- So you've probably heard
of the technique called sous vide.
So today I'm gonna get into the details
on how to easily sous vide a steak
and just give you a run through
of what it really means to sous vide a piece of meat.
(cheerful music)
So sous-vide means under vacuum.
So when you're using this technique,
what you do is you vacuum seal a piece of meat,
it could be anything,
but here we're specifically talking steak.
And then you put it into a water bath.
So I here I have this water bath set up
and this is my emergent circulator.
So I set this circulator to the exact temp
that I want this steak to be internally,
and this heats the water and maintains a flow of water
to constantly keep this water bath at 131 degrees.
So first thing I'll do a little salt and pepper.
The whole idea behind this cooking method
is that perfect internal temperature
that you literally set this machine
to where you want it to be
and it'll cook it through and through to that temperature
and then you just put a little sear for flavor development
and to build that nice crust at the end.
Then next, I'll get this vacuum bag open.
I like to tuck the sides of the bag around
that way I don't get any smears on the bag
which would possibly prevent it from getting a proper seal.
Now go in with the steaks.
And then I've got a piece of rosemary
I'm gonna put on either side of the steak.
So the idea behind the seasoning now
and then the rosemary is that'll help infuse
the flavors while this cooks.
And we'll put it into the vacuum sealer.
Now you could use a Ziploc bag,
but today we're gonna specifically talk vacuum sealing
because that is the true technique behind sous vide.
Ziplocs do work for a shorter cook,
but I really wanna go into the vacuum seal method.
(vacuum humming)
Now the first thing I always do
is check to make sure that my seal is complete
and there's no gaps.
If there are gaps,
you could either cut below this seal and re-vacuum seal,
or you might be able to just throw another
quick seal on that bag.
But you do not want any gaps
because either water could get in
or juices could out in the water and murk up your water,
you don't want that to happen.
But at this point, what makes this great is
this goes right into this water bath
and then you're done for now.
You just let that cook for an hour plus.
And the great thing is,
you can wait an hour and a half,
you can wait two hours,
and you're still gonna have that same internal temperature.
So at this point,
I might go about making the rest of my meal,
any other prep I have to do.
And this just keeps that temperature at a nice constant.
That way the steak doesn't become overcooked
and you can just let it go.
So I've let these sous vide now
for about an hour and a half.
It's a good time.
I know that at that point they've cooked through.
You can go even longer than that,
but I wouldn't go more than four hours.
Four hours will start to change the texture of the steak.
You'll start to lose that real nice steak-like texture.
So I will pull these out and I wanna pat 'em dry.
Because you have created a little bit of juices
lost in the bag.
Which is okay, that doesn't mean they're overcooked.
So what we're looking at here
is technically a reverse sear technique.
We're cooking the steak through completely,
and then we're applying the superficial sear
which not only makes it look much nicer than they do now,
but it also adds a ton of flavor.
So this, the sous vide process
is for getting that perfect cook
and infusing some of this flavor.
But then that sear will really get you
that crust and the final depth of flavor
that you're looking for in a nice pan seared steak.
So I'm gonna set this on the very highest setting,
because I am not looking to really cook the steak,
it's just for this final sear.
So I will go in with each strip steak.
All right, we got some good sizzle.
All right, and I'm gonna keep this rosemary
that I was cooking with before,
because what I will do is
when I flip these, I'll put this rosemary, butter,
and this chunk of garlic into that pan.
Because then that'll add a little more flavor.
And I would rather just finish with this garlic at the end
than have it ride throughout
because I want just a little hint of garlic,
I'm not trying to cook a garlic steak.
So at this point, I'm going for about one minute
on each side, that's it.
Any steak that you would normally cook high fast heat
you can do the sous vide technique,
set it to your desired doneness.
If you like medium well, you can set it for medium well.
So 131 is what I'm doing for medium rare.
So now I got that,
I'm gonna sear this fat side a little bit.
I'll use the shape of the pan to my advantage here.
And then we'll flip it right over
and I'll go in with the butter, garlic, and rosemary.
Fat has crust up a little bit, browned.
And with that side and with that side.
Butter, rosemary, garlic, right.
And now I'll just give a quick check on my sear,
'cause I know my doneness is perfect.
All right, and that's it.
I'll pull these off, get 'em on to here.
Even though they did a slow cook
and were essentially resting that whole time
they were in that sous vide,
I just introduced high fast heat to 'em.
So I don't wanna slice into them right now
because you kind of, all those juices
they kinda redistributed
or were kinda settling and mellowing out
during this cooking process.
Started to move fast again.
So we wanna give them then just a miniature rest,
have patience, wait to cut into it
because if you want your steak perfectly done,
let it rest for about five minutes.
All right, so now we have our finished product.
So I'm gonna go right into this.
This is kinda the moment of truth here.
So we'll get a little slice off this end.
All we'll show that nice pink center.
And then see how perfectly done it is?
It's like end to end medium rare.
There's very little gray happening,
you don't get that bullseye effect
that you can sometimes get when you're cooking off
just direct heat and trying to maintain your heat.
This keeps a perfect doneness
and then you're just applying that sear for look and flavor.
It's new techniques which I always love playing around with.
So if you liked this video,
please share, comment,
and check out some of our other videos
on different techniques that we have
here in the Test Kitchen.
(cheerful music)