The Art of Sous Vide Steak Cooking: A Game-Changing Technique
Woohoo! Meat is good, that's what we're talking about today. And there are many ways to cook a steak, but today we're going to talk about one way that we think is the best. What does that mean? To us, the best way has to meet a few different criteria. The first being it's got to be packed full of flavor. The second, the steak has got to be cooked to perfection. And the third is I don't want to have to babysit it. I'm not interested in techniques that I have to hover over it and watch it like a hawk all night. So for us, sous vide ticks all those boxes with the added benefit of once you get it cooking, it's just there ready and waiting for you, not the other way around.
Enough yapping. Let me show you exactly how to cook this steak sous vide. The first part of our criteria is flavor. What we're going to do is hit the steak with lots of salt and pepper. I'm going to hit both sides. Pepper, pepper, pepper. Love lots of pepper. I love when it gets nice and toasty when we sear it later. Make sure this side has got salt. And then we're going to pop them in the bag. I'm going to hit it with a little bit of olive oil. This is just for flavor, really. And fresh bay leaf. I don't use dried ones. Dried ones are kind of crap. If you don't have a fresh bay leaf, use some other fresh herb. And that's it.
The second item on our list of criteria is perfect doneness. And when you're cooking a steak with traditional methods, there's a lot of ways to get great flavor, but you have little or no control over the outcome of doneness. With sous vide, you have total control of it. Let me show you what I'm talking about. So with sous vide, I select my temperature. Don't have to think about it anymore. Know it will be cooked to perfection edge to edge. And I just sear it on the outside for flavor until it looks delicious.
Under traditional methods, you kind of mix them. They're all happening at the same time. So you have less control. We're ready to pop this guy into our pot of water and walk away. Today, we're going with Joule. It's ChefStep's brand new sous vide tool. I'm going to select my doneness with a really amazing feature that we have. We're calling it visual doneness. So I'm just going to open up the steak guide. Use the visual doneness feature. Look at the doneness I want. Basically, it's an awesome video. I'll go with that one, 129 Fahrenheit. It's basically rare. Pick my thickness. Hit Go. And we're ready to roll.
So in goes the steak. And I can walk away. Alright. The steak is ready. It's not that it's finished and it's not that it's done just now. It's that it's ready. It was actually done a while ago, and it's been ready the whole time. I'm going to take it out. Know it's cooked to perfection on the inside. We'll confirm in a little bit. From here, you want to finish it. So we've got a little bit of flavor from the first step. We've got perfect doneness, which was our second criteria. And obviously, our third criterion was we didn't have to babysit it.
So I just went and did some other stuff. But I'm back now. I'm ready to eat. So I'm going to finish it. You can broil it. You can grill it. You can smoke it. You can deep fry it. I'm going to sear it. Nice and straightforward. I'll show you how to do it. First, preheat your skillet over medium-high heat. Add a tablespoon of oil to the pan. Once the oil is hot, add the steak. Sear for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until it reaches your desired level of doneness.
While searing the steak, make sure to not press down on the meat with your spatula. This can squeeze out all the juices and make the steak tough. Once you've seared the steak, remove it from the pan and let it rest for a few minutes. Don't slice into it yet. Just let it sit there and let the juices redistribute.
Now that we have our perfectly cooked steak, let's slice it open and see if it's cooked to perfection on the inside. I'll just take one slice there. Ah! Seriously! Supple. Mm. Woo. I'm going to try a bite real quick. So sad that you can't taste this. Let's check it next to our visual doneness. Love it. It's the best way to cook a steak. You're just going to have to take my word for it. Packed full of flavor. I think you can see that it's cooked to perfection. And I'm not kidding about the "it's going to be waiting for you" thing. Seriously. Love cooking steaks this way.
The Benefits of Sous Vide Cooking
One of the biggest benefits of sous vide cooking is its ability to produce perfectly cooked meals with consistency and accuracy. With traditional methods, it's easy to end up overcooking or undercooking your meal, but with sous vide, you have complete control over the temperature and cooking time.
Another benefit of sous vide cooking is its ability to retain moisture in the meat. When you cook a steak using high heat, it can dry out quickly, especially if it's not cooked to the right temperature. But with sous vide, the low heat helps to keep the meat moist and juicy, resulting in a more tender and flavorful dish.
Sous Vide Cooking is Also Environmentally Friendly
One of the best things about sous vide cooking is its environmental friendliness. When you cook using high heat, it requires a lot of energy, which can contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. But with sous vide cooking, you use a fraction of the energy required for traditional methods.
Additionally, sous vide cooking reduces food waste by ensuring that your meals are cooked to perfection every time. No more overcooked or undercooked meals, just perfectly cooked dishes that are always delicious and satisfying.
In Conclusion
Cooking steaks using sous vide is a game-changing technique that produces perfect results with consistency and accuracy. With its ability to retain moisture in the meat and produce flavorful dishes, it's no wonder that sous vide cooking has become increasingly popular among chefs and home cooks alike.