak is, since it's a little thicker on one end, a little smaller on the other end, you've got a little bit more
like medium rare to medium, and then, in the thicker part,
it's a little bit more rare, so that's just kind of
because of the steak and the way the steak tapers, but-- >> Oh, as a matter of
fact, yeah, looking at it, I guess this is, what, medium to well-- >> Mm-hmm, that's right.
>> on this one, and this is, what, medium rare because you could see it's
fairly rare in the middle, and then, as we go farther in
it gets more and more rare? >> Yeah.
>> That's right. >> And if we'd wanted it more well-done, we would just left it in the oven longer? >> We would have left
it in the oven longer. That's right, and at this point, you're not comfortable
with the temperature, you can stick it back in the oven, but I really encourage
you to try it as is. >> For that, right there.
>> The chicken, chicken. >> Yeah.
>> Oh, sweet Christmas. >> That salt on the outside hits you right up front, and then that savory, like a velvety blanket
comes all over your tongue, and is so good. >> Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
>> And it's so moist. I'm loving that crust. >> This is a really unique piece of meat. Most steaks don't cook and cut like this. >> JASON: Holy cow. >> BRIAN: I'm going for
some of the rare parts. >> Get it.
>> Brave, brave. Oh, wow. >> So I assume this one's
going to be a similar dance. What's different? >> Similar dance, different steak, different part of the
animal, different anatomy. We're not going to have to go
into the oven with this one. It's pretty thin, so we're just going to give
it a nice sear on both sides, take it off, let it rest, devour. >> That's it.
>> So this one's faster than the other one. >> It is faster.
>> Got it. >> We're going to do a small, little trick to get a little bit better crust, too, so we got our pan smoking hot, so I'm going to salt our steak real quick, make sure it's nice and dry. >> BRIAN: That dryness
is so counterintuitive. >> I know.
>> I never would have expected that.
>> Right. >> KENT: You got to dry it. Nice, thick layer of salt. Don't be shy on the salt. So we've got our pan on the heat. If you want to hand me
that tallow right there. >> Yeah, oh, this one?
>> Other one. Yep.
>> Yeah. >> So that's beef tallow. I don't need a ton of fat on
this one because it's actually, it's a pretty fatty steak to begin with. >> And you were saying that you'll pick this up
super-cheap at the supermarket and it'll last forever, basically. >> Pretty much. I get the raw ingredients and render the fat at home myself-- >> Whoa! >> and I can literally turn
10 bucks worth of fat into like three or four months',
six months' supply of fat, so that's nice and hot. [steak sizzling] Lay the steak away.
>> Away. >> Okay, and I'm actually
going to put a weight on top of the steak. >> So not super-heavy, but enough to press it
down just a little bit. Why are you doing that? >> We want to make sure that steak lays really
nice and flat in the pan so that there's an even
application of heat, therefore giving us a nice maximal crust. >> So otherwise it's possible, basically all the ridges will get crispy and the valleys will not, right?
>> Exactly. >> Got it.
>> And then again, this is the chuck eye. >> This is the chuck eye steak. >> On the previous steak, you were waiting for the edges to curl up, but you don't have that benefit now of knowing when that happens. How do you tell when it's done here? >> KENT: So I'm still going to look at the little edges underneath. >> Okay.
>> All right? I'm going to still wait till those
get kind of nice golden brown, and I'm just going to give
it two or three minutes. This is a relatively thin steak. It's probably a little
less than an inch thick. >> Now, that last bavette
was about $10 per pound. How much is this one? >> KENT: This would be 15 bucks per pound. >> JASON: Nice. >> BRIAN: So we don't have
to get, like, our own fat. We can just ask for the beef tallow directly from the butcher, like already rendered and all that? >> You can buy it
directly from the butcher already rendered, absolutely, or you can buy the raw product cheaper and render it at home. It's super-easy. >> Oh, what is rendering? I don't, I mean, I've heard it, but I don't understand what that means. >> That's when you're graphics processor-- >> Gotcha, you [bleep] [laughs].
