Was gonna grill some steaks the other night and I decided to give something else a try I'd learned about over a year ago - sous vide.
Sous vide (for those who don't want to click the link or Google it) is the method of cooking foods (primarily meat, but others are fine, too) in hot water, low and slow, while sealed in plastic. I borrowed a vacuum sealer and sealed up some seasoned steaks. Just salt, pepper, and some garlic powder - I was out of fresh garlic.
On mine, I think I threw on a little Tony Chachere's cajun seasoning, as well.
Anyways, you seal 'em up and throw 'em in a pot of water that you can keep at a constant temp for however long you want. There are commercial units out there that circulate the water and heat it with a computer-controlled element in the bottom, if you wanna spend the money. There are some really nice setups out there and they are pretty darn easy - set the temp, drop in the sealed bags of food and walk the hell away. For however-many hours you need. The steaks will get to temp in about 40 minutes to an hour but can sit in the water bath for many hours without problem and never be overcooked. They will turn to mush, I am sure if you leave them for 12-18 hours, especially at the higher temps. 130ish degrees for medium-rare, 150ish for medium-well.
Just some notes I learned in my homemade sous vide cookers.
I didn't have a commercial one, and I was gonna be cooking to 2 different temps - one for me and the elderly neighbor lady, one for my wife and son. I have only an electric cooktop, so I knew the burners kicking on and off could give me some fluctuations in water temperature. So I got 2 deep pots and filled them 2/3 with hot water and set them on top of two cast iron skillets, which were actually in contact with the burners. I think this worked well to even out the heat a bit and I got good results, once I got the correct dial settings for each pot - one for med-rare, one for med-well. I used my BBQ thermometer to test the waters periodically. I had to hold the probe only in the water, since the cables can't get wet, but since the water temp isn't boiling or even close, it's no big deal. You can put your fingers into the 130-degree water for a short period without problem.
So, that's what I did... let 'em sit in the bath for about an hour, maybe a little more. Now, one thing to note - the steaks were falling-apart tender when I took them out of the bags. Supposedly this method is great for tougher cuts like flank steak, maybe tri-tip? I dunno. Super tender cuts don't NEED sous vide to be tender, but my ribeyes were practically falling apart. Even mine, which was close to 1 1/2 inches thick, was totally, completely and perfectly cooked medium-rare all the way through without even the slightest bit of brown-ness at the edges. When I pulled them out of the water, I turned the heat up on the cast iron skillets and threw a quick sear on them - just a minute or two on each side. And they were PERFECT. AMAZINGLY PERFECT! I did have to sear the edges on mine, as well, as I hadn't trimmed all the ribeye edge-fat off. They do NOT look appetizing coming out of the bags, kinda grayish-brown and really look like boiled meat - not good! But a quick sear in the skillet (some people use a blow-torch) and they look for all the world like a perfectly-cooked flat-iron steak. I think next time I'll do a cheaper, tougher cut and see how it goes. Flank steak or sirloin would be great for this method. I will also likely go a little bit heavier on the seasoning than usual. The texture, temperature and done-ness were perfect, but I want a bit more seasoning on them next time - since they didn't pick up any flavor from the grilling process like usual. But certainly no need to spend money on high-dollar cuts to get some nice tender steak - the cheaper stuff will be fine and should come out wonderfully! I'm actually thinking this would be great for a large batch of fajita meat - low-maintenance and super-tender!
Anyways, that's my latest experimentation in the cooking field. Home-cobbled sous vide ribeyes. Big thumbs up. A few tweaks to add for next time, but man, I couldn't believe how easy it was to get them perfectly cooked to whatever temp we chose. And you can let them sit in that bath for several hours while you get other things ready if you're having people over with NO fear of overcooking. Awesome! The only downside I see is that it was a bit labor-intensive to get the steaks seasoned and individually sealed into their own bags, and the water to the right temps, but once you're there and stable, it stays that way and can simply be spot-checked.
The color of the med-well still looked a good bit pink/red, but the texture and flavor was spot-on, my wife said... same for my "medium-rare" - so just be prepared for a slightly redder appearance than you may be used to from your particular preferred temp. I think I'll go a bit hotter with mine next time if it's a ribeye - it's such a soft cut already, it could handle a little higher temp, as it's so tender I barely needed a knife. And EXTREMELY juicy, even the hotter-cooked ones.
I know several of the other guys here have done this, too, I just thought I'd give my experiences in a quick write-up.
For the TL;DR guys - sous vide - "boiled steaks" - perfectly cooked and perfectly seasoned. Awesomeness!
