Sous Vide vs. Reverse Sear...
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Joe Hell
I would have to agree. I tried the sous vide method with a ribeye a few days ago. I wont do that again. I did get a nice sear on the grill but decided a ribeye doesn’t need that method. That first one I tried was a tougher cut and sous vide definitely helped on that.PapaSop I just can’t see an advantage to using Sous Vide on cuts that are already notoriously tender. The Sous Vide reminds me of the Instant Pot fad. My mom had to have one. She bragged how you can take a piece of frozen meat and throw everything in the pot and a little while later as if by magic you would have a perfect meal. Nothing could be further from the truth. Cooking meat with that method changes texture and I haven’t found anything to be super flavorful.
That said…there are things that the instant pot does perfectly. I’m not sure I’ve ever had hard boiled eggs cooked better. Peeling them has never been easier. Rice, perfect. Beans and Potatoes…perfect. Frozen Pork shoulder…crap. lol.
IMO meat needs the caramelization and crust that only the Malliard reaction can offer. Sous Vide and Instant Pot are great tools for specific jobs…so is my Weber Kettle, My Masterbuilt smoker, Char Broil grill, Weber Gas grill, my open fire pit, Gas convection oven, Cast Iron cookware, Weston dehydrator, etc., etc…
As with every cooking tool there is a learning curve and I may not have found mine quite yet but that doesn’t mean I am done with it. One thing I would like to try is brewing beer with it. During the mash process you need to hold specific temperatures for specific times to get the highest conversion of starches to sugars from the grain. The Sous Vide would excel at that. Maybe that will be my next thread on this topic!
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Joe Hell I agree that the general public does seem to fall for the fads a lot, you mention insta pot (my mom and sisters were crazy for it) and I was air frying everything I could for a while there until I realized it really wasn’t any simpler than baking. Also, it is odd that hard boiled eggs are much better in the air fryer than a normal pot, toss them in the air fryer for 8 minutes then a pot of ice cold water for 5 or so and they peel like a dream!
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Joe Hell I agree that the general public does seem to fall for the fads a lot, you mention insta pot (my mom and sisters were crazy for it) and I was air frying everything I could for a while there until I realized it really wasn’t any simpler than baking. Also, it is odd that hard boiled eggs are much better in the air fryer than a normal pot, toss them in the air fryer for 8 minutes then a pot of ice cold water for 5 or so and they peel like a dream!
Jonathon That’s interesting on the air fryer eggs. I wonder what’s going on that makes peeling so much easier with either machine. I would probably own the air fryer if it wasn’t for avoiding everything that is great when fried.
If I was picking my next toy it might be something like this. Who doesn’t need a vertical roasting meat carousel in their kitchen? I’d be shaving and eating meat every time I got near it!

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Joe Hell I agree that the general public does seem to fall for the fads a lot, you mention insta pot (my mom and sisters were crazy for it) and I was air frying everything I could for a while there until I realized it really wasn’t any simpler than baking. Also, it is odd that hard boiled eggs are much better in the air fryer than a normal pot, toss them in the air fryer for 8 minutes then a pot of ice cold water for 5 or so and they peel like a dream!
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Joe Hell yeah that will work, I’ve done it before and liked the results. Precooked fresh sausage is a great thing to have!
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In my opinion…Reverse Sear beats Sous Vide hands down. It’s not even close. I prepared my steak as I did in the “This is how I do ribeye” thread.

Salt cure, dried overnight in the fridge than applied some seasoning and vacuum sealed overnight. I cooked the steak at 250 in the oven for about 28 minutes and went to a scorching grill. After a couple minutes per side I had the crust I was looking for and moved the steak aside while I grilled some chops. Reverse sear does better with thicker cuts so the pork was straight from the bag to the grill.
Success! The crust on the steak was amazing and the crispy bits of fat on the chops was sizzled to perfection.


