Sous Vide Vs. Reverse Sear: Which Method Yields The Better Steak?

[MULTIZ321]

Sous Vide Vs. Reverse Sear: Which Method Yields The Better Steak?

Sous Vide Vs. Reverse Sear: Which Method Yields The Better Steak? - Tasting Table

Battle of the Steaks: Sous Vide vs. Reverse Sear. Which method wins for the ultimate homemade steak? Discover the pros and cons of each technique.

www.tastingtable.com

Richard

 

[TheHolleys87]

@ScoopKona this thread is for you!

 

[Talent312]

The lazy man's way...
Stick it on a hot outdoor grill until it's done like you want.

 

[ScoopKona]

@ScoopKona this thread is for you!

And a perfect example of why people shouldn't listen to these articles.

Here's how I cook a steak:

1) Place steak, minced garlic, onions, black pepper, salt, a pat of frozen butter and a sprig of rosemary in a vacuum bag.
2) Seal
3) Place in an immersion circulator at 5 degrees less than your target temperature. For me, that's 120f.
4) Leave. Go shopping. Watch a football game. Whatever. Isaac Newton is cooking your meal at this point.
5) Remove steak from bag. Reserve jus for a gravy -- green peppercorn is my go-to. Pat steak dry with paper towel
6) Fire up an infrared grill (or your broiler with a cast iron pan) to "surface of the sun" hot. Or grill right over a chimney starter. There is no maximum temperature. Just as hot and fast as physics and your wallet allow.
7) Sear. The meat will increase in temp by the 5 degrees you held back in step #3

And there you have it -- the seared, sous-vide steak, just like most of the top steak houses. Perfect doneness every single time, no matter the size/weight of the steak in question. Even if cooked well-done (which I simply won't do), it's going to yield a better meal than turning beef into charcoal on a grill.

 

[Brett]

Montreal steak seasoning and grilling - Ruth's Chris Steak House method is good enuff for me

 

[ScoopKona]

Montreal steak seasoning and grilling - Ruth's Chris Steak House method is good enuff for me

Ruth's Chris uses an infrared grill which reaches 1800f -- that's hot enough to melt salt. Most people don't have one of those in their kitchen. I spent a brick on my infrared searer, and it only goes to 1600f.

 

[tombanjo]

If one could only leverage the heat of a steering wheel in Phoenix, no one would need a fancy “infrared” heater.

 

[ScoopKona]

If one could only leverage the heat of a steering wheel in Phoenix, no one would need a fancy “infrared” heater.

The inexpensive way is to use a charcoal chimney starter, slap a grill grate on the chimney starter and cook directly on that.

(Not my idea -- Alton Brown's. Probably the best show he ever did. Although I disagree with his "prime beef doesn't matter" point. It matters quite a bit if it is rare/mid-rare. Medium or above, I agree, doesn't matter.)

Infrared has loads of other uses besides searing a steak that would bring a tear to Tom Colicchio's eye.

 

[CO skier]

One thing is undeniable: To get great steak flavor requires the Maillard reaction, which occurs at temperatures about 100F above "brew in a bag" sous vide. So why complicate matters? To paraphrase a Nike commercial, "Just grill it."

 

[ScoopKona]

One thing is undeniable: To get great steak flavor requires the Maillard reaction, which occurs at temperatures about 100F above "brew in a bag" sous vide. So why complicate matters? To paraphrase a Nike commercial, "Just grill it."

Closer to 200F more, actually.

Why complicate matters? Because the end result is so much better. This is why most of the high end steakhouses have a line of Polyscience immersion circulators. A more-tender, juicier product which is never over or under cooked. The best part is that this equipment is now attainable by any home cook in the developed world.

Besides, it's far less complicated. Hand the entire process over to Isaac Newton and do something else.

 

[buzglyd]

The inexpensive way is to use a charcoal chimney starter, slap a grill grate on the chimney starter and cook directly on that.

(Not my idea -- Alton Brown's. Probably the best show he ever did. Although I disagree with his "prime beef doesn't matter" point. It matters quite a bit if it is rare/mid-rare. Medium or above, I agree, doesn't matter.)

Infrared has loads of other uses besides searing a steak that would bring a tear to Tom Colicchio's eye.

I’ve used the chimney method before. I learned it in the great book Meat head. I have a partition in my Weber that allows me to slowly heat up the steak on one side and then finish it off with the sear. Similar theory. I just don’t have a sous vide machine. I like to get all covered in smoke and drink beer while I do it.

 

[ScoopKona]

I’ve used the chimney method before. I learned it in the great book Meat head. I have a partition in my Weber that allows me to slowly heat up the steak on one side and then finish it off with the sear. Similar theory. I just don’t have a sous vide machine. I like to get all covered in smoke and drink beer while I do it.

There is no sous vide machine. There's the vacuum sealer, which will save people money all over the kitchen. And then there's the immersion circulator, which keeps the water bath at the precise cooking temperature.

