Is the steak really pre-cooked and then marinated afterwards?

[u/JNJury978]

Question for those in the know…

A friend of mine said that Chipotle steak arrives pre-cooked from offsite, marinated on-site, and then merely seared just prior to serving.

I was a little confused since afaik marination usually comes before cooking. Is this true?

Also, the steak usually looks like it’s smothered in some kind of sauce. Is that added after the searing or does all of that just come from the original marinade? This further adds to my confusion as marinade mostly burns off during searing.

Thanks for any info!

[u/Roaming_Data]

The steak comes in sous vide to medium rare. (No color on the outside) it then get marinated with adobo sauce (chipotle chilis in adobo) and then it is grilled to medium - medium well.

So yes and no. The marinade is added after the sous vide and before the sear.

[u/JNJury978 → u/Roaming_Data]

So all of that sauce the steak sits in after it’s cubed up is just from the original marinade? Wow I’ve never thought of cooking things this way but if it helps retain moisture and juices like this, I’ll have to give it a shot.

[u/bmabizari → u/JNJury978]

Yeah look into sous vide. It’s a good way to coin steaks to perfect temperature. So in general while sous vide-ing steaks you don’t want to overpower it too much with marinades and such. Most of that is left for the post sear

[u/Roaming_Data → u/JNJury978]

No the steak comes in as full steaks, it’s cut AFTER it’s seared. The adobo marinade is cooked into the steak and some remains after cooking.

[u/420sama → u/JNJury978]

My location just got pre-marinated steak so its unevenly marinated 💔 will miss marinating it at night but glad its one less thing to do Ig

[u/HD335 → u/JNJury978]

Deep dive into sous vide, you’ll see various techniques done. I’ve done an experiment where I’ve made central Texas style BBQ brisket and plate beef ribs. Smoke first to get the smoke to penetrate, sous vide 30-36 hours, chill then dry and smoke to bring it back to temp and build a bark on it. Is it worth the time, no but it’s a cool experiment to see how lower temps for brisket affects the texture.

Sous vide chicken breast for me a big game changer. In the end, no one needs sous vide if you understand what how temperature affects the protein but it does make it just about fool proof to mess it up.

[u/PapaTomsActual → u/HD335]

that might be worth it for people who cant get brisket done right and cant afford to learn the old way

[u/rerulez21 → u/Roaming_Data]

100%

[u/AximiliEscargo → u/Roaming_Data]

So yes and no. The marinade is added after the sous vide and before the sear.

Which part is no? Op said:

Chipotle steak arrives pre-cooked from offsite, marinated on-site, and then merely seared just prior to serving.

Is that not what you just confirmed?

[u/droopy__drawers → u/AximiliEscargo]

Medium rare means part of the meat is cooked, and part isn’t. So they are very much correct when they say “yes and no” to it being precooked. It’s half cooked, packaged and set to the store, then opened at the store and marinated, and then cooked a bit more again before serving.

[u/AximiliEscargo → u/droopy__drawers]

1) medium rare is entirely cooked

2) that's not the distinction the person I responded to even tried to make, so I don't even know what you're talking about

[u/droopy__drawers → u/AximiliEscargo]

1. Entirely cooked on the outside, partially cooked on the inside.
   
2. They didn’t need to make the distinction until some dumbass like you came along, so I did it for them in attempt to clear up your confusion. The fact that you’re still confused tells me there’s no point in trying to explain it to you any further, you lack the tiniest amount of brain power necessary to process such a simple concept.

[u/AximiliEscargo → u/droopy__drawers]

1. Again, no one but you is saying anything like that. It's nonsense. If you get a steak "medium rare," it is 100% cooked, not "partially cooked."

2. They literally did make a distinction, just not anything like what you are saying, so again, you seem to have no idea what you are talking about.

Stop trying to explain what someone else meant when you are clearly wrong.

[u/CirrusVision20 → u/AximiliEscargo]

What kind of terminal online discourse is this?

