Entrecöte/ribeye time and temp

art1985_66418

Sous vide and Chefsteps newbie here, having some problems with discovering the magic about sous vide. My steaks usually come out tender, but with a somewhat dry feeling to it. I have been experimenting a bit, and assume that time/salt is the culprit. Giving it a go tonight, and need some experts pointers.

I have two cuts of entrecöte - the european equivalent to rib-eye, i believe. Roughly 500 and 300 grams each, about 4 cm thick. Seasoned with pepper and seared it in butter/rapeseed-oil in a smoking hot skillet this morning for a total of 45 secs each side - be-a-utifull crust! - Let it cool, seasoned with garlic powder, vacumsealed it, and put it in the fridge. Planning to eat them tonight, but i cant decide on time and temperature on my vac-star circulator to get the perfect result. I like my meat medium rare, thick with juices. The meat is surprisingly lean for a cut of entrecöte - was considering adding some butter to the pouches, but a article at seriouseats convinced me othervice. Help please?

Find more posts tagged with

Everything Else

Comments

Brendan_Lee_56950

I would first consider not salting if you are going to chill and hold before cooking. The only time I salt before searing/SV cooking is if i'm serving it directly from the bath. I did a strip steak rare last night at 54.5C/55min and it was delicious, not many juices in the bag at that time and temp though unfortunately.

Johan_Edstrom_5586

I'd also make sure your unit is calibrated to a reference temp.

Grace_95227

@Art1985, entrecote's are lovely. Considering that they are 4cm, I'd go for 2 hours at 55C for medium rare. Pre and post (quick) sear. No butter in the pouch necessary, but it would help better browning (Maillard reaction) by using butter for post sear for nice charred crust. Let us know how it went!

Johan_Edstrom_5586

I usually do all my beef at 54C, that is just a personal preference though.

Grace_95227

Oh yes of course, I suggested 55C as @art1985 mentioned medium rare. I tend to cook thinner rump steaks about 2.5cm (1 inch) for myself (never can finish larger ones!) at 52C actually, so I can have a bit of leeway for more browning at post sear stage.

So yes, depends on preference and searing results. My apartment stove isn't as strong as I like it to be, but then blow torch is on the way muahaha

Jack_Mayer_85396

I'd be more than willing to eat a nice steak at either 54C or 55C! Also agree with @Grace, those thicker steaks will need more time. @Art, welcome to a fantastic community!

art1985_66418

Thanks guys. Decided on 57c - medium rare according to http://www.chefsteps.com/courses/accelerated-sous-vide-cooking-course/sous-vide-steak.

Using the sousvidedash-app, it wants 3 hours 40 minutes to reach temperature. Two hours to go -> off to the gym.

Brendan_Lee_56950

Love that app. That app, combined with some nice thermocouple probes can really take the guesswork out of SV cooking. Now if only they would hurry up with the android version since I gave my iphone up.

Chris_Young_80640

@art1985 – I suspect salt is indeed the culprit. Presalting more tender red meats tends to make them seem somewhat dry, although what's really going on is that you are slightly brining them and the altered texture isn't palatable to most of us who love juicy, rare steaks. Careful with the garlic powder, those usually contain added salt.

Brendan_Lee_56950

@chris is that in reference to all garlic powder or more to "garlic salt" or "garlic seasoning" that you find in the grocery store.

Chris_Young_80640

@Brendan Lee — Garlic salt and garlic seasonings clearly contain salt. But I have seen garlic powder that is really a "garlic seasoning". Salt should, however, be clearly called out on the label. So all I was really suggesting was to be aware that Art might be adding extra salt without realizing it.

Brendan_Lee_56950

Ok just making sure I haven't been duped all this time. I try to make sure to avoid all seasonings that contain salt so I can control that ingredient on my own.

art1985_66418

@Chris; thanks for the head up. Apparently my roasted garlick & pepper, chili, onion & chive mix also contain 22%salt. God damn! I have to begin reading the small print on the back.

@Johan Edstrom; measured the water themperature with my cheapo analogue thermometer. Seems ok to me.

@Jack Mayer; Thanks. Really impressed with both the site and the forum.

Mason_Perry_34060

Please post some pictures of your meats success or not.

Like has been stated above any kind of salt added to the bag and either placed in the fridge or in the bath for extended periods of time will bring the meat and create an unintended dryness. Sounds like your seasoning is high in salt content, I found this to be common since salt is cheap.

In the future try some fresh or even dried herbs (I use a little olive oil rosemary and thyme for a Tuscan style flavor on my bone in ribeyes.) be careful as a little will go a long way.

Welcome to the site and forums, glad to have you and I don't doubt that you will be a believer in sous vide yet, it just takes that one perfect piece of meat and you will be sold.

art1985_66418

The evening was saved by a thick redwine sauce and House of cards.. Steaks turned out okay - super tender, but not as juicy as i would like. No juices was released when i cut into it; is this to be expected of sous vide meat? Approximately 1 dl liquid was left in the bag - in which i coocked the two steaks. This does not seem like a lot, considering the "dryness" of the steaks. Am i beeing overly picky?

Johan_Edstrom_5586

You don't really want a steak to release a ton of juice, it'll only make it dryer and usually is a good indicator to me that you should rest it a little bit more.

I think as @Chris pointed out the salt had much more to do with the dryness.

Mason_Perry_34060

Yes I am sure 22% salt was creating a dryness problem, I ran into this before. Next time do a pinch of salt and a couple grinds of pepper on each side of the steak right before you sear it the first time. Then rest it for a few minutes to let it cool and seal it and cook it right away (or freeze for as long as you want and cook straight from frozen.) after itsdone iI always have some juice in the bag. Remove the steak, and let it cool for a few minutes before searing. I will often pull the steaks and rest them as the skillet heats for the sear. This means you are less likely to continueccooking the steak as it is fully cooked and all you want to do is add a crust. If you preseared it you should need less than 60 seconds for each side. After it's seared I don't usually rest it more than 60 seconds and I never have bleed out issues. I would taste it first then season with salt and pepper as needed. This way you will get a baseline of what just the meat with some salt and pepper is like, then you can build from there with seasoning, herbs, marinades, etc...

I started this way and have expanded out trying new things. I added a seasoningwith high salt content like you used and it really was very detrimental as it sucked out a lot of moisture becausethe meat was essentially being brined.

Good luck and keep us posted on how it goes.