ChefStepsYou could spend months and tens of thousands of dollars building an epic pizza oven, and you still might end up with bad pizza. Or you could build this oven for about 50 bucks (or less). Have fun and get the hang of making delicious wood-fired pizzas without breaking the bank.
To view the full recipe along with more ChefSteps specialties: chfstps.co/3g6s0hc
Get notified and never miss a video by subscribing to the ChefSteps channel: chfstps.co/3vDKbW0
ChefSteps 101 Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. We are testing dozens of different iterations of each dish to make sure we can give you the ultimate version of each recipe. With over 1000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there's something for everyone.
*AT YOUR OWN RISK: If you try this yourself, you are doing so at your own risk. Adult supervision is required. Consult a physician before performing any physical activity. Do not get burnt – surfaces are extremely hot. Ensure that you do not use fire irresponsibly or in areas that are susceptible to combustion. You may wish to consult with your local fire department. Ensure that you have immediate access to fire extinguishment equipment. Do not consume materials that are not intended for consumption, cut yourself with sharp objects, cook on surfaces that are not intended for food preparation, ignite materials that are explosive, or ingest food that has not sufficiently cooled down.
How to Build Your Own High-Performing Wood-Fired Pizza Oven from BricksChefSteps2020-07-30 | You could spend months and tens of thousands of dollars building an epic pizza oven, and you still might end up with bad pizza. Or you could build this oven for about 50 bucks (or less). Have fun and get the hang of making delicious wood-fired pizzas without breaking the bank.
To view the full recipe along with more ChefSteps specialties: chfstps.co/3g6s0hc
Get notified and never miss a video by subscribing to the ChefSteps channel: chfstps.co/3vDKbW0
ChefSteps 101 Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. We are testing dozens of different iterations of each dish to make sure we can give you the ultimate version of each recipe. With over 1000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there's something for everyone.
*AT YOUR OWN RISK: If you try this yourself, you are doing so at your own risk. Adult supervision is required. Consult a physician before performing any physical activity. Do not get burnt – surfaces are extremely hot. Ensure that you do not use fire irresponsibly or in areas that are susceptible to combustion. You may wish to consult with your local fire department. Ensure that you have immediate access to fire extinguishment equipment. Do not consume materials that are not intended for consumption, cut yourself with sharp objects, cook on surfaces that are not intended for food preparation, ignite materials that are explosive, or ingest food that has not sufficiently cooled down.How to Make the Perfect Roast Chicken With Crispy SkinChefSteps2024-10-13 | The perfect roast chicken is juicy, tender, beautifully browned, and has actually crispy skin. There are a lot of roast chicken recipes out there that promise you those results, but this is the only one that delivers on that promise.
We roasted hundreds of chickens to come up with the best method. We inject brine directly into the meat, air dry the bird for three to five days, then use a two-stage cooking process, with a rest between each stage, to cook the bird perfectly and crisp and brown the skin.
There’s no secret or difficult-to-find ingredients. All you need is chicken, salt, and a little patience, and you’ll be eating the best roast chicken in the world for dinner.
[Time Codes] 0:00 – How to make the perfect roast chicken 0:22 – How to brine the chicken 2:22 – Truss and hang the chicken 5:43 – First stage of roasting: low and slow 8:54 – Second stage of roasting: rest and hot finish 11:07 – How to carve and serve the ultimate roast chicken
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comHow to Make Ultra-Tender Lion’s Head Meatballs (狮子头)ChefSteps2024-10-06 | The lion’s head meatball (狮子头, or shīzǐ tóu) is a huge, juicy, and tender pork meatball that’s an iconic example of Huaiyang cuisine, one of the Four Great Traditions in Chinese cooking. The cuisine is all about highlighting the flavors of a single ingredient in a refined yet uncomplicated way.
The baseball-sized meatballs are both enormous and light, springy and custardy tender, about as juicy as the filling in a soup dumpling, and, once they’re doused in a savory glaze, they’re as beautiful as they are tasty. To produce that unique texture, you need to use a series of techniques—mechanical and chemical tenderization, par-frying, and an extended braise to render fat and convert collagen to gelatin—and the result might just be the best meatball in the world! To access the full recipe and more, visit chefsteps.com.
[Time Codes] 0:00 - How to make ultra-tender lion’s head meatballs 0:56 - How to process pork belly for the meatballs 4:13 - How to mix the meatball base 7:29 - How to form and chill the meatballs 11:30 - How to fry meatballs 15:13 - How to build the braising liquid 19:13 - How to braise lion’s head meatballs 22:10 – How to thicken the braising liquid 25:05 – How to glaze lion’s head meatballs and serve with bok choy
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comThe Crispiest and Crunchiest Cantonese Roast Pork Belly (Siu Yuk)ChefSteps2024-09-29 | Roast pork belly (siu yuk) is one of the iconic preparations in the larger category of dishes known as siu mei—a collective term for meats roasted over an open fire. With its tender and luscious layers of meat and fat and its super crunchy and crispy cap of skin, you’ll find it at Chinatown barbecue shops hanging alongside lacquered roast duck, soy sauce chicken, and char siu, and sliced into neat rectangles at good dim sum places.
