I’m cooking two 32 oz. Prime tomahawk ribeye steaks this Friday night, one to 137F for my wife and I and another to 150F for our guests. Should I do two separate SV cooks, one for each steak or could I cook both simultaneously to 137F then remove one and crank the temp up for the 150F steak? Hold time for the first one out of the SV while steak 2 comes to temp is my primary concern. I plan on dusting them with Montreal after the SV then searing on the gasser.
Any enlightening advice is welcome and appreciated.
150*F on a 32oz Tomahawk steak, get new friends?
Sorry no help but after SV start the for 150 degrees first then sear them both.
After sear then finish 150* steak in the microwave.
If you want service temp to be 137, you might be better off sous vide at 128 or so and then searing to take to 137. Otherwise, sous vide at 137 plus searing will take you over.
As to the 150 (aka ruined) steak, I would do both steaks at 128, and simply the remove the 137 steaks earlier when it hits temp when searing. You can leave on the other one until it is 150.
... simply the remove the 137 steaks earlier when it hits temp when searing. You can leave on the other one until it is 150.
This will not work unless you cook them fully to 137, then remove one. You can't just heat the water to 150 and remove one of the steaks part way. The whole point of SV is to bring the food to temp and then let it cook fully at that temp. Removing a steak early is just removing it when it's not done.
Do this instead:
The day before, or if you want, earlier that day, cook one of the steaks at 137F for however long it needs to be cooked - 90 minutes to 2 hours probably. Remove it, chill down under 40F, into the fridge.
Then heat the water to 150F and after it's at that temp, cook the other steak for 2 hours. Chill, refrigerate.
On Friday, pull both out of the fridge. Heat the SV to 130 or so - less than 137. Reheat them for30-60 minutes, then remove, pat dry and sear.
This would make more sense if you were doing it a few days ahead, though. An alternative would be to simply cook both to 137F for ~ 2hours, remove them, heat the SV to 150 and then cook the second one at that temp fort another 45 minutes or so. They key is to cook BOTH to the lower temp for the full time. Then ruin one
rickgregory Good point. These steaks are ~2.25" thick and have cooked well with an SV temp of 135F-137F for 2 hours followed by a quick 30 sec sear on each side. However, during a reheat, to get the core IT from 40F back to 130F may require more than another hour. Maybe an alternative is to simply cook both in the SV up to 135F then finish the med/med-well one on the gasser before the sear.
"However, during a reheat, to get the core IT from 40F back to 130F may require more than another hour"
The steaks come to temp pretty fast, actually. The main reason to cook them longer is to pasteurize them. I'd bet they go from 40 to 130 in something like 45 min. Your gasser plan would work fine too. I mean... a medium well steak, eh. Does it really matter if it's 150 or 155?
rickgregory Another good point. I understand that heat diffusion occurs more rapidly early in the SV process meaning the steaks could come up to 'serving' temperature within 45 mins to an hour. I would still have to put steak Channels on the gasser to reach the preferred doneness for my guest if the initial SV cook is to only 135-137. And, no, the difference between 150-155 doesn't matter to me.
Couldn’t you set the SV to 150 throw in the first steak for 90 mins, then turn down the SV to 137, throw in the second steak and a cup of ice to chill the water a bit and cook them both another 90 mins or so, then sear? I’ve never had issues with searing overcooking, but it’s usually at least 10 mins between when they get pulled from the bath and they hit the grill or pan to sear for me.
Though I would try hard to convince them that a SV steak is pasteurized and 137° is absolutely safe and much more delicious
It’s actually very easy. Cook first steak at 150 degrees till done and then lower temp to 137 and add the 2nd steak.
No reason to play around with temps, timing, two cooks etc. After 60-90 min, the first steak is cooked and all you are doing is keeping it warm while the other steak cooks.
The problem is that you don't want to have the first steak hanging around for 2 hours at room temp while the second one cooks, which is why i suggested above to do them early, then chill each of them down as they're done. That way you can simply reheat, sear and serve.
My dad, deceased since 2010, was 98 years wise when he passed. He grew up on a produce farm in one of the poorest rural counties (Duplin) in eastern NC. For the 40+ years I was aware of his eating habits, he always ordered and cooked his steak, whether strip, ribeye, filet, t-bone or choice or prime grade, med well or well done. I never questioned his tastes or preferences and until I tasted my first med rare to med steak, that was my default preference also. One day, after grilling some steaks for my dad, I noticed he poured the juices off the platter where the steaks had rested onto his steak, and some of those juices were pretty red. I suggested to my dad that I would cook his next steak to med so it would actually retain those juices and he could tell me how he liked it. For the last 5 years of his life, my dad ate med rare to med cooked steak.
Remembering my dad with a tear and a smile and deeply appreciating his willingness to try new things late in life.
