Not to touch off a holy war, but ...

[boftx]

Disclaimer: I've never tried to use SV, so this is all theoretical.

I've seen a lot of posts now about using sous vide followed by a reverse sear on the grill. My question is this: just how much smoke (grill) flavor can you get with just a couple of minutes for the sear?

It seems to be that firing up the grill for just 5 minutes of sear time is hardly worth it, from either a cost or flavor perspective.

My preferred way to cook a steak, a thick cut like London broil, or a tri-tip is to smoke it at low temp for about an hour or two till it comes up to 115 - 120 and then sear over hot coals until 125 - 130. (My wife and I like our steak just done enough so it won't jump up and run away when we stick it with a fork.)

I won't question the merits of using SV to get to a precise internal temp, I question if it really makes that much difference to sear on a grill vs a hot frying pan on the stove.

[Jerod Broussard]

I prefer a ribeye reverse seared on the grill since it needs no more tenderness for me.

Tri-tip and other similar roasts/steaks, I prefers sous vide with a pan sear, since most times I don't feel like lighting some charcoal just for that.

Getting a nice crust/layer of brown is all I need. No smoke flavor needed whatsoever on a steak. NO wood used when doing reverse sear on the grill.

I like Rare-Medium-Rare. Medium-rare, but if off some please be closer to rare than medium.

[badf00d]

boftx - two reasons I like to use the grill to sear: less heat in the kitchen, and less smoke in the kitchen. With a gas grill, it's not much hassle (or cost) for a short sear. Not getting any smoke benefit, but the Maillard effect is definitely the goal. I just like to keep it outside, if possible.

[Nate]

boftx , I agree. I am kind of vexed by this whole SV thing... Guess I really need to get in there and study it since I have little to no clue what all is going on other than it is stuffed cooked in a bag in water...

[boftx]

It just seems a lot like cooking meat the same way we cooked veggies when Green Giant came out with those vacuum pouches that you had to cook in boiling water. (Yes, I remember when that was new.)

[Danjohnston949]

Nate, boftx, Boys at Present I am In Your Camp! On the other hand I don't speak Souix Vee Doo? I have
the Whole Problem filed under More Research Needed if I get arround to it!
Eat Well and Prosper! Dan

[mgaretz]

I used to fire up the grill just to do reverse sear after SV because I was never very happy with a pan sear (and my stove vent hood is not very effective). That's why I decided to try the Sansaire Searing Kit. It works great and I haven't done a reverse sear any other way since getting it. Not only is it faster but I can get a better and more even crust and it doesn't cook the meat as much as all the heat from the grill.

More here: https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/fo...re-searing-kit

[fzxdoc]

You buy the kewlest toys, Mark. mgaretz. Somehow I missed the original topic, so thanks for posting the link. Those seared steak photos make me want to eat my monitor.

Kathryn

[Strat50]

Don't get me wrong, sous vide is great, but it is not a panacea. Not even close. It's wonderful for certain flavor profiles, but there is more than one way to skin this proverbial cat. A simple case in point: Tonight, at work, we smoked a whole strip loin(rubbed with some of our signature cajun spice, among other things), roasted it low(250ish) and removed when the internal temp, at the largest part, was about 90-110, which put the ends at 130 or so. This strip loin was also injected(I can't tell you with what, as it is proprietary). It was then held, and sliced to order before searing(bronzing in this case) on our broiler hot spot. Think faux cambro here, when holding. After searing, the steak was topped with a whiskey-garlic demi with mushrooms and caramelized onions(done in a pan). It was a lot like sous vide(which we've done a few times) but smokier and more complex in flavor. It was served with a corn batter Alaska cod(fresh) and some of our spicy and sweet dipping sauces. With choice of a starch and veggies to round things out.

Yes, sous vide is a "hot" technique right now, but there are certain flavor and texture complexities that it doesn't do well, just like any method of cooking. It is just another arrow in one's culinary quiver, so to speak. Sous vide is great for an individual portion(or series of), however, using a macro approach, where you slow roast and hold a large(er) piece of meat, then slice, sear, and serve, works great too. Especially if you're cooking for multitudes. It's all about the thermodynamics, and thermal mass.

Okay, now I'll get off my proverbial soapbox and get another beer....lol(long, difficult night).

[fzxdoc]

Well, I'd be lining up for some of that strip loin in a whiskey-garlic demi, Strat50. It may have been a long night, but it sounds as though you made a lot of folks happy.

Kathryn

[David Parrish]

That sounds really, really good.

[Dewesq55]

boftx - SV has little to do with BBQ, but it is a very useful technique and can be a complement to BBQ. The ChefSteps pastrami I made was really awesome (came out better than when I made MH's Almost Katz's Deli Pastrami.

[Jon Solberg]

But Jim they got them with wifi. : )

[Danjohnston949]

There's One Born Every Day! 👍👍😇👍👍

[Fine Swine]

It's cheating. But it still another tool that I am sure that I will try eventually. It does seem to take the skill and fun out of what most of us do... Some intersecting articles on the net about sous vide cheating...