In this video, chef Tim Chin demonstrates how home cooks can use sous vide to cook skin-on pork belly to produce juicy, melt-in-your mouth meat, and how to guarantee that the meltingly tender skin can be transformed into a chicharron-like crust. To access the full recipe and more, visit chefsteps.com.
[Time Codes] 0:00 - How to make Cantonese roast pork belly (siu yuk) 1:17 - How to make the cure for the pork belly 2:17 - How to find the right cut of pork belly 3:11 - Add the cure 5:04 - Sous vide the pork belly 7:07 - Air dry the pork belly 10:55 - Make the dipping salt 14:46 - Air fry pork belly 19:11 - How to carve crispy Cantonese roast pork belly
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comHow a Master Butcher Cooks a Porterhouse SteakChefSteps2024-09-22 | The porterhouse is “the king of steaks,” according to master butcher Kevin Smith of Seattle’s Beast & Cleaver.
With what’s basically two steaks (tenderloin and New York strip) separated by a big bone, the porterhouse gives you a world of beefy flavors and textures, provided you cook it right. There’s the silky and tender filet, the firmer strip, and a gob of suet that east like bone marrow when properly rendered and crisped. Cook it right, and you’ve got a gradient of doneness, from the beautifully burnished crust to the rare interior, and everything in between.
Watch Kevin butcher a short loin and explain the differences between a porterhouse, a T-bone, and a bone-in New York steak. Then check out his technique for cooking a massive porterhouse.
And if you love steaks and steakhouses, check out our curated steakhouse menus with loads of recipes and tips: chefsteps.com/steakhouse
[Time Codes] 0:00 - How to cook a porterhouse steak 0:27 - How to butcher a short loin to get a porterhouse 6:59 - Sear the porterhouse 15:31 - Add butter, garlic, and herbs 16:44 - Add porterhouse to oven 18:14 - Slice and serve the porterhouse
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comHow to Cook a Picanha Steak—Like a Duck Breast!ChefSteps2024-09-15 | The top sirloin cap is a cut of beef that’s prized in other countries, but not so much here in the U.S. Called picanha in Latin America and, when sliced into steaks, coulotte in France, it’s delicious when it’s prepared and sliced correctly.
Master butcher Kevin Smith of Seattle’s Beast & Cleaver has an innovative method for cooking up a picanha, inspired by how the odd cut of meat with a huge fat cap looks: He cooks it like a duck breast.
Watch Kevin trim, score, and roast this amazing cut of beef so that each slice of steak contains a range of textures and flavors.
[Time Codes] 0:00 – How to slow-roast a picanha steak 0:37 – How to trim and score a picanha steak 2:31 – How to season and render the fat cap on a picanha steak 6:22 – Add butter and baste 7:13 – Add picanha steak to the oven 7:38 – Remove picanha steak from the oven 9:33 – How to slice and serve a slow-roasted picanha steak
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comButter-Basted New York Steak: The Quick and Easy Steak That Everyone LovesChefSteps2024-09-08 | The New York strip steak is a Goldilocks steak: It’s beefy but not too beefy, tender but not too tender. And it’s pretty easy to cook, too.
In this video, ChefSteps cofounder Grant Crilly shows you how to do a little pre-cook butchery to remove the tough sinew that lies under the fat cap, and then demonstrates how to sear, butter-baste, and then rest it, guaranteeing a perfectly cooked steak, every bite as tender as it can be. (Don’t worry about that fat cap; he chops it up, tosses the pieces in the pan, and they become golden and melty and delicious, perfect for topping each bite of steak!)
This recipe is easy enough for a weeknight dinner, but it can also be the star for special occasion meals.
To find more steak recipes, butchering tips, and shopping guides, visit Chefsteps.com.
[Time Codes] 0:00 - How to cook butter-basted New York strip steaks 0:22 - How to select and trim New York strip steaks 4:34 - How to sear New York strip steaks and fat nuggets 10:00 - Add the butter and baste steaks 12:14 - Add thyme to steaks 12:39 - Let the steaks rest 15:03 - How to slice New York strip steaks
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comHow to Make BBQ Ribs on a Charcoal GrillChefSteps2024-09-01 | Texas-style barbecue is known for its beef: tender and smoky beef brisket and hulking beef ribs. But Texas-style barbecue spareribs are just as delicious! Just like brisket, they’re a study in moderation and smoking technique. Seasoned with just pepper and salt—the order’s important!—and set in a smoker until the fat renders and the smoke forms a beautifully textured bark, they’re lightly lacquered with barbecue sauce to finish.
Joe Yim of @knoxavebbq shows us his technique for smoking pork spareribs on a regular kettle grill, with variations on a PK grill and a Big Green Egg, which yields beautifully tender meat with just the right amount of bite. Here’s your excuse to fire up your smoker to celebrate Labor Day weekend.
Take a full-on barbecue class or find more barbecue recipes, butchering tips, and shopping guides at Chefsteps.com.
[Time Codes] 0:00 - How to make Texas-style spareribs 0:52 - How to trim spareribs 9:22 - How to season spareribs 13:16 - How to set up a smoker 15:29 - How to build color and bark on your ribs and start rendering the fat 22:40 - Spareribs cooked on a PK grill 24:13 - Spareribs cooked on a Big Green Egg 28:43 - How to glaze spareribs 34:32 - How to wrap spareribs 41:08 - How to slice spareribs 43:32 - Taste the ribs!
