Sous Vide/Sear at the end VS Reverse Sear...?🤔

[Breadhead]

We're going to find out...👍

I bought some extraordinary 2 1/2" thick USDA Prime New York steaks as a birthday gift for my Son. He suggested we do a test with them. One in the Sous Vide bath tub that we will sear right next to the one we are going to reverse sear on his new gasser, just to see which one we prefer. There will be three taste testers, my son, his wife and me. We've all had 100's of really great steak dinners together.

The cook is on! I dry brined both steaks overnight last night. This morning I vacuum sealed 1 of them and added a branch of rosemary from my garden. Then I fired up the SV hot tub to 133.5° and put in the steak at 8:00am this morning. I'm going to leave it in the hot tub until the one on the grill is ready to me seared. I'll remove it from the SV bag and sear them together. We will probably dine at about 7/8pm tonight. I will send pictures and let you know what we all think.👍

[Huskee]

W O W! Nice steaks! I have a feeling it will be a toss up between tenderness (SV) & taste (RS). Each having their own part to play in the orchestra.

[Breadhead]

I think your hunch is correct but we're going to find out.👌

[Huskee]

8pm PST is 10pm CST...The Pit might be down!

[Breadhead]

Hmmm... You might be right.😁 That will just add some drama.👍 Pit members wondering how that cook turned out.🤔

We have to feed the grandkid's first and put them to bed. Then we can finish the cook.👍

[Potkettleblack]

Have seen a few folks do similar tests with mixed results, leading me to think it's really a question of individual preference. I go back and forth... currently thinking reverse sear for thick steaks, and SV for thinner ones.

Will you be doing anything with rosemary on the reverse sear steak to keep the rosemary from being the deciding factor? Not sure how I'd do that, other than putting a wet rosemary branch on top of the steak while cooking it. Not sure that it would do the same thing as it would in the bag.

Any rate, will be curious to see your results.

[Breadhead]

Potkettleblack ...

My assumption is that the 9 or 10 hours in the SV bath tub is going to produce a more tender steak. After the overnight dry brine and vacuum sealing the SV steak with the Rosemary branch I wrapped the other one in plastic wrap with a branch of rosemary. So all should be equal. My son has a store bought rub he really likes on his steaks and I like it too, so that will go on both. Then I will put a compound butter on both after searing them too.

All should be equal except the cooking process.👍

[badf00d]

Good to know with regards to NY strip. I'm headed home to pull a chuck out of the tub after 72 hours at 165°F - pulled beef sandwiches for dinner.

[Breadhead]

Hmmm... I'm not sure what 72 hours does to chuck. SV cooking is VERY forgiving on times. There is a point of deminishing return on long, long times in the bath tub from what I've read in my Modernist Cuisine books regarding sous vide cooking though. Let me know how that comes out.

[Potkettleblack]

I've done shorter runs on short ribs, 24 vs 36 vs 72 and the 72 is my favorite thing there is. I make a red wine maple reduction that wife calls wine candy for them.

I don't care for long runs on tender cuts, but I prefer a firm center like you get with dry age.

[Breadhead]

The cook is done...👍

The SV steak spent 11 hours in the hot tub. My daughter in law missed our dinner.😁 all went well.👍

You know how I cooked the 2 different steaks but I also cooked the best asparagus I've ever eaten.👍 I vacuum packed about 20 strands of asparagus in a bag after I put some extra virgin olive oil on it and sprinkled on some garlic salt. I put it in the hot tub at 185° for 15 minutes and it was soft on the outside and crunchy on the inside, it felt good in my mouth, like no other asparagus ever has.

Earlier in the day I baked a loaf of sourdough bread... For me, a dinner without bread is just NOT gonna happen. Then... Instead of potatoes I made fettuccine Alfredo.👍

My Son's new grill kind of disappointed me. I couldn't get enough direct heat to get the crust I wanted. Next time I'm going to remove the V shaped plate that covers the burner so my steak is over direct flames. I like lots of flames for my searing process.😎

At the end of the day... It was a toss up! My son said Pop's when you go to the Pearly Gates and Jesus say's what have you done for society? He said, shut up, and push my plate in front of him.😆

My son sells, works with, and trains heart surgeon's at the the most prestigious hospitals in California how to use a medical device that can repair a damaged heart value without open heart surgery. He has an unlimited budget to entertain these heart surgeons and frequently takes them to the best steakhouse's in and around Los Angeles, Ca. He said no matter how much he pays at these restaurants... This is the best steak I've ever had. It almost made me cry.😎

However... If I had had my BGE or my Weber & SnS, I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, I could have made it much better.

