Sous Vide vs. Reverse Sear...
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PapaSop It was great! Once again I’m going to declare ‘Reverse Sear’ the winner. The caramelization and texture was simply better. I used the salt cure method for about 20 minutes and then vacuum sealed both steaks with pepper and roasted garlic. I held the steak to be reverse seared at room temp while I cooked the Sous Vide steak for about 1 1/2 hours.
The top steak in both pictures is the Sous Vide version.


Joe Hell Those look great! I’m right there with you on the reverse sear. It’s what I’ve always done on steaks and will continue to do going forward. May experiment with other things using Sous Vide but not my steaks.
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Joe Hell Those look great! I’m right there with you on the reverse sear. It’s what I’ve always done on steaks and will continue to do going forward. May experiment with other things using Sous Vide but not my steaks.
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@Joe Hell and PapaSop I am working on Meatgistics University Deli Meat 20(x) and Ive done chicken breast deli meat two different ways, both of them I have finished in the sous vide cooker and have been really happy with the results!
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Joe Hell I wonder if the preference for sous vide steak vs reverse sear has to do with texture preferences or taste preferences? It might surprise some people but I don’t consider myself to have a very sophisticated pallet when it comes to taste but I do have a strong sense of texture. It’s the reason I hate mashed potatoes and cooked mushrooms.
Joe, would you agree that the interior and overall texture of the sous vide steak is more tender?
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Joe Hell I wonder if the preference for sous vide steak vs reverse sear has to do with texture preferences or taste preferences? It might surprise some people but I don’t consider myself to have a very sophisticated pallet when it comes to taste but I do have a strong sense of texture. It’s the reason I hate mashed potatoes and cooked mushrooms.
Joe, would you agree that the interior and overall texture of the sous vide steak is more tender?
Jonathon I would agree that in most cases the texture has been more tender with Sous Vide vs. Reverse Sear. That said, I tend to lean towards the texture of the latter. Taste wise I think both were so close that we would be splitting hairs though again it’s that caramelization that in my opinion the reverse sear edges out Sous Vide.
I can be picky when it comes to the texture of food. For example…I love the flavor of every member of the melon family but I can’t eat any one of them. Same goes for bananas. I do like mashed potatoes and cooked mushrooms though!
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Joe Hell I know Im not the only who hates mash potatoes, there are DOZENs of us! (credit to whoever gets that reference) The texture is absolutely important, but what is wrong with the texture of a melon? I get it with bananas but melons? To be clear, I LOVE reverse searing a steak I just now prefer sous vide
I hate the term mouth feel and someone here once suggested Pallet Appeal and…I looked back and found the post and it was you!! Hahaha that’s too funny!
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Joe Hell I know Im not the only who hates mash potatoes, there are DOZENs of us! (credit to whoever gets that reference) The texture is absolutely important, but what is wrong with the texture of a melon? I get it with bananas but melons? To be clear, I LOVE reverse searing a steak I just now prefer sous vide
I hate the term mouth feel and someone here once suggested Pallet Appeal and…I looked back and found the post and it was you!! Hahaha that’s too funny!
Jonathon Watermelon for example seems grainy and strange. Cantelope is mushy/slimy…bananas fall into that category too. I love the flavor of all of them though. Eggplants are right in there as well. Just mentioning oysters makes me gag. I’m having trouble even typing about them. lol. None of the above appeals to my palate!
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Joe Hell I can understand the watermelon being grainy but it doesn’t bother me! Love oysters, I’ve never had something out of the ocean that I didn’t like!
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Joe Hell I can understand the watermelon being grainy but it doesn’t bother me! Love oysters, I’ve never had something out of the ocean that I didn’t like!
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@Joe Hell and PapaSop I am working on Meatgistics University Deli Meat 20(x) and Ive done chicken breast deli meat two different ways, both of them I have finished in the sous vide cooker and have been really happy with the results!
Jonathon Can’t wait to see it.
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My two cents worth… That first steak I ever did using Sous Vide was undoubtedly the most evenly cooked steak throughout that I’ve ever done. No over or under cooked spots. Also the most tender. Perhaps preferring the reverse sear just eliminates the extra time to do the Sous Vide. Not having one and heating water on the stove is just to worky for me. Extra planning you know. I’m going to try again with two steaks as Joe did. Hard to remember the texture between them. I do feel you get a better sear using the reverse because I’ll pull it at a lower temp and direct cook a bit longer.
As far as texture goes…Who the H… doesn’t like mashed potatoes! Actually one of my co-workers. He also hates pork so he don’t count. LOL
Personally, the texture of squash kills me…can’t do it!
