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

[ribeyeguy]

I don't know, to me sous vide cooking is indoor cooking, cook it in a water pan and then sear it to give it a grilled appearance. A big part of grilling food for me is just that, grilling. It's much more than throwing a hunk of meat on the grill, it's about checking the temperature, tweaking the vents, adding coals or wood, throwing the dog a bone, things like that.

Sous vide gives you an almost guaranteed level of doneness but that's not what outdoor cooking is all about. I don't want a piece of technology guaranteeing me perfection, I want to achieve it on my own through trial and error.

Don't get me wrong, I believe that sous vide cooking definitely has its place but for me at least, I don't see outdoor grilling as one of them.

[DWCowles]

I used my Anova only to sous vide steaks after all grilling a steak isn't BBQing. Now everything else goes in the smoker. 😎

[boftx]

I BBQ my steaks, too. Low and slow to about 120 then a fast sear over the coals.

[ribeyeguy]

Ditto.

[CandySueQ]

Didn't like the texture of a sous vide steak! No rendering.

[SlushDeezey]

Just to add my two cents...it seems to be so far outside of what BBQ and smoking is that it doesn't even belong on a serious BBQ site like this one. I believe I'd kick someone's butt if they suggested I do that to some meat. Five star restaurant? Sure. But "not in my backyard"! Now....you kids GET OFF MY LAWN! 😀

[DWCowles]

boftx , ribeyeguy that's the way I used to do my steaks and I still do with my wife's steak because she wants her steak to be well done. So I will dry brine them for 4 hrs then add some seasoning, put hers in the RecTec until it reaches IT of 150 then I will sear it to 160. In the meantime my steak is in the water bath at 130. Oh...and the wife's steak has never taste like leather nor has is it been dry. It's not BBQing 😊

[boftx]

I basically treat steak like any other hunk of beef. Dry brine overnight, then in the smoke til they ht the IT I want then seared for a couple of minutes to finish them off. The only beef that goes over 130 for final temp is brisket.

[Huskee]

We all have a different perception of what constitutes "BBQ". To some it's an all-day cook, low & slow, like a brisket or pulled pork or ribs. To others it's anything cooked outside for any length of time (hot dogs or a steak, both would suffice). To others it's anything covered in BBQ sauce, regardless of how it was cooked, as long there's tater chips and tater salad (every work-related function that's ever advertised on the bulletin boards where I work )

[boftx]

Huskee I define BBQ as how it is cooked: low and slow with some form of wood-based fuel. Grilling is hot and fast with any form of heat source. BBQ sauce is something that one either adds to real BBQ or uses to imitate the smoke flavor of real BBQ.

This is not to say that a gasser set up for two-zone can't do a respectable job with wood chips thrown in the mix. But it ain't BBQ.

I'm not saying that other cooking methods such as SV can't turn out some damn fine tasting results, I just don't see it as being in scope here just because it counts as low and slow. Could someone enter a BBQ contest and do SV over a wood fire?

[Huskee]

I have my personal definitions too.

[Jerod Broussard]

If someone mentions BBQ I think grilling. Smoking is smoking. Dad BBQ'd with charcoal growing up, never ever used wood.

[Huskee]

The biggest thing that irks me is when someone refers to "barbecue" as a device. "I got a/need a new barbecue". Grill or smoker! Pick one. Barbecue is the food or the event. Lol.

[badf00d]

mgaretz Well said. Personally, I don't see the need to draw a line. Over the years, I bought a lot of different tools and each has its place. I use a blender, mixer, food processor, thermometer, scale, microwave, freezer, grill, smoker, oven, etc. None of these is magical and does it all. I even use an ice cream maker. If that's cheating, I'm guilty. And yes fzxdoc, I'm looking at you, too.

Sous vide doesn't make me a chef and can't do everything well. And like anything, if you don't use it properly the results can be lousy. But the same can be said for the lack of proper temperature control with most stoves/ovens - some things are easier and turn out really well on the stove or in the oven. Or using a mixer when you should use a blender, or trying to sear meat in a smoker. All these tools play a part, depending on what you're cooking. I don't need to be a purist, I just want to make food that I enjoy.

I'm glad I learned about sous vide, and I'm learning to use it where it fits, and to use something else when it doesn't. It has added some predictability and SIFI, allowing me to spend time on other parts of a meal, or allowing me to just relax. I can always use more of that.

[boftx]

I grew up with my family cooking on either a brick BBQ pit/grill or a cast iron stove a significant amount of the time. The smells associated with cooking go a long way to defining what style of cooking is involved. It's not that I am a "purist", it's just that I grew up with the Real Thing (tm) because that was what we had depending upon if we were at our home in the city or at our cabin in the mountains.

[badf00d]

And here I thought food was the Real Thing, not the way you cook it.

[Torpedo]

My opinion is that as long as it tastes good, then who cares how it gets there.

[boftx]

​Torpedo badf00d both of you are saying basically the same thing. I won't argue that. But what I will argue is that cooking with water is not what I want to read about when I come to a site dedicated to cooking with smoke.

[DWCowles]

I agreed with you boftx that's why I don't talk about it anymore

[Dewesq55]

don't mean this to be churlish, but just don't read the SV posts. It has it's own channel so you can avoid it if you want. Just sayin'.

[mgaretz]

Well you brought it up!

[skorepeo]

SV is IN My Opinion is just a way to keep meat at just the right temperature for long periods of time so that when a customer comes in and orders it you can quickly sear it to whatever doneness that they want in a short amount of time right after plating the sides. This way all the food is at the right temperature when served. At home I smoke my steaks for about a half hour to about 120 degrees IT then reverse sear over a 800 to 1000 degree sear station or frying pan for rare to medium rare.

[Torpedo]

boftx I stand corrected, sir. You are correct.

[Jon Solberg]

Ibtl. : )

[Breadhead]

I look at SV cooking as just another arrow in my culinary quiver of creating extraordinary food.

Time and circumstance dictates when and how it is used. Try making Eggs Benedict for 20 people without a SV circulator.😡 Poaching 40 eggs without a SV circulator is a real challenge for most professional chefs. In a SV bath tub you start it an hour or 2 before your guests arrive and then crack them open as needed.

When having a large dinner party why not SV the beef tenderloin long before your guests arrive so all you have to do is remove it from the SV bag and sear on your grill?

For a pork butt... Why not SV it overnight to 180° and then take it out of the SV bag and apply the rub and put it in the smoker for a few hours to build the bark and add some flavor?

For fish it is a no brainer!

For yogurt it is easy.

For creme brûlée it is a dream machine.

I like combining my SV circulator with my grill... Just because I can.👍