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I personally think sous vide is a great way to cook steak, I love rare to medium rare edge to edge. I finish my steaks in a screaming hot cast iron pan for about 2 minutes per side and get a great crust. A recent trick I have tried is putting a slather of mayo on them before searing, and it really helps to build beautiful crust. I’ve cooked chuck roasts for 24 hours sous vide as well, and had them come out as tender as prime rib.
I do agree it is just another tool in the arsenal, and it’s not an end all be all gadget. I will say I’ve made cheesecake with it in Mason jars, and that is a great way to make cheesecake for a crowd.
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I personally think sous vide is a great way to cook steak, I love rare to medium rare edge to edge. I finish my steaks in a screaming hot cast iron pan for about 2 minutes per side and get a great crust. A recent trick I have tried is putting a slather of mayo on them before searing, and it really helps to build beautiful crust. I’ve cooked chuck roasts for 24 hours sous vide as well, and had them come out as tender as prime rib.
I do agree it is just another tool in the arsenal, and it’s not an end all be all gadget. I will say I’ve made cheesecake with it in Mason jars, and that is a great way to make cheesecake for a crowd.
Tex_77 I did enjoy the results with the beef I’ve tried so far! A roast is something I’d like to try as well as several other cuts. I’m done with chicken and pork! Lol.
The cheesecake sounds interesting and something I might try with one of the low carb recipes I’ve seen lately.
One thing I might try soon is using it to brew beer. The temp control would be a huge advantage for the mashing process.
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Joe Hell Any time anyone says roast with steak and sous vide all I can think of is the Ribeye that Austin and I Sous Vide(d?) for 24 hours, it was very tender but it was no longer a steak it was a roast. Part of that might be because Austin insisted we do it at 140° or something like that. I might try it again at 125° for 24 hours and see what the results are.
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Joe Hell Any time anyone says roast with steak and sous vide all I can think of is the Ribeye that Austin and I Sous Vide(d?) for 24 hours, it was very tender but it was no longer a steak it was a roast. Part of that might be because Austin insisted we do it at 140° or something like that. I might try it again at 125° for 24 hours and see what the results are.
Jonathon I generally don’t sous vide my steaks for any longer then an hour. That being said, I have done whole rib-eye rolls for 8 hours making prime rib, and they came out great. I don’t like to go much above 125 for steaks, as I like mine on the rarer side of things. For tri-tip I’ll usually sous vide for 4 hours or so. Have you ever tried doing a whole packer brisket sous vide? I saw a video once of one being done, and Meathead was there and he couldn’t distinguish between the one that was cooked sous vide vs the one that was smoked traditionally.
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Joe Hell Any time anyone says roast with steak and sous vide all I can think of is the Ribeye that Austin and I Sous Vide(d?) for 24 hours, it was very tender but it was no longer a steak it was a roast. Part of that might be because Austin insisted we do it at 140° or something like that. I might try it again at 125° for 24 hours and see what the results are.
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Tex_77 Austin and I have talked about doing brisket in the Sous Vide before yes. We just need to do it and we might have time in the next few weeks. My only fear would be that without any bark on it doing it sous vide…so youd have to finish it up on a grill or something? We planned on using Pa’s Black Bull injection with just a touch of liquid smoke.
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Tex_77 Austin and I have talked about doing brisket in the Sous Vide before yes. We just need to do it and we might have time in the next few weeks. My only fear would be that without any bark on it doing it sous vide…so youd have to finish it up on a grill or something? We planned on using Pa’s Black Bull injection with just a touch of liquid smoke.
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Last week I borrowed an Anova ‘Precision’ Sous Vide and cooked nearly every meal with it. I made boneless skinless Chicken thighs, Chuck Eye steak, Tri-Tip, Pork Chops, Apple Blue Cheese and Sage Brats and fresh local Asparagus. All the meat was finished on the grill. Everything turned out fine but there are a few things I would critique with this technique.
Texture: Sous Vide changes the texture of meat. There is no avoiding this. With tough cuts of Beef that could be a good thing. With pork and particularly Chicken. Both turned out good. Both were juicy. Both were flavorful. Both were…weird. I’m on the fence with the texture of Pork sometimes as is. I’ve never had much issue with Chicken unless it was under cooked and that’s exactly what it reminded me of. This time it wasn’t due to not getting the meat to temp. It was the cooking method. Overall the meat was fine and I finished all of it but I won’t be using Sous Vide on Chicken ever again. Same goes for Pork. The results were similar but the texture was not favorable. Damn you Sous Vide.


Crust or Bark: After the cooking all of the previously mentioned meats I finished them on a searing hot grill. While everything came out tasty and picture perfect it didn’t quite have that crusty, caramelized exterior I enjoy in a steak. When you pull the meat from the Sous Vide it has been cooked in it’s own juices. While flavorful this makes it nearly impossible to get a good crust on the grill. Pan searing might be the way to go. It was good but not great. The Chuck Eye was super tender. The Tri Tip was already cut into small-ish pieces from the butcher so I prepared them as kabobs. They turned out great but could probably used a bit more time. That might be one I revisit in the future.