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comTexas-Style Smoked Brisket Burgers by Pro PitmasterChefSteps2024-08-25 | Joe Yim of @knoxavebbq shows us what to do with all that trim from a smoked brisket: burgers!
Cooked low and slow and seared in rendered beef fat before being draped with cheddar, these patties have all the charm (and flavor!) of Texas-style smoked brisket, but they’re ready in a couple of hours–smoky, beefy, with a seared crust that’s eerily similar to a brisket’s craveable bark. Top ’em with pickles, red onions, and a mustard-ketchup-mayo spread, they’re an upgrade on your regular old backyard burgers—you’ll never go back!
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comHow to Slice Texas-Style Barbecue Brisket Like a ProChefSteps2024-08-21 | In our last video, Joe Yim of @knoxavebbq gave a ChefSteps master class on how to smoke Texas-style barbecue brisket using a charcoal grill. In this video, Joe shows us how a pro slices brisket.
Slicing a smoked brisket isn’t a matter of sawing through a hunk of meat; it’s more like carefully dissecting a meat juice-balloon. Transforming the odd cut of juicy, tender beef into cohesive slices requires a deep understanding of the muscle groups involved; not just how the point and the flat are different, but also how the smoking process creates a variety of textures and flavors (and some hidden gems).
Take a full-on barbecue class or find more barbecue recipes, butchering tips, and shopping guides at Chefsteps.com.
[Time codes] 0:00 - How to slice barbecue brisket like a pro 2:24 - How to separate flat from the point 3:48 - How to slice the flat 6:05 - How to slice the point 11:05 - How to chop lean brisket from point 14:44 - How to serve brisket like a pro
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comHow to Make Texas-Style Barbecue Brisket on a Charcoal GrillChefSteps2024-08-18 | Real-deal, Texas-style barbecue brisket might be one of the purest examples of how cooking technique is the bedrock of flavor development. Done right, it’s a miracle. With just salt, pepper, smoke, heat, and time, you transform a tough, weirdly shaped cut of beef into a delicacy people travel for hours just to get a bite.
We turned to Joe Yim of @knoxavebbq to show us the way. In this video, Joe explains everything you need to know to make award-worthy Texas-style brisket in your backyard—all you need is a charcoal grill big enough to fit a brisket.
Take a full-on barbecue class or find more barbecue recipes, butchering tips, and shopping guides at Chefsteps.com.
[Time Codes] 0:00 - How to make the ultimate Texas-style Barbecue Brisket 0:59 - How to trim a brisket 24:29 - How to season the brisket 27:08 - Plotting the timeline for cooking the brisket 28:33 - Fire up the charcoal grill 29:20 - Bring brisket up to temperature 33:24 - Enter “the stall”; build bark and color 35:41 - Brisket cooked on a PK Grill and a kamado-style grill (Big Green Egg) 37:07 - Exit “the stall”; render fat 38:23 - How to wrap the brisket 43:19 - How to further tenderize the brisket 44:15 - Rest the brisket 44:48 - How to slice a brisket and serve like a pro
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comMaster 10 Steaks and 10 Cooking Techniques With a Chef and a ButcherChefSteps2024-08-11 | We believe that the best steakhouse is your house, if you know what you’re looking for in a butcher case and you know exactly how to prepare it.
ChefStep’s Grant Crilly and master butcher Kevin Smith of Seattle’s Beast and Cleaver and The Peasant picked out their top 10 favorite cuts of beef steak and came up with 10 different cooking techniques to showcase the virtues of each cut.
The steaks are separated into three categories: trophy steaks (filet mignon, New York strip, porterhouse, ribeye, and tomahawk), specialty steaks (toro and picanha), and value steaks (London Royale, chop steak, and chuck steak). They’ll show you how to cook them, slice them, and eat them. And if you head on over to our website, they’ll even show you how to butcher them from primals and offer tips for choosing the best version of each one from a butcher case. Try all 10 steaks and techniques and let us know in the comments what was your favorite steak dinner.
[Time Codes] 0:40: How to poach a filet mignon 18:04: How to sear a New York strip steak 34:45 - How to grill and butter-rest a ribeye 52:04 - How to reverse cryo-sear a tomahawk steak 57:25 - How to sear and roast a porterhouse 1:14:28 - How to cook a toro steak 1:22:32 - How to slow-roast a picanha steak 1:34:51 - How to make and cook a chop steak 1:53:23 - How to sous vide and grill a chuck steak 2:03:24 - How to cook a London Royale tataki-style
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comHow to Upgrade a London Broil to an Amazing Steak DinnerChefSteps2024-08-04 | Consider the humble London broil: a tough but inexpensive cut from the top round, with a cooking suggestion built into its name. It ain’t no porterhouse or a ribeye, but throw it under a broiler and you’ve still got steak for dinner, right?
Wrong. Kevin Smith, master butcher of Beast and Cleaver, thinks it’s the most underrated cut on the animal, and he’s got issues with that name. First, it has nothing to do with London; second, you should never, ever broil it.
Butchered and cooked correctly—cut with the grain into filet mignon-looking steaks, seared so the interior is barely warmed, sliced thin against the grain like carpaccio, and doused with garlicky butter—and it’s every bit as delicious as big beefy cuts like chuck, as silky as filet, and as rich as the most well-marbled ribeye.
