Go to the Recipe: Ultimate Beef Wellington
Is the goal of removing moisture in the pre-cook the reason that cooking the tenderloin sous-vide wouldn't work?
Love the recipe - all steps very logical.
However, yet again, the temperatures quoted. An oven, outside of a laboratory, that can hold 232C, wow! Please, please, please, 450F = 230C!
I’ve been waiting for this! I’m making beef wellington next Friday. Unfortunately it’ll be after work so I can’t do this oven method. Thank goodness you have the sous vide recipe. That came out great last year. Looking forward to giving this a go sometime soon though.
In the recipe up top you say that you need to wrap the wellington and cook it right after the pre cook as the temperature you use wouldn’t be enough to get the tenderloin up to temp. But then in the video Grant says you can do the prosciutto wrap and then refrigerate it. Then he refrigerates it again once he wraps it in the dough, sans lattice wrap. Soooooo, is it possible to pre cook the tenderloin, wrap in prosciutto, and then refrigerate for a period of time?
Most PID controlled lab ovens ( like hybridization ovens ) wont reach 232C as they're used in biological syntheses chemistry and 232 would fry the crap out of tissue derivatives. But your point is well taken. I imagine the folks at ChefStpes are using modern, and expensive, combi-ovens that can be set to 232 and will hold there. You can get one for 3500 or so. But the "science" aint going away. If you wanted you could rig a PID controller up to your oven's heat circuit ( as long as its electric ) and you'd have a precision oven as long as the base oven is a decent one.
Do this. Get a good oven thermo ( electronic ) and place it in the center of your oven. set the oven at 300. When it reads 300 start noting the temp every 5 minutes for an hour or so. You'll get a wave if you connect the points. Again at 400 do the same. You'll be surprised at how much an analog controlled unit ( yeah yeah but most digital controls on home ovens are little more than electronic analogs ) ups and downs to average what you set the dial at. 232 is 230 and 245 and 222. So ultimate precision is a joke in the home no matter how much "science" you dress it up with.
You still lose moisture when you sous vide, that is why you end up with juices in your bag. We do like this method and use it in the Level 1 Wellington recipe. But you do not get as dry as when you bake it.
450°F is not equal to 230°C. And if they did as you suggest, there would be your opposite number on here complaining about that too. 🤪
Some people complain, Kenji among them (although pictures of his non-sous vide Wellington don't look any different to me), that sous vide shouldn't be used for Beef Wellington since you cannot get the puff pastry fully cooked without over-cooking the pre-cooked tenderloin.
The new CS recipe reminds me of what Julia Child wrote in 1970 in "Mastering the Art of French Cooking (Vol. II)":
"We think it a great improvement to substitute brioche dough for puff pastry... The resulting crust is beautiful to look at as well as being light, thin, cooked all the way through and delicious to eat; this is never the case with puff pastry, which cannot bake properly under such circumstances and is always damply dumpling under its handsome exterior."
My one and only go with SV Beef Wellington was a success. I did ChefSteps' Level 1 recipe. The bottom of the pastry was flattened and a bit wet, but overall it was great. I get Julia's point though for sure.
I remain to be convinced either way. I think a lot of the negative commentators on this question on the internet have probably never even eaten Beef Wellington, let alone cooked one lol. And no matter what you do, whether it is Beef Wellington, an apple pie or a Chinese bao, any pastry surrounding a wet filling will always have layer that is less well cooked and moister than the exterior. That is not a bad thing. Such is the Internet.
There seems to be a big mismatch in the video and written recipe. While this seems more like a technique than a recipe, the steps aren't all that clear. When can you pause to rest and chill? When *should you*? For instance the secret with the pot pie is to get everything super chilled before baking. Why not here if you've precooked it? Especially if you do the "long way" baking?
One last note that I've noticed on the recent videos. The camera seems to be missing critical steps of the process. The value of the video isn't just to see grant's lovely face, it's to see specifically what things should look like at each step. I found that this was missed with the corn pie. In this case, I feel like I have more questions than answers.
My suggestion: lay out a schedule for ideal timing of everything. I.e. I want to serve at 8pm. I should make the dough the day before duxelle up to 5 before, but then lay out the final timing for the roast, rest, bake, etc. Given that wellington is sooooo much about timing, I would find this super helpful!
I can’t wait to try this! I’ve done BW a half a dozen times and Ive eaten BW at 5 or six High level restaurants including Gordon Ramsey’s (which is classic and perfect. Easily one of the best Ive ever had.)
Everyone has a complaint about something so I just ignore the whiners.
I’m thrilled that CS revisits recipes when they feel they have something better.
I can't believe I paid money for this OC shit.