[Jason speaks faintly] >> Rendering fat at home means
you're removing the moisture, the water from the fat. >> So you heat it up enough so, obviously, the tallow doesn't
evaporate and become a gas, but the water in there does. >> Exactly. >> So it's kind of a reduction, basically. You're getting just the fat. >> It's going to make it shelf-stable, and it's going to last forever. The moisture, the water,
specifically, in that fat, where bacteria will grow, okay? >> Got it. >> So you're rendering it. You're simmering that fat so
that moisture is evaporating. Once it's done, cool it, store
it in the fridge, freezer. It'll last virtually forever. >> BRIAN: Once you have that, you have to store it in
the refrigerator, or-- >> No.
>> Not, not on the shelf.
>> No, you don't. >> Really?
>> Yeah. >> Just on the shelf, huh?
>> Yeah. >> Wow.
>> I think it'll last longer in the refrigerator, but you can definitely store
it just room temperature. >> BRIAN: Wow. May I? >> KENT: Yes, go ahead. >> Ooh, yeah, this is like a ring finger--
>> Firming up a little bit more right, yeah--
>> already, yeah. >> So I'm pretty much going to
take this off right about now. >> Yeah.
>> Coming off. >> JASON: Now we got to do
the same thing again, right, and just let it set, and let the juices-- >> KENT: That's right. I'm going to guess we don't have to wait
quite as long on this one. >> BRIAN: True. >> KENT: So our rib eye's
been cooking slow and low in the oven at 250 degrees, and it just came up to
internal temperature of 120, so we're going to take
that out of the oven and prime the oven to broiler so that we can sear the
outside of the rib eye. >> All right.
>> So we're not going to put the rib eye in the pan. >> We're not. We're going to let the
broiler do the trick. You can sear under the broiler,
on the grill, in a pan. Just to do something a little different, we're going to use the broiler. >> All right.
>> Let's do it. >> Okay. >> It's still a monster. Look at all that marbling, too.
>> Wow. That's amazing because you could see how the meat has condensed, has, as it's lost the moisture,
it's all gotten smaller, whereas all the fat is still the same. >> Right, so that's at an
internal temperature of 120, so it's really super-rare, and to finish it, caramelize
the outside a little bit, get some of this nice golden-brown fat, we're going to stick it
underneath the broiler, so I'm going to turn the
oven to broiler real quick. Broil, high. I'm actually going to change
the placement of the rack. >> BRIAN: Lower or higher? >> Higher. >> This chuck eye got a lot smaller than I would have expected, a lot smaller. >> It was a pretty small
steak to begin with, but it definitely did
shrink up a little bit. >> Can we cut into it yet, or we still waiting for
the juices to do its thing? >> I think we're good. We let this steak rest
about four to five minutes. It didn't take long to cook
because it's relatively thin. The last steak we cooked, the bavette, you remember they had
really distinctive grain that we needed to slice against. >> We did, we did it at a 45-degree angle. >> Exactly, so this steak's
a little bit different. This is actually two or
three different muscles that make up this steak. Basically, this has mostly already been sliced against the grain, so we don't have to
worry as much about that. >> BRIAN: So this one, you could just 90 degree straight cut it? >> Exactly. >> Right on.
>> Okay, so I'm going to cut it in half first, and then I'm going to slice it so the pieces are a little
bit more manageable. >> BRIAN: This one's got all that sweet, sweet
caramelized action on it. I'm going to have to--
>> That looks pretty good. >> From the other end.
