SVQ Recommendation

[J-Melt]

I have never been brave enough to try sous vide que. I have always done either tbone/porterhouse or ribeyes on either direct sear or reverse sear with decent success. I have my 1/5 beef and need to use the not so tender steaks. The free side recommends sous vide, ice bath then reverse sear:

https://amazingribs.com/more-technique-and-science/more-cooking-science/making-perfect-sous-vide-que-steak/

Do y’all like this method? Or what recommendations do you have? I have round, sirloin, chuck and a rump roast that all need cooking eventually.

[dlaslo]

I first tried a New York Strip and thought it was OK but not the best. My wife, however, thought it had a "boiled" taste to it and put the kibosh on future experimentation.

I also did a brisket and she didn't detect the boiled taste and thought it was good, but due to the length of time I haven't repeated the brisket either.

So I gave up on beef. Eggs come out great.

[WI Bubba]

The link won't open for me for some reason, but the technique does work.
With a tougher cut you can use longer sous vide bath to break down the connective tissues and end up with a tender piece of meat. I have done the 72 hour, medium rare chuck roast that Troutman made a post for a couple of times, and it comes out pretty good. I haven't done it with a tough steak, but I would expect similar results. To be honest, I prefer my chuckies to get a long smoke.

[hoovarmin]

I do steaks this way all the time. For me, it's the only way to do a Tri tip. I don't ice bath and go straight to the grill with them after drying them off. No boiled taste whatsoever. But I did a brisket sous vide once and definitely got that boiled taste @diasio refers to above. In short, I highly recommend the method. It's extremely reliable and adds a convenience factor when you need that.

[Draznnl]

I like to do steaks this way. Like hoovarmin I skip the ice bath and go straight to the grill after drying and throwing some seasoning on.

[DaveD]

I just did a killer ribeye this way yesterday (posted it in SUWYC). I would absolutely dispute any report of a "boiled" taste, that is not physically possible. The meat is never in contact with the water, and no such taste could be generated. It's just a means of holding the meat at the target temp in a completely isothermal environment and waiting for equilibrium to do its thing.

Definitely agree on longer SV times for tougher cuts. But for even a "not so tender" steak a few hours should do you very nicely. And for the first try I would also skip the ice bath and so on, just pat dry, put some seasoning on to help build a sear crust, and sear those puppies!

[Oak Smoke]

Like you we have beef processed and end up with some less than melt in your mouth cuts. acorgihouse helped me with how to SV a sirloin steak a while back. I went 131 F for 4 hours and was amazed at how much difference it made. My wife who normally is a ribeye only girl really liked it. I went straight from the SV to a hot grill with just a bit of SPG added. I’m far from an expert but it worked great for me. These days I’ve been taking the lesser cuts and grilling them hot and fast to slice thin for fajitas. I don’t have any experience with a roast.

[Andrrr]

For that Chuck roast I'd smoke it like a brisket to either shred or slice when you're done. I love to shred it and repurpose it for tacos and whatnot.

[GolfGeezer]

Like others posted above, I do this all the time with thick steaks, regardless of "grade", tri-tips and brisket flats. As DaveD pointed out, there is no way the meat is boiled. Maybe if the meat is not patted dry to remove the purge moisture before searing, there could be some steam effect when searing.

[shify]

So I do not like the results of a sous vide steak - specifically the quicker/tender cuts. Yes it is tender and medium rare from edge to edge but feel like its lacking taste.

I also don't understand the cooking, chilling and then reheating a steak and struggle to see any benefit to that (Steak #1 on the link you shared). You aren't really sous viding it enough to tenderize it much more and then by going back to fridge temp, it isn't going to be that much quicker if at all to bring back up to serving temp via the smoke/sear - so i struggle to see any point to that process as it seems to me you are adding another step to the process for little to no benefit

That being said, I think it works really well for longer cooks/tougher cuts where you cook to break down connective tissues/collagen and tougher meat fibers not all that unlike low and slow smoking. 24-36 hour chuck roast, 72 hr short ribs, etc. If you want those tough cuts like chuck and rump to be steak-like, you would cook at something like 131 degrees for 24+ hours to tenderize and then you can continue with the smoke/sear final step - but that is very different than steak cuts where you sous vide just to cook all the way through

[DaveD]

Have also had great success with chuckies done that way, ~48 hours in the SV and then sear. I make lunchmeat from it, and it's fantastic.

[TripleB]

I don't do steaks, Tri-tips, chops, etc. in a SV. I like the old method of just a front sear and then move off and finish indirect. But I do larger cuts of meat or brisket for corned beef and pastrami. What I have noticed with larger cuts (rib roasts) is that the fat is not well rendered. Thus large pockets of fat are still present after searing.

[drobinson]

I like any method that results in a steak being put on a plate in front of me!!!!

[RichieB]

That's how I do steak. I like 3 hours at 128. Ice bath 30 minutes then brine in fridge till ready to sear. I just did a porterhouse Wednesday. I've never done large cuts. Call me old school but on the barrel with smoke. A chuckie anywhere from 6 to 8 hours. Brisket a lot longer.