What the hell are you talking about ?
what the hell are you talking about? Ovens can be purchased for any temperature you want - they are not all used for biological synthesis ( I think this is the word you intended to use) chemistry..
I am waiting for your recipes website, Masterchef.
If just using cannon, how do the London restaurants have such massive long Wellington’s? Do they use several cannons in same puff? If serving more than 8 people, would you just do two wellies or would you try to make one big one?
Later in the recipe they mention to wrap in dough and refrigerate for 30 minutes...I agree it's confusing if you can go longer on this step. It would be nice to get all of the prep done in the morning and cook later in the day
I agree with some of the comments before me. Different instructions in the video than in the written recipe. It could be better if we see more of what is happening in the pot or pan or how things come out of the oven or the fridge.. But, I have tried to cook Beef Wellington, and the additional tipsI got by watching video and reading the recipe are probably going to improve the next time(s) I prepare it. Thanks! I do have a question though. Usually when encasing something wet inside pastry dough, holes need to be made in the top to let steam out. I don't see this step anywhere. Is the meat so dry these steam vents are not necessary? Also, Grant seems to grab the pan of the BW with his bare hand when coming out of the hot oven. Bionic? LOL
Hi Fernando, Steam vents aren’t necessary, because we intentionally dried out all of the internal ingredients before putting the Wellington together.
Hi David, Often a whole tenderloin is used for a long Wellington. We recommend cooking two Wellingtons using cannons to ensure uniformity which will make it easier to get the results you want.
Hi Michael, Thanks for the heads-up. We’ll take a look at the video and the recipe and make sure that they line up. I’ll pass on your suggestions to the team for showing cooking steps and adding a timing schedule.
Any follow up comments on the timing issues? The video suggests that wrapped cannon can rest in fridge for a few days before final cook in the pastry but the text materials suggest to do everything same day. Is there a textural difference in the techniques? The main problem I’ve encountered is that the bottom puff is overly soggy. Looking mostly for a solution to that.
once the cannon is wrapped with the pie dough you should bake the same day. but the cannon that is wrapped with duxelles and ham can sit in the fridge for a few days.
Is there any issue with moisture seeping into the pastry when using squash?
Great recipe, and love the videos interdispersed throughout.
When using the Sous Vide method, would searing post sous viding remove more moisture - either instead of or as well as before? Furthermore, what temperature would you bake at to cook the pastry without too much carryover to th meat (I'm guessing high)?
Did you guys do trials with using crepe layer around cannon or filo dough like Kenji Lopez alt serious eats version? Did you find it a negative or just not necessary? Nigella Lawson suggested par baking the bottom pastry and then wrapping around that to decrease soggy bottom like one might do par baking a pie. Do you think that is worth trying or maybe not much value add?
Would it work well with your gluten-free puff pastry recipe as well?
https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/gluten-free-puff-pastry-with-cannelle-et-vanille-s-aran-goyoaga
guys, what's the name of the oven Grant popped the duke in?
Breville, the smart oven air.
We didn't test that one, but it is worth a try. I would skip trying to do the lattice.
in our recipe the ham acts the same as the crepe for a barrier. It is helpful. you shouldn't have to par bake either if you are following our steps the whole point of it is to be nice and crispy with no soggy bottom.
I’d like to make this recipe through wrapping in prosciutto the day before and chill overnight too, picking up with wrapping in pastry the next day. Perhaps removing the tenderloin from the refrigerator and hour or so before applying the pastry to allow the prosciutto-wrapped meat to come to room temperature is the solution?
Hi Richard, I ended up making this for thanksgiving this year, and since we were making them in house I just produced a cannon for my self a few days in advance and had it chilling in the fridge. I pulled it while it was cold, wrapped it and went right into the oven. Once the dough was cooked I pulled it and let it hang out on a wire baking rack for 30 min before I cut it. that resting time brought the temp of the precooked tenderloin up to the perfect serving temp. it is one of those dishes that you don't really want to serve piping hot. there are many different ways that these wellingtons can be done, in the video and recipe above we just went with the option that had a little shorter wait from start to finish.
Thanks for the suggestion, Kyl! So to make sure I understand, you removed the Wellington after the initial blast in a hot oven for 30 minutes, and skipped the "cruise" in a slow over at 175 altogether? Neither the video nor recipe mention an anticipated time for cruising at 175. Agree that this is not a dish that wants to be served piping hot, so maybe I am worrying a bit too much about temps!
I am curious about the pastry, specifically the use of bread flour. For anyone who has made this, including the pastry...is the pastry dense and doughy? In the CS pictures of the cut Wellington, the pastry looks a bit thick and gummy (sorry, just how I’m seeing it). I’m hoping it’s light and crispy, but the pictures make it look very bread-like. Thanks for any advice!
your right, the one in the photo could have cooked a bit longer.. but this is the correct dough for it.
