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[pagesk]

So I was in Costco the other day and they had whole Prime boneless NY strip with a $25 off per package coupon.  My wife and kids have turn their backs on my pellet cooking meat addiction, so I have to portion this and eat it myself.

I was thinking of cold smoking, vacuum packing with some herbs, salt, pepper, etc, and dropping them in the freezer until I want one.  When I decide its steak day I'd pop a bag in the sous vide and then sear it on a cast iron pan or over the fire in my PG500.

I was debating with myself if I should smoke it whole and then portion it or portion it and then smoke, any thoughts?

[hughver]

I like your plan. As for whole or steaks, I would go whole. I've never cold smoked anything other than cheese so I am not sure how long you would cold smoke. My gut feel is that you wouldn't want to keep the meat above 40° for much over 2 hours. Putting the vacuum packed steaks in an ice bath may help.   

[bregent]

I get those all the time. Picked up some for $8/lb a few months ago!  I steak them out and vacuum seal and freeze, and then SV and sear.   Consider removing the vein steak at the end and grind for burgers or chunk for kebabs:  meat-lessons

[hughver]

Thanks for the link, good information.

[Bar-B-Lew]

I would smoke them for a few hours and then fridge and vac seal.

[sleebus.jones]

Definitely smoke whole.

[hughver]

A local grocery store had choice NY bone-in steaks on sale for $3.97/LB., having read this post earlier, I asked if I could buy the whole loin. Results are that I picked up a 17 lb. bone-in roast and am faced with the same pleasant dilemma as psgask. The roast is cryo-vac'ed so I have a bit time to decide.  I have company coming to visit in several weeks so I'm leaning toward dry ageing before I smoke. This site continues to cost me more money.   

[MustangBob]

I get those all the time. Picked up some for $8/lb a few months ago!  I steak them out and vacuum seal and freeze, and then SV and sear.   Consider removing the vein steak at the end and grind for burgers or chunk for kebabs:  meat-lessons

"Most whole striploins will cut on average 10 to 12 regular sized steaks. The final three or four steaks running into the tougher sirloin can be called the 'tissue end.' Until recently, the primary measure to rate the quality of the striploin was by how tender it can be (the other measure and growing in clout is flavor).

That tough connective vein in the 'tissue end' left a huge problem for butchers and meat sellers as to what to do with up to 25% of tough (and costly) beef."

I'm glad to see this 'problem' highlighted.  The exact same issue occurs with Porterhouse steaks since the loin side of a Porterhouse is simply the striploin discussed above. 
As you proceed toward the rear of the steer, the 'filet portion' of a Porterhouse steak becomes larger which makes some people think that is a more desirable Porterhouse steak than the ones with a smaller filet portion.  Not so!!  Even though you do get a larger filet portion, the quality of the striploin muscle degrades toward the rear due to the embedded gristle mentioned above. So there's a trade off between getting a larger filet portion and a degraded strip loin portion.  Best Porterhouse steaks are more 'center cut' with a somewhat smaller than maximum size filet portion (but still larger filet portion than the T-bone filet portion).  Always examine the quality of the strip loin side of a Porterhouse steak and look out for that unwanted embedded line of gristle before deciding to buy it.

[Bar-B-Lew]

I saw Alton Brown explore the porterhouse issue you mentioned.  I don't recall the exact term, but he was able to review a "vein" running through the steak.  The larger that "vein" the tougher the meat was going to be.  I think it was about half way down the steak from the bone running left to right and it ran parallel to that bone.

[bregent]

>The exact same issue occurs with Porterhouse steaks since the loin
>side of a Porterhouse is simply the striploin discussed above. 

Makes sense, great info, thanks.

[hughver]

I cut off the tissue end and trimmed it of all visible fat. The remaining 5 1/2 lb. roast was trussed, seasoned, vacuum packed and put in the refrigerator over night. Now it's time to cook and I've got a couple of questions for the group. My plan is to serve it medium-rare at 6:00 PM, when do I put it in the smoker and at what temperature? Do I sear when it's done? If timing is off, I plan to FTC. Thanks for the help.

[Bentley]

The lower the temperature, the easier the heat is going to be on the meat...i.e. it will be a uniform color through out the whole cut.  The higher the heat, the more internal temperature carry over you will have, but a better exterior crust too.   But if you are going to sear it at the end, you need to decide how much outer layer you are willing to give up, 1/4 inch, 1/2?  Are you planning on searing 4 sides?

[hughver]

Thanks Bentley, I ended up cooking it for ~2.5 hours at 225° to an IT of 130° and I did not sear. After 45 minutes of FTC, It was 133°. It was very good with a little more smoke flavor than I expected.

[sleebus.jones]

Nicely done!  I'm a little late to the party but I do prime rib and other large cuts at 200°.

[pmillen]

   I don't see how that could be improved.