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Sous Vide Semi-success

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    Sous Vide Semi-success

    So my wife invited our oldest daughter over for dinner last night. And what is her favorite thing for Dad to cook? Steak, of course! I had a CAB sirloin about 3/4" thick. I had a choice my strip about 11/4" thick, and a cut billed as a choice bottom sirloin tri-tip. That was about 1.5" thick, but I am
    not certain it was a real tri-tip. Tasted good though. The "tri-tip" was dry brined 3 days, and then sous-vide for 4 hours. The CAB sirloin was brined also, then sous vide for 1.5 hours. The ny strip was coated with Montreal steak seasoning, then sous vide for 1.5 hours. All were seared over the SnS with Kingsford competition. Side note: Dang! That KC gets HOT!!

    I seared them all using the cold grate technique from ABCBBQ Dave. Patted dry, and brushed with canola oil. Another side note: I had no business putting a 3/4" sirloin on the grill with a thick ny strip or tri-tip. I paid for that by having a medium-well done sirloin.

    The results were pretty good actually. The sirloin, in spite of being about 150, was still very tender, and my wife loved it. She is not a red steak person
    The ny strip was beautiful! It tasted like buttery beef. It was tender and juicy.
    The tri-tip was also very good. It had more tan banding than I like, but it was still delicious, and tender, probably because of the sous vide.
    All in all it was mostly successful. I wanted better, but we are always our own worst critic. (I can blame a little on my daughter, she was late, and I had to keep the steak warm in the oven.)

    I think that next time I will try the two ny strips side by side, one SV, and one grilled all the way, and see if note any
    difference. I happen to have two left to do that experiment with.
    First pic: left to right: sirloin, ny strip, tri-tip
    second pic: left side: sirloin sliced, right side ny strip sliced
    third and fourth pics: more ny strip and sirloin
    fifth pic: tri-tip.

    Sorry for the the super long post.
    Attached Files
    Last edited by Thunder77; April 28, 2017, 09:33 AM. Reason: Content added

    #2
    Looks great to me!
    If you all enjoyed it I'd call it a success.
    Once again the pics I'm looking at look great...

    Comment


    • Thunder77
      Thunder77 commented
      Editing a comment
      Thanks, Steve!

    #3
    Thunder77 ... your cook looks great and if your wife and daughter enjoyed it all was good.

    Personally I don't SV steaks that are less than 1.5" thick and I prefer 2". I kind of go by Meathead's suggestion on the reverse sear method guideline. If your steak is less than 1.5" and you try to use the reverse sear method you are probably going to over cook the internal meat by the time you get a nice crust on it.

    It's not safe to SV steaks below 129/130° unless you've blanched them in boiling water first. So if you've SV'ed 1" or 1.25" steaks to 130° and then try to get a nice crust on them you're going to have overcooked steaks.

    For 1" and 1.25" steaks I'm going to do what Meathead recommends and cook them hot and fast, rotating frequently.
    Last edited by Breadhead; April 29, 2017, 12:49 PM.

    Comment


    • EdF
      EdF commented
      Editing a comment
      Yeah, that's pretty much my rule of thumb as well. Thunder77 Don't be bashful about your story-telling - I'm guessing most us enjoy it!

    • Thunder77
      Thunder77 commented
      Editing a comment
      Breadhead, I agree with you on the 3/4" steak, that one should have just hit the grill, no sous vide. But I guess it wasn't so bad, since the wife enjoyed it! Everyone has their own tastes. 😃 And I am still learning this sous vide thing.

    #4
    Thanks for the detailed write-up. I learned a lot from it!

    Comment


      #5
      Very nice, informative post! Not too long, at all! This sort of info is what it's all about!
      Yer food looks Delicious, family's happy, I'd say win-win!!!
      Great pics, as well!

      Comment


        #6
        Nice looking beef Thunder77 . Good job on the cook and good post as well.

        Comment


          #7
          Originally posted by Breadhead View Post
          Thunder77 ... your cook looks great and if your wife and daughter enjoyed it all was good.

