Restaurant-Worthy Steak using Sous Vide (Guide and Research Included!)

My husband and I found that it’s incredibly difficult to cook perfectly medium-rare steaks at home as one steak ends up more done than another, and the steaks just overall aren’t as juicy as those you get at a steakhouse. We will never have this problem again thanks to sous vide cooking.

Step One: Buy your Steaks

• Choose a lean cut such as a top loin (boneless)
• Make sure the meat is no more than 1.5 inches thick and roughly 3/4 of a pound each

Step Two: Season the steak

• Keep it simple but cover generously. I just used salt and pepper.
• Definitely feel free to add an aromatic such as rosemary or sage

Step Three: Prepare the pot

• Fill a large pot 3/4 of the way up with water; I used a crock pot but a large pasta pot would work as well.
• I placed the pot on our stove, but you could also place it on a granite counter top.

Step Four: Vacuum-Seal

• While you can get an official vacuum sealer, they can get pricey and aren’t necessary. Instead, I used a large pot of water and gallon-sized freezer bags. For freezer bags, I highly recommend the double zip Ziplock bags as America’s Test Kitchen lists them as the best freezer bags on the market.
• Make sure to get all of the air out of the bag! I did this by placing a seasoned steak into one of the freezer bags, sealing up the bag until there is about an inch left on one side, then slowly lowering the bag into the pot of water (the air escapes from the unzipped portion). Don’t be afraid to move the steak around in the bag to get rid of some the air bubbles that will form around it. Continue to lower the bag until just the opened corner is above the water line. As you lower that corner in, seal the corner being careful not to let water into the bag. You have now vacuum-sealed your steak on the cheap 😉!

Step Five: Attach Sous Vide Circulator to the pot

• Attach the circulator to the pot according to your circulator’s directions.
• At the bottom of the circulator are ports that allow water to flow in and out. It is very important that your plastic bags aren’t blocking these ports. If your pot is large enough this won’t be an issue, but I ended up placing a spatula in-between the bags and the circulator, which worked great!

Step Six: Set Ideal Temperature and Cook Time

• For a medium-rare cook, I had success with 129.5 but you could try up to 132 for no more than 2.5 hours. For a full temperature chart, check out Serious Eat’s Sous Vide Guide.

Step Seven: Sear your Steaks

• To get that nice steakhouse crust on your steaks, once the steaks are done cooking in the sous vide, remove from bags and sear in a pre-heated and buttered (or oiled) cast-iron skillet on all four sides (yes, a steak has four sides even at just 1.5 inches 😉 ).

Step Eight: Serve and Enjoy!

• If you like this, feel free to check out The Healty Toast or stop by /r/tht!

bon appetit