My first try at sous vide

Got a new sous vide machine so I did my first steak.

I had a single leftover sirloin in the chest freezer (-20F) that was part of a gift pack from Omaha Steaks. Dropped it in the bath still rock hard frozen at 133F for 2 hours. One hour to thaw, one hour to cook. I dried it off, added a little dry rub and finished it on my little cast iron grill rip'n hot burning lump charcoal and dry mesquite wood chunks. It was surprisingly good, and I am quite happy with the flavor and texture.

I will let the meat cool longer before blasting it on the grill next time so that it doesn't cook too much during the finish grilling.






Now I have a 3 lb. cheap top round cut into six 1-3/4" steaks in the bath at 133F. Three in one bag, three in another. Based on some YouTube videos, I am going to run 6 hours on one bag and 18 hours on the other. I am not expecting much, but it's worth a try at $5.99 lb. for Angus.

We shall see! Lots to learn.

Yep the sous vide is a game changer, I like to let the meat rest on a cooling rack for about 15 minutes before searing it. I will also add more seasoning to the meat because some falls off transferring it from the bag to the sear.

which sous vide do you have? the anova? great way to cook, and meal prep.

Looks great

Anova.

Man looking at those coals gives me a chuby… I want to put a steak on there.

Quick tip if you want to quickly cool the meat so you can sear after Sous Vide- the meats in a bag, dunk it in ice water or cool water to drop the temp just for a minute or so. Pull the meat out, dry, season, and sear.

Great tips! I appreciate it because I'm still learning.

Being hesitant about all this, I picked up a Brentwood brand unit from a neighbor for $25. last week. He said that he didn't need the higher wattage of this unit and wanted the Anova for the Wifi capability. Anova seems to be the defacto standard out there, but I wanted to go bottom dollar to try it out. He said that he paid $79.00 for this one.

I don't have a vacuum sealer yet, I just use the water immersion method.

Looks great! I have the Anova but I've tried a couple of others and don't think it really matters. The higher wattage on yours should heat up the water a tad faster which is great if you cook larger pieces of meat in a cooler. Once it gets to temp, I don't think the wattage matters as much as they all seem to hold temp well.