Multiple states of doneness

90% of the time I will be using this for 2 people. Unfortunately, my wife likes steak well done and I like medium rare. Can I cook her steak to 160 degrees, them lower the water temperature to 130 degrees to cook mine. At the same time hold her steak at 130 degrees?

Good morning Pitmaster. Yes that is the exact way you do two steaks at different degrees of cooked preference. Maybe you can try hers at 147° F and slowly move her to medium :wink:

Thanks. I suspected that was way to go about it. Although with my wife any pink is not done. I have got her to medium well. I do host a small birthday party where steak preferences range from 1-2 medium rares to a few mediums, and several well dones.


I suppose this would also apply to doing vegetables, other meats, etc. and having them cooked to your need and be able to hold until needed,i.e. holding higher temp items safely while cooking other items at lower temperatures.


Yes it works for most things. Eggs are a notable exception. Time is critical along with temperature. I have also had good luck precooking items, cooling in an ice bath and refrigerating. They can then be warmed up with the last thing  you cook. I have done this several times with vegetables. I would think you could do this with meat if you don’t want them cooking for too long with 3 different temperatures or you dont have a big enough vessel to hold them all at once.

make sure you label the bags of steak with a sharpie so you remember which is which

I am lucky all of my family eat their steaks the same way, medium rare. 

How long did you cook her steak before dialing down the temp?

Welcome to your SV Community EJM.

Are you asking Pitmaster? That post was over 4 years ago.

He doesn’t say how long he cooks the Well-Done steak. However you don’t need to know as you still have to make that decision based on the thickness of your steak, not his. Thickness is always the only critical factor in making your SV cooking time decision.
Not weight, not temperature, just thickness.

Completely cook the steak requiring the highest centre temperature first, then dial down to the next highest temperature, and add the next steak when that temperature is achieved. Most cooks add cold water or ice cubes to speed the temperature adjustmnet along.