Say goodbye to “London broil” and say hello to your new favorite steak preparation: “London Royale!”
To find more steak recipes, butchering tips, and shopping guides, visit Chefsteps.com.
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comMaster Butcher Shows How to Slice Steak for Maximum TendernessChefSteps2024-07-24 | There’s nothing more straightforward than a steak dinner: a hunk of meat, a couple sides, and maybe a glass of cabernet sauvignon. And when the steak arrives at your table, you just cut right into it, right? Well, yes … but there’s a better way. A guy who knows a lot about steaks, master butcher Kevin Smith of Seattle’s Beast and Cleaver, has thoughts about how you should attack that steak. In this video, he shows you exactly how he would carve up a filet mignon, a porterhouse, and a bone-in ribeye to maximize the tenderness of each bite, armed with nothing more than a standard-issue steak knife and fork. Each steak cut is composed of different muscle groups and arrangements of fat caps and gobs of suet, and the angle at which you slice the meat makes a big difference in the eating experience. It’s knives out for everyone. For more lessons on steaks—cooking, eating, and buying it—sign up for Chefsteps.com.
[Time codes] 0:00 - How to slice steak for maximum tenderness 0:50 - How to cut a filet mignon 2:50 - How to cut a porterhouse steak 9:30 - How to cut a ribeye
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comToro! The Best Steak You’ve Never Heard OfChefSteps2024-07-21 | Psst! We’re letting you in on a secret. During ChefStep’s monthlong cooking session of all-things steak, master butcher Kevin Smith of Seattle’s Beast & Cleaver introduced us to a new cut of steak that blew our minds: the toro steak. Smith named the cut of steak after “toro,” the Japanese word for fatty tuna belly. Carved from under the inside skirt, toro steak consists of the highest abdominal muscle from the navel. It’s similar to flank steak but with way more marbling—it might just have more intramuscular fat than any other cut on the animal.
Toro steaks are best cooked to medium-rare plus, so all that fat is rendered to melt-in-your-mouth tenderness. After the steak is seared and basted generously with butter, it’s sliced and added back to the brown butter super-charged with an umami-packed shio koji. It’s sure to be a showstopper at the next Sunday supper.
[Time Codes] 0:00 – How to cook a toro steak 0:48 - How to butcher a toro steak 3:34 – How to sear a toro steak 7:14 - Add butter to pan 8:21 - Add shio koji to butter-tallow mixture 9:16 - Slice steak, add to butter, and serve
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comHow to Make Melt-in-Your-Mouth Poached Filet MignonChefSteps2024-07-14 | A filet mignon is a trophy steak cut that’s prized for its tenderness. And yet, most conventional cooking techniques, like pan-searing, reverse-searing, and grilling, end up toughening the super tender meat.
We decided to lean into the cut’s unique tenderness, utilizing a method that’s rarely used for steaks: poaching!
A gentle poach in umami-rich, thyme-scented beef broth kept at a precise temperature cooks the steak exactly how you like it, all while keeping those delicate meat fibers super relaxed. The result is super tender tenderloin. And what the steak loses out on in terms of Maillard browning and all the roasty notes of a hard sear, we make up for it with a burnt-caramel sauce made with the poaching liquid.
Watch ChefSteps co-founder Grant Crilly demonstrate a novel technique for serving up the most tender and tasty filet mignon you’ve ever seen.
[Time code] 0:00 - How to make super-tender filet mignon 1:17 - How to make the poaching liquid 3:45 - Poach the filet mignon 8:10 - How to make the sauce 12:48 - Heat filet mignon and serve
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comTwo-Zone Ribeye Steak, Charcoal Charred and Butter BraisedChefSteps2024-07-10 | A beautiful ribeye with plenty of intramuscular fat and tender meat is the crown jewel of trophy cuts on any steakhouse menu. Our favorite method of preparing it is throwing it on a grill, but there’s one drawback: since it contains all that delicious fat, a ribeye is almost guaranteed to cause flare-ups.
In this video, ChefSteps co-founder Grant Crilly demonstrates how to avoid flare-ups and dial in the doneness of your steak with precision by using a two-zone grilling setup: char the ribeye on the hot zone then slowly bring it up to serving temperature in the cool zone with a warm butter bath flavored with rosemary, bay leaves, and lemon.
[Time codes] 0:00 - How to make grilled and butter-rested ribeye steak 0:07 - What is a ribeye steak? 1:28 - How to set up a two-zone charcoal grill 2:02 - Melt the butter 2:53 - Season and grill the ribeye 7:53 - Add steak to the butter bath 9:21 - Add fresh bay leaves and rosemary, and lemon 12:54 - Carve and serve the ribeye
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comUltimate Tomahawk Steak Cryo-Reverse Sear—How to Butcher, Cook, Carve, and Sear in Liquid Nitrogen?!ChefSteps2024-06-30 | The Flintstones-sized tomahawk steak is the ultimate showy steak. Massive, marbled with delicious fat, super tender, super flavorful, and it’s got an ax-handle of a frenched rib bone just because it looks amazing. ChefSteps co-founder Grant Crilly came up with an ultra-modern approach to tackle this monster of a trophy cut: the reverse cryo-sear.
