Greg Who Cooks
Executive Chef
Sous Vide steak is a definite answer to those who don't like blood in their steaks, but don't want their steak to be tough. For those people this technique should be a god send.
I've had several steaks now cooked in my sous vide and every single one of them has been juicy and tender. It's clear to me now that there is an almost total disconnect between what the steak looks like and what it tastes like and chews like (tenderness). One very basic fundamental of sous vide steak is that you have to sear it by some other method or it looks like grey beef. Sous vide is not a perfect technique, but in combination with other cooking techniques it's amazing.
I recall the best beef I've ever had: prime rib medium rare or even rare. Maybe even just a few heart beats of being revived (despite all its body parts being severed...)
So now that I have the almost perfect technique, what's in the way of it becoming perfect?
Instead of a steak that looks medium and tastes/chews medium rare, why not a steak that tastes blood rare? Can you do that with sous vide?
Current recommendation is 1-4 hours at 134F for 1" thick steaks. I'm temped to try 130F for 1 hour...
Yeah I know we have a food safety issue here, but the old rule is 145F before serving, and the 134F throws that baby out the window.
So how do we get blood rare out of sous vide?
(I've had steak tartare, where the steak never got over body temperature... Didn't kill me yet...)
(I routinely eat raw fish too and that hasn't killed me yet either. Yet... )
I've had several steaks now cooked in my sous vide and every single one of them has been juicy and tender. It's clear to me now that there is an almost total disconnect between what the steak looks like and what it tastes like and chews like (tenderness). One very basic fundamental of sous vide steak is that you have to sear it by some other method or it looks like grey beef. Sous vide is not a perfect technique, but in combination with other cooking techniques it's amazing.
I recall the best beef I've ever had: prime rib medium rare or even rare. Maybe even just a few heart beats of being revived (despite all its body parts being severed...)
So now that I have the almost perfect technique, what's in the way of it becoming perfect?
Instead of a steak that looks medium and tastes/chews medium rare, why not a steak that tastes blood rare? Can you do that with sous vide?
Current recommendation is 1-4 hours at 134F for 1" thick steaks. I'm temped to try 130F for 1 hour...
Yeah I know we have a food safety issue here, but the old rule is 145F before serving, and the 134F throws that baby out the window.
So how do we get blood rare out of sous vide?
(I've had steak tartare, where the steak never got over body temperature... Didn't kill me yet...)
(I routinely eat raw fish too and that hasn't killed me yet either. Yet... )
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