Sous Vide

[djacobox372]

It's the easiest, but far from the best way of cooking a steak.

 

[M4rk]

I want to throw this out there because it has been straight up the most amazing thing I have ever done for meat. The basis of it is that you seal in something you are going to cook in a plastic bag, I use ziploc bags, and cook it in a water bath that is extremely temperature controlled. This isn't boiling meat. The water around the bag is just for temperature control. The bag also traps the juices and marinades the meat if you add into the bag. You can't control it on a stove well enough to do it properly. A steak cooked in 130 F water is very different than 135 F water. You really need 0.5 F +/- control. I started with this using an Instant Pot max but you can get sous vide device that you can clamp onto any container you want to use and it will control the temperature and circulate the water. The concept of the process is to heat up the meat to a temperature that kill bacteria or prevents them from growing without overcooking the meat. Once you are in that range, the longer the meat is cooked at that low temperature the softer it gets. It is easy to get right everytime because you are cooking them so slowly. It isn't like accidently overcooking the meat a bit in a pan or on a grill. Also, the meat is cooked evenly through the whole cut.

Steaks I like rare so I do 1.5 hours at 130 F. I sear them when I am done. I have done them longer but they just get too soft for me to call them steaks anymore. I just use soy sauce, chili sauce, and some garlic and out comes some of the best steaks I have ever had. The only thing that I sometimes have to watch is that it is easy for them too get too salted due to all the juices being trapped in the bag. Soy sauce or whatever goes a lot further than marinating in a bowl.

Now this is the one that blows me away every time. Sous Vide is sometimes called something the upgrades your cuts of meat. This is so true. I will get like a 3 lb slab of chuck roast for $9. So, chuck roast is a tough cut of meat and that is why it is cheap and often put in stews or roasted. Now, if you sous vide it, you can keep it rare and soften it up. I sous vide it for 27 hours at 135 F and it comes out like prime rib. It is soft, red all through it, and juicy with a strong beef flavor. It is really amazing to able to do this with a cheap cut of beef. Anyways, if you get an instant pot or sous vide device, it is one of the best bang per buck spent things I have bought.

I know some of you think I am overselling this but the whole process makes it so easy to get a chunk of meat cooked exactly right every time. Imagine being able to soften up any cut of meat and keep it rare as well, never overcooking it.

I dont want to wait that long for a steak.

 

[minute bull]

 

[StoneColdSteveAustin]

Sous Vide is a great cooking technique. I bought a good one for home use.


The trick is to finish the meat or fish in a very hot pan after the sous vide technique is done cooking. That’s how you get a great crust on the outside which adds a different level of flavor and texture to the meat.


You can cook anything sous vide. Veggies as well.

 

[Jesus X]

we have a running gag on this other mma forum about sous vide.

 

[Jose Beehive]

Is it a good method for cooking anything that isn't meat?

What are the benefits of cooking non-meat products Sous Vide if so?

 

[crabmeat]

The initial barrier is how long it takes, but at least there's an element of being able to walk away.

Maybe it would help to know that the heat isn't as high as you'd think, and the plastic isn't the same kind of plastic that easily deteriorates. Try cooking a steak in the restaurant method to acclimate yourself to the idea of sous vide; low-heat, lots of butter, takes maybe forty minutes.

Essentially it's constantly doing what he's doing at :29:

Low heat, flip it as much as you need, keep spooning butter on it until your preferred level of doneness. This'll be like driving a manual vs automatic (sous vide).

No.

 

[minute bull]

As always, you can take this guy's advice:

No.

 

[DanSavage]

I've used Sous vide for venison tri-tip roast

After cooking in the sous vide, I throw the tri-tip on the grill to brown the outside add sear marks.

Works very well. Very flavorful and texture like prime rib.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

Sticking meat in a bag of water and walking away doesnt sound like any fun at all

To be clear, you don't put water in the bag. Meat goes in the bag. Suck the air out. Bag goes in the water. Cooks with an even temperature all the way around.

Is it a good method for cooking anything that isn't meat?

What are the benefits of cooking non-meat products Sous Vide if so?

Eggs. Dial in the time and temp to your liking.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

Did a 3+ lb. picanha on Tuesday. Couple hours at 125. Then rendered off a cup or so of fat in the skillet and seared the meat side. Fantastic.

 

[Prefect]

I thought about getting one of those things. Do you grill it up a bit or sear it when it's out of the plastic/water? I feel like a steak that's just kind of cooked in water like that would be a bit of weird texture. I like some searing on my steaks.

I sear it at the end. The text is based on how long you cook it. The longer and or high temp, the more the connective tissue breaks down. With the sous vide, you can break down the tissue with time and not overcook it if that makes sense.

 

[Prefect]

Is it a good method for cooking anything that isn't meat?

What are the benefits of cooking non-meat products Sous Vide if so?

You can do vegetables but I find the result isn't at least in my experience better than cooking them traditionally in a pan. Eggs are supposed to be great but I haven't tried it yet. I haven't gotten chicken to turn out to be worth the hassle.

 

[Prefect]

Did a 3+ lb. picanha on Tuesday. Couple hours at 125. Then rendered off a cup or so of fat in the skillet and seared the meat side. Fantastic.

I think something to keep in mind for others is that 125 is as low as you want to go for under 2 hours for beef. At that temp, you risk food poisoning if you go longer and in my opinion should give yourself a little margin for unevenness in heating of the food and error in your temperature reading. 130 F is enough for me. Bacteria doesn't grow fast on cold beef or beef above 130 F. Below that there is a temperature band where bacteria can grow rapidly.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

I think something to keep in mind for others is that 125 is as low as you want to go for under 2 hours for beef. At that temp, you risk food poisoning if you go longer and in my opinion should give yourself a little margin for unevenness in heating of the food and error in your temperature reading. 130 F is enough for me. Bacteria doesn't grow fast on cold beef or beef above 130 F. Below that there is a temperature band where bacteria can grow rapidly.

To each their own, for sure. Normally I go a little higher with other cuts, but this was what the butcher recommended and he was right. Usually I won't eat the fat and with this I gobbled it down.

 

[Mondo Freaks]

Grilling is the only way to cook a steak.

 

[Prefect]

To be clear, you don't put water in the bag. Meat goes in the bag. Suck the air out. Bag goes in the water. Cooks with an even temperature all the way around.




Eggs. Dial in the time and temp to your liking.

To each their own, for sure. Normally I go a little higher with other cuts, but this was what the butcher recommended and he was right. Usually I won't eat the fat and with this I gobbled it down.

I am not calling you out but just saying that temp isn't pasturizing the meat. On some of the other forums, some of the guys get very liberal with cooking temperatures.

 

[BisexualMMA]

To be clear, you don't put water in the bag. Meat goes in the bag. Suck the air out. Bag goes in the water.

Meat goes in the bag. Bag goes in the water. Shark is in the water. Our shark.

 

[crabmeat]

As always, you can take this guy's advice:

The sauce killed it.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

I am not calling you out but just saying that temp isn't pasturizing the meat. On some of the other forums, some of the guys get very liberal with cooking temperatures.

Have at it with the PSA. I don't disagree. As I said, normally I'm more squarely in the medium rare realm.

But since we're discussing it, beef can be eaten raw. What's important is the sourcing. I live in an area known for cattle ranching and this butcher is impeccable.

Meat goes in the bag. Bag goes in the water. Shark is in the water. Our shark.

Glad you caught that, even though I felt compelled to include the part about sucking out the air.