Sous Vide

Why not use a pressure cooker?

 

Why not use a crock pot?

Because you're not braising.

 

It saves on time if it's from frozen. But in reality, it's because if you get the sear right, you can have the perfect steak. None of the brown on the interior of the steak if you cut into it meaning some of your steak is rare or medium-rare while other parts may be medium in terms of doneness. When you're cooking "traditional", you've got to nail the window of opportunity in terms of how long to cook it, at what temperature to cook it, then you have to maintain that temperature and pull it off the heat and let it rest and still hope you didn't overdo it. With sous vide, you can leave it in the bath for 2 or 3 hours without doing it much harm -- the temp won't go above the preset temp. You could technically leave it in there for a day or two and it'd be ok, though the texture may be a bit warped.

Now if you're just into "I cooked some steak, and yeah, it's pretty close to medium-rare", then you're probably right -- no difference (I'm like that with a lot of stuff, to be honest). But after having cooked sous vide steaks (and still trying to master the sear), it's about as perfect as steak gets.

 

Look up sous vide steak vs traditional grill pictures, you can't replicate it with just a grill unless you're like a professional chef, and a lot of chefs/expensive steak houses have been using sous vide for years... So you'd probably use it anyway, it's just that before they used to cost like $1000+ for professional kitchens... Now anyone can own one for ~$100

If you do the sear right the steak is rare or however you want it all the way through with no heat areas/or part's that are more cooked etc. This isn't about saving time, but the foods better/leftovers reheat better, and you literally can't **** up. I can also put money on someone trying to beat sous vide chicken breast cooked at 140-145 F vs cooking it straight in the oven, since traditional cooking gets the meat hotter it isn't the same. You can even do this straight from frozen chicken and get the same results using a sous vide.

Don't get me wrong I don't sous vide everything or something but there are certain things that make it a lot easier especially if you're doing a lot of dishes/sides. Or weekly meal plans etc etc.

Here's a quick example image, there's better ones, but you can do this like 99% of the time with a sous vide (assuming 1% of the time you're drinking and leave during the 1-2 min sear, haha) where as on a grilled steak you have to be absolutely perfect (and will still have a gradient because of the way it's cooked). With that said though... As I mentioned there are certain meats I wouldn't bother with. Also what's really cool .. Is if you have some picky steak eater that wants medium-well and like 5 other people want rare or various Temps you can do the hottest one first and then leave it in the bag/water and step down the temp, it'll never overcook the hottest one , obviously though, if you eat steaks well done .. You probably don't need a sous vide, haha

 

Can this be done in zero gravity.

 

Keep in mind that with steaks, pork loins, or really any tender cut of meat (and especially fish), you really want to get it out of the water as soon as it reaches your target internal temp. Since you're not trying to break down connective tissue, you're really just losing moisture from that point forward.

For large roasts I still prefer low and slow conventional methods of cooking, as you can still achieve a fairly perfect edge-to-edge medium rare. Sous vide's great for individual steaks though, especially when you're cooking for a crowd.

 

Sounds really interesting. Honestly after reading what you guys wrote and some stuff online, I think it's best for meats and I'm trying to cut down on meats to almost none. I've also been obsessing for a while now about how to minimize cooking and clean up time. @Dr of Dunk nailed it in that I'm not fussy when cooking for myself.

Definitely curious to try it and experiment with it though. Sounds like it would be especially useful if I wanted to cook several cuts of meat for a group. Thanks for the info!

 

I'm getting my cookers confused -- I was thinking of an insta pot.

 

This will be turned into a coffee machine eventually.

 

Easy awesome fajita marinade I got from a ranch cook in South Texas. I grill them though.

Flank steak, use a jacard to tenderize
Marinate in regular (not zesty) itialian dressing overnight
Before grilling put Fiesta brand mesquite flavored fajita seasoning on both sides

They are awesome. Other trick (I grill mine) is to half an onion and coat the grill with it while the grill is hot right before you cook.

 

Did you finish the ribs with the torch too?

 

That looks solid.

 

Nice man, looks great!, how are you liking the torch vs grill/sear finishing? Was thinking the torch might be nice option to have.

 

Only if your pot is full of gravitons. I usually buy them in bulk at sams club.

 

What does a bag of bulk gravitons cost at sams club?

 

They tend to vary in price from location to location. The bags always say 2 for the price of one, however every time i open the bag to observe them, I only see half. I think Im going to leave a bad review.

 

I want mine free range.

 

I cook food as my profession. Never really played around with a sous vide. I understand what it can accomplish, as someone alluded to "pressure cooker" or an "instapot" it is in the most general sense. Imparting flavor very quickly into a piece of meat or veg. But cooking in that method on most line kitchens this is not practical. Beyond the prep area and cost of bagging and par cooking meats that may are may not be used in a service...

If a cook can't cook a steak to order then hit the bricks.

Look up a reverse sear, I know there are threads about it on clutchfans.

I assume its a convenience thing also for home cooks. Just as a Traeger smokes meat with pellets, you turn it on, you can set it and forget it. I have a trailer smoker that uses full post oak and I could never go to a Traeger, no offense if yall have one, I understand you don't wanna wake up at 4 am to start a brisket and watch it for 12hrs. But for me it takes away from the primal for lack of a better word experience for me. It takes away the issue of human error. It is almost robotic.

Cooking is a very personal thing. I know a sous vide machine does some cool stuff, I just view it as a unitasker for the most part.