Sous Vide vs Reverse sear

Hans61 · May 2017

i bought a sous vide immersion circulator around Christmas time and had been doing steaks in it between then and now, searing off on my kettle, they had perfect donenes and were pretty good. Today I did a BGE reverse sear on some Costco ribeyes and man, flavor was outstanding!!! Not going back. Reverse sear kicks sous vide as$.

That at being said, I really like the 25hr sous vide eye of the round roast with beau mondes rosemary then sear with garlic olive oil SnP - and by far have more sous vide to try, just won't be with good steaks

thetrim · May 2017

NYStrips, filets, T-Bones, Porterhouses are all great w sous vide. I think ribeye are best done reverse sear because that thick piece of fat doesn't render out much if at all in the SV.

Hans61 · May 2017

thetrim said:

NYStrips, filets, T-Bones, Porterhouses are all great w sous vide. I think ribeye are best done reverse sear because that thick piece of fat doesn't render out much if at all in the SV.

I've done all the above in sous vide and agree it's good, but lacking the wow factor that that egging gives them

kinda weird, but beef is the only protein I've cooked sv

Skiddymarker · May 2017

If you are going to SV, try skipping the kettle and egg. Light sear in CI skillet, I use side burner or Camp Chef stove. About 30 seconds per side in clarified butter (I cheat on that and use Ghee). Then into the SV bath. Finish sear with the same CI pan that is smoking hot. The light sear before the bath adds flavour you might have been missing.

Reverse sear is still nice, low as you can get temps to let the rub and smoke work some magic, then blast for crust.

thetrim · May 2017

When I SV steak, I'll finish on a 12in skillet on the large w butter, roasted garlic, rosemary, and thyme. I'll also sub the butter for duck fat if and when I have some of that.

JohnInCarolina · May 2017

Hans61 said:

thetrim said:

NYStrips, filets, T-Bones, Porterhouses are all great w sous vide. I think ribeye are best done reverse sear because that thick piece of fat doesn't render out much if at all in the SV.

I've done all the above in sous vide and agree it's good, but lacking the wow factor that that egging gives them

kinda weird, but beef is the only protein I've cooked sv

Oh man. You've got to try chicken or turkey SV. It's incredible.

Focker · May 2017

I prefer kind of a fusion of both, for ribeye.

Water bathe at 107 for 1.5hrs, which gives you more time on the grill, picking up that grilled ribeye flavor that gets lost with SV and pan searing.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/f6/zkawkpuiyguw.jpg

There are a few eggsperts here who claim there is a 60% grey area when cross hatching vs a pan sear, forgeting about the PAH fat dripping into fire flavors off the grill with a nice, fatty, ribeye.

Eoin · May 2017

Focker said:

I prefer kind of a fusion of both, for ribeye.

Water bathe at 107 for 1.5hrs, which gives you more time on the grill, picking up that grilled ribeye flavor that gets lost with SV and pan searing.

There are a few eggsperts here who claim there is a 60% grey area when cross hatching vs a pan sear, forgeting about the PAH fat dripping into fire flavors off the grill with a nice, fatty, ribeye.

That steak looks perfect.

Eggcelsior · May 2017

Focker said:

I prefer kind of a fusion of both, for ribeye.

Water bathe at 107 for 1.5hrs, which gives you more time on the grill, picking up that grilled ribeye flavor that gets lost with SV and pan searing.

There are a few eggsperts here who claim there is a 60% grey area when cross hatching vs a pan sear, forgeting about the PAH fat dripping into fire flavors off the grill with a nice, fatty, ribeye.

You don't need to cross-hatch. Just flip it often and move it around a bunch. You get the best of both worlds- even sear and fire-grilled flavor.

Focker · May 2017

Eggcelsior said:

Focker said:

I prefer kind of a fusion of both, for ribeye.

Water bathe at 107 for 1.5hrs, which gives you more time on the grill, picking up that grilled ribeye flavor that gets lost with SV and pan searing.

There are a few eggsperts here who claim there is a 60% grey area when cross hatching vs a pan sear, forgeting about the PAH fat dripping into fire flavors off the grill with a nice, fatty, ribeye.

