Is this Lump Out of My Head? I Think So.
Mar. 14th, 2021 12:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madbakerThis week's Resolution Recipe: Tjälknöl. ("Frost Lump")
Invented in '80s Sweden, apparently. Unlike the usual "this was invented by accident" folk story (also known as "fakelore"), this seems genuinely to be the case. Unlike the usual bullshit stories of such-and-such having been discovered by accident in the 1700s or 1500s or by somebody's great-grandma, this one is recent enough to be documentable.
1 kg frozen boneless beef steak or game (I used beef eye round)
1 liter liquid (water, wine, or combination - I used half red wine and half water)
7 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp honey or sugar
2 bay leaves, crushed
5 cloves garlic (Ha! I used... more.)
1 tsp crushed black pepper
1 tsp dried thyme
I added: several crushed juniper berries
Place the frozen meat on a grid over a dripping tray on the lowest tier in the oven. Turn the oven on and set it to 210 F (100 C). Cook until the core temperature is 135-150 F, about 8-10 hours depending on animal, shape, and cut.
20 minutes before removing meat, put the rest of the ingredients in a pot, and bring to a boil for a brine. Pour the brine in a large plastic bag and place the hot meat in the bagged brine when it has reached the desired temperature. Seal and place in the fridge for 4-5 hours; longer than 5 hours will make the meat too salty. Turn the bag over once every hour.
Remove the meat, pat dry, and slice up thinly for serving. There you have it... one of the juiciest steaks you've ever eaten!
There's a whole story about how this was invented that I didn't reproduce. It's now considered a regional dish for this area of Sweden - usually with game.
What worked: It was okay. I could taste the brine, which was a good flavor.
What didn't: I was planning to use the toaster oven overnight, but it has a 2 hour maximum cooking time. So I used the regular oven, which has a minimum temp of 250 F. As well as being much bigger, so the meat was well done rather than medium-rare that I usually target, and had a crust after only 5 hours when I got up. I like less salt than most so I gave it 3.5 hours in the brine, which wasn't enough since it was already dried out further than we wanted.
It was rather far from the juiciest steak we've ever eaten. I might need to use a fattier cut than beef eye round (despite it being one of the cuts listed for use).
Will I make it again? I did, using a second beef eye round and starting it in the toaster oven very early in the morning for several rounds of two hours (damn insomnia might as well be useful). This time it cooked for six hours at 210, and was still quite pink (around 135-140). I gave it 4 hours in the brine and it probably could have gone 5 without being over-salty. We both liked it - it made good sandwiches and a beef-topped salad. It tasted much like thin-sliced deli roast beef, and not in a bad way.
Sum up: the higher baking temperature seems to be entirely responsible for what didn't work the first time since the second was virtually identical (other than the longer brine). Good to know.
It might be interesting to try with a boneless venison chunk. Lamb would not work unless very lean - the fat is too waxy when cold. I don't expect we'll repeat this very often, but it might be a good thing to do in the summer for a cold dinner, or for a potluck when we're allowed to have those.
Invented in '80s Sweden, apparently. Unlike the usual "this was invented by accident" folk story (also known as "fakelore"), this seems genuinely to be the case. Unlike the usual bullshit stories of such-and-such having been discovered by accident in the 1700s or 1500s or by somebody's great-grandma, this one is recent enough to be documentable.
1 kg frozen boneless beef steak or game (I used beef eye round)
1 liter liquid (water, wine, or combination - I used half red wine and half water)
7 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp honey or sugar
2 bay leaves, crushed
5 cloves garlic (Ha! I used... more.)
1 tsp crushed black pepper
1 tsp dried thyme
I added: several crushed juniper berries
Place the frozen meat on a grid over a dripping tray on the lowest tier in the oven. Turn the oven on and set it to 210 F (100 C). Cook until the core temperature is 135-150 F, about 8-10 hours depending on animal, shape, and cut.
20 minutes before removing meat, put the rest of the ingredients in a pot, and bring to a boil for a brine. Pour the brine in a large plastic bag and place the hot meat in the bagged brine when it has reached the desired temperature. Seal and place in the fridge for 4-5 hours; longer than 5 hours will make the meat too salty. Turn the bag over once every hour.
Remove the meat, pat dry, and slice up thinly for serving. There you have it... one of the juiciest steaks you've ever eaten!
There's a whole story about how this was invented that I didn't reproduce. It's now considered a regional dish for this area of Sweden - usually with game.
What worked: It was okay. I could taste the brine, which was a good flavor.
What didn't: I was planning to use the toaster oven overnight, but it has a 2 hour maximum cooking time. So I used the regular oven, which has a minimum temp of 250 F. As well as being much bigger, so the meat was well done rather than medium-rare that I usually target, and had a crust after only 5 hours when I got up. I like less salt than most so I gave it 3.5 hours in the brine, which wasn't enough since it was already dried out further than we wanted.
It was rather far from the juiciest steak we've ever eaten. I might need to use a fattier cut than beef eye round (despite it being one of the cuts listed for use).
Will I make it again? I did, using a second beef eye round and starting it in the toaster oven very early in the morning for several rounds of two hours (damn insomnia might as well be useful). This time it cooked for six hours at 210, and was still quite pink (around 135-140). I gave it 4 hours in the brine and it probably could have gone 5 without being over-salty. We both liked it - it made good sandwiches and a beef-topped salad. It tasted much like thin-sliced deli roast beef, and not in a bad way.
Sum up: the higher baking temperature seems to be entirely responsible for what didn't work the first time since the second was virtually identical (other than the longer brine). Good to know.
It might be interesting to try with a boneless venison chunk. Lamb would not work unless very lean - the fat is too waxy when cold. I don't expect we'll repeat this very often, but it might be a good thing to do in the summer for a cold dinner, or for a potluck when we're allowed to have those.