          Personally I don't SV steaks that are less than 1.5" thick and I prefer 2". I kind of go by Meathead's suggestion on the reverse sear method guideline. If your steak is less than 1.5" and you try to use the reverse sear method you are probably going to over cook the internal meat by the time you get a nice crust on it.

          It's not safe to SV steaks below 129/130° unless you've blanched them in boiling water first. So if you've SV'ed 1" or 1.25" steaks to 130° and then try to get a nice crust on them you're going to have overcooked steaks.

          For 1" and 1.25" steaks I'm going to do what Meathead recommends and cook them hot and fast, rotating frequently.
          Just a heads up re: your "don't SV under 130" rule...according to JKLA at Serious Eats, you can do it, just no longer than 2.5 hours. So you're still cooking the steak perfectly, it just won't get the different textures that come from longer times in the bath at, say, 132 (my favorite temp so far).

          Comment


            #8
            Just like to add that according to Dr Douglas Baldwin there is a 4 hour " window " and I quote:

            Raw or unpasteurized food must never be served to highly susceptible or immune compromised people. Even for immune competent individuals, it’s important that raw and unpasteurized foods are consumed before food pathogens have had time to multiply to harmful levels. With this in mind, the US Food Code requires that such food can only be between 41°F (5°C) and 130°F (54.4°C) for less than 4 hours (FDA, 2009, 3-501.19.B).

            And here is the link:

            ​​​



            It is worth reading for anyone doing SV it is very comprehensive....

            But I agree with @ Breadhead on the thin steaks. To get a descent sear without overcooking the center you'd have to completely chill a thin steak after SV before searing. I don't see the point of all those extra steps just to end up with the same result...

            Comment


            • Breadhead
              Breadhead commented
              Editing a comment
              That's why I decided to make 131° my go to hot tub temperature for red meat. Better safe than sorry. I prefer longer cooks to get the tender texture it gives me too.

            • Thunder77
              Thunder77 commented
              Editing a comment
              great info. Thanks!

            #9
            This is something I'm going to have to research... my elderly next door neighbor who is a frequent dining guest likes to eat her steaks "blue rare." When doing them on the grill, I usually still end up getting them slightly more done than she likes - seems to me to be on the rare side of MR, but still... she would like them even more rare, I think.

            So.... blanching them in boiling water before sous vide? I assume this means bare, not packaged. So you blanch for... 1-2 minutes? Then package up and throw in the water bath?

            I'm not sure I'm going to do a helluva lot extra for her single blue rare steak, but if I could do hers like this, then remove and chill it, then up the temp to 131 for the guys, then remove and chill them, and up to the medium-well temp - around 140-145ish? This would be for the ladies in my life. lol
            Last edited by DogFaced PonySoldier; May 4, 2017, 07:05 PM.

            Comment


              #10
              Sounds like a valid plan. The blanching should kill the stuff on the outside.

              Comment


                #11
                I'd eat any of those, and you're right we're our own worst critics usually. A conclusion I've recently come to is that I prefer to eat with my mouth with steaks, and not my eyes and not photos. Granted, I'm happy when I get a steak perfectly medium-rare and get a good pic of it, but I've learned to not be ashamed if I get banding or overshoot my goal some, it still tastes awesome! I bet yours did too. Too much validity gets placed on how good the pink in the pic looks IMO. Keep up the good work.

                Comment


                • Thunder77
                  Thunder77 commented
                  Editing a comment
                  Thanks, Huskee. It really all came out ok, since the wife was happy with her steak being more medium, and my daughter and I got the medium rare steaks. 😎 I guess that sometimes in the pursuit of perfection, I forget to be happy with really good or excellent results!

                • Steve Vojtek
                  Steve Vojtek commented
                  Editing a comment
                  No such thing as "perfection" ... If the one' s you cook for are happy with the results then that's all that matters. Period. You nailed it! And I agree with Huskee it doesn't have to be picture perfect to be delicious....

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