I am a complete newbie. I have a thin flank steak and also skirt steak I want to cook. My issue is I need to set prior to leaving for work (8am) and don’t return home until 4:15pm. Is that too long to cook either flank steak or skirt steak? We eat around 5pm which is why it needs to set before leaving. I have seen so many different cooks times. I am looking for very tender end product. Best temperature and time? Would cooking frozen be better? Thanks for any advice.
Candice, you have two ideal candidates to successfully meet your SV meal plan timing requirement.
Flank and skirt steaks are usually about the same thickness and will require at least 8 hours of SV cooking. For very tender results, i’d cook lomger, up to 12 hours, or even longer for additional tenderness. In my experience tenderness is a personally subjective qualification and should be based on your experience to decide.
What’s thin? Thin steaks might be cut from baby beef and be about half the usual thickness from a mature animal, although i don’t often see thin cuts other than in spring when dairy farmers are culling their herds.
Cooking temperature depends on your undisclosed degree of desired doneness. I cook them to medium-rare at 131ᴼF/55ᴼC. For food safety i would not cook meat for that length of time at a lower temperature.
Cooking from frozen is always an option, but not necessarily better as it extends the cooking time required for a typical flank steak by about 2 hours to achieve a similar outcome.
Do well, and stay safe.