Time vs. size - For how long should i cook my steak?

Hey everyone!

I am pretty new to SV cooking. I cooked my first prime rib yesterday. Came out good.

I am thinking of doing a Tomahawk but the Anova app is not allowing me to select different sizes of meat.
Here my question :slight_smile:

Is there somewhere a table that can guide me on how long and with what temperature I should different steaks?

The app provides me only help for a Prime Rib 1-1.5 inch thick but nothing above that. E.g. if the steak is 3 inch thickā€¦

Would appreciate any help! Thank you!

Thickness is what you need to take into account. This will impact the time it takes for the steak to come up to temperature. There is a rule of thumb that you can use. It takes 30 mins (approx) for the warmth to travel half an inch. So, for a 3 inch steak you can work on 3 hours for the steak to reach temperature equilibrium, ie) same temperature as the water bath all the way through. From there you can decide if you want to cook it any longer than that.

Steaks are cut from low work muscle groups so are naturally tender and do not require a whole lot more than reaching temperature equilibrium. Knowing where on the beast your meat came from will help you select appropriate ā€˜time for tendernessā€™ targets. Harder work muscles are higher in connective tissue and therefore longer cooks for tenderness.

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Thank you Ember. Appreciate your help here.

So 3 hours for 3 inchā€¦but what about the temperature? Let say I want it Medium - rare.

I found this blog post
https://sansaire.com/cook-steak-sous-vide/

There is a table, and the table states something else :confused: - i am confused.

Medium rare is 130F/54.4C.

The rule of thumb I gave you is good enough for a rough calculation. Itā€™s widely accepted as a practical estimation. The Sansaire chart may be more accurate but Iā€™ve not seen anyone actually use the rule of thumb and have their steaks cold in the middle.

The accepted authority for all things sous vide is Douglas Baldwin. His work is the best reference available. Please note, the times in Baldwinā€™s charts are for pasteurisation which is not necessary for most home cooking circumstances (with the exception of chicken and turkey.)

http://www.douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html

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Ok great! Thanks Ember! :slight_smile:

Try the Anova guide:

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