Making steaks at different doneness levels?

There are two related questions here and it's hard to tell what's right.

1) Making steaks to multiple doneness levels.

2) Reheating steaks.

Second question first. There is a lot of conflicting information on the Internet and even on the ChefSteps web site. Recently, I reheated a 2" thick steak that I had cooked rare for 2 hours. The ChefSteps site said I had to reheat it at 1° below what I had cooked it at, for 3.5 hours, longer than I had cooked it for! Grant has a video where he says the same thing on temperature but 40 minutes. Some people say 30 minutes. Sous Vide Supreme says 45 minutes per inch of thickness + 30 minutes if frozen. I ended up heating it for 2 hours (from the fridge) and it was fine, though not quite as good as it was the first time. I'd love to know what the answer is.

Now on to the more important question. Let's suppose I want to make steaks for 9 people (or even just 2). Some people want them rare, some people want them medium rare, etc. My first thought was to make all but the rare steaks earlier and put them in my fridge. Then, I'd add them to the water when I make the rare steaks, or partway through. I figure there are two ways to do this:

1) Just leave the more well-done steaks in the bath. If I make medium, medium rare, and rare, that means the medium steaks are in the bath for 6 hours (assuming the same 2" thick steak). Elapsed time is also 6 hours.

2) Add all steaks back when making the rare ones. Wait for temperature to come back up to 126° for rare before starting my timer. Non-rare steaks are in the bath for 4 hours, elapsed time is 6 hours.

Reading a bit more, I can imagine another scenario. It seems that the first half of the sous vide time is for cooking while the second half is for pasteurization. So, would this work?

3) Total time for a 2" steak is 2 hours. Set water to 133°. Add medium steaks, cook for 1 hour. Add some ice to lower temperature to 129°. Add medium rare steaks, cook for one hour. Add some ice to lower temperature to 126°. Cook all steaks for 2 hours. Medium steaks are in bath for 4 hours, medium rare for 3 hours, rare for 2 hours. Elapsed time is 4 hours.

Am I right? Would this work?

BTW, not all my steaks are 2" thick, but the last ones I got were, and they were awesome, and I figure that's probably the thickest I'd ever cook that isn't prime rib, corned beef, or something like that.

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Comments

Martin_411586

Have you consulted Baldwin? Try this: https://www.google.nl/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.icytal.uach.cl/efmb/apuntes/itcl296/sous-vide%2520products.pdf&ved=0ahUKEwiPq__WkPHQAhWBWxoKHR_CDIEQFggqMAI&usg=AFQjCNFwogrBVDsan8Q0pSxrBw5cuK0Zcg&sig2=4pLFBlAVg5KzZwuXqPtRfg

According to this rather well informed bloke, there's no clear distinction between cooking time and pasteurisation when it comes to tender meats.

Afonso_Tito_de_Morais_164825

Cook them to dsired temperatures, reheat at lowest temperature used for same time it took to cook.

nico.beemster

What Afonso said.

Cook 'em individually to the desired doneness. Reserve in the fridge, or whatever.

You can reheat them together in one bath set to about 2 degrees C below the lowest temp used. Keep them there for the same time it took to cook them.

Finish them by searing 'em in a ripping hot skillet or deep fry for about a minute (in fresh oil of course)

Last but not least: don't forget to mark your bags so you know which bag contains which steak(s).

Good luck!

Roy_Leban_129497

Thanks for the comments, but they don't really answer the question. I didn't consult Baldwin's piece when I wrote this post, though I had looked at it earlier. I know that I can cook everything in advance, but (a) based on experience, it seems the steak won't be quite as good, (b) to make steaks at 3 levels of doneness takes 3 times as long, and (c) if I'm only making 2 levels of doneness, I wouldn't be chilling the more well done steak because I'll be putting in the lower temperature bath immediately.

I'm trying to understand the optimal way to do this for both time and quality.

Let's take a simple scenario, where the steak needs to cook for 2 hours, and I'm only making steaks at medium and rare.

1. Set temperature to 133° for a medium steak

2. Put in steak A, cook for X time

3. Lower temperature of bath to 126° for a rare steak

4. Add steak B, cook for 2 hours

Both steak A and steak B will be safe to eat* because both have been in the bath for 2 hours at 126°. If X is 2 hours, steak A will be a medium steak. If X is 1 minute, steak A will be a rare steak with perhaps a very small band on the outside which is medium. What is the value for X at which steak A will be a medium steak throughout? I'm asking just about doneness because we already know the steak will be safe to eat. Some sources say it is the cook time divided by 2, which would mean 1 hour.

Here's what Baldwin writes: "When cooking tender meats, we just need to get the center up to temperature and, if pasteurizing, hold it there from some length of time." I don't need the hold time because that's already covered by the 2 hours at 126°. I need to know how long it takes to get the entire steak up to core temperature of 129° or 133°.

* safe to eat = usual caveats on rare meat, don't serve to immune-compromised individuals, etc.

Michael_Houang_415811

Hi Roy, this is my take on your questions. And no, I haven't read the comments below, so if information is repeated, I apologize.

Second question first. If your steak is already cooked, you just need to leave it in the water bath long enough to heat up. Think of "reheating it in the microwave", but in a water bath. Technically you can leave it in as long as you want, but since the food is already cooked, time isn't as important in the cook. Frankly, you can play it by ear; if two hours of reheating isn't working, do 90 minutes, or one hour. I believe that the varying times that you have researched just comes from this 'lack of importance' with respect to time.

Now with the most important question, I have also empathized with you. The answer I got around the boards is that you cook the highest temperature steaks first; lower the temperature to the second highest temperature of steaks and cook those, and so on. As you lower the temperature of the water, you are able to leave the earlier higher-temperature batches of steaks in the water bath while the lower-temperature batches cook. Some people batch-cook their steaks all at once, then freeze them. If this is the route you take, then all you would have to do is reheat them, in which case, I would redirect you to the second paragraph of this comment.

Roy_Leban_129497

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, you've told me what I already know. Plus, in this case, I know the reheat time — it will be two hours, because that's how long it takes to cook the rare steaks. In the best scenario, I don't remove any steaks, cool them down, then reheat them later. I just leave them in. So, what I'm looking for is the cook time without the hold time for pasteurization. Some places say that half the total cook time is for pasteurization. What's the correct answer? Surely somebody, somewhere must know.