a sous vide experiment

[smackaholic]

Did you at least offer him something from the grill?

[Mikey]

Did you at least offer him something from the grill?

The smoke was coming from the toaster. He probably wouldn't have been interested.

[L45B]

12-hour (131°) sv top round (basically London broil-- low cost cut of lean beef) plus some paleo diet schtuff on a plate. Da beef came out really tender.

[L45B]

Mrs. 88 gets pissed when I smoke up the house searing meat, so I put the iron pan in the gas grill and put the heat on to max for about 30 minutes. You cannot put butter into an iron skillet at that temp...

I have the same problem smoking up the kitchen.

Not sure if it makes any difference in your kitchen, but when I do a flash sear on the CI I use a high smoke point oil-- avocado oil works really well. I have a gas stove and medium is about the highest setting I have to use. Fwiw.

[Mikey]

Got some tenderloin steaks at Costco this morning, which will be my next adventure. I figure the only way I can fuck it up is by over cooking it. I may try adding some seasoning to the bag before starting.

[smackaholic]

I just watched a video of some dude using his ghetto sous vide setup (cooler, candy thermometer and tea kettle). Think I might give that a try to see if I like it enough to drop the $$$$ for a gadget.

Anyone ever done it this way?

The guy in the video said it worked well, but if wanted to do things that took much more than 4 hours, get the gadget.

[Dr_Phibes]

great thread, great device. Tried the spaghetti and jam (raspberry was the best) and cooked it to perfection. Next time is boiled chicken and olives, you can surprise your husband when he gets home from work.









Hey Mikey, we have the same toaster. And floor tiles.

[Mikey]

Got some tenderloin steaks at Costco this morning, which will be my next adventure. I figure the only way I can fuck it up is by over cooking it. I may try adding some seasoning to the bag before starting.

I started out with four tenderloin steaks from Costco (one was pretty small).





Bagged them up with some fresh thyme, bay leaf, minced garlic, a little salt, and some EVOO.





The recipe said, for 1" steaks medium rare, 45 minutes at 129 deg. I didn't measure these but they were probably close to 1 3/4" so I added an extra 5 minutes to the timer. Even then , when I took them out they seemed underdone. The thing I need to keep in mind is that it's almost impossible to overcook if you have the right temperature, so I put them back in for another 15 minutes.





Patted dry and seasoned, and then into the CI skillet with some butter for about 2 minutes per side. There actually wasn't a whole lot of smoke.





Served on a puree of broccoli, cauliflower and parmesan cheese; japanese sweet potato and salad.





Seriously, it was about the best steak I've ever prepared. And I'm not that big a fan of tenderloin. I wish I had taken a picture of one of the cut open. Perfectly on the rare side of medium rare and a thinly seared crust.

[Left Seater]

Any issues with the zip-loc bags leeching anything into the meat?

I keep hearing about this plastics and heat. How you aren’t supposed to use them in the microwave and how glass dishes are better.

[Mikey]

Second attempt with tenderloin steaks, because the OL really liked the first ones.

I bought some of this smoked sea salt on line last week.



Seasoned the steaks with the smoked sea salt, some garlic, bay leaves, thyme and EVOO.

The steaks were about 1 3/4 inches thick. The recipe said 129 deg for 90 minutes for 1 1/2 inches, 120 minutes for 2 inches. I left them in for about 100 minutes. Patted them dry, seasoned with some Butt Rub, then seared in a little butter, 2 minutes per side. Here’s when they just came off the burner.




It almost looks a little underdone but you seriously could cut this with a fork.

[smackaholic]

Isn't tenderloin a pretty decent cut of meat?

I thought the point of Sous Vide was to turn a shit cut into something awesome? Or does it make a really good cut into something even more amazing?

Or did Costco just have a smoking deal on tenderloins?

[Goober McTuber]

Tenderloins are nice steaks. For girls.

[Mikey]

Tenderloins are nice steaks. For girls.

I prefer a good NY strip, but sometimes you have to please the wife. That being said, it was about the tastiest tenderloin I've ever had.

[Mikey]

Isn't tenderloin a pretty decent cut of meat?

I thought the point of Sous Vide was to turn a shit cut into something awesome? Or does it make a really good cut into something even more amazing?

Or did Costco just have a smoking deal on tenderloins?

The tenderloin is probably the most expensive of the beef cuts. The ones I bought at Costco were "choice" as opposed to "prime" but still very nice pieces. The sous vide can apparently turn cheaper cuts into something better (haven't tried it yet) but it's also a way of maximizing the quality of a more expensive cut. It takes a lot of the guess work out of grilling because there's almost no way to overcook the meat. If you like medium rare beef, the meat is medium rare at 129 to 130 degrees. If you sous vide in 129 degree water you'll never get it over 129 degrees, and it's evenly cooked all the way through. You can leave it in an extra hour if you want, apparently, without compromising the final result. Once you take it out you just quickly sear the outside.

My next experiment will probably be with something like London broil or maybe a tri-tip.

[smackaholic]

Tenderloins are nice steaks. For girls.

I do seem to recall queerland posting about a wine cooler marinade he does them in.

[Goober McTuber]

I also go with the NY strip. Sometimes a ribeye.

[Mikey]

I also go with the NY strip. Sometimes a ribeye.

Ribeye would be good to try with this. I love ribeye steaks but they always seem to flare up on the grill and get burned. The sous vide followed by pan searing would avoid that.

[smackaholic]

Wait......I may be mistaken.

He was actually talking about marinading himself in winecoolers in The Tenderloin.

[Mikey]

Wait......I may be mistaken.

He was actually talking about marinading himself in winecoolers in The Tenderloin.

Sound more like mtool, though.

[Mikey]

Very nice.

[smackaholic]

I could see London Broil being great using SV. Great flavor but not the tenderest cut. My grandfather used to make it all the time when I was a kid.

[smackaholic]

Wait......I may be mistaken.

He was actually talking about marinading himself in winecoolers in The Tenderloin.

Sound more like mtool, though.

The way those clowns change nics, it's hard to keep them straight.

[L45B]

Fine work, Mikey & 88.

Smackaholic— scroll up a tad, there are some pics of London broil in this thread.