Thanks for your reply! I’m excited to try it!!
What do you guys think about this for the Wellington? If I pre-cook it, wrap the tenderloin in duxelle and prosciutto, and put it in the fridge overnight, I definitely see how it could come to temperature in the oven while the pastry bakes.
However, I am using pillsbury croissant dough as I was originally going to SV it, but I’m trying to make my life easier. Would the tenderloin get to temperature in the oven with croissant dough, or does the dough cook too quickly before it could warm the tenderloin? I’m thinking the croissant dough will cook too quickly and the tenderloin won’t get hot enough. I’m doing two 6” center cut cannons, not one big cannon. Maybe the smaller cannon will counteract the shorter dough baking time, but thickness is thickness? SV after work and wrapping it and baking it all is starting to seem like a time crunch.
Edit: Duxelle is already done.
How about some more details on the vegetarian version - how do you get the spirals in the squash?
you should be able to follow the same process, get the dough nice and colored, then drop the temp and ride it out until you read 110 on the edge of the meat.
Hi John, there is a pretty good walk through right above the comments section. But specifically the spirals will come from how you stack and wrap up the 3 sides of Delicata squash after they are cooked. let us know if that helps
Thanks Lorraine! Grant's email was great. Would love something like that included in every recipe that is multi day. 2 schedules: like here is the ideal way to do it, here's the quickest way.
I think the puff pastry is quite uncooked in the bottom
I have a question about the temperature of the Welly. The recipe says to blast it at 450° ". . . until the tenderloin measures 110 °F / 43 °C just below the surface of the meat.
At this point, drop the oven temperature to 175 °F / 79 °C and allow the Wellington to bake until the meat reaches 110 °F / 43 °C."
If you are cooking it at 450° until it reaches an IT of 110°, how are you then continuing to cook at 175° until it "reaches 110°F?" Also, elsewhere it appears to say that if the IT hits 105° while cooking at 450°, then it's done!? This is very confusing. Please relieve my confusion! I'm planning to cook this for Christmas dinner on Wednesday.
Hi--I 'm gearing up to do my first Wellington after 20 years of cooking as a hobby. I love this recipe and technique! The one thing I am confused by is the 110° F temperature. After it has already had the low-slow pre-cook and is wrapped and refrigerated. When we then cook it, at hight heat until the tenderloin is 110 and then lower the heart to 175 and cook until tenderloin in 110. Are we measuring a different part of the tenderloin at this point? Is the idea that it will cook up closer to 125 as it rests out of the oven? Thanks and happy holidays!
Hi Terence, sorry for the confusion, I've updated the verbiage. you have already cooked the tenderloin in the precook, so this last cook of the dough around it is strictly to cook the pie dough. so you really are just monitoring the temp of the meat to make sure you do no over cook it.
Hi David. I updated the verbiage, to clarify your question. bake at 450 °F / 232 °C until the dough is darkened, evenly, across the Wellington. In our Rational oven, that took about 20 minutes. In a home oven without convection, that could take 30 to 40 minutes. Watch the Wellington to gauge doneness in your oven. You do not want blond dough. The darker the dough, the better. (Of course, don’t burn your dough.) However, monitoring the temperature of the tenderloin is important. Do not exceed 110 °F / 43 °C.
At this point, drop the oven temperature to 175 °F / 79 °C and allow the Wellington to bake until the meat reaches 110 °F / 43 °C. This longer, slower bake will ensure the pastry dries out and crisps up.
Thanks so much, for the quick response. So to be clear, I am searing, pre-cooking to 110 with the low /slow heat method and then (once cooled) wrapping in the duxelle and prociutto layer and chilling until Wednesday morning. On Wednesday after presents, I will wrap the meat in the pate brise and then chill until later afternoon. Then, I remove from fridge, add the lattice layer, egg wash, etc. Then it goes in my convection oven and for roughly 20 mins, until the crust looks beautiful. Then a drop the oven heat to 175 wherein I am basically just keeping the whole thing warming at that 110* but no longer cooking the meat. The roast does not come out while the oven is cooling down to 175, correct? Thanks!
Thanks for the clarification. I think I've got the concepts down. Now it's all about execution! 😬
I have another question: my oven only goes down to 170°F. Is there any adjustments I needed to do for the pre-cook of the tenderloin? I'm thinking that the extra 20°F might affect the carryover. Should I cook it to a lower core temp than 110°F?
If you choose to do the vegetarian version of the dish, do you need to replace the prosciutto with something else to wrap around the duxelles?
What is the best method to save and reheat leftovers?
