# Overcooking every time... **URL:** \ **Category:** Anova Precision® Cooker\ **Created:** [January 12, 2018, 12:45pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/overcooking-every-time/12402 "2018-01-12T12:45:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 5
**Author:** ![Ember](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.anovaculinary.com/ember/32/729_2.png) [@Ember](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/Ember)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2018, 8:40pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/overcooking-every-time/12402/5 "2018-01-12T20:40:23Z")
> [@Ellrowe](#): > > Searing time is just over a minute each side. And each time Iv pulled a steak out the bag I can tell it’s overdone. There’s the most likely problem. If you’re cooking a 1 inch steak without sous vide first, a good minute each side over high enough heat is going to give you a rare steak. Everyone has their favourite searing method, but here are some basics. Put your dry pan over a high heat and leave it sit there while you’re drying off your sous vide meat. It might take 5 or 10 minutes to get it hot enough. It’s essential that your meat surface is dry. Blot it well with paper towel and season it well. When your pan its hot, hot, hot, use a dry wad of paper towel (or a silicon brush) to wipe some high smoke point oil\* over the surface of your pan. If your steak has a fat layer on the edge start with this. Hold the steak on its edge in the pan and let it sizzle. You might need to roll it back and forth along the fat edge. 30 to 40 seconds should do it. Now lay your steak in the pan and season the second side of it. Wait no longer than 30 seconds and flip the steak. Have a look at it and decide if this is seared enough. If you want longer, flip it again when side 2 has had it’s 30 seconds. This time you don’t want to wait longer than 10 seconds. Keep flipping until you get the lovely brown sear you desire. If you are using thin (1" or less) a good searing technique is vital. Thicker steaks are much more forgiving. \*High smoke point oils: The higher the smoke point of your oil the better. Consider using something like Avocado oil or Rice bran oil. There is a table of fats and their smoke point on the Anova blog (but I couldn’t find it in a hurry.) There’s more about searing in this post by Alyssa: > [@1st Cook: All About Searing Stuff](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/1st-cook-all-about-searing-stuff/8593): > > Alright, folks - let’s talk about searing things. If you’re into a nice golden crust after sous vide, searing will help you make that dream come true. wink General Rule of Thumb Searing is super useful - it adds flavor and a nice golden crust, but it’s not totally necessary for everything. Foods cooked sous vide like chicken breast and salmon are great, even without the sear. I personally love to sous vide chicken breast and just chop it up into a salad (without searing it). ###What is se… --- _[View the full topic](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/overcooking-every-time/12402)._