As You Like It

[Frank Young]

Within the last 30 days I have acquired both a Big Green Egg and a Sous Vide appliance. This combination got me thinking about my Father's problem.

He also has a Big Green Egg. His problem is that he likes his steak rare while his wife likes hers well done. They would like both steaks ready at the same time. Getting hers well done simply requires more time on the grill but it gets pretty black on the outside at the 700 ish degrees they both cook at.

What if he threw her steak in a sous vide bath before he cooked both? How long? How hot? Lets presume for the sake of this thought experiment that both steaks are 1½" thick and weigh around a pound.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Set the SV temp at your desired finished temp. 150 for 2 hours will be plenty, then sear on the grill while his cooks normally...JJ

 

[gmc2003]

I'd suggest stop cooking the steaks at netherworld temps and bring them back to earth. Maybe 450*.

Chris

 

[SonnyE]

Netherworld Temps...

 

[Frank Young]

Set the SV temp at your desired finished temp. 150 for 2 hours will be plenty, then sear on the grill while his cooks normally...JJ

Thanks chef jimmyj. This whole thing has also got me thinking about less extreme variations in desired doneness. For instance, my Mother-in-law (Mae) likes medium-well while my wife and I are in the medium camp. I'm wondering aloud if our steaks could be SV at 140 for 90 minutes then pulled. Bath temp could then be raised to 150 for another 30 minutes then all three cooked together?

 

[Frank Young]

I'd suggest stop cooking the steaks at netherworld temps and bring them back to earth. Maybe 450*.

Chris

Thanks Chris. New to the BGE and SV. Thought that, if you wanted to sear the outside quickly without cooking the center more, hotter would be better. Some BGE people have reported dome temps over 1000°F but also report that getting there pretty much uses a whole load of fuel. Since my BGE is new, I've done a Boston Butt and a brisket point so far and never got over 275°F. There is some kind of advice about not running it over 300°F until the gasket adhesive cures or something like that. Seems to me that, after 14 hours of low and slow, I should be "cured" no?