First sous vide steak

JackL

I spent the first two days with Joule cooking chicken (breasts with sage and butternut squash the first night, thighs with couscous and sautéed moroccan-spiced tomatoes the second night), so I thought I'd try a prime NY strip for my first foray into sous vide steak... My main worry was that I'd fail to get a good sear on it but I think it came out pretty well and with higher heat for a shorter period of time I think it'll come out better next time.

I trimmed the fat cap off (don't worry, all the beef fat scraps went in the bag!), salt + pepper, then pre-seared for 50 seconds a side + 20 seconds on the edges. Everything went in the bag with some thyme, a bay leaf, some garlic cloves, and olive oil.

Cooked at 129º for around an hour, while I smashed potatoes and roasted brussels sprouts. I seared it off a second time with oil and butter, then made a quick red wine pan sauce from the, uh, bag juices and plated it up:

Next project to tackle: my plating skills need some serious work (note to self: smashed potatoes turn gray if a purple-skinned potato sneaks into the pot). I'm going to try to make ChefSteps' pork jowl this weekend. Any tips? Anyone else tried it?

mike.minasian

I did the pork jowel a few years ago, but my power went out halfway through! Don't be like me!

I've done the exact same thing with purple potatoes! You'll never make that mistake again. In terms of the steak, based on the pic in the water, I think you should go further with the pre sear. Really get that maillard reaction going. Don't limit yourself to a time searing. Because it's raw you can get away with a longer presear than you would post sear. Lastly I personally like to wait to season for the final sear. It's a much bigger issue when salting something before a long cook so it may just be my perception, but I think it's better with post season only. Cheers and congratulations on wading into sous vide cooking!