In this video, Grant demonstrates the technique for master butcher Kevin Smith of Seattle’s Beast & Cleaver. Smith breaks down a slab of ribs to carve out a tomahawk chop, and then Grant slow roasts it for the perfect internal temp before building the ultimate crusty exterior without overcooking the succulent meat by gripping it by the bone and dipping it alternately into screaming hot fat and super freezing liquid nitrogen.
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.com4 Ways to Shuck OystersChefSteps2024-06-16 | For the uninitiated, shucking oysters might seem intimidating—dangerous, even. But once you understand the anatomy of the oyster and have some sound technique, you’ll see that shucking dozens of them at a time, easy.
In this video, Grant Crilly shows you four ways to shuck oysters: the classic shuck, the lockpick shuck, the cryo shuck, and the blanch shuck. Once you see how simple it is, you’ll be ready to serve up oysters-on-the-half-shell any time, whether for an intimate dinner for two or a party for 50.
[Time codes] 0:00 - How to Shuck Oysters 4 Ways 01:12 - The Classic Shuck 01:49 - The Lockpick Shuck 02:33 - The Cryo-Poach Shuck 03:44 – The Blanch Shuck
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comWe Hacked Ice so It Lasts Longer!ChefSteps2024-06-09 | Nothing says summertime like a platter of oysters on the half-shell, served ice-cold. But when you’re serving platters of chilled seafood, using plain crushed ice just won’t cut it, especially if it’s hot outside—it melts too fast.
For our Ultimate Seafood Tower, we came up with the perfect solution for ice that lasts for hours. In this video, Grant shows you how different combinations of dry ice, ice, and rock salt affect the temperature of chilled seafood, and he demonstrates our solution for making a crushed ice display that’ll keep whatever you want perfectly chilled for however long you like. A bonus? You won’t be left with buckets of melted ice to clean up!
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comA Seafood Tower SO EPIC We Had to Invent a New Kind of IceChefSteps2024-06-02 | Look at this seafood tower!
Whenever we do a project, we go all out. We were knee-deep in development for an epic seafood tower package when we were asked to host a YouTube Creators event in May, so we decided to create the Ultimate Seafood Tower. Massive tiers of pristine, perfectly prepared seafood—cryo-shucked oysters, tender lobster tails, cracked Dungeness crab, smoked mussels, perfectly poached shrimp, tuna confit, kombu-cured scallops, salmon mi-cuit (“half-cooked”), silky octopus tentacles, geoduck crudo, salmon pâté, and caviar (of course!)—and all the fixings and accoutrements.
In this video, we show you all the behind-the-scenes planning for the build, including how we devised an “ice battery” to make sure all that beautiful seafood stayed cold for hours, so you can serve up your own epic plateau de fruit de mer. Whether you want to serve two people or 50, we’ve got all the recipes, guides, techniques, and know-how you’ll ever need for preparing a show-stopping seafood tower of your own.
For more recipes, guides, vendor recommendations, tips, and techniques to create the Ultimate Seafood Tower, check out: chfstps.co/3wW5PrS
[Time codes] 0:00 - How to make the ultimate seafood tower 0:29 - Planning the build and the menu 1:36 - How to build a seafood tower 3:00 - How to make ice that never melts 3:58 - Seafood menu: How to make albacore confit 5:13 - Time to add the seafood 6:35 - Condiments: How to make a super-umami cocktail sauce 7:12 - Accompaniments: How to make potato chips 8:00 - Raw & Shucked: How to cryo shuck oysters 8:54 - The last sprint 10:07 - Let the party begin!
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comHow to Make Perfect Buttermilk Pancakes, Every TimeChefSteps2024-04-21 | THE RECIPE: 100 g Eggs (2 large eggs) 250 g Buttermilk, full-fat 180 g All-purpose flour 35 g Sugar 25 g Buttermilk powder, optional 15 g Baking powder 5 g Kosher salt, (1 1/4 teaspoons) 70 g Unsalted butter
(FULL RECIPE HERE Buttermilk Pancakes: A Parametric Analysis: chfstps.co/3vO9s2B)
Making the perfect buttermilk pancakes—not the stacks you get at your local diner, we’re talking perfect here—takes practice, but it also often involves making a few testers for the dogs. But when you have the cooking technique dialed in, you’ll make perfect pancakes right from the start, and you won’t have to waste any batter on testers.
ChefSteps co-founder and executive director Grant Crilly shows you which pans to use, the exact pan temperature you want to get perfectly browned—not burnt—surfaces, and how to adjust the ratio of ingredients to get the most tender, flavorful classic buttermilk pancakes that are perfect for you. Want to delve deeper into the ins and outs of perfect pancake making? Check out our Buttermilk Pancake Parametric Analysis! chfstps.co/3vO9s2B
Equipment:
The new Control Freak™ Home from Breville, is now exclusively available through ChefSteps!
