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My first Sous Vide experience

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    My first Sous Vide experience

    I finally decided to try Sous Vide. In classic "me" fashion I also decided to try it with my first dry-aged steak. (I'm also trying the Umai dry aging bag, but I couldn't wait, so I bought two dry-aged ribeyes from our local meat shop @ $39.99/lb. (Tip Top Meats in Carlsbad, CA.). So $72 later I had two steaks to use for my first time. Big gamble, but it's how I roll.

    I bought the Gourmia GSV140 for $99 at BB & Beyond. I also have a FoodSaver (for the Umai system) so I put each steak in its own sealed bag w/some thyme and a smushed garlic clove, then sealed the bag.

    Had a little trouble figuring out programming of the GSV140 w/o reading the manual. So I had to.... read the manual.

    Cooked to 135' for 2 hours. Steaks came out of the packages looking "weird." I would describe it as sickly-looking. LOL. You really need to sear it for it to look right. (Which was in the recipe, of course.)

    I seared in a mixture of canola and butter in a cast-iron skillet, and torching each side after the flip. Not sure I would do the torching next time. Although my flame was blue, I'm not convinced I didn't have an after taste from that.

    Steaks were perfectly cooked to the low side of medium. The key in sous vide (as I read) is you need THICK steaks. Because otherwise the sear will cook the middle too much. At least 1.5", preferably 2"

    Sorry, no pics of the finished product. The whole process was quite intense and forgot that part. I do have a pic of the two bags in the pot. Note I'm cooking on the counter.
    Attached Files
    Last edited by wcpreston; December 3, 2018, 01:25 PM.

    #2
    I'm looking forward to getting all my sous vide equipment in a couple weeks. Thanks for the tip on thickness.

    Is the pig still outside the liquor store on PCH & Elm, out on the sidewalk? When I was stationed at Pendleton that store was a hand-me-down weekend job. My daughter had just been born (Children's Hospital in Long Beach), and I was the one that got the job, for extra money. I worked there almost 2 years. It was given to another Navy guy when I transferred out. And, I used to surf warm-water (Tamarack).

    That pig was stolen once. It was a big deal - it had been there since the 60's. Somehow it was found.

    The place has probably changed a lot now that it's 'Carlsbad Village Dr.' - lah dee dah. I miss the neighborhood. Lived in Leucadia when I got out - 25 years.

    Comment


      #3
      So I have had a fair bit of practice with my Sous Vide and red meat. I have cooked filets, striploin, ribeyes you name it and had no issues with overcooking no matter the thickness of the steak. I have even done extended cooks on flank steak that comes in at just over a 1/2 inch thick. Once seared alwasy a beautiful medium rare. The trick is searing with as high a heat as you can manage and not for very long. I have a slab of soapstone about 3/4 of an inch thick, I pre-heat for a minimum of twenty minutes and my sear time is about a minute on the first side and 90 seconds on the second.

      Comment


      • Dr ROK
        Dr ROK commented
        Editing a comment
        What Dave said.

      #4
      I'm with Davek8282 in the screaming hot sear station, be it cast iron, GrillGrates (personal favorite) or a very hot fire. I de-bag, pat then air dry for 15-20 mins, rub with avocado oil, re-season and let it fly for a minute or so each side. I check for crust formation as a guide for pulling. You're going to enjoy SV cooking.

      Comment


      • T-bone
        T-bone commented
        Editing a comment
        Definitely agree with Davek8282 & CaptainMike. Also, patting dry is a key step that will definitely improve the sear.

      #5
      Where do you heat your soap stone

      Comment


      • Steve B
        Steve B commented
        Editing a comment
        Davek8282
        Just helping out wcpreston When you want to ask or comment to a specific person.
        Use @ and their name exactly as it appears just like I did here. Than they will get the notification and can respond. 👍👍

      • Davek8282
        Davek8282 commented
        Editing a comment
        I use my gasser to heat the soapstone. I have also used grill grates on charcoal and I have a small fan powered wood burner called a Cook-Air that hits some pretty incredible temps. I always fall back on the gasser and soapstone as its easy.

      #6
      I've had good succes with red meat. The one step I add is an ice bath for about 15 minutes prior to the sear. No chance for it getting past your desired internal target temp. It has worked for me.

      Comment


      • treesmacker
        treesmacker commented
        Editing a comment
        Similarly, I read to air dry in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes before the sear. if possible, stand the meat on edge and hit both sides with the cool air. I did this on my first steak and followed with sear on grill grates and it came out beautiful.

      • wcpreston
        wcpreston commented
        Editing a comment
        RichieB That just sounds weird to me. Bring it to 135, then chill it, then cook it again? That just seems odd. Is this a common sous vide practice?

      #7
      I have not taken the Sous Vide plunge yet. What is the benefit? Juicy? tender? Better, I'm up for it just do not the knowing the advantage? Seems like 2 hours to cook a steak is a lot of trouble, instead of flopping it on a hot grill for 22/25 minutes. I'm not trying to be sarcastic just trying to learn. i read many post on it. Sell me on it please. Thanks in advance.