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Joe Hell I know Im not the only who hates mash potatoes, there are DOZENs of us! (credit to whoever gets that reference) The texture is absolutely important, but what is wrong with the texture of a melon? I get it with bananas but melons? To be clear, I LOVE reverse searing a steak I just now prefer sous vide
I hate the term mouth feel and someone here once suggested Pallet Appeal and…I looked back and found the post and it was you!! Hahaha that’s too funny!
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Jonathon This is a great video that touches on several topics in this thread!
Joe Hell They should have smoked the ribs they sous vide for a few hours first to get the smoke flavor they were looking for. I’m also not sure the ribs they smoked would have been very tender only being cooked to 160. When I did my ribs I cooked them to 200 or so, and they were tender as all get out.
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Joe Hell They should have smoked the ribs they sous vide for a few hours first to get the smoke flavor they were looking for. I’m also not sure the ribs they smoked would have been very tender only being cooked to 160. When I did my ribs I cooked them to 200 or so, and they were tender as all get out.
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Joe Hell I’ve seen that video before, I enjoy the goofiness of it really, plus nice shots of meat!
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Very interesting thread, Joe Hell and PapaSop : I’m a bit surprised you have not liked the results of SV’ing your chicken steak or pork… You both appear to be quite adept with your SV skills, but I will mention anyway that you can vary the resulting texture of your meat by varying time (since for these products you want to hold temp. at a constant for “doneness”.
I go back and forth between buying (striploins or ribeyes) that are either low end prime / high end choice or others (much cheaper) that are low end choice /high end select)… I then dry age for between 40 45 days, then the higher quality meat I generally SV for about 1 hour per inch of thickness… The lower quality meat SV: about 8-10 hrs per inch thickness… I have been very happy with the texture of the meat coming from the SV…
On the other hand, we have a convection oven (it is not possible to turn off the convection feature) so when doing a reverse sear I have never been thrilled with the results…
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Very interesting thread, Joe Hell and PapaSop : I’m a bit surprised you have not liked the results of SV’ing your chicken steak or pork… You both appear to be quite adept with your SV skills, but I will mention anyway that you can vary the resulting texture of your meat by varying time (since for these products you want to hold temp. at a constant for “doneness”.
I go back and forth between buying (striploins or ribeyes) that are either low end prime / high end choice or others (much cheaper) that are low end choice /high end select)… I then dry age for between 40 45 days, then the higher quality meat I generally SV for about 1 hour per inch of thickness… The lower quality meat SV: about 8-10 hrs per inch thickness… I have been very happy with the texture of the meat coming from the SV…
On the other hand, we have a convection oven (it is not possible to turn off the convection feature) so when doing a reverse sear I have never been thrilled with the results…
raider2119 The steak I was fine with but seemed to prefer the other methods just slightly more. The pork was ok but not my favorite. The chicken was just not right. lol. I cook and consume chicken several nights a week and consider myself somewhat of a chicken ‘ninja’. I rarely if ever screw it up. There is nothing worse IMO than getting a mouthful of raw chicken. That’s the only way I could describe the end texture despite a fully cooked temperature.
Dry aging is one of my next projects for sure. I’ve got a rib roast waiting in the wings!
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Very interesting thread, Joe Hell and PapaSop : I’m a bit surprised you have not liked the results of SV’ing your chicken steak or pork… You both appear to be quite adept with your SV skills, but I will mention anyway that you can vary the resulting texture of your meat by varying time (since for these products you want to hold temp. at a constant for “doneness”.
I go back and forth between buying (striploins or ribeyes) that are either low end prime / high end choice or others (much cheaper) that are low end choice /high end select)… I then dry age for between 40 45 days, then the higher quality meat I generally SV for about 1 hour per inch of thickness… The lower quality meat SV: about 8-10 hrs per inch thickness… I have been very happy with the texture of the meat coming from the SV…
On the other hand, we have a convection oven (it is not possible to turn off the convection feature) so when doing a reverse sear I have never been thrilled with the results…
raider2119
Looking back at this, the one NY strip I did was excellent after the SV. The rib-eye not so much. Perhaps not actually having a Sous Vide cooker and doing this on the stove was just to worky. The other thing is planning ahead. An 8-10 hr SV cook is something I just can’t wrap my head around. If I end up buying one of those cookers I’ll give it another go. The whole concept makes total sense but kinda like teaching an old dog a new trick. That’s why I like this site. All kinds of new tricks and ideas.
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