[Thunder77]

I think that for me a large part of the draw would be the ability to control the timing of when everything comes together. (something I need work on!) You can start your meat sous vide, and then know exactly when it is time to sear without having to watch your grill. Also, since my wife and I both work, it would be nice to be able to start something in the morning, and know that when I got home, I would just have to prep sides, and then finish off whatever I was doing in the sous vide, and be able to eat before 8 pm. That would beat coming home and having to defrost something that I forgot to take out of the freezer that morning!

I would probably use the gasser for the sear, also.

Note: this is all speculation on my part, since I don't sous vide, and never have. YET!

I am quite certain that Breadhead will chime in when the left coast wakes up...

[Breadhead]

I have really enjoyed my SV circulator for both meat, fish, veggies and desserts. It's the bomb for poaching and hard boiling eggs too.

Choosing your searing method is totally up to you. You can use your grill, a skillet or a torch. With beef I really don't think you need the wood flavor you might get from the grill.

I SV'ed a whole beef tenderloin for a dinner party I had. To make things easy for me I started the SV process 4 hours before I wanted to sear it. After my guests arrived and cocktails had been served I fired up a full charcoal starter of briquettes and dumped them into the Weber kettle & SnS. I took the tenderloin out of the SV bag and seared it. I took it off of the grill and sliced it into medallions and served it. That gave me time to visit instead of being stuck on the grill while the tenderloin would have been cooking.

[Thunder77]

Breadhead, my point exactly! You probably stated it better than i did, though.

[billg71]

Breadhead, what does a sous vide cooker big enough to handle a whole tenderloin look like? And where do you keep it when you're not using it? Seems like that would be an awful big small appliance.

Interesting, though. Congrats on your cook!

[Breadhead]

billg71 ...

I actually trimmed the tenderloin and cut it in half and put it in 2 SV bags. I cooked them both in a 5 gallon rectangular plastic tub. But you can just buy a larger rectangular tub if you don't want to cut it in half.

This is a picture of my tub... Not necessarily for that particular cook.

[Breadhead]

It's the least expensive setup to get into SV cooking and I think maybe the best.😎 I see no value of buying the big fully enclosed setups for 2 or 3 times the money.

[billg71]

Oh, I see! DOH! So the actual cooker is the heating element, you supply the container for the food and water.

I was imagining something the size of a built-in microwave, this looks too simple.Thanks!

[Breadhead]

billg71 ... SV cooking is SIMPLE, SIMPLE, SIMPLE!!! It's the best set it and forget it cooker known to mankind.😏

[Dewesq55]

I have 2 coolers - one is BIIIG and the other is 22 qt. They were $20 each. I haven't found anything I couldn't fit in one or the other. I'm pretty sure I could fit a whole packer in the big one.

[Nate]

boftx and Danjohnston949 , since we are in the same boat so to speak....

I found this video of Meathead and the guys from Chef Steps trying to cook ribs indoor... SV vs an oven approach... kind of interesting but it bothers me the amount of doctoring that has to go on.

[Dusty]

I haven't tried it yet either but what intrigues me is the ability to easily control the results with meats that vary in thickness. I'm thinking butterflied boneless leg of lamb. That is one that varies greatly so I've generally steaked by thickness and tried to grill them individually with inconsistent results by reverse sear. I'm thinking that starting with SV and then a quick high temperature sear by whatever method will resolve the inconsistency. Your thoughts on that would be appreciated.

[mgaretz]

Nate, the amount of doctoring isn't due to the fact that it's SV, it's just because they wanted a smoked brisket flavor and look without actually smoking it. I haven't done a brisket, but I have done ribs SV and smoked and I prefer the smoked version.

Fine Swine you can call it cheating if you want, but it's all about where you draw the line in the proverbial sand. Is it cheating to use pellets? A temperature controller? Charcoal that someone else made for you? Gas? Even a thermometer?

And boftx it does use the same "boiling bag" approach to cooking as those old vegetables did, but the big difference (and also between your low and slow approach) is that the "oven" (water in the case of SV) is at the desired target temperature. So once what's being cooked reaches that temp, it stays there and it's the same temp from edge to edge. It's almost impossible to over-cook it. When we use low and slow in the pit for a rare to medium rare steak, when the center reaches target temp, the outsides will be much hotter and over-cooked because we have to run the pits hotter than target to keep the fire going. Get distracted and your meat is over-cooked.

And SV takes low and slow to the next level. We cook a chuck roast low and slow otherwise it's going to be too tough. But the heat of the pit cooks it to well done in the process. That's fine and dandy for pulled beef. But SV also lets us cook it at a much lower temp for an extended period - say 24 to 48 hours - to achieve the same or better tenderness but the meat can be medium rare.

[boftx]

With regard to taking food to a precise temp and no higher, I would think you could do the same with an oven. Heck, in lieu of a faux cambro we put meat in an oven set to 180.

It is all about the flavor for me. Nothing is the same as wood-fired BBQ, imho.

[mgaretz]

You certainly can, provided your oven can be set to the target temp and hold that temp within a tight tolerance. Most ovens can't do that. My Sous Vide Supreme was marketed as a "water oven" and that's really what it is. The heat transfer is just water instead of air.