I do almost everything in mine now. Burgers, steaks, pork ribs before smoking, veggies, even whole trout. Baby back ribs are amazing when cooked overnight first. Hundreds of great recipes online.. There is no other way to cook everything perfectly to your liking every time, no exceptions. The cool thing is that it doesn't matter if you get delayed with something and it "cooks" for 1 hour or 30. Try honey-butter glazed carrots, finished in a hot cast iron skillet. Wonderful!
I've done just about any kind of meat you can think of, several types of veggies and even some desserts this way. As Jag said; ribs are particularly good. Try beef short ribs ... you'll have a new favorite dish.
There have been several threads on this in the last year or so ... a bunch of good recipes and suggestions there. I'll try to find them when I'm not so tired.
I’m on the sous vide train. Got a joule for a wedding present. First thing I cooked was half an elk heart then seared on cast iron. Freaking incredible. I think longer cooks are better than the hour or two suggested in most recipes.
First try at Sous vide this morning was a success! Did a whole pork loin sweet potatoes and carrots now I have a bag of wild hog brats onions garlic and beer going for supper tonight.
This thread just cost me money. Damn. Thx Mine should be here in a week. forkers I have a 4 rib chunk of prime to try it on..........gonna smoke it first, then sous vide it, then char it.
careful with that going in water bath for 48 hours!, that's just asking for for a little pathogenic bacteria to make you sick or salmonella. Temp Danger Zone 40 degrees to 135 degrees, all those temps in between. I've see meat go bad real fast being held in those temps. Now if you get it up to 135 quickly then hold it for 48 hrs at 135 then you'd be better off. I wouldn't personally hot hold meat that long, it's just asking for trouble... Now, it does look damn good!
I have a Anova. Last prime rib I did was the best I'd ever had, anywhere. It's not just the perfect temp you get. The long, slow cook breaks down tougher cuts of meat and makes them tender similar to brazing but you can do it at a much lower temp. Try a chuck roast at 138 deg. for 24 hrs. Poor man's prime rib! Same with tougher cuts of venison.
I have an Anova and an Insta Pot. Need one for my medium rare and one for the girlfriend's rare-medium. Four degrees difference makes all the difference.
GG, how's that flip phone workin' out for you? "Get off my lawn, you damn perfect-cooking yuppie hunters!" ;-)
Love mine. Both the convenience aspect and the functionality aspect. It is flat out impossible to do what a sous vide does on certain cuts of meat. There’s a reason they’re in basically every Michelin starred restaurant in the world.
Sous sissy’s. It’s just meant for some meat to be tough to cook and eat. That’s why God made a meat grinder. :^)
Seriously, when Nick said they were good, I was thinking I might give it a try. When Lou confirmed it, I was pretty much convinced. But, when Kurt agreed, I was sold. Guess I’m going to have to get one.
And just like the rest of us you'll be mad at yourself for not getting one sooner Justin. Now my kids go back for 2nds, 3rds, and even eat leftover cuts of steak for snacks.
I guess this is where I differ from most of you sousies. I like a little more "crust" on my meat than the roast that BEG posted. I like the transition from crust to medium to medium rare in the center. Besides, If I sat that roast on the table, my wife would make me put it back on the grill.
I've had one for about 2 years now and, honestly, I'm not a huge fan. Sure, it's easy to get everything to turn out a perfect medium-rare, but the taste/texture just isn't the same as if you make a cut of meat on a hot grill. Every couple months I pull it out and try something new with it, and every time I end up thinking that it would have been better had I just cooked it traditionally. My wife agrees. We must be odd because most love it.
The sous vide allows you to cook an entire chunk of meat to a specific temperature (say for example, 134 F). But you can't just stop there. You'll still want to finish it on the grill, or in a skillet, or even broil it in the oven. This way you get the spices and charring on the edges. From the looks of bigeasygator's photo he briefly grilled it to finish it. If you're like GreyGhost then you would just finish it longer on the grill. The beauty of the sous vide is that you can be assured that the center is completely cooked to the temperature that you chose, which is very difficult with other methods. Personally, for steaks that are 2" and less thick I like to cook them at 132F for 4 hours (from frozen). This is what I've found is best for being medium-rare and tenderizing any tough spots.