To be clearer, I was recommending cooking both steaks at 128 for 90 minutes. Remove from bath, dry with paper towel, rub them, avocado oil, and then searing both at say 500 plus at 30 seconds a side. The searing should deliver the desired 137 steak easily, and then we'd leave the second steak on a few minutes longer to ruin it.
I am not 100% clear why we need to cook the second steak at 150 for 45 minutes or do each steak indivuallly at 137 and 150 for 90-120 minutes each.
Could always buy a second sous vide device and have one for each steak. The bonus is in the future you would have one for your choice of protein and a second for vegetables. Corn and carrots are phenomenal when cooked sous vide. Other than than I would go with the plan to cook one at the higher temp for a few hours and then lower the temp and start the second steak.
I thought about that this morning while lying awake.I actually have a second smaller SV tub but my tomahawk won’t fit in it. I may check into getting another SV cooker, maybe another brand to compare features. If I were to get a second Anova, I wonder how the iPhone app would work with both?
WayneT I have 2 Anova cookers and currently only one can be connected at at time to your phone. I don't consider it a problem as I don't use the bluetooth or wi-fi that often
Couldn’t you set the SV to 150 throw in the first steak for 90 mins, then turn down the SV to 137, throw in the second steak and a cup of ice to chill the water a bit and cook them both another 90 mins or so, then sear? I’ve never had issues with searing overcooking, but it’s usually at least 10 mins between when they get pulled from the bath and they hit the grill or pan to sear for me.
Though I would try hard to convince them that a SV steak is pasteurized and 137° is absolutely safe and much more delicious
You could but you would be unlikely to bring it down to precisely 137. Not an issue if you bring it to 132 or whatever but if you were way off...
I'm with you on 137F being perfectly OK and frankly wouldnt cater to people who are afraid of medium steak. I'm never going to serve something that's not safe and it's insulting to a host for guests to think that. A preference for a given doneness is different, but saying (effectively, if not actually) "I don't trust this method, cook it more" is likely to bring a "Hey, there's a McDonald's down the street you can eat at" from me.
To be clearer, I was recommending cooking both steaks at 128 for 90 minutes. Remove from bath, dry with paper towel, rub them, avocado oil, and then searing both at say 500 plus at 30 seconds a side. The searing should deliver the desired 137 steak easily, and then we'd leave the second steak on a few minutes longer to ruin it.
The entire point of SV (to me, at least) is that you can cook a thing to a precise doneness and for steaks, it's that doneness from edge to edge. If you do what you're suggesting, the 137 steak will have significant gray bands (30 seconds likely will not bring it up ~10F) and you have to guess at the timing so the interior is the 137F doneness. For the 150F steak, same thing bu t worse.
If you're going to do that, you lose the benefit of precise doneness that SV brings - you might as well just cook them traditionally.
I am not 100% clear why we need to cook the second steak at 150 for 45 minutes or do each steak indivuallly at 137 and 150 for 90-120 minutes each.
What benefits am I missing?
In my method, both steaks are cooked to their final temp all the way (tomahawks are usually pretty thick, so will need ~ 2 hours or so). The reheat at 130F or so is to make sure they're brought from fridge temp to serving temp but it's below the 137F temp to allow for searing.
Last edited by rickgregory; July 14, 2022, 10:37 AM.
I would be flipping every 30 seconds and checking temps with an instant thermometer. However, I see your points clearly now and understand where you are coming from so thanks.
STEbbq - that would work but feels like a lot of, well, work. If I were going to do the flip technique, I'd just cook them traditionally - less time and similar results.
I'm kind of unconvinced by SV steaks except in certain cases. The precision in doneness is nice, but often not really that important. A 135F steak and a 137F steak is going to be basically the same.
Last edited by rickgregory; July 14, 2022, 11:00 AM.
Pit Barrel Cooker
Blaze 32" Gasser with Sear Station and Rotisserie
Jenn-Air 6 Burner w/ Dual Oven and Stainless Flat Top
Camp Chef Explorer 60EX with Grill Box and Griddle
Thermoworks Thermapen Mk4
Maverick ET-733 2-Probe Wireless Thermometer
Thermopro TP20 2-Probe Wireless Thermometer
Anova 900W Sous Vide Immersion Circulator
Selection of Grandma's Antique Cast Iron Cookware
Bayou Classic Stainless Steel Oyster/Turkey Cooker
Weber Standard Size Chimney Starter
Foodsaver Vac Sealer
How about this:
SV both to 137 (or slightly lower, by 5-10 deg).
Take one steak out of SV and place on indirect heat.
When that one hits 145 IT, sear both at warp 10 to final desired temp.
So this gives a SV'd-and-seared steak at 137, and SV'd-and-reverse-seared steak at 150.
I ended up putting the two steaks in the SV for 2 hours at 137F 15 minutes apart. The extra 15 mins at the end of the SV on the second steak gave me plenty of time to cook the first one to 145F for my guests. Post searing texture was perfect for both steaks.
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