Pre-searing a cold steak

Hey guys,

prior to the SV times, I remember the one rule for a tender steak chefs gave me was to take it out of the fridge to let it get to room temp before searing it up. Now, from what I understand, with SV, pre-searing is an option for more flavor, yet with the danger of overcooking. In which case, in one recipe it was recommended to sear the cold steak – wouldn't that make it tough?

I'm not sure about the science of tough meat and its connection with the temperature of the steak prior to searing, but maybe somebody here does and can enlighten me. What I can say from my own testing is that I did put the cold steaks right into the SV bags (without pre-searing) and it had no negative impact on tenderness at all.

Thanks! Ken

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Johan_Edstrom_5586

Sear from cold, heck you can torch frozen. Cook from frozen, it is all good.

Afonso_Tito_de_Morais_164825

I stuff my steaks in the freezer for 15 min before searing. Perfect errytime!

Ken_259952

Thanks for that – any idea what's behind this "only sear room temp steaks"?

Ken_259952

http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/06/the-food-lab-7-old-wives-tales-about-cooking-steak.html i did find a little bit of "theory" on this – seems like taking it out of the fridge for 1 hour does almost nothing to the core temp anyway.

Johan_Edstrom_5586

Well, in a traditional setting I guess to "prevent" overcooking, seal in the juices, building the magical crust - most of it wife's tales and based on handed down mumbo jumbo - traditional heating methods, resting is about the only thing I pay respect to.

fisher23

It all about flavor. A pre-seared and post seared steak tastes better. The reason you pre-sear cold is so that it won't over cook, just giving you a little more flavor. The sear is only a quick cook in a screaming hot pan 30 seconds or so to get a Maillard reaction.

Johan_Edstrom_5586

Yep, that's a good article. It is fascinating listening to all of these myths.

yjohn94

Toughness has no correlation with core temperature prior to searing. Letting a steak temper before cooking for half an hour will result in a negligible increase in the steak's core temp. With traditional 'steak' cuts (strip loin, rib steaks, filet etc) the most important thing you can do if you want a tender steak is to avoid overcooking it. Luckily, you're planning on cooking it sous vide so you've already won half the battle. For pre-searing for sous vide, the colder the steak the better. Chilling the steak as much as possible before pre-searing ensures you do not cook any meat other that the very outer layer you're trying to color. After doing my own side by side tests, I'm not sold on any increase in flavor as a result of searing before and after sous vide versus after only, but a pre-sear does help to minimize overcooking measurably if you chill the steak thoroughly and dry its surface before it hits the pan.

Debbie_Jordan_268341

A study by America's Test Kitchen found steaks seared from frozen were better. Though the steaks were cooked in 225F oven after the sear and not sous vide, I still think that is useful info.