I just got my Anova and have a couple of 1st time Q’s. If I plan on cooking a piece of meat - let’s say a steak and I wanna cook it in advance to eat that evening. When cooling the steak do I leave to cool naturally or do I bang it in an ice bath
Also, when I want to cook that steak in the evening what’s the best way - someone suggested reading water bath to bring to temp again and then the usual sear for approx 90 seconds and someone else said to bring to room temp and just sear - but if that’s the case how long does one sear it for to bring the internal temp up enough so it’s not cold but also not to overcook the steak?
Maybe I am overthinking all this but I’d prefer to precook the meat in advance if I am having a dinner party and then to be able to cook it as quick as possible during the party
Ice bath and refrigerate. The idea is to get it down to refrigeration temperature as quickly as possible.
Steaks you’re really better off cooking and searing rather than doing ahead of time. Your steaks will cook for 2ish hours unattended time. If cooked at 130F they can be left to cook for longer than that. But time is fluid when it comes to cooking sous vide. Half an hour or an hour over time doesn’t really make a noticeable difference.
If you really must cook it in advance you will do better to bring it up to temperature and sear. Never leave something on a bench for it to come up to ambient temperature. It is very bad food safety practice.
Suthers, you’re brave using a new cooking technique for your dinner party.
Ember is correct, for same-day service it’s best not to spend the additional time fussing with cooling and reheating prior to searing. You have enough other things to do for your dinner party.
Just work backwards cook-timewise from when you want to serve. The great thing about SV is you can hot hold the steaks in the water bath for a reasonable length of additional time without any loss in quality if you are running a bit behind in your schedule. (English Majors - sorry about that run-on sentence.)
Can I assume the same is true for thick pork chops? I see many recipies mention cooking days prior to serving, but if you have to reheat in a water bath for just as long, what possible could the advantage of precooking be?