[Time codes] 0:00 - How to Make the Perfect Buttermilk Pancakes 0:42 - How to Choose Your Pancake Formula 2:35 - How to Pick Your Pan 3:42 - How to Dial in Your Cooking Temperature 5:35 - How to Make Grant’s Favorite Pancakes
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comThe Three Things Culinary Schools Should Teach You: Scrambled EggsChefSteps2024-03-24 | Scrambled eggs—one of the first dishes most people learn how to make. Heat up a pan, add some fat, and add beaten eggs. Simple, right? Well, yes and no. While it may be one of the easiest to make, it’s also easy to mess up. Cook the eggs for too long or at too high a temperature and you end up with a rubbery, weepy scramble. Add in the fact that you can achieve a wide variety of textures, and the dish doesn’t seem very simple at all. ChefSteps co-founder and executive director Grant Crilly shows you how time, temperature, and agitation can produce wildly different variations on scrambled eggs, and he offers a few key lessons on how to make the perfect scrambled eggs, whatever “perfect” means to you.
Equipment: Introducing the new Control Freak™ Home from Breville, exclusively available through ChefSteps!
[Time codes] 0:00 - How to make any scrambled eggs 0:30 - How does cook time affect your scrambled eggs? 2:40 - How to make soft-scrambled eggs 3:58 - How does agitation affect your scrambled eggs? 5:12 - How to make diner-style scrambled eggs 6:43 - How does temperature affect your scrambled eggs 9:23 - How to make “reverse” scrambled eggs
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comHow to Make the Ultimate Pâté en CroûteChefSteps2024-02-11 | Pâté en croûte is a pâté or terrine wrapped in a pastry crust. Sounds simple, right? And yet it’s the pinnacle of the charcutier’s craft. Few preparations have as many different components, and to make a decent pâté en croûte, you need to get every last detail right. For the most beautiful (and delicious) versions of the dish, every element has to be executed near perfectly. That’s why we recruited Kevin Smith of Seattle’s Beast & Cleaver to show us how to make his award-winning pâté en croûte—a labor-intensive process that takes at least 4 days. The mosaic-like pâté en croûte—beautifully seasoned and spiced pâté dotted with foie gras, boozy prunes, pistachios, and boudin noir, enveloped in a seamless buttery pastry crust—is a work of art. #beastandcleaver #pateencroute #charcuterie
[Time codes] 0:00 - What Is Pâté en Croûte? 1:12 - How to Make Pork Farce 4:23 - How to Make Boudin Noir 6:07 - How to Make Aspic 9:35 - How to Make the Pastry for Pâté en Croûte 16:07 - How to Make the Decorative Pastry Pieces 18:41 - How to Make and Apply the Tuile Paste 22:28 - How to Make Two Types of Egg Washes 23:33 - How to Assemble Pâté en Croûte 32:37 - How to Bake Pâté en Croûte 34:50 - How to Cool and Add Aspic to Pâté en Croûte 37:27 - How to Use a Blowtorch to Unmold Pâté en Croûte 39:05 - The Big Reveal: Cut and Serve
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comThe “Dirty” Secret to the Best Fried RiceChefSteps2024-01-28 | Everybody loves fried rice, whether you’re adding it to a takeout order or you’re clearing out your fridge. It goes with everything, and you can put anything in it! But it’s a rare fried rice that makes us sit up and pay attention, which was exactly what we did when we tried Chef Eric Huang’s Dirty Fried Rice. A popular side dish at Pecking House in New York, his mashup of Chinese fried rice and Cajun dirty rice deftly melds classic wok technique with Cajun “scraped” chicken livers. Charred and caramelized into meaty and minerally crumbles in a wok, the livers are complemented by grassy green bell peppers, crunchy celery, and sweet onion. A dash of MSG and a few dabs of butter take the rice over the top and round out the richness. #dirtyrice #friedrice #southernfood #peckinghouse #cajun
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comThe Best Hush Puppies Recipe: Crispy, Fluffy, Cheddar-Tasso Hush Puppies With Apple “Honey”ChefSteps2024-01-21 | Light, delicate, and crispy — hush puppies are a perfect fried snack. Chef Eric Huang of New York’s Pecking House shows us how to make his sweet-savory Cheddar-Tasso Hush Puppies, fried cornbread nuggets packed with tasso ham, cheddar, and scallions. It’s the perfect bite, especially when drizzled with vegan apple “honey” made from apple cider, sugar, and lemon juice. Pair Cheddar-Tasso Hush Puppies with Pecking House’s famous Chili Fried Chicken and Dirty Fried Rice, for the ultimate comfort food feast. #hushpuppies #veganhoney #southernfood #peckinghouse #cornbread
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comHow to Make Christmas PuddingChefSteps2023-12-22 | Behold: Christmas pudding. A British holiday favorite with medieval roots, Christmas pudding is a little like carrot cake with baba au rhum’s boozy kick. Brandy-soaked dried cherries, dried figs, and raisins are bound up in a dense but light steamed cake made from flour, breadcrumbs, and beef suet, enriched eggs, and seasoned with aromatic allspice, cinnamon, and citrus zest. Drizzled with flaming brandy and sweetened cream, it’s a showstopper for the holiday table that just happens to be super delicious. (It’s been around since the Middle Ages for a very good reason!). The best part? As master butcher Kevin Smith says, “This is the easiest dish in the world to make.” #christmaspudding #christmas #britishdessert #britishholiday #medieval