      Comment


      • randy56
        randy56 commented
        Editing a comment
        Thanks for all your input, on my list to get one.

      • wcpreston
        wcpreston commented
        Editing a comment
        EdF Isn't it like lower and slower? (e.g. 135 instead of 225) So it makes what might be an even tougher piece of meat tender?

      • EdF
        EdF commented
        Editing a comment
        wcpreston same basic idea!

      #8
      Super hot sear is the key. My favorite is to use a flat metal skewer through the steak and lay it across a fully lit charcoal chimney (or the chimney of insanity air blown rig). That way you get a very fast, even sear with no overdone grill marks. Takes a couple minutes and make sure you sear all sides including the edges.

      Also, be sure you get them very dry once you take them out of the bags (paper towels etc). Excess moisture just wastes searing heat through evaporation.

      Comment


        #9
        I took the sous vide plunge, and got myself a wifi Anova last year on Cyber Monday, and had the wife give it to me for Christmas. While I've had a few great cooks with it - steaks, even a bacon wrapped pork loin a couple of times, I've decided that I prefer a good reverse seared steak better. I just feel like the smoke on the indirect side of the kettle while I come up to temp gives the steak that extra something. It's been 6 months probably since I bothered with it.

        I imagine I will break Anova out to do some cooks over the winter, and sear in a skillet, but if its at all decent outside, I much prefer my meat off the grill. I think I liked it for the bigger cut - the bacon wrapped pork loin, seared in a hot oven, than I did for steaks.

        Comment


        • EdF
          EdF commented
          Editing a comment
          jfmorris - Real Men (tm) don't care about their man card (we know its status). Why suffer unless you're in the mood for it, right?

        • jfmorris
          jfmorris commented
          Editing a comment
          My biggest gripe about living in north Alabama in the winter is that our winter consists of lots of wet rainy days, with temperatures in the 40's. Usually not cold enough for snow, its just wet, cold and muddy outside. No one likes tending the grill in the rain. So, as EdF says, why suffer?

        • wcpreston
          wcpreston commented
          Editing a comment
          JeffJ you smoke in your garage? Surely you open the door or something. Seems like a recipe for disaster if you don't.

        #10
        wcpreston

        I pull the smoker just outside of the garage and leave the door to the garage open. I leave the smoker outside overnight and pull it back into the garage the next day.

        It sits just under the overhang. If the weather is really bad I'll move the smoker to the front porch which is covered.

        Comment


        • wcpreston
          wcpreston commented
          Editing a comment
          JeffJ I feel better now. There are stories of guys doing gas grills in their garages and they often die doing that.

        #11
        Your steak coming out of the SV bath will look "sickly". Mine looks gray and ugly. But, that’s why you have to sear it.

        You had a question about someone suggesting an ice bath. The reason why you SV then chill then sear is b/c you’re SV’ing to cook to a temperature "doneness" that you like, but you still don’t have a sear/crust. So you don’t overcook it by searing it after your "done" temp, you cold shock it, so when you sear it, it won’t overcook.

        Further, the only cautionary thing is you need to pat the steak dry after SV and cold shocking it. Butter has a lot of water in it and that doesn’t allow you to get a nice crusty sear. I pat mine dry with a paper towel then use some oil to help with the sear.

        Comment


        • wcpreston
          wcpreston commented
          Editing a comment
          scottranda So it IS a common thing to do? You have to admit, to a noobie it sounds a bit odd

        • scottranda
          scottranda commented
          Editing a comment
          Yep! I was cold-shocked the first time I heard about it! But then I tried it, and it works! Steakhouse steaks have nothing on what I can NOW create!

        #12
        You can read the whole thread if you want, but comment #35 on Page 3 finally nailed it for me.

        My wife and I went to NYC for our 5-year anniversary. I got us a reservation at Capital Grille before our Wicked theatre performance on Broadway. Looking at the menu, I decided on


        Sous vide, cold shock, thoroughly pat dry, olive oil (I’ve tried a few different ones and this one is my favorite for searing), add steak seasoning which add some ridiculous CRUST, sear over a charcoal chimney using my "no grate technique".

        The other great seasoning I’ve used is Char Crust Roasted Garlic Peppercorn. That’s also some GOOD STUFF.

        Comment


          #13
          I bought a prime chateaubriand at 20 bucks a pound and sous vided that baby (basically a long line of filet mignons) ... seared the patootie on cast iron over a tall pile of coals with a bit of oil and some butter at the last second ... wow, nice GBD developed in about 45 seconds on each side...had to do about 5 partial rotations..

          The guests were stunned. I cant imagine I could have nailed it to a perfect 127F internally across a long piece of meat in varying diameters in my pellet pooper or over charcoal.

          Comment

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