You don't need to cross-hatch. Just flip it often and move it around a bunch. You get the best of both worlds- even sear and fire-grilled flavor.

Well, you do have a point. The steak scientists say, to cold grate it to med rare.

https://youtu.be/xGjJQQCfqNY

blasting · May 2017

Hans61 said:

kinda weird, but beef is the only protein I've cooked sv

Hans - marinate / rub a chicken breast. Pork chops as well. Sous vide shines with these two.

gdenby · May 2017

Some beautiful steaks shown in this thread!

A side note. There are a couple of markets where I can buy select grade steak such as whole strip loins, whole boneless rib-eye. They tend to be tough. If the steaks I cut from them get SV'd for about 48 hrs at 135-138F, they end up very tender, and a searing blast on the Egg produces a fine meal. I do blot the excess moisture on the meat surface before searing.

Hans61 · May 2017

@blasting what's your favorite temperature for chicken and pork chops?

blasting · May 2017

Hans61 said:

@blasting what's your favorite temperature for chicken and pork chops?

You're going to make me actually type it? I hesitate to admit, but I like both of those cuts done to 155 for a couple hours in the hot tub. Steaks and beef I like med.rare, but I like the texture of pork and chicken more well done.

thetrim · May 2017

I've done pork and chicken tenders at 140. If its a thick chop I'll go 2-4 hours on it. Boneless skinless chicken breasts go for 1.5 hours at 150

blind99 · May 2017

I don't think SV has any flavor benefit for a typical steak cook. The nice thing about it is it's so dead simple to cook a steak - or a number of steaks - this way. No platesetter, no temperature probes, and the timing is always perfect.

I do like the smoky flavor you can get with reverse sear though.... Now I want to do a reverse sear

Hans61 · May 2017

blasting said:

Hans61 said:

@blasting what's your favorite temperature for chicken and pork chops?

You're going to make me actually type it? I hesitate to admit, but I like both of those cuts done to 155 for a couple hours in the hot tub. Steaks and beef I like med.rare, but I like the texture of pork and chicken more well done.

I like pork and chicken more done too

Hans61 · May 2017

I posted these yesterday in the what are you doing thread in case any of you missed them. At the time wasn't thinking they were start a thread worthy

Before the sear

After

Sliced nice and pink - it's the meeting point of me and swmbo for doneness

GregW · May 2017

Focker said:

I prefer kind of a fusion of both, for ribeye.

Water bathe at 107 for 1.5hrs, which gives you more time on the grill, picking up that grilled ribeye flavor that gets lost with SV and pan searing.

There are a few eggsperts here who claim there is a 60% grey area when cross hatching vs a pan sear, forgeting about the PAH fat dripping into fire flavors off the grill with a nice, fatty, ribeye.

Your method is what I have been advocating also. I generally water bath to
100 degrees and sear to my liking and finish indirect to reach the desired internal temp.

It's amazing how much more flavor is developed by spending more time on the egg as compared to the traditional SV to temp with a one minute sear.

Hans61 · May 2017

@GregW @Focker will try sometime glad to read there's middle ground

Focker · May 2017

GregW said:

Focker said:

I prefer kind of a fusion of both, for ribeye.

Water bathe at 107 for 1.5hrs, which gives you more time on the grill, picking up that grilled ribeye flavor that gets lost with SV and pan searing.

There are a few eggsperts here who claim there is a 60% grey area when cross hatching vs a pan sear, forgeting about the PAH fat dripping into fire flavors off the grill with a nice, fatty, ribeye.

Your method is what I have been advocating also. I generally water bath to
100 degrees and sear to my liking and finish indirect to reach the desired internal temp.

It's amazing how much more flavor is developed by spending more time on the egg as compared to the traditional SV to temp with a one minute sear.

I'm with ya brother, didn't count time, or use a pen. Go by feel, stupid easy, and consistent. The banding is so minimal, you can barely notice, but worth the extra grilled/charred flavor that makes a ribeye my favorite beef cut. The middle ground is nice, grilled flavor with the soft SV texture. 107 was just a random number I picked. Lol

Sous Vide vs Reverse sear

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