Sous Vide cooking, What are the Pros and Cons?

[grengadgy]

I would do the well done 1st, then lower the temp and add the med/rares. That way they all go to sear at the same time. Remember that well done would cook in about an hour at 158 degrees then turn it down to 140 degrees for your medium rare.

 

[jdh5484]

I would do the well done 1st, then lower the temp and add the med/rares. That way they all go to sear at the same time. Remember that well done would cook in about an hour at 158 degrees then turn it down to 140 degrees for your medium rare.

Food for thought.

 

[heavychevy]

I would do the well done 1st, then lower the temp and add the med/rares. That way they all go to sear at the same time. Remember that well done would cook in about an hour at 158 degrees then turn it down to 140 degrees for your medium rare.

Not surprised I didn’t think of that. Should work just fine.

 

[G8trwood]

Is sous vide french for low and slow ;)

#Smoker

 

[heavychevy]

I think I read it’s French for cooking in water or something similar. Probably should’ve googled it before I commented.

Kentucky gentlemen has taken over

 

[grengadgy]

It means "under vacuum"

 

[heavychevy]

My d was sous vide of your mom I reckon

 

[grengadgy]

Have you cooked any vegetables by Sous Vide? Pros & cons...

Pros:
#1: all veggies cooked in their own juices, better taste
#2: no over cooking, stays warm keeps natural color

Cons:
#1: longer cooking time?

 

[grengadgy]

This is my latest lunch go-to for my air fryer.....

I bought 5 lbs of jalapeños and made another batch of Candied Jalapeños. Yum yum....

 

[AuggieDosta]

I would do the well done 1st, then lower the temp and add the med/rares. That way they all go to sear at the same time. Remember that well done would cook in about an hour at 158 degrees then turn it down to 140 degrees for your medium rare.

No, this would take too long to manage as water temps don't transition quickly using the Anova because their heater is small and large quantities of water are more stable. A rare steak takes about 2 hours in a bath. A well-done steak takes hours longer. So by doing it in reverse, you're only looking at a minimum of 2 hrs for prep work while the searing goes quickly and provides flavor and texture.

If you had a grill, and wanted to cook all of your steaks on it, from raw, you would have to manage the different requests for doneness (rare, med, leather, etc.) on the fly. This can be stressful if you care to get it right and provide a quality steak for your family/guests. Some cooks are better at it than others and experience is key!

Now, with sous vide, I would recommend that you set your water to the LOWEST temperature that would provide the rarest steak. You're able to do this for as long as is needed and if you go long, then that's ok, it's still at the same temp. No stress here.

Pull all of the steaks out of the bath and dry them. Prepare your grill/pan/whatever device so that it's ready to sear the steaks. You can even use a hand held torch (think Bunsen burner) for the sear. Start the sear on the leather (well done) requests and work your way back to the rare steaks as these will only take mere seconds on each side. This way, each step in the process is done at the same time and all the steaks go to the table together.

Doing it this way still puts YOU in charge of the final product and most resembles the traditional way of cooking on a grill like I mentioned in the 2nd paragraph. But, your protecting yourself from under cooking somebody's steak. This is typically more objectionable versus overcooking. In restaurants, people send back under cooked steaks but choke down over cooked ones. Your also protecting yourself from throwing money in the garbage because meat can be expensive.

In short, sous vide for the LOWEST steak and sear them UP TO the most cooked steak. No need for a 2nd immersion/circulator. If you get it wrong, it's always on the side of being under seared (ie not done enough) and that is easy to fix by throwing it back on the grill for more searing. However, you can NEVER take an overcooked steak and make it LESS cooked. That's the beauty of sous vide, it makes the entire thickness of meat the exact same temp.

 

[grengadgy]

No, this would take too long to manage as water temps don't transition quickly using the Anova because their heater is small and large quantities of water are more stable. A rare steak takes about 2 hours in a bath. A well-done steak takes hours longer.

I stopped reading because your logic is all wrong... It takes 5 to 10
minutes to make to the temperature change. Remember you are dropping the temperature from 158 to 140 degrees so the the 800 watt heater wouldn't be used to drop the temperature. The temperature cooks the steak rare or well- done in the same length of time. In case the well-done steak would more tender while the medium rare steak cooked to 140 degrees.

As I said in an earlier the temperature of conventional cooking confuses the Sous Vide cooking. That wisdom is put aside. Sous Vide isn't made for speed but results.

