It’s been awhile, but I seem to recall someone recommending unfurling the pinwheels from Costco, but it’s so uneven!
I found this;
…but mine does not look like that.
More like
ETA I’m assuming pan seared, since a real grill is not an option today. Would you try to remove what looks like the silver skin?
On the grill, charcoal preferably, with great attention paid to it!
You sous vide, right?
Sous vide for about 4-5 hours (depending on thickness).
Then get a cast iron past searing hot. Like fucking searing hot. Stick it under the broiler for an hour if you have to.
Then sear the ribeye cap for about 20-30 seconds each side (again, depending on thickness or how well you like your steak done).
Warm a plate in the microwave, plate, and dust with a generous amount of salt and nothing else.
Eat.
Enjoy.
Thank me later.
Thank you, but I don’t think I understand; pieces like the unwound pinwheel in the op, or still in pinwheels?
The unwound pieces vary a lot in thickness.
Also, what temp?
Yes, like your pic above.
This is why you have to pan sear (as opposed to grill) because they are uneven.
As to what temp, 130F for medium rare (which is what I prefer). 140F for medium, 150F for medium well, and 160 for “why bother, just nuke it”
Okay; sorry to belabor this; when you say depending on thickness, where are you measuring?
I like the idea of sous vide; I’ll try the shortest time.
If you take this picture.
The thickness that I am referring to is the depth of the beef, as measured from the bottom of the cutting board to the top of the beef on the other end.
But really, this should be largely academic, as you should be cooking to a temperature point, which should be easy given you are going to be using a sous vide machine, right?
If you want, say, medium rare, set the cook temp to 130F and let the machine go to work.
Once its done (usually 2-3 hours), then take out, let it rest for at least 10 minutes (even pop it in the freezer if you want), then place the side of the beef with the most surface area on the skillet for about 20 seconds, flip, another 15-20 seconds, then, voila, done!
I’ll have to look for those at our Costco. I hope they’re affordable.
I would say that’s width. ‘Depth’ registers as height to me.
This cut is tied into a round for a good reason–even cooking. You wouldn’t pull a skewer from a skirt steak and expect it to cook like a steak, either.
They’re not, don’t bother. $22.95/lb yesterday.
Costco formerly would occasionally drop the price to $14.99 while keeping the de-capped ribeyes higher, but not anymore where I live. Now the caps are always within $1 of the same price.
Has that been your experience? Tied, I don’t think it cooked evenly last time. But then at least in my experience, most steaks don’t unless you add a modicum of technique.
Yes. Because, rolled and tied, it’s not a monolithic puck of meat, different textures can cook differently. But compared with unrolling and then cooking, yes, far more even. The cap is a different muscle, and I think it’s superior in flavor to the true eye.
Okay; thanks.
My memory is I tried pan searing one pinwheeled, and one unwound. Neither “cooked evenly”, as in medium rare from surface to center, but as you say, in both cases, the different textures cooked differently. Both were tasty.
For most steaks, I reverse sear, and I was wondering if sous vide might offer something similar . I believe I have heard your sentiments on sous vide. 
It’s a “rich” piece of meat, so eating just one strip at a time is appealing.
I don’t know if you’re interested in trying this, but the results have been great for me.
Skewer the rolled steak with two perpendicular steel skewers. Bake for an hour in an oven set to 120F. Meanwhile fire up a HALF-full charcoal chimney until the bricks turn grey. Perch the skewered steak atop the chimney, and roast each side 90 seconds.
For the record, I did a St. Patrick’s Day corned beef sous vide this year. Bathed it in its store wrapper in fact. I was concerned it would finish too salty, but it was fine.
Totally get that, but it’s a different experience. One of my very favorite childhood meals was skirt steak that had been rolled, skewered, and cut into pinwheels. I loved unwinding the seared wheel, and comparing the different tastes and textures along what became a ribbon of goodness.
Sounds like a nice project! When I made the OP, a grill wasn’t an option, while sous vide was!
This is why sous vide works here.
The water bath will cook the meat evenly regardless of its shape, as it’s submerged.
The quick sear afterwards is simply to give a nice charred crust and to allow the Maillard reaction to take place.
I also had skirt steak as a childhood treat. It was my mom’s favorite cut of beef to prepare for us when splurging a bit. Nowadays when I want skirt steak I buy hanger steaks, as they’re similar in flavor but I like them even better as they’re often thicker.
Regarding ribeye cap, I cook them two ways. Unroll, remove the silver skin on the inner radius (inner aspect of the cap) using kitchen shears to minimize beef waste.
Cut into 1.5” lengths, place on metal skewers, salt, cook over hot charcoal.
Salt and sear in a lightly oiled hot frying pan, browning on all sides, using the walls and bottom of the pan to sear two sides of each cap simultaneously. Optionally, baste with herbed butter in the frying pan for the last part of the cook.
Ribeye cap is my favorite cut of beef. I always unroll it for two reasons, one to remove the silver skin although you can chew through it without difficulty, and second to sear all sides of each cap. When cooking it in a wheel, too much of it remains unseared. This cut benefits from maximizing the Maillard reaction. It’s marbling and stringy muscle fibers make it forgiving even if cooked a little beyond medium, which to me is worth the trade off to get good browning on all sides.
I like to sear all 4 sides of each unrolled cap. When I do this from raw, the center gets a little more cooked than I like. Therefore I’m concerned searing as hard as I prefer on 4 sides after sous vide would make it even more internally cooked than I prefer. Maybe I should try searing from frozen!
When Costco started to offer ribeye cap, it was one of the best quality of life improvements I could ask for in my adult life. Previous to this I would sort through packaged ribeyes lookin for examples with large cap portions. I would be seriously disappointed if they reverted this decision.
I saw a Netflix special filmed in China that specified a cut of beef neck which they claimed was the most prized part of the cow. I’m not sure how to obtain it in the US but am curious to try.
So will an oven.
The unevenness comes from flat surface heating (grilling, frying, etc) the unwound, different portions at higher heat than you’re planning to serve at.
And frankly, until SV’d food comes to a terminal temperature, it’s uneven, too.
Thanks everyone! I’m hoping my Costco still carries them and I get to try all of your great ideas.
I’m trying pinwheel and sous vide. It’s been “dry brining” for two days 
Re-pinwheeled and vacuum sealed…
Into the bath for 1.5 hours
… based on this article about sous vide ribeye cap
Here’s the recipe, which I found after I re-pinwheeled and sealed the bag. .
I plan to un-wheel it before pan searing.