The good: The brats and sausage turned out perfectly. I’ve never made brats that retained so much of the juices. They were perfect. Likewise the asparagus was perfect. They turned a vibrant green and were still crisp but cooked through. If I decide to pull the trigger on a Sous Vide of my own, brats and veggies will be in the regular rotation.

Tonight I made another Chuck Eye and a filet of catfish using the Sous Vide. This time I used a blackening seasoning and finished both in a smoking hot pan of clarified butter and fresh thyme. The pan gave the steak a great crust. This particular cut wasn’t the greatest but it still managed to be a decent steak although it was pretty fatty. The fish was crusty and perfectly flaky. I ended up making fish tacos with a horseradish slaw, avocado and cotija cheese.


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Tonight I made another Chuck Eye and a filet of catfish using the Sous Vide. This time I used a blackening seasoning and finished both in a smoking hot pan of clarified butter and fresh thyme. The pan gave the steak a great crust. This particular cut wasn’t the greatest but it still managed to be a decent steak although it was pretty fatty. The fish was crusty and perfectly flaky. I ended up making fish tacos with a horseradish slaw, avocado and cotija cheese.


Joe Hell is there a video on this sous vide? Have no clue what it is and dont understand why one would do this technique
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Joe Hell is there a video on this sous vide? Have no clue what it is and dont understand why one would do this technique
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Joe Hell is there a video on this sous vide? Have no clue what it is and dont understand why one would do this technique
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Tex_77 will give it a watch, thanks
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Last week I borrowed an Anova ‘Precision’ Sous Vide and cooked nearly every meal with it. I made boneless skinless Chicken thighs, Chuck Eye steak, Tri-Tip, Pork Chops, Apple Blue Cheese and Sage Brats and fresh local Asparagus. All the meat was finished on the grill. Everything turned out fine but there are a few things I would critique with this technique.
Texture: Sous Vide changes the texture of meat. There is no avoiding this. With tough cuts of Beef that could be a good thing. With pork and particularly Chicken. Both turned out good. Both were juicy. Both were flavorful. Both were…weird. I’m on the fence with the texture of Pork sometimes as is. I’ve never had much issue with Chicken unless it was under cooked and that’s exactly what it reminded me of. This time it wasn’t due to not getting the meat to temp. It was the cooking method. Overall the meat was fine and I finished all of it but I won’t be using Sous Vide on Chicken ever again. Same goes for Pork. The results were similar but the texture was not favorable. Damn you Sous Vide.


Crust or Bark: After the cooking all of the previously mentioned meats I finished them on a searing hot grill. While everything came out tasty and picture perfect it didn’t quite have that crusty, caramelized exterior I enjoy in a steak. When you pull the meat from the Sous Vide it has been cooked in it’s own juices. While flavorful this makes it nearly impossible to get a good crust on the grill. Pan searing might be the way to go. It was good but not great. The Chuck Eye was super tender. The Tri Tip was already cut into small-ish pieces from the butcher so I prepared them as kabobs. They turned out great but could probably used a bit more time. That might be one I revisit in the future.



The good: The brats and sausage turned out perfectly. I’ve never made brats that retained so much of the juices. They were perfect. Likewise the asparagus was perfect. They turned a vibrant green and were still crisp but cooked through. If I decide to pull the trigger on a Sous Vide of my own, brats and veggies will be in the regular rotation.

Last night I started another chicken for the open fire pit and figured I would try the Sous Vide on the giblets. I gave those to my dad and he will get back to me on the results.
Tonight I started a deli style roast beef using some eye of round I picked up today. I used the pepper and garlic jerky seasoning as a rub and injected with Pa’s soluble Black Bull and cold phosphate. I “pre-seared” the roast and deglazed the pan with more Black Bull then trussed with twine and vacuum sealed with fresh garlic and rosemary and adding the pan Jus.
I’ll cook 24 hours at 140 then I will finish it by the same method I use to cook the chicken tomorrow.

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Last night I started another chicken for the open fire pit and figured I would try the Sous Vide on the giblets. I gave those to my dad and he will get back to me on the results.
Tonight I started a deli style roast beef using some eye of round I picked up today. I used the pepper and garlic jerky seasoning as a rub and injected with Pa’s soluble Black Bull and cold phosphate. I “pre-seared” the roast and deglazed the pan with more Black Bull then trussed with twine and vacuum sealed with fresh garlic and rosemary and adding the pan Jus.
I’ll cook 24 hours at 140 then I will finish it by the same method I use to cook the chicken tomorrow.

Joe Hell Why did you choose to pre-sear vs post sear? Also nice trussing!
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