March 16th, 2010
I just got this new forged carbon steel pan from a small private blacksmith’s shop in Germany. The pans made there are of GREAT quality and are very reasonably priced. A cast-iron or carbon steel pan is one of the best things to have, when it comes to searing or frying stuff in the kitchen. Try making fried potatoes with a non-stick pan. Believe me, compared to a proper seasoned carbon steel pan, it just sucks.
The good thing is, those pans develop a kind of “non-stick” layer of magnetite, the black oxide of iron, called seasoning, from just using it. They actually get better, the more you use them. And they will almost definitely outlast you.
But you have to keep some things in mind:
“season” the pans, before you use them the first time
never use soap to clean them or put them in the dishwasher
after normal use, just clean with a paper towel
when storing the pan always keep it oiled with a little grapeseed (or other neutral) oil
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March 3rd, 2010
So as I told you yesterday, I tried out David Changs “Ghetto Sous Vide”-Technique. The technique is basically cooking the steaks in plastic bags until the whole steak reaches the desired core temperature. And I have to admit, it just rocks! I just had to change some small things, because the tap water in my parents house just doesn’t go above 115 degrees. So I put a large meshed sieve in the biggest pot I could find, so the steaks don’t touch the hot bottom of the pot. I put the pot on low heat and just added a little bit of cold water whenever it got too warm.
The result was a perfectly medium rare, juicy and tender piece of beef. I didn’t use the hanger steaks Chang uses in his Steak Ssam recipe, because it’s just impossible to get them here in Germany. People just don’t appreciate meat in Germany. It’s a shame. Everyone just eats like the leanest and most boring cuts.
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