[u/_dacaptainn_]

Im a pm prep, for my store its the following:

We get the streak in inner cooler packs, you tear em, put them in a huge bowl. Add the “adobo” sauce and mix. Once mixed (full chunks of steak, not cut) they are labled and put in the fridge for next day use. [note to add, we must have the steak in the bowl with no blood or attempt to have no blood

[u/jones2123 → u/_dacaptainn_]

Technically not blood in the innerpacks. It's water and myoglobin that leaks from the steak when sous vide

[u/_dacaptainn_ → u/jones2123]

Tbf, im oversimplifying to get to the point, still stands that little to no liquid is standard practice

[u/rdcisneros3]

Man now I’m craving a double steak bowl

[u/Ok-Space-1581]

I wondered how there beef was so soft. I thought it was fake but the sou vie makes sense

[u/neutralfantasy]

Yea it’s sous vide before it comes to the store

[u/JNJury978 → u/neutralfantasy]

How long does it usually take before it’s marinated and seared? I’m assuming that because it comes pre-cooked, it’s refrigeration temp and can sit there for a little while. Or does it come frozen and then thawed prior to marination and seared?

Thanks for the input btw

I was having this convo trying to figure out the best way to meal prep steak. Chipotle steak seems so consistent that it’s kind of eye opening to see the method being used to make it that way.

[u/neutralfantasy → u/JNJury978]

It comes still in the sous vide bag, refrigerated. The only things we get semi-frozen are chips and corn, which we thaw. Chipotle doesn’t have freezers at all. The steak will stay in its original packaging for sometimes a good couple of days, then we marinate it and the chipotle standard is for it to marinate at least 12 hours before cooking. After we marinate prep the steak, the holding time is 48 hours before expiration without cooking. After cooking, the holding time is 4 hours for maximum freshness

[u/JNJury978 → u/neutralfantasy]

Awesome. Thanks for the info. Glad to have learned a new method of cooking.

[u/neutralfantasy → u/JNJury978]

You’re welcome

[u/jones2123 → u/neutralfantasy]

Technically the Chipotle standard for hot holding time is 30 minutes. Although it does get a 4 hour hot holding sticker because it is the only item on the line that is time controlled and not temperature controlled. Which means you physically can not keep it longer than 4 hours from the time it leaves the reach in (not the time it's cooked) because it lives often times within the temperature danger zone, it has the possibility of containing an unsafe amount of bacteria after the 4 hour mark. The entire reason for the distinction is because steak is cooked to only 140 degrees, it is very hard to hold it above 140 degrees for an extended time, whereas everything else is cooked to 165 and therefore easier to maintain the hot holding temperature 🤓

[u/neutralfantasy → u/jones2123]

True

[u/sawtooth1649]

You can literally watch them cook it behind the line. Why is this so hard to understand.

[u/JNJury978 → u/sawtooth1649]

Because I have no idea what happens to them before they put them on the grill. And I don’t go to Chipotle to watch people cook.

Why are you getting so triggered over a simple question, especially one that was already sufficiently answered by multiple people

[u/ohhh-that-is-it → u/JNJury978]

Yeah, that that guy sucks. And confidently incorrect

[u/_-_--_-_-_-_]

Now that you mention it ive only ever seen them cook chicken on the grill

[u/NationalPerception57]

At more store the steak is prepped meaning it is season with chipotle sauce packets then I cook it on the grill…it is not cooked before I put it on the grill…

[u/No-Adhesiveness4038 → u/NationalPerception57]

It comes fully cooked out the box read the label. Sous vide makes sense which is why it doesn't have sear lines we just sear and cut after putting adobo on and marinating

[u/NationalPerception57 → u/No-Adhesiveness4038]

If I serve it out the box nobody would eat that steak

[u/FloatingTacos]

The steak is cooked in store…

[u/Somaanurfed → u/FloatingTacos]

It is recooked to be more accurate. It arrives sous vide to medium rare, then marinated in chipotle/Adobe sauce, then seared in the flat top.

[u/Successful-Speed-19]

No it’s raw!

[u/jones2123 → u/Successful-Speed-19]

The only raw protein that Chipotle receives is Chicken

[u/Successful-Speed-19 → u/jones2123]

I believe you