So, you still have to use the grill to finish with this gizmo? Doesn't that kinda defeat the purpose? If I'm going to fire up the grill, anyway, the meat is going directly on it. Are meat thermometers considered archaic, too?
Grey Ghost, think of the sous vide as kind of like driving with "cruise control". You don't need cruise control. But your speed will be more consistent than driving without it.
I'm a CAVEMAN! I prefer my meat seared and grilled or smoked. I need that nice "crust" and carmelization on the outside from a good sear. Can't get the same effect after par-boiling.
Searing is part of the sous vide process. You reverse sear after the meat is cooked. I like to sear my steaks and roasts either in clarified butter in a HOT cast iron skillet along with some garlic and rosemary that was in the bag with the meat or over my charcoal chimney on the grill. Takes only a few minutes.
The only thing you need to get used to is the outside color of a steak fresh out of the sous vide before searing....other than that you are searing raw or to temperature meat. Perfect everytime!
Sous Vide has nothing to do with "parboiling". Its simply cooking at a perfectly controlled temperature while holding the juices in. If you like your venison dry and inconsistently cooked, this method is definitely NOT for you.
LOL reading through this thread...I can't help buy envision prius, tofu, safe spaces, adult coloring books...etc....give me a smoker with a stack of hickory...you can keep your whatever it is
Jaq- I was using the term (par-boiling) tongue-in-cheek! Where I come from you sear meat BEFORE cooking it, not after. And If you want a med rare ribeye, just sear it quickly then use a cold smoker. (The kind with the offset firebox)
WV- I would take that as a compliment! ;-)
No argument here..................just healthy “discussion!” : )
Even if you don't use sous vide....reverse searing is the way to go for a perfect steak, roast, prime rib, etc. Offset the meat from the coals at low heat until it hits about 125 deg. then sear directly over the coals. You'll get more of an edge to edge med rare that way.
I found one of those Sous vides in my wife’s top drawer. Does the vibration stir up the water, or what? I stuck it in a pot of water, but it ain’t getting hot. I guess I’m going to eat this steak raw soon.
LOL. I haven't seen a sousy-cooked piece of meat that I can't duplicate with my cast iron skillets and/or a grill. But I understand yuppies need more high-tech gadgets to cook well.
Any of you guys cook steaks while frozen? Sear fresh out of the freezer then oven cook it until thermometer says the temp is right. Searing while frozen keeps the outer quarter inch from overcooking.
Ain't no place I can't get to with my horse and buggy that you city slickers get to with your newfangled turbocharged smoke belchers! ;-)
Hey, cook with whatever floats your boat. Some are enlightened and have learned more efficient and reliable ways to do things, while others prefer to do things the "old fashioned way". Nothing wrong with that. That's why we have a Leatherwall.
Jaquomo, I wonder how a sous vide discussion would go on the Leatherwall. Would it be more important what kind of fuel was used? Or maybe how the fire was initially lit? Certainly a Bic lighter would be too modern. Would a bow drill and fire board be traditional enough? Or, would a hand drill be the only way to go? Would a covered grill be traditional enough? Would the truly traditional guys only cook over an open fire? Was that how their grandfathers showed them? How would the meat look after being cooked? Would it look and taste like a brick? Would there be a little tender spot right around the spit that you stuck through the steak?
Or, maybe it would just better if it were called the "Ronco Water Pot Perfect Steak Cooker"?
Nothing wrong with a steak (or any other piece of meat) cooked using some other technique than sous vide...it just won't be as perfect :) no escaping the laws of physics!
Another food that was just meant for immersion circulators is a soft boiled egg. It's amazing how from about 140 degrees to about 160 degrees you can dial in the type of yolk you want, from very runny to slightly runny to buttery to pate-like to hard. If you guys haven't played around with eggs, you should.
GG, I've never boiled meat. That sounds awful! Do people really do that (other than parboiling before canning)? I just prefer cooking my steaks to a perfect inside temperature of 129 degrees every...single...time, then finishing in cast iron with a beautiful caramelized crust. Its so easy, even a bowhunter can do it!
