So, having made the progression to a reverse seared steak, ( and major impressed with the results) I have become aware, but somewhat skeptical of Sous Vide steak preparation.
Intrigued? Yes. convinced? Not yet.
Has anyone gone down this culinary rabbit hole that can provide advice?
Try the beer cooler method before you go buy a machine.
I've been working on a circulator off and on for a while. Mostly off, I really should go back to that project. But As long as you can keep your water temp consistent, you can't overcook anything.
Don't be afraid to include butter or onions with your steak in the bag.
Dadcooksdinner.com has some great recipes, and a very good explanation/how to for the beer cooler method as well.
Watching this thread with great interest, as is Margie I'm sure. We've had many an IM chat about sous vide and which of us is going to make the plunge first. And work. Lots of work stuff, too.
If Sous vide is better than reverse sear, then I gotta go try.
Funny thing...I Have been using Anova Devices at work for the last two years as a precision water-bath heater; much cheaper than the lab grade versions and just as good for temperature control.
I had no idea what their real purpose was.
Just pulled one out of service because it shuts off every 5-7 hours and my test run 60 days.
I see an opportunity.
I will also add, for larger steaks and cuts of meat especially, set your temperature a little low, and finish with a good sear on the grill. Lets you get the best of both worlds.
What I don't get is the timing and the temperature. When I do a reverse sear using the oven, I have a meat thermometer that tells me when the steak hits 120 and is ready to come out.
With the Sous Vide, you cant tell what the temp of the meat is. Do you just go until it reaches the water temp? Is that why you cant overcook the steak cause the water is only 130 or so?
Yes, I am watching this with great interest. Talked to a guy at a bar (you know, the gold standard for intel) after I overheard him trying to tell his obviously uninterested date about the sous vide he'd been doing. (Yeah, I crashed his date to have a lively cooking conversation. Not my business, but girlfriend better step up her interest in the craft.)
Anyway, supposedly you can't overcook meat because it gets to 130 or whatever and never goes above. It stays exactly there.
Date dude said he cooks to desired steak temp, lets it hang out while he does stuff, then he throws it in a scorching cast iron pan for a sear.
Biggest revelation from this guy, to me at least, was the existence of stuff like the anova insert. As others have mentioned, you can use your own cooler or whatever with this heater/circulator probe thing: Here's one on Amazon for $129.
Oops, I bought it. Will update thread when I have more info.
Margie
Sprinkle the steaks evenly with the salt and pepper. Put each steak in a small (quart) vacuum pouch, and vacuum seal the bag. (At this point, the steaks can be refrigerated for three days, or frozen for months.) When you are ready to cook, set the sous vide to 131°F/55°C for medium-rare. (125°F/51.5°C for rare, 136°F/58°C for medium-rare, 141°F/60.5°C for medium well.) Drop the steaks in the sous vide, and cook for at least 1 hour (1 1/2 hours for frozen), up to 4 hours.
You can also make booze sous vide style
My setup is pretty basic even for grm,and but the results have been promising so far. Depending on the mood the child is in this week, I'll try to do a cook and write up. As part of my website relaunch, I will be spending a bit of time experimenting with it over the winter, so I'll keep this thread updated as I do.
Edit to add: you can also reverse sear on the grill with proper thermometers and a charcoal chimney. Useful for those really big steaks,and like a cowboy ribeye or a porterhouse.
Marjorie Suddard wrote: Yes, I am watching this with great interest. Talked to a guy at a bar (you know, the gold standard for intel) after I overheard him trying to tell his obviously uninterested date about the sous vide he'd been doing. (Yeah, I crashed his date to have a lively cooking conversation. Not my business, but girlfriend better step up her interest in the craft.) Anyway, supposedly you can't overcook meat because it gets to 130 or whatever and never goes above. It stays exactly there. Date dude said he cooks to desired steak temp, lets it hang out while he does stuff, then he throws it in a scorching cast iron pan for a sear. Biggest revelation from this guy, to me at least, was the existence of stuff like the anova insert. As others have mentioned, you can use your own cooler or whatever with this heater/circulator probe thing: Here's one on Amazon for $129. Oops, I bought it. Will update thread when I have more info. Margie
On-going proof that as my wife says...." Pete, you are not entirely useless, you can be used as both a bad influence and example"
Now go try that thing out on a nice 2 bone prime rib steak and let me know how it comes out.
Your wife sounds like a wise lady. Had already been eyeing the thing on Amazon; your thread was the tipping point.
If you have a crockpot, $10, and a soldering iron, you can make your own controller.
