Help with a Sous vide plan

Captain_Paul · May 2020

Need to cook 6 ribeyes tomorrow. Think I might run up the street and pickup an Instant Pot brand immersion cooker I saw yesterday for about $75 at my local Meijer. So how about throwing steaks on at 225 in the morning and pulling at maybe 118, vacuum packing and dropping into a pot with the immersion cooker at 120? Then in the afternoon when closer to eating fire the Egg up to around 600 and go a minute or two on each side on a low grate?

JohnInCarolina · May 2020

So how many hours total do you expect they’d be in the sous vide? And how thick are the steaks?

Captain_Paul · May 2020

Well I haven’t cut it yet but it’s a half ribeye and looks to be about 8” so a little over an inch each or maybe I’ll just cut 7.

Not sure how long. I thought that was kind of the thing with a Sous vide that you could hold it at temp for a good period of time? I guess in this case maybe a few, 3 or 4 hours?

JohnInCarolina · May 2020

Captain_Paul said:

Well I haven’t cut it yet but it’s a half ribeye and looks to be about 8” so a little over an inch each or maybe I’ll just cut 7.

Not sure how long. I thought that was kind of the thing with a Sous vide that you could hold it at temp for a good period of time? I guess in this case maybe a few, 3 or 4 hours?

Compared to normal cooking in an oven or in a skillet, you have a lot more room for error, but the total amount of time will still make a difference in the final texture of the steak.

I recommend reading this article and adjusting your plans accordingly:

https://www.seriouseats.com/2015/06/food-lab-complete-guide-to-sous-vide-steak.html

gteb · May 2020

I don’t see why not. Should work.

I have to ask, why 225 till 118? You adding smoke?

Why not sous vide about 2 hours before you want to grill, then sear and serve...
‘remember the texture of the meat changes the longer you keep immersed. Most of my steak cooks are 1.5 hours, pull pat dry and sear on egg with short fire ring and cast iron grate.

Captain_Paul · May 2020

Ah, this is new good info for me on the time temp stuff. I thought I had seen on here where you could keep it almost indefinitely. Yes, I wanted to add smoke. I guess this doesn’t really change my plans. I’m just not sure how long this will all take so wanted to use this method so I could get closer to when I want to eat. This way I just have to time the Egg temp and seat.

jtcBoynton · May 2020

So how about throwing steaks on at 225 in the morning and pulling at maybe 118, vacuum packing and dropping into a pot with the immersion cooker at 120?

You are duplicating the low heat stage of the cooking process. Why? You will lose a good amount of the smoke flavor while bathing.

There are time limits for leaving the steak in the bath at 120ºF (safety) so make sure of your timing. You can put them in a 130º bath for as long as you want. There will be a slight quality issue if left too long (but its longer than many think). Thickness plays a major part in the proper timing of sous vide steaks.

Captain_Paul · May 2020

So you guys don’t think I gain anything with smoke? Do you think a straight Sous vide followed by a hot seat compares to a regular reverse sear?

Captain_Paul · May 2020

*sear

JohnInCarolina · May 2020

jtcBoynton said:

show previous quotes
So how about throwing steaks on at 225 in the morning and pulling at maybe 118, vacuum packing and dropping into a pot with the immersion cooker at 120?
You are duplicating the low heat stage of the cooking process. Why? You will lose a good amount of the smoke flavor while bathing.

What? No - that's not correct. Many of us here do an initial smoke stage before a long SV stage with all sorts of protein. The smoke doesn't go anywhere after the protein has taken it on.

JohnInCarolina · May 2020

Captain_Paul said:

So you guys don’t think I gain anything with smoke? Do you think a straight Sous vide followed by a hot seat compares to a regular reverse sear?

It does not in terms of the smoke flavor.

Captain_Paul · May 2020

So if I go 130 am I likely to be able to get a sear and still stay medium rare?

jtcBoynton said:

show previous quotes
So how about throwing steaks on at 225 in the morning and pulling at maybe 118, vacuum packing and dropping into a pot with the immersion cooker at 120?
You are duplicating the low heat stage of the cooking process. Why? You will lose a good amount of the smoke flavor while bathing.

There are time limits for leaving the steak in the bath at 120ºF (safety) so make sure of your timing. You can put them in a 130º bath for as long as you want. There will be a slight quality issue if left too long (but its longer than many think). Thickness plays a major part in the proper timing of sous vide steaks.

gteb · May 2020

I think it’s worth a try. I would smoke for about 30 minutes, then do sous vide till desired temperature then pat dry really well and sear.

llrickman · May 2020

You can keep those steaks in the sous vide for up to 4 hours.(if you are going for med rare ) I would sous vide them a little ahead of time and toss them on the egg to sear at serving time

kthacher · May 2020

I own an Instant Pot, and think it is the wrong tool if you intend on Sous Viding much at all. It is too small, so you will fit next to nothing inside. Maybe 1 or 2 ribeyes at a time max. Maybe none, depending on the size, unless you want to fold them. I also have the Anova device, which you can use with almost any container. So a few decent sized steaks could be done all at once. Love the IP, but would never use it for Sous Vide.

xfire_ATX · May 2020

Yesterday for family Mother’s Day I did 6 sirloin and Ribeyes. I pulled one of each aside and did 90 min in Sous Vide at 125 and all others at 275 on egg

pulled everything went to 550 and seared. Sliced up the two Sous Vide for everyone to try and they were the hit of the event

Legume · May 2020

I cooked a strip last night that was maybe 1 1/4” thick. SV for 2 hours at 130 (partially frozen when I put it in. Dried it off and reseasoned, seared on CI grid just an inch or two above the coals with dome temp in the 600-700 range and I was able to get significant crust while preserving a nice med-rare. Generous use of oak chunks will give you some nice grilled flavor, not what I would call smoked, but more than neutral lump alone.

Legume · May 2020

But if you want smoked flavor, then by all means smoke it first. If you need to hold several hours after and are worried about texture, maybe consider fridge after smoke then reheat with SV before searing, but that this point, a simple cook has gotten quite complicated.

jtcBoynton · May 2020

kthacher said:

I own an Instant Pot, and think it is the wrong tool if you intend on Sous Viding much at all. It is too small, so you will fit next to nothing inside. Maybe 1 or 2 ribeyes at a time max. Maybe none, depending on the size, unless you want to fold them. I also have the Anova device, which you can use with almost any container. So a few decent sized steaks could be done all at once. Love the IP, but would never use it for Sous Vide.

Instant Pot now makes an immersion circulator like the Anova. He was not talking about the pressure cooker.

Help with a Sous vide plan

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