1st Sous Vide Porterhouse

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baseballguy99

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Jan 1, 2017
109
55
Red Bud, IL
I have cooked different kinds of steaks with my Anova and on the grill, but have never cooked a porterhouse. I was digging around in the freezer the other day and pulled out a package of 2 steaks (We get a 1/4 of beef every year from my wife’s parents).

I thawed them out just enough to separate them. Put a little coarse sea salt on them and vacuum sealed them individually. From previous cooks, I have learned to leave the pepper and garlic powder off until after the sear and they wont smoke near as bad.

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They then went into a 135 degree waterbath (my wife likes hers a little over “medium”) for about 2 hours.

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I then pulled them out for a quick sear in the cast iron skillet with a little avacado oil (500 degree smoke point), and basted with a little butter.

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After the sear I added a little black pepper and garlic powder.

Here is a shot of the strip side (sorry no picture of the filet side...it was gone in about 2.5 seconds)

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The flavor was outstanding! The filet side was fork tender, the strip side a little more tough but still very tender!

My favorite steak still remains the ribeye, but porterhouse is a close second!
 
Hard to argue with those results. Very nice.

Are you happy with the Anova? I've been studying them for a while. Probably going to pull the trigger soon.

Did you get the higher powered unit?
 
So far I am very pleased with the Anova. It is the Bluetooth model so I believe it is only the 800 watt model (I bought it from a family member who got it about 2 years ago). Our water comes out at 140-143 degrees so I don’t have much problems with getting up to temp.
 
Our water comes out at 140-143 degrees so I don’t have much problems with getting up to temp.
Oh.. hope the kid doesn't get burned accidentally. That's kinda hot for tap water to be.. Bathtub too? Wow! Mine is 130.. very hot to me.. :)
 
Man, that looks good! My problem is searing without setting off the smoke alarm LOL! We've found that an electric grill works if I don't feel like firing up a grill just to sear. The Mrs likes hers a little more done than me, so I set it to 130 and she can sear hers a little longer to get it done to her taste and mine's not too done. Salt & Pepper in the bag is all we do.
I have the same 800 watt Anova and it does just fine. It struggles a bit at higher temps, like for vegetables, but it handles 6 gallons in a cooler mod for 20 to 30 hours at 140 OK. I'm hooked :-)
Our water heater is set for 120 and that burns. I can't imagine 140.
 
Do you use oil when you are searing? I used to use olive oil or canola oil and it would smoke like crazy! Since switching to avacado oil the smoke is almost non existent.

Also try adding the pepper after you sear. I have read that pepper and garlic powder burn very easily.
 
So far I am very pleased with the Anova. It is the Bluetooth model so I believe it is only the 800 watt model (I bought it from a family member who got it about 2 years ago). Our water comes out at 140-143 degrees so I don’t have much problems with getting up to temp.

Thank's. I appreciate the info.
 
Baseballguy99, The steaks look fantastic! Porterhouse is an interesting cut that we don’t hear a lot about now. We like our water hot also but we are at about 134 degrees out of the tap. I can’t fathom how hot 140 degrees must be. Cooking a lot of things Sous Vide you will be adding cold water to the mix.

Weedeater
 
Ya our hot water heater is very touchy, if I turn the dial on it down just a little then it cools down too much for my wife! So I just leave it cranked all the way up.
 
Good Looking Steak. Throw a chuck roast in next time at 130° for 20 hours. Turns it into a filet. Good chefsteps for some good sous vide time/temps and recipes.
 
I actually did a chuck roast last Thursday into Friday. 133 degrees for 23 hours. It was not very tender and not much flavor at all. I tried to keep it simple, only using salt/pepper/garlic powder/small amount of Worcestershire sauce.

I ended up just cubing it up to use as stew meat. I will probably give it another go just to make sure it wasn’t that particular roast.
 
I heated up some garlic and rosemary and threw it into the bag with the roast. I wouldn't say mine came out juicy, but it was extremely tender and had decent flavor. Made a great Au Jus from it also.
 
I actually did a chuck roast last Thursday into Friday. 133 degrees for 23 hours. It was not very tender and not much flavor at all. I tried to keep it simple, only using salt/pepper/garlic powder/small amount of Worcestershire sauce.

I ended up just cubing it up to use as stew meat. I will probably give it another go just to make sure it wasn’t that particular roast.


Your Porterhouse looks Great !!---Like.
I was thinking about doing a Porterhouse, because the ones I get around here are so tough.

As for Chuck Roast---The best thing I ever SV'd was a Chucky, at 133° for 21 hours. Tender & Juicy & Pink all the way through. Here it is: Another Awesome Chucky

BTW: 140° is awful hot for residential water, without reducers at Tubs & showers. I keep mine at 118°.

Bear
 
I actually did a chuck roast last Thursday into Friday. 133 degrees for 23 hours. It was not very tender and not much flavor at all. I tried to keep it simple, only using salt/pepper/garlic powder/small amount of Worcestershire sauce.

I ended up just cubing it up to use as stew meat. I will probably give it another go just to make sure it wasn’t that particular roast.
Yeah, I've notice chuckies can be a gamble. Cook them the same exact way twice and they may come out differently. I've only done one with the SV. Smoking and foiling like a brisket has worked out best for me.
 
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