Sous Vide Steak searing problem

Hello!

I found this site yesterday and I've been on here for hours. Its very well done.

So I got inspired and cooked sous vide steak and fries. I followed the thin cut instructions to a "t" and they were the best fries EVER. The steak however left a little to be desired. First off I think the quality of the meat was marginal... which didn't help matters but I thought I could compensate for the quality with some technique. I was mostly wrong

. It was good but not great. My question is this... After I pulled the steak out of the water bath I dried it thoroughly and coated it with Olive Oil. I got my pan pretty hot and started searing. I noticed that the sear was not at all uniform. Some areas were beyond what I would like for a sear and some areas were still grey. Should I weight it down next time. Any other tips appreciated.

Scot

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Scot_34735

Heres a photo

Tim_Sutherland_52834

From the photo it looks like the meat was not flat in the pan. The bone would have stopped some of the meat gaining contact with the pan.

With a cut like this I would use a blow torch to either sear the entire piece of meat out of the bag, or to just touch up the "grey" areas. If you want a nice even crust on a small odd shaped cut, cryo-fry the meat (bath in liquid nitrogen from the water bath then deep fry in hot oil. If you are low on liquid nitrogen, freezer for ~20min then oil).

Johan_Edstrom_5586

What @Tim said, and a pre-sear with a torch or in oil would help develop flavor and an even nice color, not to mention you don't risk overcooking either.

grant

Once the meat is cooked and the proteins have denatured and become rigid, it is more difficult for them to be manipulated. Meaning, a raw steak is easier to press flat into a pan and get a golden crust. So, preseason as Johan suggests, cook, them refresh if you'd like with one more sear.

Matthew_Snyder_68770

I'm a fan of the torch method, but I don't think you can add much flavor that way as you can with butter basting with herbs.

Scot_34735

thanks everyone

I think the bone did cause a lot of the meat to not contact the pan. I'll try some boneless thicker cut ribeyes next time with a pre sear.

Scot

Sumit__65166

@scot is that a non-stick pan, right?

in my opinion you can't go wrong with stainless steel or better yet cast iron pan. i use le creuset dutch oven, and i believe it gives you better crust that any other pan out there. with dutch oven, you can minimise the splatter, and less clean up for later on.

Scot_34735

Sumit

Yes that is a non stick. I think that is a good point. Should have stuck to the cast iron skillet.

Leigh_Jones_66597

I have been using a cast iron fry pan, but I have come to prefer the gas-fired barbecue because it produces attractive grill cross-hatching. I get pale spots in the cross hatching in response to peaks and valleys in the surface of the meats.

Johan_Edstrom_5586

If you slice the meat "searing" pattern matters less and you can happily torch or deep fry, you'll have better results and

in my opinion it makes for better plating, that is unless you want to do steakhouse plating.

com-chefsteps

Another way to increase sear consistency on lumpy meat is to add more oil to the pan, effectively creating a steak-shaped cooking surface. (This isn't as exacting as other methods, but is cheap and easy.)

mipopette

+1 on Ted, but make sure that your oil is smoking hot before to put the meat in the pan.