>> Oh my gosh. >> We don't need forks. >> JASON: Once again, bliss. I like that salty crustiness
that gets you first. >> It's less velvety than the
other one, but in a good way, like that crunchiness, that
caramelized action is exquisite. >> The cool thing about this steak, too, it's a little more marbled than the bavette that we just cooked, so we could actually take this one a little bit over to medium rare, a little closer to medium. It's still going to be super-juicy because that fat is just
going to be all up in there self-basting the meat as it cooks. >> And feel how soft these pieces are. This is amazing. >> So the rib eye was cooked slow and low, 250 degrees in the oven. We brought it up to
temperature of 120 degrees. We turned the oven to
broiler so it's nice and hot, so we're going to sear the
outside to finish this rib eye, bring it up to that final
cooking temperature. >> So the broiler, that's
all the heat right on top, so that means are we going to flip it, or we just going to do one side, or what're we doing?
>> We'll flip it. >> Okay.
>> We'll flip it halfway through. >> Right on. >> I'm going to stick this
probe thermometer back in there just to make sure we don't overcook it, so I'm going to go into this
rib eye, into the center, so we can monitor the
internal temperature. >> BRIAN: Wow, yeah,
it says 128 right now. >> Well, what do we want it to be at? >> I set the alarm for 132. >> Okay.
>> And you want to make sure it's not touching bone. That'll throw the reading off, and you want to try to
get it right in the center in the coldest spot. We're going into the oven with this. I'm going to put this up
top under the broiler. Rib eye's in the oven. It's underneath the broiler. We want to crisp it up on both sides, get that nice caramelization
on the outside, take it out, let it rest,
slice it up, and devour. >> I like that last part. >> Yeah, me too. It's my favorite part, actually. >> So far, you guys have
been the best at that part. [steak sizzling]
>> Oh my god, look at that.
>> I'm going to, I'm just going to lower this rack--
>> Drop it down. >> just one rung. I'm going to flip
[affecting an accent] ze rib eye. >> BRIAN: Oh, that looks good. >> KENT: That's hot. All right, finishing up, so this is called the
reverse sear method, right? So we call it the reverse
sear because, as we've seen, some of these other steaks we start out. We sear it until it's done. In this steak, we're
doing the reverse, right? We're going low and slow first, then finishing with the sear, so there's just a lot of different ways you can finish the steak with this method. You can sear it in a pan, sear it in the broiler, deep-fry it, whatever you want to do.
>> Hoo boy. >> KENT: All right, this
guy is ready to come out. >> BRIAN: Look at that. >> These are granite countertops, right?
>> Oh my god. Yes, they are. Look at that. [steak sizzling] Holy cow. >> JASON: Looks kind of amazing. >> The rib eye, quote, unquote, is technically this
muscle in the middle here, the eye of the rib loin. >> BRIAN: Look at that,
you can see it squeezing all the, I guess, moisture out, or fat. >> Those lines are fat right there. The cool part about this steak is it actually has a
couple different muscles all comprised in this whole steak. The rib eye loin is
right here in the middle. The rib eye cap is an
incredible piece of meat. It's like a beefy skirt steak, more tender than skirt, more flavorful, but similar in its grain. >> BRIAN: So how do we want
to cut this kind of cut? >> After it rests, and you can see it going
up in temperature, right? >> Yeah, yeah, yeah.
>> I pulled it at 128, but it's continuing to go up--
>> There it is. We just hit 132.
>> and it just hit 132, that's right, so we're going
to put it on the cutting board. We're going to slice the
meat off of the bone. We're going to fight
over who gets the bone, and then we'll just
slice this into pieces. >> So the bone is, what,
just to nibble off the piece, the meat that's on it? >> That's right, so this is going
to be nice big pieces of meat, and we'll finish it with
this coarse sea salt because basically we were able to cover the outside of
this steak with salt. It's going to have a nice, salty crust, but this is so thick that when
we actually slice it open, it's got such a large interior that we'll actually want to finish it with a little bit of salt. >> How expensive is this rib eye? >> If you go to high-end butcher shops, piece of meat this quality, a rib eye like that could
run up to $28 per pound. >> Wow.