 

[AuggieDosta]

It doesn't happen as quickly as you're stating. Plus, once you get the water to the desired temp, you then have to add the raw steak and it has to sit at that temp for 2 hrs or more.

I own an Anova and cook multiple steaks all the time to different doneness.

You do you then.

 

[grengadgy]

Read the comments

Sous Vide Medium-Rare Steak

 

[AuggieDosta]

Read the comments

Sous Vide Medium-Rare Steak

There were no "comments".

In the directions, there is this...


2 hours! (or more)

 

[grengadgy]

There were no "comments".

In the directions, there is this...

2 hours! (or more)

The comments are at the bottom of the page.

Here's one
Mark Dillon
Wait, what? I used mine for the first time last night and the recipe said ONE hour which cooked my steak perfectly medium rare. You’re suggesting TWO hours here. Which is correct??
Like · Reply · 2y
Anova
Both! Anywhere from 1-4 hours will produce identical results with no overcooking! All based on schedule and convenience.
Reply · 2y

 

[grengadgy]

The comments are at the bottom of the page.

Here's one
Mark Dillon
Wait, what? I used mine for the first time last night and the recipe said ONE hour which cooked my steak perfectly medium rare. You’re suggesting TWO hours here. Which is correct??
Like · Reply · 2y
Anova
Both! Anywhere from 1-4 hours will produce identical results with no overcooking! All based on schedule and convenience.
Reply · 2y

It will be cooked in 1 hour but more cooking will increase tenderness.

 

[AuggieDosta]

Just for S&G's, I simply Googled, "how to sous vide steaks at different temps" and the very first option presented me with an article that I copy/pasted below. And, if it makes you feel better, they even said one option is to buy a 2nd machine. I just think that's unnecessary.

"The easiest method to sous vide two steaks to different temperatures, and the one I use the most, is to simply sear the more well done steaks longer.

You would heat the sous vide water bath up to 131°F (55°C) and put both steaks into it. You would cook both steaks until they were done, usually 2 to 4 hours for tender cuts (you can use my sous vide times by thickness charts for specifics) or much longer for tough cuts.

Both steaks would be removed from the sous vide bags and dried off. You will want to sear one steak like normal, for about 30 to 60 seconds per side, so it stays at medium rare. The second steak will be seared for longer, probably 1 to 3 minutes per side, until the middle has been raised a few degrees to medium. If you have a meat thermometer you can be exact in this heating, or otherwise you can wing it, erring on the side of more- or less-rare depending on who will be eating it.

You now have one medium-rare and one medium steak, with only a few minutes of additional cooking time!

It's generally best to start with the "medium" steak first, and when it's almost done searing you can add the "medium-rare" steak for a quick sear as the first one finishes up. Also, this method works best if you are searing in a pan or a grill. Using a torch is so efficient it's hard to raise the temperature of the steak, even when you are trying to.

The biggest downside to this is that the medium steak will begin to develop more of the "bulls eye" effect that sous vide generally prevents. So if you are trying to maintain the perfect "edge to edge" doneness, it's much harder to do through this method."

While this is exactly what I recommended, I provided my opinion BEFORE going to Google. Just remember, there are many ways to skin a cat and all of them kill the cat.

 

[AuggieDosta]

The comments are at the bottom of the page.

Here's one
Mark Dillon
Wait, what? I used mine for the first time last night and the recipe said ONE hour which cooked my steak perfectly medium rare. You’re suggesting TWO hours here. Which is correct??
Like · Reply · 2y
Anova
Both! Anywhere from 1-4 hours will produce identical results with no overcooking! All based on schedule and convenience.
Reply · 2y

You must have logged in. I did not. Sorry about the confusion.

As for the 1 hour bath...ain't no way in hell one hour is going to get the steaks that I buy to the desired temp.
Ain't.
No.
Way.

Maybe for the "guy" that made that comment, 1 hour is enough for his thin little steak but who wants to eat that.

Any self-respecting man buys thicker steaks that would take 2 hours (or more) to reach medium-rare.

 

[AuggieDosta]

I would like to also point out, that even if we were to specifically discuss thin steaks and a 1 hour bath, then the difference in time that it takes to change the bath water temp (your suggestion) is waaaaaay longer than it would take to simply sear steaks to a different doneness (my suggestion).

But, nobody needs to buy thin steaks. That's ludicrous.

 

[grengadgy]

no I didn't login. and the comment was from a Anova rep.

Your method is widely discussed in the comment section. Of Course the fallacy to that would be losing your perfectly sous vide cooked well done shoe leather steak .