Cooking and The Art of the Scientific Caveman

One of my favorite hobbies is barbecuing and you can say my tech obsession spills over into everything else I do. I wanted to share my technique for cooking using the full spectrum of technology. I'm talking burning charcoal (caveman!) as well as the use of an immersion circulator (science!) for cooking sous vide.

What is Sous Vide?
Cooking sous vide is a method of using a precision temperature controlled water bath to cook food that is in a vacuum sealed container. The end result is you get consistent results every time. Juices from the food stay concentrated inside the bag and can intensify flavors. Like your steak a perfect medium rare from edge to edge? It's hard to screw it up with sous vide.

My Tools
Anova Precision Cooker
Big Green Egg - Large
PartyQ Temperature Controller
Thermapen
GrillGrate

The Challenge
Food cooked with fire tastes better. When you take wet meat out of a bag, it looks like wet meat in a bag and doesn't have any flavors produced by browning the meat through the Maillard reaction.

The Solution
By using a combination of a charcoal grill after cooking sous vide, you can get incredible results that you, friends, and family will beg for. I have cooked beef brisket for 48 hours sous vide then finished in the smoker. I've also done chicken in 45 minutes. The time will vary depending on how tender you need the results to be.

The Steps

1. First I will weigh meats and take 1% of that weight in kosher salt and season the meat from all angles.
2. Toss it in a vacuum sealed bag and into the water at the set temperature to my preference.
3. Remove from the bag and toss on the grill.
4. Enjoy!

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