>> Yeah, it's one of the most
highly sought-after cuts in the whole animal. >> BRIAN: Oh, wow. Oh, wow. >> KENT: All right, so
we've let our rib eye rest. The juices have settled, so
now we're going to slice it up. First thing I'm going to do is I'm going to remove the
meat from the bone here, so I'm just going to slice
next to the bone like so. [Jason and Brian moaning] Oh yeah, so that is one of-- >> Wow.
>> my favorite parts, which is why a bone-in rib eye is always preferred for me. Go ahead and set that aside. That's good eating right there. In terms of slicing against the grain, on this particular steak,
the eye of the loin here has already been sliced against the grain. The cap, though, you can see the grain running.
>> The striations. >> Exactly, the striations like that, so what I'm probably going
to do is cut this in half, and then slice it into pieces like so. >> Yeah, there's a lot
going on with this one as far as, like, marbling,
and grain, and everything. >> Right, there's a little muscle here. This is a muscle. This is a little leftover muscle. This is the cap of the rib eye. There's actually a lot
going on in a rib eye. Technically, this is the rib eye, but one of the reasons
it's such a good steak is it has all these
other goodies on it, so-- >> Big variety of flavors and textures. >> Absolutely, so I'm going
to take off the tail here. This is one of my favorite
pieces right there. That is an amazing, fatty,
delicious piece of meat. I'm going to slice this
in half like so, and-- >> JASON: I literally
just had to tell myself, "Don't put your fingers
down there right now." [Brian laughs]
Don't do it. >> BRIAN: Man, that looks amazing. >> KENT: So if you went to a
steak house and bought this, this would run you, probably 60 bucks,
[Jason moans] 70 bucks.
[Brian whistles] >> JASON: Look at that. >> KENT: But if you bought this, and took it home, and cooked it, it would be half that price, so... >> I guess that's one of
the arguments to be made for cooking steak at home is that you just save a crap-ton of money. >> Absolutely. >> And none of this requires
any sort of exotic equipment, or spices, or anything like that. This is all something that
me, in all of my ineptitude-- >> Yep.
>> I feel like I could do it. >> KENT: All right, we're going to finish with a little bit of
Maldon sea salt flakes. Those are just going to kind of melt onto the meat.
>> Oh, they do. Look at that.
>> Give you a little extra burst of flavor. These are big pieces. >> They are big pieces. >> I'm going to go for one
of these delectable ones-- >> Those little fatty nuggets.
>> Oh, yeah, you know what? I'm going to take the other one of those. That looks good. >> KENT: Fatty nuggets. >> It tastes buttery. >> Mm, oh my god. Fatty nuggets is the best. >> [chuckles] You get a nice
big piece of the rib eye cap on that one.
>> Oh my goodness. >> Oh my god.
>> Oh, so good. >> JASON: Salty, buttery, so tender, super-moist.
>> The texture is what gets me. This one, every time you bite down, you feel the fibers kind of ripping apart, whereas the other ones were
a little bit more consistent. >> KENT: So here we are again, heating up our pan,
getting it ripping hot. Can see it's kind of smoking a little bit.
>> Yep, yep. >> I'm going to go ahead
and salt our steak. >> BRIAN: And this is the ranch... >> KENT: This is the ranch steak. >> JASON: Ranch steak. >> BRIAN: And again,
like with all of these, you put a liberal amount of salt on it. >> KENT: Yes, sir. Got our pan nice and
hot, little bit of lard. >> BRIAN: Is there a
substantial flavor difference when you use lard versus beef tallow? >> Kate: I would say, yeah. Beef tallow definitely is going
to have a stronger flavor. Lard's going to be a
little bit more neutral. Unless you cook your lard to the point where it's really brown and caramelized. Then it'll have a stronger flavor. Again, laying it-- >> Away.
>> away from me. >> JASON: And gentle. I notice that you never just
drop the steak on there. >> KENT: No, that's a recipe for disaster. >> Yeah.
>> For sure, so I'm going to keep my
pan on pretty high heat as we're cooking here. >> Now again, this is a thin one, so it's not going to take very long, and we're not going to have
to, like, put it in the oven or anything like that. >> That's correct, yeah. That's probably just
slightly under an inch. >> Okay.
