Sous vide cowboy rib eye?

[Troutman]

You done good !!!

[Troutman]

Actually smoke is a topical flavoring accomplished via the mallard reaction. Smoke does not penetrate meat. Getting a good sear is the trick to accomplishing the same flavor profile.

[hoovarmin]

Gorgeous

[pjlstrat]

Well done, those look awesome!

[willxfmr]

Dang! Those look mighty tasty. Nice job!

[willxfmr]

Omigs. Using a smoker, a low oven, or a SV are all ways to do reverse, and all three get the job done. I should have been more specific in that I much prefer using a smoker for step one of the reverse sear cooking process. Sorry for the confusion.

[Dadof3Illinois]

Looks awesome!! I would of had some serious meat sweats after that....HA

[Omigs]

So after much deliberation, I decided to go sous vide with a reverse sear. I did 2.5 hours at 130. The larger steak only got up to about 127 at the end of the 2.5 hour bath. I did the sear for both on the chimney starter. Actually turned out great. Thank you to everyone for your feedback and recommendations, really gave me a lot to consider. Great learning experience and great meal.

The wife felt bad I was doing so much on "my day" but this is my happy place.

[Omigs]

Yes, I will agree with that!

[BBQPhil]

SV works but you don't get any of the smoke flavor that permeates the thick cut of meat done on a grill or smoker. Just personal preference. Not a question of right or wrong.

[Omigs]

I've reverse seared a prime rib roast much thicker than this using sous vide with great success. Is there anything that would make sous vide for a thick steak like this less suitable?

[Elton's BBQ]

Great info there MBMorgan

[willxfmr]

As a long time sous vide user, I couldn't agree more. Reverse sear is hands down the best way to cook a steak.

[BBQPhil]

I've sous vide steak but for a steak like this I smoke or grill at a low temperature (250) until the center hits 125 and then sear on the grill. It's easier, faster and I find tastes better.

[MBMorgan]

Please remember food safety, too. I’ll refer you to this first:

https://www.douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html#Beef

When cooking sous vide, there are several objectives to keep in mind:

1. Doneness - this is determined by the temp at which you SV the meat.
2. Food safety - you’re shooting for a safe level of pasteurization. This is a product of both temperature AND time. If you check the beef table in Doug Baldwin’s article, you’ll see that at 131F (generally regarded as the minimum safe SV temp) a 2” (approx. 50 mm) thick cut will require about 4.5 hours to be safely pasteurized. A 3” (approx. 76 mm) thick cut will be safely pasteurized in about 7 hours.
3. Texture and/or tenderness - like when you’re attempting to transform a chuck roast into something more like rib roast. This simply requires more time ... often LOTS more time (24 - 48 - or even 72 hours).

Enjoy those steaks and please pay close attention to points 1 and 2.