Cap Steak, the SV way

[Kayelle]

I've been interested in these tied pinwheel steaks for some time.

To me, there's nothing more flavorful than the "cap" that's always on top of a Prime Rib roast, or a thick Rib Eye steak. When that meat cap is removed, rolled and tied you have a pinwheel cap steak. We found two huge ones at Costco for a truly obscene price, but I cut the ties on them and re-rolled them into four steaks with the use of silicone bands.
I looked around for the best way to SousVide them, and decided on butter/shallot/thyme in the bag at 135 degrees for 2 hours.
I seared them in a screaming hot carbon steel skillet and they were really spectacular, served with chunky mashed spuds and steamed broccoli.

[Andy M.]

Interesting. I've never seen cap steak at Costco. I'll keep an eye out for it.

[taxlady]

That looks and sounds really yummy.

[Kayelle]

Andy, a while back I read that Costco no longer carried them and I had never seen them there before last week. At $20 per lb. we really had to swallow hard but we couldn't resist. Next time prime ribs are on sale at the supermarket, we'll make our own for sure. I'm a real steak lover, and these are the gold standard as far as I'm concerned.

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Unfortunately, for presentation, the cap and bone are removed from rib eye steaks before they are sold. I like having the bone, and cap attached. I too think that the cap is the finest piece of meat on the carcass. Yes, a club steak, or tonahawk steak, as they are sometimes called, when the bone is frenched, is a very good steak, especially on the grill. But me, I like chewing on the bone, and eating the cap, and that little chunk of fat that comes with it.

I purchased hal of a cow last fall. The breed was Scottish Highland, which is supposed to be a premium breeed, known for its tenderness, and flavor. I don't know what the butcher di, perhaps getting the cow all worked up and nervous before butchering it, or maybe he didn't hang it long enough, but whatever he did, though the flavor is good, every piece of meat is tough and chewey. I find myself wishing I could justify a SV machine. Maybe that would help. The pressure cooker makes everything very tender, but well done. I happen to like medium rare, or even rare rather than well done. I like it just a little on the red side, rather than pale pink. Pale pink is for pork, not beef.

And yes, $20/pound is pricey. Just once in a while though, you can splurge and treat yourself.

One of our small grocery stores has a meat department in it. They have arguably the best meat in town. Of course going to the dedicated butcher shop about 20 miles away can get me better local meat. Anyway, I would go to the meat counter and look for the steaks withtthe best marbling, and ones that had to be sold cheap, because they were getting a bit older, and to most people, less appealing looking. These were aged, and had less moisture in them, thus were the most tender, and flavorful, and because they had to be sold quickly, were usually marked down.

Now I'm wondering if I could special order cap meat that has been cut off for presentation. It might just be something to look into.

Oh, and thanks for sharing your experience. I am so happy that your pinwheeled cap came out so very good.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the NOrth

[Kayelle]

Chief, I had to smile at this..

Anyway, I would go to the meat counter and look for the steaks withtthe best marbling, and ones that had to be sold cheap, because they were getting a bit older, and to most people, less appealing looking. These were aged, and had less moisture in them, thus were the most tender, and flavorful, and because they had to be sold quickly, were usually marked down.

You may know I grew up in a Mom&Pop grocery/meat market. We always ate the dark steaks that didn't sell and they were the best of the best. I've joked I didn't know what it was like to eat red steak till I was grown and gone.
By the way, Dad would roll in his grave at the price of "Cap Steaks". I know he would have loved the idea of them and could have made such a huge profit.

[caseydog]

Originally Posted by Andy M.

Interesting. I've never seen cap steak at Costco. I'll keep an eye out for it.

I think I've seen it a couple of times, but it is not a regular in-stock item. And yes, it is pricey!

Sometime when I find some big ribeyes with good sized caps, I'm going to buy them, and split them into caps and eyes.

CD

[kenmiller]

Originally Posted by Kayelle

I've been interested in these tied pinwheel steaks for some time.

To me, there's nothing more flavorful than the "cap" that's always on top of a Prime Rib roast, or a thick Rib Eye steak. When that meat cap is removed, rolled and tied you have a pinwheel cap steak. We found two huge ones at Costco for a truly obscene price, but I cut the ties on them and re-rolled them into four steaks with the use of silicone bands.
I looked around for the best way to SousVide them, and decided on butter/shallot/thyme in the bag at 135 degrees for 2 hours.
I seared them in a screaming hot carbon steel skillet and they were really spectacular, served with chunky mashed spuds and steamed broccoli.

Interesting, never heard of this before!

[caseydog]

The cap steak is part of the larger "ribeye" steak (or rib roast). The first third of this video shows how to butcher the ribeye/ribroast to make cap steaks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k9I0nCI_2U&t=89s

It is an outstanding cut of beef. The best part of a ribeye.

Just for grins, here is another video with Cap Steak (from COSTCO) cooked sous vide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zf-gY-NS44&t=58s

CD

[Kayelle]

Yup Casey, I watched both of the video's before I started. They are very informative and thanks for posting them.

[GotGarlic]

I've never heard of this before, but then I rarely buy a rib roast and never one that big. I showed DH parts of the video and he's really interested - he loves ribeye. What I don't usually like about it is the large pockets of fat. This solves that problem nicely. Maybe I'll make it before his father goes back to Michigan at the end of March.

Thanks for mentioning it, Kay, and for the video, Casey.

[caseydog]

Originally Posted by GotGarlic

I've never heard of this before, but then I rarely buy a rib roast and never one that big. I showed DH parts of the video and he's really interested - he loves ribeye. What I don't usually like about it is the large pockets of fat. This solves that problem nicely. Maybe I'll make it before his father goes back to Michigan at the end of March.

Thanks for mentioning it, Kay, and for the video, Casey.

Yeah, that big hunk of fat in the middle is not something I want to eat, although psycho-poodle loves it (I mix it in with his kibble).

Turning a big ribeye steak into two smaller steaks is great. BTW, the center part of the ribeye, what I call the "eye," is often called a "cowgirl steak". It is also very good. I think of it as a really good steak with some portion control.

Definitely make cap steaks for DH and FIL -- and yourself.

CD

[GotGarlic]

Originally Posted by caseydog

Yeah, that big hunk of fat in the middle is not something I want to eat, although psycho-poodle loves it (I mix it in with his kibble).

Turning a big ribeye steak into two smaller steaks is great. BTW, the center part of the ribeye, what I call the "eye," is often called a "cowgirl steak". It is also very good. I think of it as a really good steak with some portion control.

Definitely make cap steaks for DH and FIL -- and yourself.

CD

The guy mentioned that in the video and I was wondering what it was. Thanks.

[Kayelle]

By the way, I also did the potatoes in the Sous Vide as demonstrated in the second video Casey posted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zf-gY-NS44

It was an interesting and tasty experiment and we used a rolling pin on the bag as an aid getting the potatoes into a reasonably "mashed" consistency. "Chunky mashed" was the best we could do however. I don't think I'd do it again though as we prefer smooth taters but they were really tasty.