Lipstick on a pig (cow) my first sous vide experience.

[bigfurmn]

My wife’s sister and husband did a sous vide meal for us last summer. I wasn’t impressed with that cook and neither was my wife. Then I see things like Bearcarver does and wonder if maybe I could enjoy doing my (ok Bear’s) way??? I haven’t pulled the trigger on one yet but thinking about it.

 

[chopsaw]

I have a mental block to the fact that more time will not "over do" in sous vide.

You can certainly over do it cooking SV . The time is forgiving within reason . Here's some good info and recipes . He explains what happens , and shows the effects of different times and temps .

Sous Vide Recipes

Fallen in love with the convenience and superior results of sous vide cooking? Keep your precision cooker busy with recipes for sous vide steak, seafood, and more.

www.seriouseats.com

 

[chp]

I must say, to the eye they looked like money, though slightly overcooked for my liking. Upon the slicing into dinner I found the steaks to be tougher than I expected….

I’ve had similar mixed results with cooking steak with SV. However, it has been an amazing tool for dealing with all the leftover smoked meats. The brisket and pulled pork are great and now I don’t need to figure days worth of meals. I just portion, vac seal and freeze what we don’t eat in the first meal.

 

[sandyut]

Just learn to relax in SV cooking. That’s the beauty of it. I’m doing Tri-tip at 132F as long as 6 hours. They are fantastic. And perfect pink doneness.

One of the huge benefits is the meat is a minute from serving at any moment, if you go over or under a few or many no harm is done. It can make meal prep very stress free.

 

[SmokinAl]

I think the biggest hurdle to overcome with SV cooking, is figuring out the times & temps. They are all over the place, so taking good notes for each cook is important. It took me several cooks to get my times & temps right.
Al

 

[Bearcarver]

Yeah, I can relate to that, but you will not overcook by going longer in SV. At some point, the meat will break down and get mushy, but it will still be the same level of doneness. Temp determines doneness, so if you run at 130°, 1 hour, or 5, or 10, will not make it well done.

I can only vouch for the ones I have done, and I can tell you I have not gotten anything "Mushy" by using the following times:
Chuck Roast----131° for up to 50 hours.
Eye Round-----131° for up to 30 hours.
1" thick Steak-----131° for up to 24 hours.

Now I'm not saying you can't do these for shorter times. I have done them for shorter times. All I'm saying is the Maximum numbers above have never given me any "Mushy Meat".

Bear

 

[fxsales1959]

You get rare (or whatever level of doneness) edge to edge, and you can make not so tender steaks into fork tender.

Notice how this steak is the same level of doneness all the way through, vs having different levels of doneness from the edges down through the middle.

View attachment 632840

i have a really pretty 4lb skirt going in the bath for Memorial day fajitas. guide says, 36 hours at 130.
might wish i'd bought a container with a lid. it's going to be a long day and 1/2. My challenge was back counting 36 hours to get the right start time, cause I'm a broadcast engineer not a mathmetician. (or speller)

 

[gmc2003]

Well I'm not a SV'er but those steaks look pretty dang good to me.

Point for sure
Chris

 

[zwiller]

I love my SV but am turned off by the thought of SVing steaks for some reason and I'm a guy that LIKES to over-complicate things. IMO the key to a good steak is a few things but mainly high heat and I mean HIGH. My grill has a 1500F sear burner. That said, SV is still a great tool for things and also use it often for sausage. Agree with the guys that they do LOOK great, but I know looks can be deceiving. I appreciate the honesty.

fxsales1959 I totally want to try SV some skirt! Let us know how it goes. I can tell you guys that if you brine with typical marinades with acid and SV it's a disaster. Totally disintegrates in the bath.

 

[Bearcarver]

i have a really pretty 4lb skirt going in the bath for Memorial day fajitas. guide says, 36 hours at 130.
might wish i'd bought a container with a lid. it's going to be a long day and 1/2. My challenge was back counting 36 hours to get the right start time, cause I'm a broadcast engineer not a mathmetician. (or speller)

Play it safe, and go with 131° or 132°, instead of 130°. Believe it or not, it's much safer. 130° is said to be safe, but not below 130°. I like to give mine a 1 or 2 degree extra.