Sous vide just means "under vacuum." Let's sous vide some vegetables. Since heat flows from hot to cold, the heat from the water bath slowly raises the temperature of the veg in at the outside of the bag. Only when it has reached equilibrium, does the heat move further inward. But, unlike every other cooking method, the outer layer never overcooks. And where does all the flavor and nutrients go? It's in a vacuum bag -- it all stays put.

 

[bizaro86]

You actually don't even need an immersion circulator or a vacuum sealer really. I sous vide all the time, and use reusable silicone bags most of the time. I have a vacuum sealer but you have to buy new bags and most of the time I don't bother.

My Anova immersion circulator just failed under heavy use, and while I'm waiting for the warranty replacement I've been doing a poor man's sous vide.

Large stock pot filled with water on gas range. Clip a thermometer to the side, adjust gas to maintain desired temp. It's more work/watching but can be done. Easy for steaks where 1-2 hours is all you need. I wouldn't leave it over night for a large roast for obvious reasons.

 

[ScoopKona]

You actually don't even need an immersion circulator or a vacuum sealer really. I sous vide all the time, and use reusable silicone bags most of the time. I have a vacuum sealer but you have to buy new bags and most of the time I don't bother.

My Anova immersion circulator just failed under heavy use, and while I'm waiting for the warranty replacement I've been doing a poor man's sous vide.

Large stock pot filled with water on gas range. Clip a thermometer to the side, adjust gas to maintain desired temp. It's more work/watching but can be done. Easy for steaks where 1-2 hours is all you need. I wouldn't leave it over night for a large roast for obvious reasons.

It can be done, sure. But it's not optimal.

I routinely do 16-hour cooks. I'm not going to watch a pot for more than a few minutes -- I'm too busy for that. May as well just do it the hard way -- saute, braise, grill, whatever.

Here's what kills me about the societal pushback against immersion circulators. People trip over each other buying kitchen gadgets which don't do a damned thing to make them better cooks, or provide them with better food. They provide faster, somewhat more convenient food. But better? Absolutely, positively not.

And yet when given the opportunity to purchase something which actually elevates their ability and their daily meals, they want nothing to do with it. The reason all the high-end restaurants have BANKS of immersion circulators is because these things work. They work as advertised. And they provide more tender, more flavorful food. They're not for every situation -- stir fry, saute, deep fry, smoking and similar will always be necessary. But circulators and bags do what they do better than any other solution, bar-none. And it's not even expensive. But it does require people to think about time and temperature. That's the likely cause of the pushback. (And, "My pappy's pappy told me to do it this way. And I don't want to hear about your fancy book learning and physics. Isaac Newton? Never heard of him. I'm only interested in Guy Fieri!")

 

[VacationForever]

You actually don't even need an immersion circulator or a vacuum sealer really. I sous vide all the time, and use reusable silicone bags most of the time. I have a vacuum sealer but you have to buy new bags and most of the time I don't bother.

My Anova immersion circulator just failed under heavy use, and while I'm waiting for the warranty replacement I've been doing a poor man's sous vide.

Large stock pot filled with water on gas range. Clip a thermometer to the side, adjust gas to maintain desired temp. It's more work/watching but can be done. Easy for steaks where 1-2 hours is all you need. I wouldn't leave it over night for a large roast for obvious reasons.

My Anova Precision Cooker Pro (1200W) failed after 4 uses. We bought it in Nov 2022 and the last use was at 140 degrees F for 36 hours when we were cooking Corned Beef over St. Patrick's Day. We brought it out about 4 weeks ago to sous vide some pork chops and it wouldn't heat up. It seems that extended duration caused it to die. I contacted their warranty people and they asked me to do a reboot, except it wouldn't reboot. Anyway, the brouhaha is that they shipped me an Anova Precision Cooker 1000W replacement which then I had to ship back. I just got the Pro replacement a week ago and I ran it for 34 hours to sous vide a chuck steak. The chuck cut turned out fabulous. Who would have guessed that it was chuck meat? Anyway, I have put it away for now and the next sous vide cooking event will be in late June. Hopefully the Anova is still working then. I do have another immersion circulator by Instant Pot which I bought at the same time and it has held up.

 

[ScoopKona]

My Anova Precision Cooker Pro (1200W) failed after 4 uses.

I might be able to help with this:

Are you placing the circulator in a container of water that is a few degrees away from your target? Or are you asking a poor little circulator to heat several gallons of water from tap temperature to your target temperature?

If the latter, of course it is breaking. It wasn't designed to do that. We don't do that in the restaurant world with Polyscience circulators -- they can't do it. They're designed to maintain temperature -- not boil water.

 

[VacationForever]

I might be able to help with this:

Are you placing the circulator in a container of water that is a few degrees away from your target? Or are you asking a poor little circulator to heat several gallons of water from tap temperature to your target temperature?

