Tips for Steak well done in Sous Vide

[alexcooks]

Hi,

I'm a steak lover and like my meat medium rare, but my wife and her family will only touch beef if any hue of red and pink has left the tissue and the meat is fully well done.
I just got a Anova sous vide cooker to perfect my steaks and am wondering if it can also help me with my well done orders. All articles on well done steak on the Internet basically blast you for being crazy, and I agree, but I still need to compromise for the sake of peace at home
Any actual tips how to produce the best possible well done steak with or without sous vide are welcome!

Thanks,
Alex

 

[Andy M.]

Well done is just cooked to a higher internal temperature than medium or rare. There are all kinds of guides to cooked temps for cooking.beed in a sous vide or by other methods. Once you have guidelines you should experiment to determine the best temp and process.

 

[Cheryl J]

Welcome to DC, Alex.

 

[Silversage]

Set your Anova at 156F. Then cook it for at least 2-3 hours.

156F is on the short side of well done, but still brown. That way it won't squeeze the very last drops of moisture from the meat. The 2-3 hour cook time will begin to break down the meat a bit, so it may become a bit more tender than the standard well-done steak. Remember that leaving something in the water bath 'too long' changes the texture. 3 hours is 'too long' for a standard steak, so it may help tenderize.

Don't salt before cooking in the sous vide, but do add some butter and fresh herbs to the bag. Salt generously before searing- try a smoked salt.

Of course, sear it quickly over a high flame or in a screaming hot cast iron skillet. Make sure you have a generous amount of fat in the skillet so that the browning hits more than just the high spots on the meat.

Deglaze the skillet with some red wine then pour over the steaks.

 

[Roll_Bones]

Hi,

I'm a steak lover and like my meat medium rare, but my wife and her family will only touch beef if any hue of red and pink has left the tissue and the meat is fully well done.Alex

I have the same situation with my wife. In addition to her preferring well done, her entire family will not touch any meat at all thats not burned to a crisp. In fact, my BIL makes a point (for me) when ordering a steak, to tell the wait person to "burn it".
He says it real loud and looks around to make sure everyone heard him.

I pan sear the thick steak on both sides, then put in 350 oven for 6 minutes. I then let it rest for at least 10 minutes.
I then slice it into 1/4" slices and put my wifes slices back into the hot pan for a minute or two on each side.
Its made life much easier for me. It was difficult to ruin a whole steak for her. Now I just ruin the few slices she eats.......

 

[Aunt Bea]

I love the internet!

I was reading the http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f16/cod-fillets-shrinkage-94911.html thread and it suddenly took a turn that eventually led me to this Video: How To Cook Steak In A Cooler With The Food Lab | Serious Eats.

Interesting video on how to "make do" when experimenting with sous-vide. I do think it would have been nicer if the guy had used a clean cooler for his demonstration!

 

[roadfix]

So, what is the best method to bring a steak that has been sitting in a 130F bath to well done? Only one or two steaks among several (med rare) need to be served well done.
All the steaks will most likely be seared over a charcoal grill. Should I wrap them in foil and keep them over indirect heat until they're well done, then sear?

 

[GotGarlic]

I would give them an extra few minutes on the grill before you sear the medium-rare steaks.

 

[powerplantop]

So, what is the best method to bring a steak that has been sitting in a 130F bath to well done? Only one or two steaks among several (med rare) need to be served well done.
All the steaks will most likely be seared over a charcoal grill. Should I wrap them in foil and keep them over indirect heat until they're well done, then sear?

If you know ahead of time heat the water bath to a higher temp after 30 minutes or so reduce the set temp. When the water bath comes to the lower temp add the other steaks.

If you do not know ahead of time remove the med rare ones and raise the water bath temp for 45 minutes to one hour. Or remove the ones to be well done place on the grill indirect heat until they are close to temp then sear all the steaks on direct heat.

 

[roadfix]

I would give them an extra few minutes on the grill before you sear the medium-rare steaks.

If you know ahead of time heat the water bath to a higher temp after 30 minutes or so reduce the set temp. When the water bath comes to the lower temp add the other steaks.

Thanks, I think either method should work with equal results.

 

[roadfix]

And on that note I just ordered a Gourmia immersion sous vide machine on Amazon Prime.....

 

[outRIAAge]

I feel your pain. For his birthday, I bought my brother-in-law a 24oz pastured T-bone and dry-aged it for a month. He insisted that I turn it into charcoal before serving.

I would suggest you not serve them straight steak. To be just a little snarky,"Chicken-Fried" sounds more about their speed, but there are many great beef recipes that can we served well-done. How about you blow their doors off with that dinosaur, Beef Wellington? It has enough going on that it can survive being overcooked.

 

[roadfix]

And on that note I just ordered a Gourmia immersion sous vide machine on Amazon Prime.....

I'm impressed...... with Amazon shipping. I ordered this less than 24 hours ago and it was delivered to me this morning at my workplace. And it was shipped from Kentucky.
Now I'll get to play with my new toy this weekend....

 

[roadfix]

Decided to test it at work.....

 

[StuartCooks]

If you know ahead of time heat the water bath to a higher temp after 30 minutes or so reduce the set temp. When the water bath comes to the lower temp add the other steaks.

If you do not know ahead of time remove the med rare ones and raise the water bath temp for 45 minutes to one hour. Or remove the ones to be well done place on the grill indirect heat until they are close to temp then sear all the steaks on direct heat.

This is the better method. Will take a bit more time, though. But will still yield tasty results.

 

[roadfix]

While it was a fun tool to use during the month or so I've owned it I ended up giving away my immersion unit. For me, I saw no big advantage in using sous vide over my traditional methods of cooking/grilling steaks and roasts.

 

[StuartCooks]

While it was a fun tool to use during the month or so I've owned it I ended up giving away my immersion unit. For me, I saw no big advantage in using sous vide over my traditional methods of cooking/grilling steaks and roasts.

Would you change your mind if you had a wifi enabled one?

 

[roadfix]

Would you change your mind if you had a wifi enabled one?

I doubt it.....unless I'm missing something here with the wi-fi feature I'm not aware of.

 

[StuartCooks]

I doubt it.....unless I'm missing something here with the wi-fi feature I'm not aware of.

Hmm, maybe. I just like the idea that I can set it up before I go to work and schedule the cook for any time. Then if maybe I am running late or coming home early I can just log in to the device with the app on my phone and start the cook or delay it if I have to.

I also like the reminders. "Your steak is done!" and so on.

It's like a crockpot on steroids and with a brain. So cool.

 

[roadfix]

Hmm, maybe. I just like the idea that I can set it up before I go to work and schedule the cook for any time. Then if maybe I am running late or coming home early I can just log in to the device with the app on my phone and start the cook or delay it if I have to.

I also like the reminders. "Your steak is done!" and so on.

It's like a crockpot on steroids and with a brain. So cool.

Those are nice features, and if I ever go back to SV I'll definitely look for those features as time constraints were one of things I didn't like working with SV.