Redneck Sous Vide

DieselkW · May 2021

I priced a few of those little water heaters, seems (to me) to be a waste of money. I mean, how much difference does it make if the water is 125º or 119º?

I had a bone in ribeye - 2.5lbs - taken out of the freezer about 3 days ago. It's raining today in the MidWest, don't feel like Egging in the rain for a long cook that I have to watch so I dumped the steak in an old beer cooler, filled it with hot tap water, let the temp settle, and added boiling water until I got a steady 125º.

If it goes below 119º I'll just add some boiling water.

If it goes over 130º by mistake, I'll add an ice cube or two.

Bottom line, the cooler will keep the water warm, the steak will come to an even 120º more or less, and I'll sear it at 400º dome temp in 60 seconds while it rains on me.

Finished Pictures later Eggheads.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/fa/xydo2r32rbju.jpg

JohnInCarolina · May 2021

Nothing wrong with this redneck approach for a couple hrs. SV units are what you want when you’re looking to hold a fairly precise temperature, or you just want things to cook for a long period of time, like 18 hrs or more.