Sousvidenoob

[smokenoob]

Well yet again you guys and gals have helped to lighten my wallet. After reading bbqLuv thread on reheating wibs, I went out and bought a Avona Nano at Target. I have some vac packed cooked wibs and pulled pork in the camper freezer and I hit the road next week. So here I am lookin and pushin buttons on this gadget today and thought maybe throw a steak in it tonight just for grins, so let the noob questions begin. I have a vac packed frozen prime sirloin steak I want to cook medium rare tonight. Do I need to thaw it, remove from vac pack, season it, vac pack it, and then sous vide it? Or can I stick the frozen raw vac packed steak in the bath and season it before searing?

It’s about one pound, one inch thick so cooktime from frozen 1-2 hours?
let the fun begin!

[STEbbq]

Just throw it in there frozen with a bit of salt, set it to your desired temp and remove in 1.5 to 2 hours. No need to remove from the vac seal bag, well, if you want to salt it then, yes. Then, add remaining spices and sear tk serve.

[smokenoob]

ok, thats the plan!

[STEbbq]

smokenoob I also think shocking the steak is a good idea. Remove from vac seal after sous vide, dry it off with paper towels, put in freezer bag and then put bag in a bowl of ice water for 30 minutes. This will halt the cooking process at your desired temp, and give you more time to develop that perfect sear.

[jfmorris]

Yep - this is what I would have suggested too.

[GolfGeezer]

You can definitely put it straight into the sous vide water from the freezer. I would go 2 hours at your preferred pre-sear temp (from me, 132* works for med-rare). Take it out of the bag, then season it and let sit for about 15-20 minutes while getting whatever you are using for searing gets to temp. For a 1" thick steak, seasoning just before grilling works just fine.

[smokenoob]

I’m on it, thanks!

[smokenoob]

And awayyyyy we go……

[Draznnl]

Welcome to the modern world.

[smokenoob]

Draznnl Yes, Evidently this was me yesterday.

[STEbbq]

Sous vide really let me deliver the best steaks ever per SWMBO but I still need to dial in my searing process for the color I want. No matter what, your taste buds are in for a good time.👍👍

[tmelosi]

from Chefsteps: https://www.chefsteps.com/activities...ing-here-s-how

[Troutman]

Although we could have a 2 hour debate over this, I prefer to plunge the bag right out of the bath into a bowl of ice water. You need to shock it down to a safe temperature and let it sit while you fire up whatever you're searing on. The reason for this is simple. If you pull it all warm and fuzzy out of the bath and immediately start to sear it, it will keep cooking and over shoot your interior. You're shooting for edge-to-edge medium rare with a nice seared exterior. The immediate sear tends to give you gray banding.

Anyway that's my two cents worth. Take it or leave it but you're wrong if you leave it

[tbob4]

STEbbq - I understand his question. If ice bathed for 30 minutes you end up with a cold steak. Even thought the internal texture will be good, he wants to know how you ensure a hot steak again by either time or temp.

[STEbbq]

tbob4 my experience has been searing it usually takes 3-4 minutes at least to develop that sear and by that time it is already serving temp. The process of getting the sear gets you to temp so I haven’t temped it again. While I have not got the sear I’d like yet, I haven’t had an issue with cold steaks because of the longer time I have had used for searing thus far. But my results are not where’d I like. This way I have more time to figure it out before the meat is over cooked.

[rickgregory]

"my experience has been searing it usually takes 3-4 minutes at least to develop that sear and by that time it is already serving temp."

Your sear temp is too low. A ripping hot cast iron pan for 60 seconds per side should do fine.

[Hulagn1971]

Refrigerated takes an hour minimum, frozen takes 1.5x that so an hour and a half. You are totally fine going longer though. I never ice bath before searing. I pull it from the bath, open it, pat dry and lay it on a wire rack to cool while I get my searing station going. It usually sits for 20-30 minutes on the counter before I sear it. I then apply a little oil to the surface of the meat and sear the hell out of it for color and crust. Have fun!

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

I agree smokenoob, if you bring the temp WAY down, you will have to 'reheat' it while searing. Personally I use a massive torch/flamethrower for searing most often. With this, I don't need to worry about overcooking, because it sears so quickly there's really no time. I think if you pull it out of your vac seal bag, leave it for 5-10 minutes while getting your searing station up to heat - say a cast iron or something, the internal temp will fall slightly while waiting, then if you sear hot and fast you won't have too much to worry about in terms of overcooking.

However, if this is a 1" steak, fairly thin, that is a definite possibility. Shocking in an ice bath isn't a bad idea, and a thin steak will not take long to heat back up to "eating temperature". In short, from my perspective, it all depends on how you plan to sear it.

I will tell you, I have learned over the years doing SV steaks - you want to season slightly more heavily with salt before vac sealing, and don't bother with any seasonings in the bad other than SPG - salt, pepper and garlic powder. Perhaps some thyme if you like, but that's not my preference of flavor on a steak. Most flavors will tend to get diluted in your SV bag, so don't waste your seasonings. Save those for the sear time.

[smokenoob]

The first cook came out just ok. I did the frozen steak in sous vide bath for two hours, then the ice bath for 15 minutes. Removed from vac pack, pat dried, seasoned and onto the IR side burner on the Napoleon for about two minutes, flipping every 30 seconds. The result was a tasty medium rare but not quite up to temp, wife commented it wasn't hot inside, I agreed. So I was thinking….. sear longer or ice bath shorter? Also, it was not brined, thinking that may have helped too…

[shify]

I find the ice bath unnecessary for steaks. I take out of the bath, pat dry thoroughly and then rest of wire rack while I heat up grill or cast iron skillet. The time it takes for either to get up to the crazy hot temps gives the steak enough time to cool down slight and more importantly dry off so you get a good sear without overcooking the inside.

[Dr. Pepper]

smokenoob A close up photo of a couple of slices would help us give advice. If no gray band, and too cool in the center, then simply sear longer. You’d achieve more Malliard flavor and warm the center.

[rickgregory]

Skip the ice bath. Totally unnecessary - even if you end up with a thin gray band... so what? I want my steak at temp because I'm eating it. I don't care how good it looks on Instagram

[STEbbq]

Basically I remove it from the bath, pat dry, ice bath for 30 minutes, season heavily with Char rub, little bit of oil both sides, then sear at 600-700 flipping every 30 seconds until done.

But my searing results haven’t been too consistent yet so I am still tweaking things.

[STEbbq]

My searing goals and good thread overall:

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/the-pit-mastery-program/beef-steak-brisket-roasts-prime-rib-etc/430810-birthday-cook-sear-experiment-usda-prime-ny-strip?p=432651#post432651

[Caffeine88]

This whole conversation is very enlightening.

I've been very happy with flavor and texture after SV and sear, but rarely (😁) happy with the done-ness when served. I did a few high dollar NY Strips for friends a while back, and was kinda embarrassed at how far over they were. The idea of pulling them out of the SV and shocking to stop the cook is brilliant - I couldn't see how to get the sear I want without overdoing.

Definitely doing this next time. My son and his lovely new bride are coming for dinner this weekend, perhaps I now have a menu!

[fzxdoc]

Let us know how it works out for you.

Kathryn