I vaguely followed these instructions - INSTRUCTABLES LINK
and regularly Sous Vide Steak and occasionally eggs with it. Works REALLY well and if you're cheap like me and just want to try it out, what do you have to lose?
I use an induction cooker instead of a sous vide machine. you can set the precise temp and mine has a timer. I sear the meat with a blow torch. As far as sealing I use Ziploc bags not a vacuum sealer Induction cookers are inexpensive btw.
In reply to Autolex:
I wasn't interested in this until I saw soldering iron. I like soldering. Maybe I can mix two hobbies: soldering and cooking! Throw in a blow torch and I think you guys have improved cooking a lot.
In reply to Autolex:
Does that seem like something you'd be comfortable leaving on while you're not home? If I could come home from work to an almost done meal I may be interested in trying this out.
NOHOME wrote: With the Sous Vide, you cant tell what the temp of the meat is. Do you just go until it reaches the water temp? Is that why you cant overcook the steak cause the water is only 130 or so?
I use Ziploc bags, so I can open them temperature probe them and reseal. I usually use the thickest cut as my gauge for the rest of them.
In reply to Autolex:
If you have an electric pressure cooker, you can take the pressure valve out entirely, and run it on warm. Stays at 140F, and won't build pressure with the valve removed. Should have a stay warm feature that will let it run up to 24 hours.
That may vary by brand, but both of mine (cheap ones from Aldi) stay right around there. It's a little high for steak, but great for seafood/chicken/ribs.
I guy I served with in the Navy is the VP for Operations at Sansaire. That is all I know about cooking steaks in submerged plastic bags.
In reply to Autolex:
Came here to say PID controllers are CHEAP these days. I will need to make one soon, I have seen those little electric water boil coils used as well.
Wall-e wrote: Does that seem like something you'd be comfortable leaving on while you're not home? If I could come home from work to an almost done meal I may be interested in trying this out.
If you're comfortable leaving a crock pot on all day, then i see no reason why a temperature controller (to make it run cooler than the lowest setting) would be any different.
That being said, i don't know how long you're at work, but a 9h sous-vided steak would have the consistency of wet toilet paper... (shoot for 2h-ish)
RevRico wrote: In reply to Autolex: If you have an electric pressure cooker, you can take the pressure valve out entirely, and run it on warm. Stays at 140F, and won't build pressure with the valve removed. Should have a stay warm feature that will let it run up to 24 hours. That may vary by brand, but both of mine (cheap ones from Aldi) stay right around there. It's a little high for steak, but great for seafood/chicken/ribs.
The PID controller linked above is a LOT more granular... the cook temperatures between rare and well done vary only 5-8°F for red meat. (123-130ish) I wanted a thermocouple controlled one to ensure accuracy (and it really was only $9 shipped from ebay). I have no issues setting mine at 124°F and going to Menards for an hour or two and coming home and it's within 0.5° of set point.
It's also neat because it doesn't modify the crock pot at all. Plug PID controller into wall, plug crock pot into PID Controller, fill crock pot with water, drop in thermal probe and food. Wait.
And because I tend to go too far on any good idea, I had a thought...
When I owned a brewery, I used a two temperature step when doing a mash. I would bring the mash up to a temperature that was below the final mash, then let it sit for a while and then raise to the final mash temperature for the recipe. The idea was that certain enzyme/starch reactions worked better at one temperature, and others at a higher temperature.
This work for meat? Say cook to 110 for an hour and raise the temp to 125 for the final cook then sear?
NOHOME wrote: And because I tend to go too far on any good idea, I had a thought... When I owned a brewery, I used a two temperature step when doing a mash. I would bring the mash up to a temperature that was below the final mash, then let it sit for a while and then raise to the final mash temperature for the recipe. The idea was that certain enzyme/starch reactions worked better at one temperature, and others at a higher temperature. This work for meat? Say cook to 110 for an hour and raise the temp to 125 for the final cook then sear?
Sounds like you need to try it for us and report back!
there are quite a few sous-vide threads and blogs out there, most of them are dead convinced that all you're doing is liquefying the fat and tenderizing the meat by getting it to a setpoint, then using a torch or a hot cast iron pan to crust the outside.
Whoever is right, the outcome is still mighty tasty!
I have an Anova. I use a small file folder container to cook in.
Pork roasts come out great. Brisket is heavenly medium rare, 131F for 48-72 hours.
After cooking, pat the meat dry with paper towels and get a good (but quick) sear on it.
I use the exact same controller to make yogurt in my crockpot. And no soldering needed.
Here is the thread about it.
In reply to Autolex
I was thinking if I set it up in the morning with a timer it could start cooking I the afternoon and when I got home it would be almost ready.
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