Never Cook Food Below 130°F (54.4°C) For Longer Than a Few Hours. From a safety standpoint, food cooking at temperatures below 130°F (54.4°C) isn't cooking at all, it's just being warmed.

Bear

 

[fxsales1959]

Play it safe, and go with 131° or 132°, instead of 130°. Believe it or not, it's much safer. 130° is said to be safe, but not below 130°. I like to give mine a 1 or 2 degree extra.

Never Cook Food Below 130°F (54.4°C) For Longer Than a Few Hours. From a safety standpoint, food cooking at temperatures below 130°F (54.4°C) isn't cooking at all, it's just being warmed.

Bear

thank you.

 

[RrmyGuy]

I usually get my ribeyes at least 1 inch to 1-1/2 inches, water bath at 132 for at least 2 hours, no more than 4. sear them up in a hot skillet, baste with butter, thyme and rosemary.

 

[Bearcarver]

I usually get my ribeyes at least 1 inch to 1-1/2 inches, water bath at 132 for at least 2 hours, no more than 4. sear them up in a hot skillet, baste with butter, thyme and rosemary.

Sounds good from here---Got Pics??

Bear

 

[Floriduh]

I get good results and so should you. I would try to wrap towels around that pot. Place some plastic wrap over the top, too. Longer cooks can go inside coolers with minimal modification. Try to keep the water the same temperature by insulating.

Sometimes a rib eye can be a tough rib eye from an inferior cow. Try again. The collagens do soften in the bath. Season only after it comes out of bag. Pat dry and season then sear. All the things you already know to do. Try again you will get good results.

 

[jcam222]

I guess I'd have to try steak prepared that way to appreciate it, or not. I'll stick to the good old caveman style with that wonderful wood smoke and char for now and stay alert for a steak house that uses sous vide, not expecting to find one though.

You’d be surprised how widely Sous vide is used in high end restaurants overall.

 

[DougE]

You’d be surprised how widely Sous vide is used in high end restaurants overall.

Repeatable results is why they do it. That's why every time you order a steak at a restaurant, it's perfectly done.

 

[xbubblehead]

So help me understand how a steakhouse uses Sous Vide on say 6 cuts of steak with 5 possible customer requested temperature ranges when the chef has no idea what orders to expect beyond a historical wild a$$ guess.

 

[Azycray]

Takes 8 to 10 minutes to grill a 1" to 1 1/2" steak to medium rare so how is an hour or more in warm water any improvement, especially if you have to grill it after anyway?

One of the main reasons to use sv is being able to cook evenly throughout the steak. When you cook on a grill, you are using a hotter temp than a finish temp so the closer you get to the outer surface or the further away from the center you get, the more overcooked it gets. Now I'm not saying you can't cook an excellent steak on the grill or over a camp fire for that matter. What I'm saying is sous vide will give you an evenly cooked steak, or minimize the over cooked outer parts of the steak. Then when you sear right before serving, the only part of the steak that is overcooked is 1/8" at most around the perimeter.

 

[Azycray]

So help me understand how a steakhouse uses Sous Vide on say 6 cuts of steak with 5 possible customer requested temperature ranges when the chef has no idea what orders to expect beyond a historical wild a$$ guess.

They probably have 5 different sous vide bath's, one for each cook level. Or maybe just one at rare and finish all on the grill.

 

[pineywoods]

So help me understand how a steakhouse uses Sous Vide on say 6 cuts of steak with 5 possible customer requested temperature ranges when the chef has no idea what orders to expect beyond a historical wild a$$ guess.

My guess would be they all are SV'ed to rare then finished on the grill to desired finished temp.
Steaks on a grill over coals are great but seems it's hard to get the perfect steak every time either you get side tracked and don't flip or take it off exactly when you should have or you get a flare up or the fire isn't the right temp or something happens that keeps you from getting it perfect every time. The sous vide gives you that perfect temp and all it really needs is a quick sear for the visual aspect of a perfect steak. We now sous vide all our steaks and then sear either on the propane grill or cast iron pan on the stove and they come out great pretty much every time