Sous vide thread
2I remember back in the day there was a sous vide thread on the old site but can’t find it now. I’m cooking some very thick (2”) yet small Flannery ny strips and wasn’t clear on how long they need to go. I usually do 1.5 hrs with 1-1.5” streaks. Do I need to go longer with thicker steaks, even smaller 12 oz ones?
Thanks to you Sous vide Gurus out there!
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I’m still a sous vide newbie, but i’ve had good luck just going to a target temp and not worry about time TOO much. I haven’t noticed a difference between 2 hours and 3 hours, for example.
I don’t think you need to worry much if you are doing 1.5+ hours. Thawed, right? (Even frozen I bet they would be fine.) The real issue is turning them a little mushy if you go a long time, which seriouseats.com says is 4+ hours.
You really can’t screw up a sous vide steak in the bag, so the real question is how are you finishing it? Grill, cast iron, charcoal chimney starter, etc.? What are you drinking with it?
I’ve had a circulator for many years, so here are my two cents on sous vide in general.
It is a constant, perfect temperature. Eggs can be crazy interesting with this method (and you don’t need bags!). Low and slow cuts don’t get that temperature drop/spike when you are loading pieces of wood into your grill every 4 hours, but they also don’t get that smoke flavor. That flavor adheres to wetness so you can still smoke your shoulder/brisket and toss it in a bag and do a 12+ hour cook, or just add liquid smoke.
My better half is a vegetarian and sous vide glazed carrots are our favorite. You still need to finish in a skillet, but they are so perfectly tender it is nuts.
Do you need a circulator? Hell no. But if you have one… Also you can thaw frozen proteins in it with putting very cold water and circulating at 70*F versus the distributor’s preferred method of running cold water over it for 5-10 min. You Californians must cringe at that notion.
@KNmeh7 I actually usually have a pot of water filled for sous vide purposes. If I’m cooking a protein the normal way I often just toss it into the pot to defrost without turning on the circulator. Yes, I’m in SoCal.
@klezman Just tossing it in a pot of water doesn’t do the same as a circulator.
And I do not own a commercial chamber sealer, but do you feel your water gets a smell after uses? Especially if using liquid smoke. This is completely ignored in Modernist Cuisine, Chefsteps, and seriouseats.
@KNmeh7 No, it takes longer for sure. But when defrosting, say, a couple fish filets, it’s still only 20-30 min.
And yes, the water does get smelly over time and eventually we dump it, clean the pot, clean the circulator, and it sits empty until we use it the next time. I don’t tend to add liquid inside the bag because the FoodSaver sealer draws it all out instead of sealing it in. So I don’t know if liquid smoke makes its way through the bag. I wouldn’t be surprised, though, given the chemistry of the situation.
@klezman @KNmeh7 I guess we don’t sous vide enough, but never really thought about keeping the water for future use.
@hscottk @klezman @KNmeh7
Ours is good for a week or so, depending on usage and duration.
Liquid smoke in a bag? Thank you no.
Seems anything in there is multiplied by the process.
Regarding cook time, I think nothing of 6~8 hours for 24oz hangars.
I love my sous vide for a wide range of things but for steaks with the exception on a tri-tip I only use the reverse sear method, I think the texture is much better ymmv.
https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2018/10/reverse-seared-steak-recipe.html
@ScottW58 I need to give that a try!
We currently have a brisket in a cooler with the Annova hooked up. Leave it in the garage with styrofoam covering most of the water bath. It’ll go for about 36 hours then we’ll put it on the smoker. Is that backwards from what others are doing?
Ended up pulling them at 1:45 and they were perfect. Thanks for all the advice!