Hi. I am new to Sous vide and have a few questions. Does cooking time depend on how many steaks you put in? For example, i was reading that for a medium steak cook at 130 for about an hour and a half. If i cook 2-3 at a time, will cooking time increase?
Also, If I want 2 steaks medium and 1 well done, how would i do that? tke out the 2 after the time and up the heat and cook more?
Hi. I am new to Sous vide and have a few questions. Does cooking time
depend on how many steaks you put in? For example, i was reading that
for a medium steak cook at 130 for about an hour and a half. If i cook
2-3 at a time, will cooking time increase?
Also, If I want 2
steaks medium and 1 well done, how would i do that? tke out the 2 after
the time and up the heat and cook more?
Cooking time will only vary based on different cuts of steak as it only affects texture and to a smaller extent, thickness. Tougher meats should be cooked for longer. For example, hanger steak is great after 6-8 hours, while a filet is great in 1-4 hours.
If you bag your steaks separately, you don’t need to change the cooking time. High-end restaurants use sous vide to cook dozens or hundreds at the same time without increasing the cook time.
If you want steaks of different doneness you’ll need to do them separately. Longer cook time will not change the doneness. One of the major advantages of sous vide is being able to leave food in for an extra few hours without overcooking it.
Personally, what I do is cook all of my steaks medium rare and will over sear them if my guests prefer well done. Maybe I’m a steak snob though 
Thank you!
To cook steaks to different degrees start out with the water at the temperature you want for the most well done one. When it is finished add some cool water and set the temperature to the rarer value and cook the remaining steaks. The well done one will not cook anymore as the temperature is lower. When the rare ones are done sear them all. You might want to mark the bags to avoid confusion.
I have same question about the time cooking steaks. Does time increase if cooking more than 1 steak?
@nbmartin said:
I have same question about the time cooking steaks. Does time increase if cooking more than 1 steak?
Nope. The circulator holds the temp for the entire water bath, so every bag will be exposed to the same temp and therefore the times are the same. If the thickness of the steaks are different, then the thicker steak might need more time.