My first attempt was bland and dry. I then re-read about sous-vide steak and came to the conclusion that the steaks I’d cooked just weren’t thick enough. They were half an inch thick, at best, and that meant they’d cooked for way too long.
This weekend I went to a real butchers and bought some proper steaks. 1.5" and tried again. Perfect.
In my limited experience so far it’s about making sure your food is prepped for how you’re cooking it. With a pan you do this automatically but with a Sous Vide you’ve got to be thinking ahead, you can’t adjust on the fly.
Glad you had a good steak. I have done some 1/2 inch steaks for an hour that were very good as well.
Maybe your 'real' butcher has a better quality/tasting steak?
If you are generally happy with the steaks from your regular store many supermarket butchers will custom cut steaks if you ask or when there is a good sale on roast you can cut your own.
@Helen It probably was better quality. The Butchers overall was better though. Rather than have everything out to buy they cut it for me right there. Came out with a huge side of beef and cut it to order.
I have a roast in the Freezer right now. Got other plans for that but I did consider cutting some steaks from it.
Nice. As to the roast you could just cut one steak(when it is partially defrosted) and see how it was. For steaks I often buy a roast and cut my own. Doesn't always work out but usually.
Nice. As to the roast you could just cut one steak(when it is partially defrosted) and see how it was. For steaks I often buy a roast and cut my own. Doesn't always work out but usually.
It's well frozen at the moment. I'd need a band saw to get through it. Something to remember for next time :)
Yummy, sounds great! Smoked chicken thighs are actually even more AMAZINGGGG (excuse me I’m drooling as I think of this) when they are sous vide first. Have you tried that?
I’m a Newbie to precision cooking, and expect delivery of my Anova over the next couple of days.
Am I missing something here? My interpretation of ‘Sous Vide’ is ‘without air’. So if meat is correctly vacuum sealed, prior to immersion, how can it ‘leak’ all of the juice into the bag (against the laws of physics)? Is that not one of the main points, that the tight vacuum around the meat forces the juice to stay within?
My understanding of the process is that it produces even cooking within, and just that. The ‘flavour’ will be primarliy created by the searing (Maillard Reaction, caramelisation etc) after the sous-vide process. If you end up with a floppy bag full of juice, then surely this is not sous-vide cooking (without air) - just ‘boil’ in the bag?
meat contracts while it cooks, proteins denature, the colour of the food changes, etc… one other thing that happens when meat is cooked (largely as a result of the above), no matter the method, is liquid comes out. in your frying pan or oven, this evaporates due to the high temperatures. in a sealed bag, or an open bag at low temperatures (below boiling) the liquid goes nowhere, or very little evaporates.
i usually use some/all of this liquid after searing as part of a sauce
Ok, I see. So the contraction of the meat allows for space in the bag for juices to escape. Still not sure why the OP is experiencing such disappointing results though. Am I right in thinking that sous-vide is largely about texture and colour, and that flavour is mainly from the sear, and seasoning?
…anyway, sorry - perhaps I shoud be posting in the Newbie section. This thread just caught my eye, and was disappointed with the OP’s experience. I’ll watch and learn.
sous vide is largely about getting the doneness correct, by hitting a temperature for a length of time. the temperature largely affects the doneness, as does time, but time can also alter the texture.
once you have hit the correct doneness/texture, you then need to undertake finishing steps (searing, etc…) to get the flavour/external colour/etc… you’re going for.
i have no idea about op though, could be a lot of things.
Thanks for your reply. I’ll keep researching and hopefully learning. Looking forward to getting my hands on the machine over the next couple of days. Apparently it’s ‘in the post’.
I think part of the disappointment of the OPer may be due to over expectation. Sous vide is only another weapon in the cooking arsenal. It cannot perform miraculous transformations. What it can do is help get the best possible results on a regular basis. A chicken breast will always be a chicken breast but with sous vide it will not be a moist succulent breast one time and a dry overcooked one the next.
I removed it as I posted that as you two were having your further conversation. If covered everything really that my post had, so it was a bit redundant.
when they are sous vide first. Have you tried that?