>> Yeah, so if I wanted to really
maximize that crust, I could do that trick again
where I put the thing on top, but I will kind of show you, on the other side we'll see some areas where it's like a little bit of crust, and then there's no crust, and it's because it's
starting to bow a little bit because there's a piece of sinew in here, but it's a great little trick at home. Find a plate, a little thing that you can
put on top of the steak, just help get that crust
nice and flat in the pan. >> What does this one cost per pound? >> I sell this for nine bucks a pound. >> Oh, wow.
>> Oh, hey, hey now. >> This is a great steak
for like a weeknight, for if you want to make a salad, just cook a quick steak in the pan, slice it up, put it over your salad, so it's technically the tricep. It's actually made up of
two different muscles. You can see them separated
between this line, this membrane right here. >> Your patience amazes me.
[Jason laughs] I'd be flipping that right now. >> KENT: You'd just be touching it? >> I mean, yeah, I'd
be doing anything, so-- >> There are people
out there who will say, "Yeah, flip your steak every 30 seconds "so that you can make sure "the heat evenly cooks
it from both sides." I'm more of a leave it
alone, let it do its thing, flip it once kind of guy. >> But if you keep flipping it, you're not going to get that crispy crust like we've been enjoying, right? >> If it's hot enough, you will. >> Okay.
>> Yeah, so it's worth a shot, you know. Try it at home. See what the results are. If you like that better,
go with that method. [steak sizzling]
>> Oh, that looks good. >> KENT: Going to press the
edges down a little bit. >> JASON: What are all those
little particles on there? >> KENT: So they're salt, and that's it. >> Oh, okay.
>> There's just salt on there, so you can see where this membrane started to push away from the heat, so this area was not flat on the pan, so the exterior is the only
place that got that crust. >> I mean, everything's going to
be cooked all the way through. You just want to have as much of that awesome
caramelized aspect. >> That's right, but we're
going to make a sauce when this comes out and it's
resting on the cutting board. We're going to make a quick pan sauce with the leftover juices, so-- >> BRIAN: Oh, right on. >> going to have a lot of flavor,
so I'm starting to feel it, and we can already feel that
that's starting to tense up like the middle finger there, so-- >> Ben: Oh, yeah, yeah. >> KENT: So what we're going to do is we're going to turn down the heat, prepare this for our sauce, so-- >> Oh.
>> Oh, for the sauce. >> Yeah.
>> Okay, I got you. >> JASON: So our meat's pretty, it's going to sit for a little
bit, but it's pretty much done. >> BRIAN: It's still cooking, even though it's finished. >> That's right. This pan's really hot, so I'm just going to
give it a quick second, so a little bottle of leftover wine that's maybe been sitting around too long is perfect for this. All that beautiful brown bits in the pan, we're going to keep that there. We're going to add our wine. [wine sizzles] So that's, you know, few
tablespoons of wine there. >> BRIAN: Is this what
they call a reduction? We're making a reduction here? >> That's right.
>> Ah. >> JASON: Red wine, specifically. >> Absolutely, I do like white wine in certain cases with braised beef. >> Oh, okay. >> The white wine really does cut through the richness in some cases. It's going to be a good complement,
like a nice dry white wine, but for a sauce, red wine, so we're kind of cooking off
some of the alcohol here. As that's cooking, we're
just going to make sure anything that was stuck
to the bottom of that pan, any of that brown-- >> Yeah.
>> caramelized crusty bit, that's going to be in the sauce, so that's about reduced to my
liking, so what I'm going to do-- >> What is this? >> This is pork and beef stock that's been made and cooked down-- >> What!
>> put into an ice cube tray. >> What! >> Like a porksicle. >> KENT: We've reduced
that wine down, right? So that's nice and concentrated. This stock is going to
add some nice body now. Basically, all I did was
make a pork and beef stock with a little bit of onions and garlic, cook it down till it's pretty thick, and then poured it into a
ice cube tray and froze it. >> Got it.