Sous vide (for those who don't want to click the link or Google it) is the method of cooking foods (primarily meat, but others are fine, too) in hot water, low and slow, while sealed in plastic. I borrowed a vacuum sealer and sealed up some seasoned steaks. Just salt, pepper, and some garlic powder - I was out of fresh garlic.
On mine, I think I threw on a little Tony Chachere's cajun seasoning, as well.Anyways, you seal 'em up and throw 'em in a pot of water that you can keep at a constant temp for however long you want. There are commercial units out there that circulate the water and heat it with a computer-controlled element in the bottom, if you wanna spend the money. There are some really nice setups out there and they are pretty darn easy - set the temp, drop in the sealed bags of food and walk the hell away. For however-many hours you need. The steaks will get to temp in about 40 minutes to an hour but can sit in the water bath for many hours without problem and never be overcooked. They will turn to mush, I am sure if you leave them for 12-18 hours, especially at the higher temps. 130ish degrees for medium-rare, 150ish for medium-well.
Just some notes I learned in my homemade sous vide cookers.
I didn't have a commercial one, and I was gonna be cooking to 2 different temps - one for me and the elderly neighbor lady, one for my wife and son. I have only an electric cooktop, so I knew the burners kicking on and off could give me some fluctuations in water temperature. So I got 2 deep pots and filled them 2/3 with hot water and set them on top of two cast iron skillets, which were actually in contact with the burners. I think this worked well to even out the heat a bit and I got good results, once I got the correct dial settings for each pot - one for med-rare, one for med-well. I used my BBQ thermometer to test the waters periodically. I had to hold the probe only in the water, since the cables can't get wet, but since the water temp isn't boiling or even close, it's no big deal. You can put your fingers into the 130-degree water for a short period without problem.
So, that's what I did... let 'em sit in the bath for about an hour, maybe a little more. Now, one thing to note - the steaks were falling-apart tender when I took them out of the bags. Supposedly this method is great for tougher cuts like flank steak, maybe tri-tip? I dunno. Super tender cuts don't NEED sous vide to be tender, but my ribeyes were practically falling apart. Even mine, which was close to 1 1/2 inches thick, was totally, completely and perfectly cooked medium-rare all the way through without even the slightest bit of brown-ness at the edges. When I pulled them out of the water, I turned the heat up on the cast iron skillets and threw a quick sear on them - just a minute or two on each side. And they were PERFECT. AMAZINGLY PERFECT! I did have to sear the edges on mine, as well, as I hadn't trimmed all the ribeye edge-fat off. They do NOT look appetizing coming out of the bags, kinda grayish-brown and really look like boiled meat - not good! But a quick sear in the skillet (some people use a blow-torch) and they look for all the world like a perfectly-cooked flat-iron steak. I think next time I'll do a cheaper, tougher cut and see how it goes. Flank steak or sirloin would be great for this method. I will also likely go a little bit heavier on the seasoning than usual. The texture, temperature and done-ness were perfect, but I want a bit more seasoning on them next time - since they didn't pick up any flavor from the grilling process like usual. But certainly no need to spend money on high-dollar cuts to get some nice tender steak - the cheaper stuff will be fine and should come out wonderfully! I'm actually thinking this would be great for a large batch of fajita meat - low-maintenance and super-tender!
Anyways, that's my latest experimentation in the cooking field. Home-cobbled sous vide ribeyes. Big thumbs up. A few tweaks to add for next time, but man, I couldn't believe how easy it was to get them perfectly cooked to whatever temp we chose. And you can let them sit in that bath for several hours while you get other things ready if you're having people over with NO fear of overcooking. Awesome! The only downside I see is that it was a bit labor-intensive to get the steaks seasoned and individually sealed into their own bags, and the water to the right temps, but once you're there and stable, it stays that way and can simply be spot-checked.
The color of the med-well still looked a good bit pink/red, but the texture and flavor was spot-on, my wife said... same for my "medium-rare" - so just be prepared for a slightly redder appearance than you may be used to from your particular preferred temp. I think I'll go a bit hotter with mine next time if it's a ribeye - it's such a soft cut already, it could handle a little higher temp, as it's so tender I barely needed a knife. And EXTREMELY juicy, even the hotter-cooked ones.
I know several of the other guys here have done this, too, I just thought I'd give my experiences in a quick write-up.
For the TL;DR guys - sous vide - "boiled steaks" - perfectly cooked and perfectly seasoned. Awesomeness!
I've eaten it cooked this way, but have yet to cook it myself. I'm torn between this and the grill.