Huskee ... You were dead right! My son liked the reverse seared one better and I like the Sous Vide with a sear better. The SV one was much more tender and the 133.5° cooking temp was spot on.👍

The pretty pink, bumper to bumper, one is the SV'ed one. Notice that it is taller than the other one that was reversed seared, even though they were both 2 1/2" thick at the start of the cooking process. SV cooking retains the fat, reverse sear burns off the fat. Fat is flavor.😋

[W.A.]

Awesome! I cook asparagus the exact same way now. I like it, but my family likes them more mushy and less crisp.

[Breadhead]

LOL ... Cook them in separate bags.😎. I for 15 minutes. 1 for 30 minutes.🤔 mushy it will be!

[Pork Lord]

That is a beautiful thing!

[PaulstheRibList]

Love the experiment!!

[fzxdoc]

Thanks for chronicling your experiment for us, Breadhead . It was fun to follow along. For all the hundreds of steak meals that you, your son, and your wife have eaten, it sure sounds like high praise for your son to say that this one was the best.

Two questions: What type/brand of grill did you use? What is the commercial rub that your son likes so much?

Congrats and thanks in advance for your answers.

Kathryn

[CeramicChef]

- great post here. Thanks for chronicling your cook(s) here. I appreciate it.

I take a different tact on the SV of steaks, chops, etc. I do a blazing hot sear first, before I ever seal everything up and dunk the meat in the SV. That first sear gives and nice flavor that over the course of the SV permeates the cook. Then when I'm done with the SV, I sear the meat one more time over another blazing hot fire. This gives you the best of both worlds ... great SV tenderness and a wonderful crust and taste.

[Breadhead]

Hmmm... Interesting method. I'll have to give that a go sometime.👍

[Potkettleblack]

I'd be curious to see the cross section of a steak done in this manner. And what the tradeoff is like. I know Dave Arnold recommends this approach, while others do not.

[Breadhead]

fzxdoc ...

The grill is a Lion 36" 4 burner gasser with a IR burner in the back, pointing out, not up. It's a nice grill but I prefer charcoal really. I'm heading over to his place soon, I'll check the name of the rub for you. It really is very good. He buys it at Manhattan Meats in Manhattan Beach, Ca. It's a really fantastic butcher shop that caters to a very affluent crowd, that means they're way over priced.🙄

[fzxdoc]

Thanks, Breadhead, for the info on the grill. Will await the rub info.

K.

[Dr ROK]

, Great cook! I think like you I'd be more inclined to like the SV one. I have seared prior to sealing and after the bath, Chefsteps has a recipe for steak prepared in this fashion, and it was one of the best steaks I've ever had, but it was also my first SV steak, so I think that made a difference too.

[LangInGibsonia]

Worth the $24 premium membership?

[Breadhead]

Lang... Yes! Just like AR's is.👍

[LangInGibsonia]

Thx Breadhead

[Yno]

My Son's new grill kind of disappointed me. I couldn't get enough direct heat to get the crust I wanted. Next time I'm going to remove the V shaped plate that covers the burner so my steak is over direct flames. I like lots of flames for my searing process.😎

I can't remember if you have tried Grill Grates on a gasser, but they can do a heck of a sear. I got a bit distracted once and mine got up to 900 degrees, checked with an IR gun. On the flat side they do a nice all-over brown crust.

[Breadhead]

Brilliant... I have GG's he doesn't. I'm going to order him some now.👍

[bbqstud]

Borrowed a unit today and gonna try SV this weekend...maybe steak and lobster...separately, of course

[Breadhead]

It's the absolute best way to cook lobster... In my humble opinion.👍

[Breadhead]

fzxdoc ...

This is the rub my son really likes on his steaks.