I’m going to try out a couple sous vide steaks for Father’s Day. Does anyone have a go to recipe? I thought there was a thread on this but I couldn’t find it.
Thanks!
Scott
Many here have abandoned SV for steak. I use the SV tenderloin steaks but mostly for the set it and forget it value. What cut and thickness are you thinking? And by recipe are you looking for time & temp or flavoring ideas?
Serious Eats has a detailed article on sous vide steaks that I’ve found quite helpful.
It’s been a while since I did a SV steak, probably because I was disappointed in the results, even with the quick sear at the finish. I am not concerned about eating a rare/medium rare steak the way I might be a chicken breast (and I’m not that worried about that either!). Frankly, I lean toward SV for things like short ribs or other tough cuts/long cooks at low temps. That and soft boiled eggs, carrots and some other stuff.
I just looked at the serious eats site and that’s a great resource. I was mostly wondering if there was a benefit to “marinating” the steak overnight in the bag and serious eats says no 
I was planning on a couple tenderloins and either a strip or a ribeye. For sure some of the attraction is being able to walk away from the steak and not worry if it’s at temp for 30-45 min extra until we are ready to eat.
Part of this is just to take the sous vide out for a spin but I am hoping the steaks are awesome
Why have folks moved away from it? The serious eats site and some of the chef steps videos look terrific.
Thanks for the advice
Scott
Mel why have people abandoned SV for steaks?
I use it for two different reasons. One is the “set it and forget it” referenced above, and the other is to transform the texture. In any case I usually don’t do much more than season with salt and pepper. And if I am SV for a long time I may not do any seasoning at all until right before the sear.
If transforming the texture I will take something like eye of round, that can be a bit tougher, and SV for 24-48 hrs at anywhere from 125-130. It basically comes out with the tenderness of loin.
It’s a bit more elaborate but I also have a recipe where I cold smoke the meat for 1.5-2 hrs, then SV for 24 hrs (and then season with salt before doing the pan sear). Doing so gives it a really great smokey flavor without the smoke being overpowering, but also lets me keep that rare to medium rare profile I prefer.
“Look terrific” being the operative words. Yes, your steak will look perfect, but you cannot see texture. Many of us feel that SV causes a weird and unpleasant texture in steaks - kind of rubbery. I feel that SV is a tool for solving problems, and should be used when conventional methods don’t work well or have issues. I make an absolutely perfect steak using conventional methods. SV not only doesn’t improve, it detracts, in my opinion, from the quality of my eating experience. The benefit of ease does not, to me, make up for what I see as a reduction in quality.
This.
I have probably cooked less than 10 steaks sous vide, but I have never noticed any rubbery characteristics with them. I also don’t do true sous vide as I just put the steaks in a ziploc bag and remove as much air as I can.
With that said have you (or Kenji at the Food Lab) ever blind tasted steaks cooked using conventional methods and sous vide?
You’d have to ask Kenji (whom I respect a great deal) what he’s done, but for me there’s no need to blind taste SV versus conventional. The texture difference is extreme and unquestionable. Some people don’t object to this change in characteristic, and that’s up to them. But many, many, many people notice exactly the same change in texture as I do and therefore choose to eschew SV for steaks. I would love for SV to achieve a better result for steak, as it’s easy and convenient. But it doesn’t bring me acceptable results - in fact, it’s not even close. As for blind tasting, I have no doubt whatsoever that I could tell the difference. I don’t make this claim for wines or other things where I believe label or circumstance can influence taste. In this case, though, they aren’t even close. I don’t need to blind taste raw broccoli versus cooked to know it’s different, or Orange Juice versus Grapefruit Juice. It’s not even vaguely a similar profile. I love sous vide for vegetables, eggs, some fish and can work with it for poultry. But for steak, it’s a fail.
People get all caught up in the notion that sous vide cooking means you’re cool and gourmet. They think they should throw everything in the circulator believing it will undoubtedly produce superior results, and make them more like famous chefs on TV. But it’s not the right tool for every job. I have a range top, an oven, a steam oven, a microwave, three different SV rigs, two grills, a dedicated wok burner, a pizza oven and a smoker. Why? OK, because we’re a little crazy. But also because each one does something the others can’t do as well.
It’s patently false to argue that different methods of cooking don’t yield different results. A roasted vegetable is different from a steamed vegetable. A braised chicken thigh is different from a grilled chicken thigh. You choose your method based on your desired results, and your personal tastes. It makes no sense to think that the way you cook something won’t impact its texture, taste, appearance etc. So, while I have no argument with those who don’t object to the texture of sous vide steak - your opinion differs from mine, that makes the world interesting - I do take issue with the assertion that a sous vide steak is identical to a grilled one.
I did go back and re-read his guide to SV steak. He mentions two scenarios where the texture is adversely affected: pre-salting the steak and too much time left in the water bath. I also e-mailed him and asked him about the texture, FWIW.
Also, I did not ask that question as to say you are wrong. 90% of my uses of the sous vide machine are not for steak. I like to cook eggs in it, chicken, some cuts of pork, chicken, so don’t take this as an attack. I mostly use it as a machine to pasteurize at temperatures that generally aren’t safe to consume. Just curious as I am somewhat new to sous-vide (~2 years).
Well, I can’t say I felt particularly cool, but we did fire up two prime rib eyes and two prime tenderloins
We sous vide (? Sous vided) them for about 45-60 min at 133 which I read = medium rare. Then seared in a cast iron pan and basted with butter.
They were both very, very good, but the ribeye was phenomenal. I’ve got a couple recipes to make ribeye w/o sous vide, and this was better.
The steaks were about 2 inches thick and they were more tender than I’m used to but I can’t say if that was the thickness or the technique. We salted right before they went in the bucket of water.
I was impressed with the steaks for whatever that is worth
Scott
P.S. We also used the sous vide to cook some chicken which we then turned into fried chicken. This was terrific too. Cooked all the way thru and perfectly cooked breading – no burning.
Yum.
Scott
I’m happy to sous vide both tenderloin and NY Strip, but won’t sous vide the more fatty cuts (so ribeye or rib cap roll or anything kobe/wagyu). I find the sous vide doesn’t get enough of the fat melted, need more grilling time.
I’ve never noticed a texture issue, but I never pre-salt or leave in more than 4 hours.
Thanks all for the feedback regarding pitfalls of using SV to cook steak. It’s a interesting angle I hadn’t really thought about in that whenever I get a “nice” steak - a great ribeye, strip, loin, etc from a quality purveyor, I either grill or pan sear and finish in the oven. My use of SV for steaks is more around “marginal” types of cuts that may benefit from a transformation in texture that occur at longer cook times, so I haven’t run into this issue yet.
This is similar to my experience. I was happy with sous vide for my steaks for a while (though I didn’t find it superior to more traditional methods it was convenient) but the first time I tried it with a really well marbled piece of prime meat it was disappointing. I’ve had that experience pretty consistently since then so I’ve mostly stopped using it.
I still love it for chicken, eggs, and various other uses.