Rob Babcock
Head Chef
Okay, a while back I found a place that offered 50 gram packages of some of the MG items normally sold in bulk to restaurants. One of the things they sold was ACTIVA RM. This is a mixture of caseine, tg and maltodextrin. The stuff is an enzyme that creates a covalent bond between protein molecules, resulting an a "weld" that makes essentially one chunk. If this sounds scary, almost everyone here has probably eaten it before- surimi, fake crab sticks and flakes, couldn't be made without the stuff.
At any rate I wound up buying a couple packs and finally got the chance to try it tonite. I had about a 2.5 lb piece of flank steak that I bought on sale, and figured it would be a good thing to try. Now most of you know that flank is very tasty but very, very thin. You have to cook it on high heat and just briefly or it's gonna be overcooked. So I decided to make a roll of it.
I started by laying it out on my cutting board and cutting a lengthwise strip off the edge (with the grain). I then sprinkled the powder on all surfaces of the strip, then on the entire remaining portion. It really looks and feels like cornstarch, light and very fine powder. I rolled it as tightly as I could, but the one problem I had is that the only cling film I had was the short 10" roll, not the 18" wide stuff I use at work. Basically I think I got it rolled up tight enough to work, but we'll see.
Anyways, then it's into the fridge to set. The stuff will activate below 50 F over a few hours, achieving the maximum bond overnight. With luck, if I used the right amount
rofl and rolled it tightly enough I'll have a chunk of flank with the form factor of a beef tenderloin. If it works I'll probably cook half of it sous vide @ 130 F and cook the rest conventionally (on the gas grill, probably).
I'll let you all know how the experiment went tomorrow!
At any rate I wound up buying a couple packs and finally got the chance to try it tonite. I had about a 2.5 lb piece of flank steak that I bought on sale, and figured it would be a good thing to try. Now most of you know that flank is very tasty but very, very thin. You have to cook it on high heat and just briefly or it's gonna be overcooked. So I decided to make a roll of it.
I started by laying it out on my cutting board and cutting a lengthwise strip off the edge (with the grain). I then sprinkled the powder on all surfaces of the strip, then on the entire remaining portion. It really looks and feels like cornstarch, light and very fine powder. I rolled it as tightly as I could, but the one problem I had is that the only cling film I had was the short 10" roll, not the 18" wide stuff I use at work. Basically I think I got it rolled up tight enough to work, but we'll see.
Anyways, then it's into the fridge to set. The stuff will activate below 50 F over a few hours, achieving the maximum bond overnight. With luck, if I used the right amount
rofl and rolled it tightly enough I'll have a chunk of flank with the form factor of a beef tenderloin. If it works I'll probably cook half of it sous vide @ 130 F and cook the rest conventionally (on the gas grill, probably).I'll let you all know how the experiment went tomorrow!