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comUltimate versus sous vide Porchetta ChefSteps2023-12-19 | full double-recipe video here: youtube.com/watch?v=Rr7hm-wyal4The Ultimate Pork Roast: Classic vs. Sous Vide PorchettaChefSteps2023-12-17 | What’s better than the best porchetta recipe you can make at home? TWO of the best porchetta recipes you can make at home! Master butcher Kevin Smith of Seattle’s Beast & Cleaver shows us how to make the Ultimate Roast Porchetta, and our very own Chef Nicholas Gavin shows us how to make a more streamlined sous vide version. If you’re the type of cook who wants only the very best, Kevin’s method is for you: It’s a huge lift with a lot of moving parts, but we’ll walk you through the whole thing. If you’re the type of cook that’s okay with a little compromise, Nick’s sous vide version is the one you want: Clever butchery and the power of sous vide make it both delectable and relatively convenient. Don’t know which bucket you want to be in? Check out the video and behold the wonder of delicious cylinders of expertly butchered pig meat. No matter which one you choose, you’re in for some epic roast pork sandwiches! #porchetta #sousvideporchetta
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comHow to Butcher a Chicken: 10-Piece Country CutChefSteps2023-12-10 | Chef Eric Huang demonstrates how to break down a whole chicken for frying, Southern-style. Called “country-cut” chicken, this technique produces 10 pieces of chicken (2 wings, 2 legs, 2 thighs, and 4 bone-in breast pieces), with a focus on preserving the integrity of the skin, particularly the skin on the breast pieces. It’s a prime example of how much there is to learn from a professional who’s spent tons of time thinking about and tweaking simple processes to produce the best and most consistent product possible. #kitchentechnique #cutawholechicken #chickenbutchery
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comChefSteps Studio Pass #chefsteps #food #recipes #kitchenhacksChefSteps2023-12-06 | The best cooking resource. Get all the recipes, techniques, guides, kitchen science, hacks and tips with a ChefSteps Studio Pass subscription. Use discount code IGHOLIDAY23 to save 30%. chfstps.co/3RuMxB9Chili oil recipe for Eric Huang’s Peking House chili fried chicken #friedchicken #chefstepsChefSteps2023-12-03 | Full recipe video over here on our channel youtu.be/TfZVjt2Lth0?si=VlLbMnPbjP6zTYPjPecking House’s Ultra-Crunchy, Burn-Your-Mouth-Off Chili Fried ChickenChefSteps2023-12-03 | We’re coming in HOT with some fried chicken! What makes it HOT? Think of it as the forbidden lovechild of Taiwanese popcorn chicken and Nashville hot fried chicken: a super craggy and crispy crusted fried bird, doused in tongue-numbing Sichuan peppercorn and Tianjin chile duck fat. Eric Huang of New York’s Pecking House shares with us (and you) his chef’s secrets for ultra-crunchy, hot af Southern-meets-Sichuan chili fried chicken, which at one point had a wait list of 10,000 people dying to give it a try. A former sous chef at Eleven Madison Park, Huang combines some tried-and-true marinade-and-dredge technique with a little modernist flair and the full delicious force of Chinese pantry staples to make some of the best fried chicken we’ve ever had. Check it out and skip the waitlist because you can make it just like he makes it at the restaurant. #viralfood #friedchicken #spicyfriedchicken #peckinghouse #erichuang #spicyfoodchallenge #scoville
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comChefSteps #chefsteps #food #wellington #beefwellingtonChefSteps2023-12-01 | It's Beef Wellington season again. Full recipe video here: youtu.be/Phtn7C62G0EPanettone #chefsteps #food #pastry #cooking #recipeChefSteps2023-11-29 | Full video: youtube.com/watch?v=dkz7o2K9vsoThe Best Way to Reheat Roasts Sous VideChefSteps2023-11-19 | The secret to avoiding holiday meal stress? A nice, warm bath. Not for you, silly! We’re talking about cooking your Thanksgiving turkey sous vide, way in advance! Call it a hot tub time machine. This foolproof method guarantees excellent results with none of the worry or stress that comes with roasting a big bird on the day of the big feast. It’s perfectly done, perfectly seasoned, indescribably tender, and it’ll stay that way for a week in your fridge. Just fire up your sous vide a couple hours before you’re ready to eat, warm that big boy up, and give it a quick sear to finish. The best part? It isn’t just for the birds—this technique works for all kinds of tough cuts of meat. So, the next time you’re planning a huge feast, do it stress-free with a little sous vide assistance. #sousvide #sousvidecooking #reheatingmeat #mealprep #thanksgiving #christmas #roast #partymealplanning #joule
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comDouble fry turkey nuggets #thanksgiving #recipe #cooking #mcdonaldsChefSteps2023-11-12 | Tim Chin demos his double-frying technique for turkey nuggets. Full recipe video at our channel: youtu.be/EVn6_vZTeDAMake Your Own Happy Meal With Thanksgiving Turkey NuggetsChefSteps2023-11-12 | Chicken nuggets! We love them, you love them, kids love them: They’re a staple of fast-food joints and kids’ menus for a reason. Turkey nuggets? Not so much. Until now! ChefSteps’ Thanksgiving Turkey Nuggets are just like the ones that come with the prefix “Mc”—double-fried to form that distinctive crispy, lacy crust around a bouncy, juicy poultry nugget packed with MSG and the trinity of white pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder—but made with super-flavorful turkey thigh meat. Best of all, these turkey nuggets can be made ahead and frozen, perfect for popping in the fryer for quick weeknight dinners or a Thanksgiving-friendly (or a super thankful Friendsgiving) treat for the kid in all of us. #turkeynuggets #chickennuggets #happymeal #mcnuggets #thanksgiving #turkey
