Welcome!

**MBMorgan** · February 25, 2019, 01:35 PM

Read THIS for timing info specific to food safety. FWIW, the author is an AR Pit member. Serious Eats is also a great resource.

**Spinaker** · February 25, 2019, 01:42 PM

I like to bag the steaks in their own bag. I think you get a better product that way. (I am sure some will say different)

Also, I like to pre sear my steaks, then add them too the bag. Many times I will add fried garlic and rosemary to the bag as well.

For timing.....I go 121 F for at least two hours. Then I shock in 50/50 ice/water bath then I will sear it later in beef tallow or Ghee. I also love throwing the steak over a HOT lump fire with some oak in the fire.

**MBMorgan** · February 25, 2019, 01:53 PM

Another thing to think about: Avoid extra virgin olive oil in the SV bag. It can sometimes impart a nasty metallic taste. Also avoid raw garlic in the bag (think botulism). Garlic powder works well, though.

For steak, I don't season or sear prior to SV. I generally set the SV temp to 133F and let it go for 2 to 4 hours. After SV, I dry thoroughly, season, and sear. I rarely (lately, never) bother to shock a steak in an ice bath ... largely because I use a super hot torch to sear and it's so quick that it doesn't seem to affect the IT of the meat much, if at all. Back when I was searing on my gasser (a Weber EP-330 with a good sear burner), I did shock the meat because the gasser is much slower than my torch (a Searzall).

Oh ... and watch your minimum SV temp. 131F is said to be the absolute minimum safe temp for the SV bath from a food-safety perspective.

**RichieB** · February 25, 2019, 01:54 PM

I would go for 2 hours to 130, ice bath the hot sear. The beauty of this method you can't over cook. Enjoy your new tool. Let us know how it turns out.

**RichieB** · February 25, 2019, 02:04 PM

Oh, I dry brine 2 to 3 hours prior to cooking. I do not place anything else in the bag. I do prefer separate bags for something as large as you're cooking. When ready to sear, I paint with avacado oil (450 smoke point) and course ground pepper. I want the meat flavor to be prominent.

**adamcoe** · February 25, 2019, 02:22 PM

The thickness doesn't really affect anything, as once the entire piece of meat is up to your desired temp, it'll just hold there. The thicker one will obviously take slightly longer to get there, but if you're doing them for 2-3 hours then both will be up to temp long before you take them out of the bath (which is of course the whole idea of sous vide). I'd go longer than an hour as the beauty of sous vide is the extended time held at temperature. There is definitely an upper limit to be sure, for example leaving them in there for 6-7 hours isn't going to add any benefit and eventually they'll start to break down and get mushy (particularly with a nicer cut like ribeye...different story for tougher cuts where you can and indeed should leave them in for an entire day or even 2). I usually go at least 90 mins right up to 3 hours for stuff like ribeye, sirloin, etc. Beyond that just season, sear and you're off to the races. Some people sear before, but I prefer after they come out. Pat dry, brush on an oil of your choice (I like avocado), and stick it over some fire or in a ripping hot cast iron pan. Some people ice bath as well but I find this step unnecessary as the sear only takes a few short minutes and then it's right on the plate so overcooking from carryover really isn't an issue IMO.

**Steve B** · February 25, 2019, 02:55 PM

I’ve really gotten into SVing my steaks of late. Did a 1-3/4â€ prime ribeye last night. I use 3-4 slivers of garlic and a sprig of fresh rosemary on each side after a 24hr dry brine. I also run @ 132*, the wife doesn’t like rare, for 90-120min. Remove from bag, also put my steaks in individual bags, pat dry and sear over a rip roaring fire. Flipping every 30 seconds until I get the crust where I like it and slice right away.
This is the one I did last night.

**MBMorgan** · February 25, 2019, 03:13 PM

FWIW, there is absolutely nothing wrong with ice water shocking after SV. I do it every time when the food won't be hitting the plate immediately after SV and searing. Here's a 2" thick prime tenderloin steak I did recently using the SV, dry off, season, torch, and serve method (no shocking):

... and a much thinner chuck-eye steak from a while back (again, no shocking):

$fracmeister$ · February 25, 2019, 03:27 PM

Seperate bags. Nice steaks I do the sealed type food savers. REALLY nice stuff (thing 200$ worth of prime tenderloin) I double seal.

No butter or oil. I just do salt and add the other stuff later. DRY THE STEAKS BEFORE SEARING! Sear at the hottest thing you can find. I like to coat them with beef love or oil. I like filling the slow n sear right to just under the grills. lately adding the pepper AFTER searing as I am occasionally burning the pepper.

I rarely do the cold water bath because I tend to sous vide right up till time to serve. I time it to be maybe 20-30 minutes early and just let it go till ready to serve.

Enjoy yourself. I just dont do them any other way now...

**Red Man** · February 25, 2019, 03:33 PM

I’d recommend reading Kenji’s guides in the Anova app. He explains temps and timing very thoroughly.

**Potkettleblack** · February 25, 2019, 08:06 PM

Baldwin, linked above, was publishing before Kenji was even thinking about Sous Vide. FWIW, he’s one of the better guides. Not to slam Kenji, but I don’t think he loves Sous Vide like some do.

Separate bags. Any garlic that goes in the bag must be cooked. But I generally don’t put anything in the bag with steak, beyond some salt.

2hrs is fine. Thinner steak won’t be hurt by going a bit longer. 129-131, whatever.

Shocking is necessary if you want to minimize the amount of well done between the crust and the perfectly cooked interior. It’s also necessary if you plan to store for a bit, or throw on the smoker. Every bit of extra heat when fresh out of the bag will cook it further. It’s at the perfect temp already. that said, I’ve come to like a bit of a grey band, as that’s what I’ve grown up with. Not on every steak, but it doesn’t bother me as much. The nicer the steak, the more effort I will put into perfection.

**Polarbear777** · February 25, 2019, 08:31 PM

I like 131F for steaks. If it’s less than 1â€ thick, I’ll shock in ice water. Or if I want to cook it tomorrow then the shocked cold steak can chill in the fridge, then sear and serve within a few minutes.

For thick steaks if you shock and chill then you might not be able to warm the center enough while searing, so I sear right out of the water bath after drying well and applying oil.

i love the searzall for a single steak, but an air blown fully lit chimney of insanity is my go to for multiples because it’s a lot faster. Only trick is you can’t use a grate over the chimney because the grate bars get red hot so I use flat metal skewers through the steaks to hold them over the chimney and get an even sear.

**JimLinebarger** · February 26, 2019, 12:49 AM

Sweaty Paul if you go to recipes from the time/temps page on Anova you may be able to change the doneness as well as the thickness and it will change the time and temp. However, the one for ribeye did not have that feature. The strip steak and porterhouse did have that option and should be about the same.

**RichieB** · February 26, 2019, 07:49 PM

I don't use the recipes. I Google and yes, Anova comes up, but so does many others and of course AR. Tonight did a couple of 5 oz. O. S. Rib Eye Steaks. A new cut for them, 2" thick, nice marble and well trimmed. S. V. @ 130 2 hours, Ice Bath for about 1/2 hour. On C.I. for sear. Unless I'm doing a big hunk of steak low & slow with smoke and reverse sear, S. V. is the only way to go IMO.

Welcome!

Announcement

Help with first sous vide cook.

Help with first sous vide cook.

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Announcement