This past weekend I purchased two (pretty expensive) Prime ribeye steaks. I seared each steak on very high heat for about 30 seconds per side, then put them in a plastic bag. The sous-vide was set to 134 (medium rare) and I left the steaks to cook for just over 3 hours (they were both 1.5" thick, uncooked). I then took them out of the plastic bags and seared them a second time before serving them.
One steak appeared to be cooked pretty evenly but the flesh in other steak had two distinct colors. About half of it was significantly brighter (red) than the other half, which looked more pink. This is very disappointing as I thought that sous-vide was pretty much a foolproof method of cooking steaks. Has anyone else experience this? Any idea what I might need to do differently next time?
I took a picture of it right before it was gone (I didn’t think of taking a picture right after cutting into the steak but it gives you a pretty good idea of the color difference).
Roman
P.S. Yes, both steaks were fully submerged the entire time
It’s quite possible that the steaks came from two different animals, or, if from the same animal, were not adjacent cuts. That could easily lead to different results. Also, even if they were both submerged, I assume they were both close together, so steak #1 may have had more direct water flow, while the other not so much. When I do two steaks, I make sure there’s a lot fof space between them and I also reverse their position for consistency.
While it may not have anything to do with your results, I never sear the steaks before sous viding them, only after, and only on a charcoal grill with super-hot coals, for no more than 1 minute per side. This has never failed. BTW, the cuts I use are the prime sirloin from Costco - not the rib-eye. Great price (around 9 bucks a lb) and great taste, though sometimes a bit on the tough side.
Next time, I bet if you take the temp of both steaks using a precision thermometer you will find that they are exactly the same. If so, the sous vide part worked perfectly.
Also @roman don’t forget to dry your steaks thoroughly with paper towels before searing post-cook to get the perfect crust. I’ve also had great success with 36 hour chuck steak. Good luck!
This maybe somewhat off topic, I had a great success with chuck roast last night. 36 hours at 132F, wiped dry on both sides then finished under the broiler for less than a minute on each side. the photo does not do it justice… [missing image removed]