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comHow to mix oil and water #chefsteps #emulsion #eggs #foodscienceChefSteps2023-11-04 | Chef Nick Gavin explains. Full egg video is right here: youtu.be/X9lAq4t3kAk?si=fXwRPCWFVjreQM-DHomemade phyllo dough is super stretchyChefSteps2023-11-02 | It’s stretchable, it’s fine, it bakes up ethereally light and crispy. It's homemade phyllo dough. Freezer aisle phyllo could never... Get the recipe for the dough at chfstps.co/3qAvAe0, then make all your baklava and spinach pie dreams come true.Nik Sharma has some tips from his new book, Veg-Table #chefsteps #niksharma #veggiesChefSteps2023-11-01 | ...BaklavaChefSteps2023-10-31 | Pour some sugar (syrup) on me, In the name of baklava. . . . . . . . (link to the recipe in our bio) #phyllo #baklava #defleppardIts not expensive foie gras: Our recipe is better, and its animal-free.ChefSteps2023-10-29 | This creamy spread is just like foie gras mousse—rich and velvety, perfect for serving with toast points, nuts, sweet preserves, and fresh and dried fruit—but it has no animal products whatsoever. You could call it vegan foie gras; you could call it faux gras; or you can just call it a vegan cheese spread. No matter which way you slice it, there’s no debate or argument here, there’s just nuts and umami-rich ingredients like mushrooms, miso, and tomato paste, tweaked with some modernist shenanigans (gellan!) to create something that’s every bit as delicious as tasty things made with fatty duck livers, for a fraction of the cost. This vegan riff on foie gras mousse is decadently rich and velvety, perfect on toast points and topped with jam. We blended pump cashews to replicate the creamy texture, and amped up the umami with miso, mushrooms, tomato paste, and aromatic spices. This affordable, non-controversial appetizer will impress all your guests at your next holiday party. #plantbasedfoiegras #foiegras #vegan #veganfoiegras
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comPizza grilling with Kenji Lopéz-Alt #chefsteps #pizzaChefSteps2023-10-25 | One more tip on how to grill pizza: the actual grilling of the pizza. See our full video with @JKenjiLopezAlt right here: youtu.be/OGn6EsOnX50Kenji López-Alt: Slice scallions for grilled pizza #chefsteps #grilledpizzaChefSteps2023-10-24 | Kenji stopped by to show us his technique for making grilled pizza. Full video at our channel: youtu.be/OGn6EsOnX50Kenji shares his grilled pizza techniques with Grant: French rolling pinChefSteps2023-10-23 | Full video on our channel: youtu.be/OGn6EsOnX50?si=oiIYTPMrKMqC5Dy-How to Grill Pizza With Kenji Lopéz-Alt | ChefStepsChefSteps2023-10-22 | J. Kenji López-Alt’s grilled pizza recipe is easy to make, quick to proof, and downright delicious. (Hi, @JKenjiLopezAlt!) The dough can be made the same day it’s cooked, and you there’s no need for a fancy pizza oven, steels, or peels; all you need is a two-zone setup on a kettle grill. It’s the perfect party food for any large backyard gathering. #pizza, #grilledpizza #PizzaOnTheGrill
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.comBaking croissantsChefSteps2023-10-10 | ...Pumpkin Ding Dongs.ChefSteps2023-10-07 | youtu.be/BllOE9v83C8Pollo al Carbon: Cook a Whole Chicken on the Grill | ChefStepsChefSteps2023-09-24 | Inspired by the pollo al carbon served streetside in Sinaloa, Mexico, Chef Jonathan Zaragoza’s recipe features a whole, spatchcock chicken rubbed with a paste of guajillo chiles, cinnamon, pepper, cumin, oregano, cloves, and achiote paste, and brightened by lime, orange, and pineapple juices. The chicken is then cooked over a charcoal grill, until the skin is charred around the edges. Carve up the roast chicken and eat it with chargrilled onions, tortillas, rice, and beans. #mexicanfood #corntortillas #roastchicken #chefsteps #jonathanzaragoza
At ChefSteps, we offer more than just recipes—we also show you the proper techniques, kitchen hacks, our favorite tools, and the science behind the food transformation. Check out Jonathan’s excellent whole grilled chicken, along with hundreds of other recipes, tips, and guides at https://www.chefsteps.com.How to Remove Pin Bones From Salmon in Less Than 2 MinutesChefSteps2023-09-17 | Chef Nicholas Gavin demonstrates how to locate and remove pin bones from a fillet of salmon without mangling the flesh. All you need is a pair of fish bone pliers, a chef’s knife, a damp towel, and a bowl of water. This technique works on other fish, too, including mackerel, snapper, blackfish, and sea bass. It’s as easy as a game of Operation. #salmon #debonesalmon #fishfillets #removingpinbones #kitchenskills
ChefSteps 101: Through science, entertainment, and industry experience, we strive to help every home cook reach their full potential. With more than 1,000 recipes developed in our kitchen, there’s something for everyone. To find out more, visit our website: chefsteps.com