Are SRF Steaks a Good Candidate for Sous Vide?

Judy Mayberry

Aside from the edge-to-edge pink you get with sous vide plus a sear, does sous vide enhance SRF steaks in any way? Has anyone tried it?

caliking

I have not cooked an SRF steak, but I would cook the first one according to your tried and true method,  then see what SV adds to it the second time.

 SV tenderness is different from the tenderness you get from an all-BGE cook (can't explain the technicalities).

20stone

Judy Mayberry said:

Aside from the edge-to-edge pink you get with sous vide plus a sear, does sous vide enhance SRF steaks in any way...?

I would think that's enough. Bumper-to-bumper mid-rare is not a bad outcome. 

bgebrent

SRF steak would be amazing SV then sear!  Keep close watch on the finish temp.

tarheelmatt

I done a couple SRF filets a while back.  

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1194896/sv-srf-ribeye-filet-w-balsamic-and-red-wine-sauce-on-bed-of-mixed-greens-salad#latest

Spring Chicken

I assume you are talking about Snake River Farms steak.  http://www.snakeriverfarms.com/

That's a bit above my pay grade but my guess is that any cooking method adds its own peculiarities to meat, or for than matter, anything else.  The trick is to make the cooking method and the meat work together for maximum results.

We know that a fairly good piece of meat can be made better by using the sous vide method in the process.  It stands to reason that even a top grade meat can also benefit from the sous vide process.  

My guess is that by being in a vacuum sealed bag at a precise temperature for a certain length of time does more than just 'heat' the meat, it changes its structure for the better.  But equally important, any flavors added to the bag will combine with the liquids contained in the bag from the meat and completely redistribute itself throughout the meat, thereby giving a more even flavor.

So even if the meat cannot be possibly be made more tender, it can certainly benefit from the better saturation of added flavors.  

And, of course, the 'absolute' control you have over the entire cooking process greatly adds a welcome assurance that you will not over cook the meat.  It also assures a predictable outcome when you want to duplicate the cook in the future.

I say yes.

Spring "Just Saying" Chicken
Spring Texas USA

Raymont

I for one would say no. A properly egged steak has a better flavor than S.V. The benefit of the sous vide I believe is on less fatty cuts. Tenderloin, chicken, pork loin. A good marbled (SRF) or dry aged cut benefits greatly from being egged. I've done side by side. Egg wins. The other big benefit of SV is that the doneness is essentially guaranteed. This is nice when you have multiple steaks or steaks of different size, which is harder to peg perfect on the egg. 

J-dubya

Edge to edge is a big deal, you can't beat SV then sear in CI, IMO, espically for thick steaks.

Grillmagic

SRF Flat Iron Stesk SVed at 110 for 3 hours then 90 seconds a side on a 550 CI, Best Steak I have ever cooked.