If the latter, of course it is breaking. It wasn't designed to do that. We don't do that in the restaurant world with Polyscience circulators -- they can't do it. They're designed to maintain temperature -- not boil water.

We start with hot water from our undersink instant hot reverse osmosis water. So, no we are not using cold water. The water is usually about 120 degrees when we start the circulator. It failed after we ran it for 36 hours to slow cook a corned beef. It was still fine when we turned it off. It is when we tried to use it a month later, we discovered that it circulated but no heat.

 

[bizaro86]

I did a bunch of research on the Anova and apparently moisture getting in the vents at the back is a major cause of failure. This is the second one their sending me, the first lasted a year, and the second lasted nearly 2 years. I started wrapping a kitchen towel around it just below the display to block water vapor from getting to the vents at the back and it lasted twice as long. Obviously n=1 there, but once the next replacement dies I'll probably try another brand. They were quite clear this was the last replacement.

I do start with hot water every time.

 

[Snazzylass]

If one could only leverage the heat of a steering wheel in Phoenix, no one would need a fancy “infrared” heater.

Naw, but because I live in the Valley of the Surface of the Sun, I don't have an outdoor grill Too hot to cook outside half the year in my opinion

 

[Snazzylass]

And a perfect example of why people shouldn't listen to these articles.

Here's how I cook a steak:

1) Place steak, minced garlic, onions, black pepper, salt, a pat of frozen butter and a sprig of rosemary in a vacuum bag.
2) Seal
3) Place in an immersion circulator at 5 degrees less than your target temperature. For me, that's 120f.
4) Leave. Go shopping. Watch a football game. Whatever. Isaac Newton is cooking your meal at this point.
5) Remove steak from bag. Reserve jus for a gravy -- green peppercorn is my go-to. Pat steak dry with paper towel
6) Fire up an infrared grill (or your broiler with a cast iron pan) to "surface of the sun" hot. Or grill right over a chimney starter. There is no maximum temperature. Just as hot and fast as physics and your wallet allow.
7) Sear. The meat will increase in temp by the 5 degrees you held back in step #3

And there you have it -- the seared, sous-vide steak, just like most of the top steak houses. Perfect doneness every single time, no matter the size/weight of the steak in question. Even if cooked well-done (which I simply won't do), it's going to yield a better meal than turning beef into charcoal on a grill.

What's all that seasoning stuff for? If you are buying a decent cut of meat, all you need is a little Redmond's Salt. I used to be a big fan of pepper but these days, all I need is my Redmond's

 

[Snazzylass]

Sous Vide Vs. Reverse Sear: Which Method Yields The Better Steak?

Sous Vide Vs. Reverse Sear: Which Method Yields The Better Steak? - Tasting Table

Battle of the Steaks: Sous Vide vs. Reverse Sear. Which method wins for the ultimate homemade steak? Discover the pros and cons of each technique.

www.tastingtable.com

Richard

I've done both. I do like the reserve sear method! It's foolproof but so is the Sous Vide which you can do with an Insta Pot.

 

[ScoopKona]

What's all that seasoning stuff for? If you are buying a decent cut of meat, all you need is a little Redmond's Salt. I used to be a big fan of pepper but these days, all I need is my Redmond's

If you go to any of the best-of lists of the top steakhouses in America, you can find one I used to work at. (I've worked at several.) One of them didn't bother with vacuum sealing and tossed all their beef for the evening in immersion circulators filled with butter. The others did the herbs/butter and seasoning vacuum sealing trick.
Either is better than just salt. And it must be done early in the process because anything added just before searing is just going to turn to carbon.

 

[CO skier]

Hand the entire process over to Isaac Newton and do something else.

I would if I wanted to launch my steak into orbit, or describe its arc should I toss it across the kitchen instead of eating it. Newton studied only the thermodynamics of ordinary objects.

Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot is generally recognized as the father of thermodymics - the thermodynamics that describe heat transfer during the cooking process.

 

[CO skier]

What's all that seasoning stuff for? If you are buying a decent cut of meat, all you need is a little Redmond's Salt. I used to be a big fan of pepper but these days, all I need is my Redmond's

Frank Ostini's "Magic Dust" available at the Hitching Post in Buellton, CA is the steak seasoning for me.

 

[keno999]

There is no sous vide machine. There's the vacuum sealer, which will save people money all over the kitchen. And then there's the immersion circulator, which keeps the water bath at the precise cooking temperature.

Sous vide just means "under vacuum." Let's sous vide some vegetables. Since heat flows from hot to cold, the heat from the water bath slowly raises the temperature of the veg in at the outside of the bag. Only when it has reached equilibrium, does the heat move further inward. But, unlike every other cooking method, the outer layer never overcooks. And where does all the flavor and nutrients go? It's in a vacuum bag -- it all stays put.

Just did this the other night. It really does make a difference. What vacuum sealer do you recommend, I think mine is on it's last legs. Thanks.