Do you add the thyme to the duxelles with the parsley after the sauté? Neither the recipe nor the video show what to do with this ingredient. Thx
Another duxelles question - in the video, we go from 1,300 grams total volume to 475. But the recipe only calls for 500g crimini, 250g shallot and 85g butter, which is only a little more than half what is shown in the video. Which is correct? I suspect the video as my duxelles pile post-cook does not look like enough.
So, grams are a measure of weight (mass), not volume. Also, I seen to have missed the references to 1300 grams reduced to 475. Where did you see that?
I know. Those were his words in the video (at the 4:25 mark). He meant weight. I weighed the ingredients. But what I had left in my pan was considerably less than the pan in the video. Right at the end of the duxelles part of the video, he mentions that he started with 1,300g, end with 475g, having cooked off almost 800g of water. I ended up going back the the store and cooked a second batch of mushrooms. I’d recommend that folks double the ingredients for the duxelles for an 800g tenderloin.
Thanks. I completely missed that.
Although he did say that measurements aren't critical except for the pastry, as long as you do about 2 to 1 mushrooms to shallots. Personally, I'm going to go with the recipe.
Is there any reason I can't use a mix of the sous vide version and this recipe? I know the beef won't be quite as dry, but my oven is horrible, so I much prefer to cook the beef sous vide. I can then wrap it in the duxelles and prosciutto take it over to my mother in laws, where they have a much better oven, and complete the bake.
On other sites I've read recommendations to sous vide the beef a day in advance, and let it sit in the fridge, allowing it to firm up. The recipe states to cook it right before assembly, but the video states otherwise. Below Michael Minasian makes reference to an email from Grant with a different schedule. I'd love to know what was in that email.
Hi Michael. Any chance you can share the contents of the email with the rest of us? I plan to make this for Christmas eve dinner, and was thinking about cooking the cannon tomorrow.
Let’s use the beef Wellington as an example. Let’s say you are making it for Christmas dinner on this coming Wednesday.
Saturday morning
Do all the shopping for the entire holiday meal. Buy a beef tenderloin, if you are not butchering it yourself. (Ask the butcher for a cannon cut.) When you get home and put all the groceries away, put rock salt on a plate, a rack above the plate, and sit the tenderloin on the rack. Put it in the refrigerator, in a place with a lot of airflow. This will let the tenderloin air dry in the fridge, which will make a better tenderloin.
Sunday
Make the pastry dough. Take your time. Make it the way we show you in the video. Wrap it in plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator to rest for the next few days.
If Sunday is a day off work for you, make the mushroom duxelles. Take your time. (Make a double batch if you can, since you can store duxelles in the refrigerator and use it any time you want for other foods.)
Monday evening
Sear and pre-cook the tenderloin. This is where you will be bringing it to the doneness you want. Let it cool, then put it back in the refrigerator.
Tuesday
If you have the day off of work, do this in the morning. If not, make some time in the evening. It’s time to assemble the Wellington.
Pull out the duxelles.
Pull the dough out of the refrigerator and shape, then roll it out. (We have a video for that in the recipe.)
Put together the Wellington and wrap it in dough. (Watch the video embedded in the recipe.)
And on Wednesday, throw it in the oven before dinner. That tenderloin will be cold on the inside, which gives you the best chance of hitting the pastry with high heat and browning it well without over-cooking the beef.
you should be ok, just make sure you keep an eye on your temp.
we used a layer of feuilles de brick, but you can use a crepe as well.
I used the oven to reheat. and put it in the fridge unwrapped until it is cooled
during the sauté
sous vide works great as well. I would just give it a good sear after you pull it out of the bag to dry the out side up.
Thanks, Michael. Because I'm short on time, I'll need to condense some of these steps, but it gives me a great idea of how flexible the timing can be. I'll do all the prep-work and pre-cook the tenderloin today, and then do the final cook tomorrow evening.
One final question...approximately how long does the Wellington cruise at 170? I'd like to use that as a rough guide so I can pace the rest of the meal prep.
Can I use the method of drying it out on a rack with rock salt in the fridge first if I’m only making a regular sous vide tenderloin? If so, how many days can you leave it like that?
in our oven it went for about 45 min. I would plan on a min 30min and max 1 hr
If you’re going with sous vide I would just do a post sv sear and let it cool down after that. No need to go extra with salting it.
hi Kyl—
Could you guys add the joule option into the main recipe? I’m thinking it would help me get it just right.
For ref, mine was only about 15 - 20 minutes but that was because I needed the extra time at 450 to get the right color and temp got to about 95 at that point.
Big thing I found was just keep everything as cold as possible at all times, it makes each step much easier if you don't have to rush!
I am attempting a reheat of leftovers tonight. I didn't slice more than I needed so I still have a substantial piece uncut. I have it in a 175°F oven with the thermometer probe placement about ½" below the surface of the meat. Planning to take it to 110°. Fingers crossed!
