Sous vide vs sear & roast (or roast and sear)

[Dr. Pepper]

I've poured over what I can find here on AR and Serious Eats about sous vide. I have also been inspired by the dry aging, and have my first Costco 20 lb boneless prime rib in an Umai Dry bag taking up a shelf of our refrigerator (my spouse isn't happy about that!). I've watched the Kenji Lopez Alt & Adam Savage video of trying the four different sear techniques on identical strip steaks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB1x0O-bhrw&t=145s

So, my post is seeking your collective AR experiences with sous vide vs just using direct and indirect heat. I understand that I can achieve the thinnest 'grey band' by sous vide and sear, but I'm not sure that is worth the decrease in crust and flavor. The best steak house meat that I've eaten was seared and then roasted in an oven, not sous vide.

Opinions and experiences please!

Thanks

[Polarbear777]

I prize juiciness and crust so I go with the extreme temp differences. But that’s what I like.

Biggest problem in in my opinion is bar marks on the meat oversearing and getting a char flavor vs the in between not searing enough. I prefer to use skewers through the meat then over warp 10 heat to fix this.

Depending on the cut, setting up for a longer sear can be better. (In some cases you need to render some external fat before it burns).

In in all cases I prefer a reverse sear or sv-sear unless it’s a classic closed in braise and therefore impractical to post sear.

edit: if you want to prolong the sear after SV you can ice bath to fridge temp for thin things (1” thick). Then sear from cold. Or if it’s thicker you can ice bath for not quite as long. Or ice bath to fridge then reverse sear. Or just reverse sear in the grill.

Edit2: Ruined a couple filet mignons yesterday because I was too lazy to get skewers and used a grate over a chimney.

Edit3: The higher the searing temp, the closer to final temp you can go on the pre sear step. I pull thick steaks at 120F then sear. If SV and chilling before sear I’ll take them to 131F.

[RobertC]

I use the SV and chimney combo. Part of this is that I, like Polarbear777, prefer that combination of juiciness and crust. In addition, the SV gives me a wide range of latitude in timing: if people are a bit late the SV will just wait. When I cooked using other methods the timing had to be a lot more precise.

[ddmcwhirter]

I've had good luck pre-searing very cold (33-36 F) salted and dry rubbed meats, having a grate (dry) or a steel plate (put some oil) that fit over the fire box, then rubbing with fresh seasons in oil, then slow smoking. I'm looking to try that with a dry aged roast, with the hope that the dark outer layer becomes part of a thick crust.

[texastweeter]

Smoke roast and reverse sear, hands down. Let steaks come back to room temp before the sear if you have time.

[Dr. Pepper]

@texastweeter: for a medium-rare final result, at what internal temp do you pull your steak before cooling and searing? If I pull at 120°f and then sear immediately, I overshoot and end up with medium cooked meat. Thanks
Daniel

[Mosca]

Sear and roast. IMO it’s the most efficient method, especially if your attention is divided between the grill and social concerns like guests. It sacrifices a little bit of gray band for an easier and quicker cook, leaving a longer window for the final temp.

[klflowers]

I am a late convert to the sv, ice bath and sear. Comes out perfect every time. SV to around 130 for my tastes, ice bath for 20 to 30 minutes, on the kettle on grill grates at warp 10 till I get the color I want.