>> So if you want to make a quick sauce during
the week or whatever, you pop a cube out, you
got a little bit of flavor. Now, this is almost kind
of like a Bordelaise sauce. You guys ever heard of Bordelaise sauce?
>> Oh sure, yeah, yeah. >> It's like a French sauce with, like, dry red
wine, butter, demi-glace. The last thing we're
going to add is butter. >> BRIAN: Holy cow, what a sauce. >> KENT: Going to be nice and rich. We'll season it with a little bit of salt, and the steak should be nice and rested by the time this is done, so
we'll pour this over the top. >> What really blows me
away about all of this is that none of it is mysterious. It's all stuff that I could do. >> Yeah, well, and you want to believe there's some secret salt
out there besides salt. It just turns out that it's fundamentals. Everything is fundamentals. >> It's true, once you get the
basic cooking technique down, and you get comfortable with that, then you can go off, and branch off, and try all kinds of wacky, weird stuff, so I'm going to turn the heat off there. I'm going to let that rest. I'm going to add a little bit of salt, so I'm going to taste it first. I hope nobody minds--
>> He's adding salt. >> I'm putting my finger in there. Add a little bit of salt. >> I approve-- [Brian guffaws]
>> of all of this salt use-- >> And the butter--
>> I really do. >> And the lard. >> And the butter-- >> Yeah.
>> And the lard. >> All right.
>> Oh, that's really starting to come together, yeah. >> KENT: You guys want to taste that? I won't be offended if
you use your finger. >> JASON: Uh, yeah, here we go. >> Boy, it really is. It's like a velvety butter. >> KENT: All right, so
our steak is rested. Our sauce is ready, so we're going to go
ahead and slice this up. >> This one looks like it was cut against the grain already, right? So I assume that we don't
have to go at an angle. >> Exactly right, so when
this steak was portioned, it was cut against the grain, so we're not too worried about that, so all I'm going to do is
probably cut this in half and then slice it into pieces so they're a little bit more manageable. Go ahead and slice down middle there. Okay, so, oh yeah, this is going
to be nice and medium rare. >> JASON: That looks amazing. Oh, wow.
>> Oh. >> KENT: This is just some extra-- >> You can smell the red wine.
>> Yeah, it's rich. Holy cow. >> JASON: As if it wasn't juicy enough. I'm going to go like right here. It's pretty amazing. >> So remember, this is $9 a pound, so it's pretty tender for that price, and we can really jazz
it up with a sauce, too, if we need to. >> It's exceptionally tender, and you can definitely tell,
right when you take the bite, that the sauce really kicks it up a notch. >> It's like you drizzled
pure savory on top of it. >> JASON: Oh yeah. >> This is too much meat. I'm too, it's too decadent. >> JASON: It's one of the most
savory things I can imagine. >> Regardless of where you buy your steak, if you can, try to buy
it from a butcher shop, or better yet, directly from the ranch. That way you can actually
establish a relationship with the people that raise your meat, and you can get information
about specific cuts, get some inspiration. It's a little better that way. >> I'll tell you what, I
bet that's a lot more fun, to actually know the whole story of where your food's coming from, and this is utterly fantastic. I can't thank you enough. Where could people learn more
about all of your talents? >> Check out our website,
augustusranch.com, A-U-G-U-S-T-U-S ranch.com. >> You can actually order
stuff, if you're in Texas, directly from Augustus Ranch. >> Is your meat secretly
made of Internet hosts? Just, you know, kind of gimme
a nod if that's the case. >> Mm-hmm. >> Oh good. [laughs maniacally]
>> Yeah, it just, not even subtle, yes. [branding iron hissing]
This episode made me hungry
I didn't realize how lucky I am to live in the Midwest. I live near Kansas City and buy a lot of strip steaks, I can usually get them around $5/pound.