Recipe for sous vide tomahawk steak
Pork tomahawk is for the true meat lover!
I had the opportunity to buy this dry-aged beauty directly from Guldrummet after a visit to the Food Festival.
– And to say the least, it was a huge cut I brought home – it was actually the entire loin with both ribs and the whole shebang.
Now you might be thinking: “A what? Pork tomahawk? You must mean beef tomahawk?”
And admittedly, it was the first time I encountered pork tomahawk myself – but may I say: WOW! It tasted absolutely amazing.
Pork tomahawk is super delicate and bursting with flavor.
What is tomahawk?
Tomahawk steak is not your usual “meat-and-potatoes” dish. It’s a steak that makes everyone turn their heads and take a second look.
Fun fact: You might remember “The Flintstones”? It’s actually a huge tomahawk (from a dinosaur, mind you) that the family gets served 50 seconds into the intro.
Traditionally, tomahawk is a cut from beef (or dinosaur, if you ask Fred Flintstone), and it is better known as ribeye steak.
Thus, tomahawk is a cut from the rib section, and simply put, pork tomahawk is just a gigantic pork chop with both the shank and the entire rib attached – with the meat still on the rib.
Normally, when making a tomahawk, you remove the meat from the rib before cooking. In my book, this meat is some of the most delicious and flavorful part of this cut – so of course, it stayed on.
Tomahawk sous vide
When I got home with my “prize,” my first thought was naturally: Can it be cooked sous vide?
It had to be tested.
The sous vide method is a brilliant way to cook meat (and vegetables – and much more!) to perfection.
And it goes without saying that it requires a small bathtub of a water bath! Or – at least a very large container.
Tomahawk sous vide sear
Without discriminating, tomahawk is a real “manly cut” – it’s really large and very filling.
And as with all other meats in sous vide, a tomahawk also needs a sear after its dip in the water bath.
This is typically done either on the stovetop or the grill.
Because tomahawk is so big, it is probably best suited for the grill – unless you have a very large frying pan. Or a griddle.
– Luckily, I have a delightfully large griddle myself, so I didn’t need to fire up the grill to give my tomahawk a sear.
Sous vide tomahawk steak
Equipment
- Sous Vide
Ingredients
- 2 kg Pork chops with bone Dry-aged for 60 days.
- Salt and Pepper from grinder
- Ghee or butter/oil. For frying
- Fresh thyme
- Flake Salt
Instructions
- Season the tomahawk with salt and pepper.
- Place the tomahawk in the vacuum bag and vacuum seal the meat. Be careful with bones in the bag - they can cut through it. You can either wrap aluminum foil around the bones, or ensure the bones are not too sharp. You can also wrap the vacuum bag in another vacuum bag for extra safety.
- Put the vacuum-sealed meat into the water bath.
- Let the meat cook for 4 hours at 56 degrees Celsius (133 degrees Fahrenheit). My tomahawk is dry-aged for 60 days, so I cooked it 20-30% less time in the sous vide than I would normally do. The reason is that dry-aged meat contains less moisture and thus requires a shorter cooking time. If you have a tomahawk that is not dry-aged, I would recommend adding an extra hour to the sous vide time, making it 5 hours in the water bath.
- Take the finished meat out of the water bath and unpack it from the vacuum bag.
- Pat the meat dry with a clean cloth. It is important that it is well-dried so the meat can develop a good crust in a moment.
- Place your griddle on the stove and turn the stove on to the highest setting.
- Add a generous dollop of ghee (alternatively a 1:1 mixture of oil and butter) to the griddle once the griddle is as hot as possible. If you don't have a griddle, you can throw your tomahawk on the grill. In that case, you don't use ghee or butter but rather brush the meat with oil before placing it on the smoking hot grill.
- Place the meat on the piping hot griddle or grill and let it sear quickly for about 45 seconds on each side.
- Sprinkle with fresh thyme and serve.