Monogrammed and Chirped Steaks.

Monogrammed and Chirped Steaks
Andre Willers
5 Mar 2011

Synopsis:
How to monogram the perfect steak .

Discussion :
Cook it Sous-vide
See http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/03/how-to-sous-vide-steak.html

When searing or blow-torching , put strips of aluminium foil over the steak in the desired monogram .

Voila !

Monogrammed steaks .

Alternatively , fairly heavy pressure can be put on the steak during sous-vide cooking to compress the protein , giving an impression of the monogram . A quick pass with a blow-torch will high-light it .

Chirp Microwave Sous-Vide Cooking .
Three principles have to be kept in mind :
1.Bacterial inactivation optimizes from about 50 C(122F)
2.Meat protein cooking optimizes around 122F-149F(50C - 65 C)
3.Heat production is directly proportional to wattage of microwave .

Use a standard piece of steak (say 200 gm) . One serving .
So we want a time-weighted average of temperature at 57.5 C , with heat pulses reverberating back and forth in the steak .. Max 65C , min 50C .

Calculation :
Each pulse of microwaves of time t(i) generates Heat h(i)
(Sigma h(i)*t(i))/ Sigma(t(i) = 57.5C ….eq 1
Weighted average = Sous-vide temperature .

h(i) = k*W(i) … where h is heat temperature , k is constant and W is Wattage of microwave .
k is about 180/1000*(3*60) = 1/1000 for a standard 200 gm steak being cooked at 1000W for three minutes .

We Chirp Wattage as W(i)=100 *(i)
This gives
k* 100* (Sigma (i)*t(i))/ Sigma(t(i) = 57.5C ….eq 2
This gives
Sigma ((i)*t(i))/ Sigma(t(i) = 57.5*10 ….eq 3

This has an infinity of solutions ,since t(i) can be anything .

But since this is slow-cooking process ,we can make the assumption that lower temperatures are better , with a floor of F . Hence, we make the assumption that
t(i) = (m*i +F) …where m and F are constants

Then we have
m*Sigma (i*(m*i +F))/(m* Sigma((m*i +F))) = 57.5*10 ….eq 4
=(m*Sigma (i^2)+F*Sigma(i) ) /( m* Sigma(i) +Sigma F) = 57.5*10 ….eq 5

=(m*(n)*(n+1)*(2n+1)/6 + F*(n)*(n+1)/2 ) / (m*(n)*(n+1)/2 + F*n) = 575 …eq 6

If F=50 degrees Celsius and n=10 , then m solves as m=1.44

This means that if your meat starts cooking at 50 C and you chirp 10 times , then
t(i) = i*1.44 seconds
I am not sure if the order matters . Experiment .

Results :

Chirp Cooking for 200 g steak .
m= 1.44
Power Seconds
n
1 100 1
2 200 3
3 300 4
4 400 6
5 500 7
6 600 9
7 700 10
8 800 12
9 900 13
10 1000 14
Sum= 79

If you cut out steps in the sequence , you will end up with a raw, soggy piece of meat .
But the order could probably be changed .

Stand for 5-10 minutes .

This means that even cheap cuts of meat can be made Prima .

Chirp means cheap .

Enjoy !

Andre
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