# Pre-Searing or Post-Searing

**URL:** <https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/pre-searing-or-post-searing/238>\
**Category:** Anova Precision® Cooker\
**Created:** [December 29, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/pre-searing-or-post-searing/238 "2014-12-29T17:50:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![lone369](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5daacb/32.png) [@lone369](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/lone369)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/pre-searing-or-post-searing/238/1 "2014-12-29T17:50:31Z")

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I have been reading a lot of recipes for steaks and roasts. They are evenly divided about searing before and after cooking the sous vide. I have done a few prime rib steaks and seared them after. What do you recommend?

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**Author:** ![mspeleoto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e19adc/32.png) [@mspeleoto](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/mspeleoto)\
**Post date:** [December 29, 2014, 8:00pm UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/pre-searing-or-post-searing/238/2 "2014-12-29T20:00:21Z")

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Supposedly it makes little difference to the flavour, however if I was using supermarket meat and didn’t want to cook it to pasteurisation, I’d probably do both. You either do it post or both really, as the quite a lot of the browned flavour comes off the meat and into the juices in the bag.

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**Author:** ![Michael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Michael](https://community.anovaculinary.com/u/Michael)\
**Post date:** [December 30, 2014, 5:41am UTC](https://community.anovaculinary.com/t/pre-searing-or-post-searing/238/3 "2014-12-30T05:41:03Z")

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@lone369‌ check out this video recipe as a reference.

> **[Pre-searing vs Not Pre-searing Steak Before Cooking Sous Vide](https://recipes.anovaculinary.com/recipe/pre-searing-vs-not-pre-searing-steak-before-cooking-sous-vide)**
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> (NB: These steaks were cooked for slightly longer than we would normally cook them in order to exemplify the results.)
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> When you're trying to minimise finishing time as much as possible - as you often are with sous vide - it might seem...

A lot of times it also depends on the cut of meat.

Also, here is another comparison recipe with duck breast.

> **[Pre-searing Sous Vide Duck Breast vs Not Pre-searing](https://recipes.anovaculinary.com/recipe/pre-searing-sous-vide-duck-breast)**
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> Pre-searing your duck can help to create a crispier skin and also prevent the duck flesh from cooking too much when finishing. The reason? By frying the duck skin while the breast is cold, less of the flesh cooks, therefore retaining more moisture...