Does it really take 2 hours to cook a steak with this thing? And you still need to finish it in a skillet or grill? My steaks take about 8 minutes on the grill, and they turn out perfect every...single...time. Sorry, I just don't get the appeal, but to each his own.
Does it really take 2 hours to cook a steak with this thing? And you still need to finish it in a skillet or grill?
Depends on the size of the steak or piece of meat you're cooking. The thicker the steak, the longer it needs to cook. You are cooking at much, much lower temperatures than more traditional methods, so it's going to take longer. For certain cuts of meat, you need to be careful you don't go too long, but generally speaking there's a very liberal grace period (ie, plus or minus hours, not plus or minus minutes or seconds). Certain cuts of meat really benefit from the method as you can get the temperature to a point where the connective tissue breaks down AND basically never worry about your meat overcooking.
Because you're generally only cooking the cut of meat to the internal temperature you want it to reach, it will never generate any kind of char, which is why you need to finish it with a grill, a skillet, or a torch/flame thrower. But because you aren't worrying about cooking the meat at all, I've found it much easier to get sears at much higher temperatures with a much better crust than from more conventional cooking methods where it's more challenging to manage meat temperature.
You "cook" it as long as you like. But you don't have to do anything except put it in a ziplok and drop it in the pot, go out and shoot your bow, mow the lawn, go to the store. No tending, no flipping, no guessing. Whenever you're ready to eat, sear it for one minute on each side. The "cooking" keeps the juices in and marinates it at the same time.
If you can cook a piece of meat that looks like the one in bigeasygator's photo using conventional skillet, grill, whatever, you are the greatest chef who ever lived. That's why all the best restaurants use this method to turn out perfect pieces of meat to the doneness ordered, every time. If you eat in good restaurants you've eaten plenty prepared this way. Just didn't know it.
Kinda takes all the skill out of cooking.................................................I guess you could call it the CROSSBOW of the culinary world! ;-)
Welp.....can't get it to connect to wifi......that is annoying but I'll figger it out. Cooked some burgers. Really like how they turned out. Gonna cook a prime rib roast tomorrow. Woo hoooo!
Reminds me of my Traeger Grill. Set the temp and forget about it for a few hours.
I vacuum seal my meat. When I sous vide I thaw then into the crock pot (non electronic) with my temperature controller set to 135* for ~6 hours. Then sear via a cast iron skillet on the very hot grill. Add your seasonings...salt, pepper, garlic whatever to the oil or butter in the skillet. Reason I use the grill is that womenfolk aren't fond of the sputtering on the kitchen stove!! Comes out perfect.
I like the idea of sous vide and have considered buying the anova, just have a hard time with the cooking of food in a plastic bag for hours at a time. Just my take on the subject. Are there other options to get away from cooking in plastic? The end product looks awesome.
Just got mine venison roast 1st excellent then last night rib eyes medium rare wouldn’t have needed teeth. After rib eyes were done cranked it to 150 four chicken thighs for tonight. Never heard of it since this post thanks so much can’t get enough.
I buy Bison rib-eye steaks 5 or 6 at a time. I vacuum seal all of them and then sous-vide all of them at the same time. After cooking to 131 degrees for about an hour and a half for med rare, straight into the freezer. For eating, remove one steak from the freezer and let thaw to room temp. Sear in a scorching hot cast iron skillet outdoors. Perfect med rare.
Tody, you aren't "cooking" it, only heating it to a low sustained temperature. Not hot enough to release BPA, but ziplok brand bags dont contain BPA anyway. I think some of the cheaper ones do but its not a factor. People mistakenly think this is "cooking" like in a microwave, which does release BPA in older plastic containers.
Ok thanks I’ll do that next time and maybe double bag. They still turned out excellent but just wonder how much better if they would have stayed sealed
Can't beat my Anova Sous Vide. I did a 4", 6 pound porterhouse for Father's Day. Perfectly pink all the way through. Only had to watch the fire when I seared it off. The only way that I do any steak over 2" thick now. You will not be disappointed at all with the results.
