I am new to sous vide cooking and recently got an Anova Precision Cooker. I have tried making steak a couple of times and while it turns out tender, I feel like I am missing something when it comes to seasoning, temperature or the final sear.
Here is what I have been doing ::-
Seasoning with salt and pepper, sealing and cooking at 129°F (54°C) for 2 hours.
Searing in a hot cast iron pan for about 30 seconds per side after patting it dry.
The flavor is good but I am looking for tips to elevate it further. Should I add garlic or herbs in the bag: ?? Or is finishing it with butter during the sear a better option: ?? Also, does anyone have a trick to get that perfect crust without overcooking the inside: ??
I have found the principles of sous vide in Douglas Baldwin’s A Practical Guide to Sous Vide Cooking effective and adequate. Free on-line here A Practical Guide to Sous Vide Cooking
Seasoning is entirely personal preference. Baldwin provides correlations of doneness with temperature (I prefer 131ºF). Baldwin illustrates that tenderness is a function of time at desired core/center temperature. A thicker piece requires more time to reach desired core temperature, perhaps more than two hours. Meats are very tolerant of time beyond the minimum required, so I cook when and how long is convenient for me, hypothetically from noon to dinner time ~7 hours.
Searing is fraught. The objective is inducing the Maillard Reaction at about 300ºF without further heating and cooking the piece. Water cannot exceed 212ºF. That’s why drying is essential. Each particular oil / fat to prevent sticking has its peculiar smoke point providing an indication of pan temperature. I use avocado oil or beef tallow, each smoking near 500ºF. Butter smokes from about 250ºF to 400ºF depending on its clarification.
Some use an incandescent metal surface at about 2,000ºF. I also use a Searzall on a Bernzomatic TS-8000 torch running yellow hot, about 2,000ºF.
A common issue is the thickness of the piece, with grocery store butchers cutting their meat ‘thin’. A 1/2 inch beef might be adequately cooked by the sear alone. A quality beef cut might be called a ‘baseball’ for its near spherical shape. Baldwin charts time to temperature for slabs, cylinders and spheres.
Best wishes. There’s much to be studied and practiced.
