Too much meat juice lost during cook

One of the main reasons I bought my Joule was to cook steak and other meats. I understood that one of the advantages of sous vide cooking was that meat retained most of its juices during the cook.

After cooking steak I get a lot of juice in the bag, and the steak doesn't seem any moister than other cooking methods I've used in the past.

I thought perhaps this was a result of salting the meat before cooking as salt draws moisture out of meat, but I get the same result if I don't season the meat.

I cook my steak to medium rare for about an hour and a half to two hours. Am I cooking too long?

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Comments

brian_martin2001

How thick is your steak, and what temperature are you cooking it at, what cut of steak is it, and what grade is the steak?

Manfred__101170

There various reasons responsible for the outcome as you described.

1. Temperature above 57,5° C – 153,5° F can cause a higher relaxation of the protein helix what results in a stronger release of liquid. Go with 57,5° C and extend the cooking time.

2. Frozen meat; ice crystals brake the cells and liquid release occurs by a rather low cooking temperature

Preston_416351

Consider the following:

The app has time and temperatures calculated by thickness. That calculation is precise, try to be as close as you can when it comes to that. Yes a ruler may really help. Trust me chicken done precisely is completely different from just ballparking it at the two hour mark.

You might have to get a vacuum sealer. The ziplock method works no doubt but eventually the juice will win with longer cooks. Sometimes that doesn't matter, brined turkey for example will still be amazing. But a strong vacuum will help you obtain that interesting experience that they rave about. Remember Joule is a precision cooker, Sous Vide means under vacuum.

Do not despair as with all cooking methods this will take time to understand how to work everything. I'm still getting the hang of it myself and here's what I've found to be true:

Follow the guide as close as possible.

If you have a larger cut look up the Time and Temperature guide here or the Serious Eats comprehensive guides.

Less air in the bag the better.

Use the best stuff you can afford.

Try the egg based recipes, the custards are the easiest things to play with.

Using the gravity method will lead to more juice in the bag.

Try the vegetables, the asparagus is a big winner.

Be careful with your sear. Pat it dry as a bone before the pan.

Let it rest in the bag before searing if using gravity method.

brian_martin2001

According to chefsteps "You might have to get a vacuum sealer. The ziplock method works no doubt but eventually the juice will win with longer cooks. Sometimes that doesn't matter, brined turkey for example will still be amazing. But a strong vacuum will help you obtain that interesting experience that they rave about" this isn't really the case. The only time you "need" a vacuum sealer is out you're compressing food, and then you need a chamber vacuum sealer. According to Grant, in several video, water displacement will yield the same results as a vacuum sealer for just cooking the food.

Mason_72237

Sadly, you were mistaken. Meat doesn't retain more liquid when cooked sous vide, the juice just stays in the bag as opposed to evaporating away. The temperature you cook the meat to determines how much water is lost. A piece of meat cooked to identical temps will expel roughly the same amount of liquid regardless of cooking method.

Now, with SV we can cook to the same temp all the way through the piece of meat instead of higher temps on the outside, getting to the lower temp on the inside, it will retain slightly more liquid, but that is only because it's cooked to the same temperature throughout, not because it is cooked in a plastic baggie. And there is no risk of overcooking it, which would obviously dry it out.

If you want less liquid in the bag at the end of your cook, cook to a lower temperature. What temp are you cooking what kind of meat to?