Only bags I've had open were those that never vacuumed "tight" and still had a bit of air in them. the heated air expands and pressurizes. Possibly odd shaped cuts like ribs could be challenging to get a total vacuum before sealing? Done a bunch of meals with freezer ziplocks and no issues. Let the water pressure push out the air as you slowly immerse the bag before you zip it. I'll normally clip to the top of the bag and "hang" it into the water with the ziptop out of it. Depends.
I like you can put a marinate or seasoning in with the food as it cooks. And that no moisture is lost in a cloud of steam. Some argue conventional cooking concentrates the juices as the water steams away, That's a fair argument, but for most cuts I've done it has not been my experience. Dry is not "concentrated". And wild game especially doesn't have the fat content to carry the flavor or replace moisture lost while cooking.
I have heard some seasoning/spices don't work well with it (have been told rosemary, bay leaf, etc.? can turn bitter?) But I've never had any such issues that I recall. You can put butter and garlic in with a lobster tail, cook to perfection (which few folks do) , and use the melted butter as a dip when serving. Lots of cool stuff.
Fresh Rosemary goes great in sous vide. If you sear a steak in clarified butter (ghee) after sous vide, throw the rosemary sprigs you had in the bag in the hot butter and use it to brush the butter on top of the steak as you sear.
Highly recommend the YouTube channel "Sous Vide Everything".
Just got my elk meat from this year back, so had to break out the sous vide on a roast tonight. Cooked it at 129 and finished it in a cast iron skillet in the oven at 550 degrees, flipping it about every two minutes for a total of 8 minutes. I think I should have just got the cast iron skillet hot on the stovetop instead and done it that way instead of the oven as it cooked a little more than I wanted as I was finishing it. Still pretty damn tasty.
The longer in the sous vide, the more tender the meat as it breaks down the collagen but it gets to a point where it actually turns "mushy" if it's cooked too long.
Forestbows, I’ve never pan seared before cooking anything sous vide - always after. I should have finished the elk in a skillet, not the oven. I did a 7 lb prime rib roast with a 10 minute finish in the 550 degree oven and it was perfect (pic above for reference). But obviously a 7 lb roast is going to be a little more tolerant to the temps than a 1.5 lb roast. Might have to do the pre-sear one time and see how that goes.
Stoneman, I cooked it for 12 hours. Like others have said, you can sous vide something too long. It won’t be overcooked from a temperature sense but the texture of the meat will change. I found the roast to be pretty tender after 12 hours but not mushy and would guess it could have held up to a few more hours in the bath just fine. I’ve seen certain recipes cal for a 24 hour cook. But like others have said, it’ll be to temperature in 2-4 hours.
I've been doing salmon filets lately, seasoning them with lemon zest, fresh dill and crushed red pepper flakes before dropping into the sous vide. Then finish with a quick sear. Better than any salmon I've ever had in the finest restaurants in the world. So many things this amazing, simple tool does so well.
I always seal the elk meat in a vacuum sealed package along with any rub/seasoning, etc. and soak in a cooler with hot water around 135 degrees for two or three hours. This temp gives me a nice med rare. Then remove from the packaging and sear with a butane torch. Best steak ever. I use Anova + Geesta container (or just a pot sometimes).
elkmtngear try to keep temp a bit lower, usually it's about 130-135 degrees as I've mentioned above. Have a look at this recipe: https://www.realtree.com/timber-2-table-wild-game-recipes/24-hour-sous-vide-venison-roast-recipe
Interesting way to cook. I personally like an electric wet smoker for things. A bit of a learning curve for different foods and differing weather temps but worth it. Seems this method would leave out some of that traditional flavor from an open heat source when sealed in a bag (oh yah more plastic to deal with)
I sous vide my steaks for ~4 hours. I use a cast iron skillet on the grill...don't get the wife riled due to splattering that way. I get the grill to ~450 and use ghee. Sear both sides for 30 seconds.
NO sous vide yet so had to use the cast iron skillet. Pronghorn tenderloins med rare, snap peas, yams, multi grain bread, red wine, and then dessert. Yum. Great Christmas dinner.
