Any sous vide experts ?

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Roger Burton

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I mentioned my confusion previously but yet again I wonder if anyone can offer some advice please. If I search for 'sous vide rump steak' I will get temperatures from 45-60c and times from 45 mins to 24 hours + ... the variations are enormous. I am doing my own experiments but am spending a lot of money, most results are edible but I'm struggling to understand how so many people say that the technique is "foolproof" when it's clearly not ... low temp. and/or short time and it's tough, too long and it becomes mushy ! I will continue with testing but wondered if anyone out there has any advice please ?
 
Roger Burton said:
I mentioned my confusion previously but yet again I wonder if anyone can offer some advice please. If I search for 'sous vide rump steak' I will get temperatures from 45-60c and times from 45 mins to 24 hours + ... the variations are enormous. I am doing my own experiments but am spending a lot of money, most results are edible but I'm struggling to understand how so many people say that the technique is "foolproof" when it's clearly not ... low temp. and/or short time and it's tough, too long and it becomes mushy ! I will continue with testing but wondered if anyone out there has any advice please ?
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To be honest, I wouldn't bother cooking steak sous vide, the benefits are negligible. You will still need to sear it afterwards, and given that most steaks will only need 1-2 mins each side anyway, what are you gaining? Finishing and resting is far more important. No two pieces of meat are the same, so the technique is never foolproof when you are sous viding for short times. The technique is best suited for tougher cuts (cheeks, shoulder, belly etc) when you cook over a much longer time to break down connective tissues and/or fat. Exact times and temperatures are less important here. If you want a truly mind blowing sous vide experience, have a go at confit duck legs, pork belly or shoulder of lamb! Hope this helps.
 
Thanks Epicuric, good of you to take the time, I am beginning to think you're correct, I think I was fooled by the many sites praising the technique, typically:

"Thanks to the precise temperature control, sous vide steak turns out more consistently than traditional steak, every time. Sure, with a little technique, it's not difficult to produce excellent steaks through pan-searing alone. But for flawlessly even edge-to-edge cooking and consistently foolproof results, sous vide is absolutely the better way."

Well I've struggled and am thinking of not bothering, life's too short.

I do like to confit my duck the traditional method, totally immersed in Goose Fat and done long and slow in the oven, (the fat's too expensive to use to fill the sous vide "bath") !
 
You're very welcome. Does sound like a bit of a sales pitch, doesn't it?

LOL, you only need a couple of tablespoons of fat in with the duck legs in the vac pac bag. I do batches of 8 legs, two per bag. Dry cured for 12 hours then 8hrs at 80 deg C. They go straight into the freezer still in the vac pac bags. When needed they are thawed, de-bagged then straight into a very hot oven for 15-20 mins to crisp up. I used to import tins of confit de canard from France, but when the £/€ rate went silly they became too expensive. The above method produces the nearest alternative.

If you don't have it already, "Sous Vide - The Art of Precision Cooking" is a good book. It is available from sousvidetools.com.
 
I have been cooking sous vide for a good three years, and I have a different take on sous vide. I love it for steaks. But, the thicker the steak, the more the benefit, IMO. I'm not as thrilled on big roasts, like a chuck roast or brisket. I like it a lot for fish filets -- perfectly cooked every time, and you can put some butter and herbs in with your filet, and get a nice flavor.

You do have to have a tested time and temperature. There are great guides, like ChefSteps.

I've never cooked a rump steak. I've heard of rump roasts, but they don't seem like a good meat for steaks. So I can't give first hand advice on a rump steak. Picking your temperature is the easier choice. Just choose the "doneness" you want, such as Medium Rare, and use that temperature. The right time for a steak size cut of beef is usually around one-to-two hours.

CD
 
caseydog said:
I have been cooking sous vide for a good three years, and I have a different take on sous vide. I love it for steaks. But, the thicker the steak, the more the benefit, IMO. I'm not as thrilled on big roasts, like a chuck roast or brisket. I like it a lot for fish filets -- perfectly cooked every time, and you can put some butter and herbs in with your filet, and get a nice flavor.

You do have to have a tested time and temperature. There are great guides, like ChefSteps.

I've never cooked a rump steak. I've heard of rump roasts, but they don't seem like a good meat for steaks. So I can't give first hand advice on a rump steak. Picking your temperature is the easier choice. Just choose the "doneness" you want, such as Medium Rare, and use that temperature. The right time for a steak size cut of beef is usually around one-to-two hours.

CD
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I get the impression that US steaks are generally much thicker than ours, which are rarely more than 3/4" or 18mm thick. What don't you like about brisket, cooking it sous vide or the cut itself?
 
From what I've seen on British cooking shows, it does seem the cuts are thicker here. About one-inch thick is common. You can get thicker if you have it cut by a butcher.

I love brisket, but it takes a long time to cook low and slow. Brisket also does not have one internal temperature from one brisket to the next -- you have to go by feel. It's done when a thermometer probe slides though with almost zero effort. Sous Vide cooks to on temperature. It can take 12-15 hours to get the perfect doneness in a smoker or oven. It can take 24 hours or more to cook one Sous Vide.

So, to me, Sous Vide is just not the right tool for that job.

CD
 
BTW, I sous vide and seared a 1-inch thick pork loin chop tonight. 145F for one-hour. Very tasty.

CD
 
Yes I think US steaks are generally thicker and I have realised that our normal (less than an inch) steaks don't SV well (that's sous vide not sports vehicle) but as it's approaching Fathers Day in UK we have lots of Big Daddies Steak around in the shops and I picked up a 2" rump ... also I'm not sure what Americans mean by 'roast' - I'm guessing it means the same here a "roasting" joint but our roasting joints would be difficult to vacuum pack to maybe they just mean a very thick steak ... whatever !
 
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