I Made Sous Vide Steak…Here Is The Result

We decided to have steak this weekend and I’m always trying to perfect my steak and how I cook it. So this time I decided to give sous vide a try. For those who don’t know what sous vide is it literally means “under vacuum”. So basically you take steak or even fish, vegetables, etc in a sealed bag and slow cooking it in a water bath. Bear in mind I don’t have one of those fancy “Sous Vide” machine so I did some research on how I can cook this way without one. So I took a large pot (think stew pot) and I filled it almost to the very top with water. You want to make sure that the steaks in their pouches don’t overflow the water so be careful. I also had to figure out how to put the bags in the water without them going to the bottom of the pot, because honestly I wasn’t feeling a fishing expedition to retrieve my steaks at the bottom of the abyss. So I figured why not clothespins ! Sure enough it worked ! The other thing you need is a meat thermometer of some kind because the key to sous vide is ensuring a constant temperature the whole time you’re cooking. I don’t know about you but I like my steaks medium rare so my guess on what I read was to keep a constant temperature of 135 degrees the whole hour (yes I said hour, you have to invest time in sous vide cooking). Now you can waiver a few degrees on either side (+/- 2 degrees or so) and you still will be good to go. After about an hour this is where the fun begins. It’s just like cooking a steak any other way, getting a nice crust on it. If you prefer you can accomplish this on the grill or, you can do it on a pan. I prefer pan over grill. So I take out my cast iron skillet and I go to my burner section on the grill outside (trust me the amount of smoke you will make you will want to do the same…). The key is to give the steak a nice crust and to do so means a nice hot pan, a tablespoon of oil, minced garlic or crushed garlic your choice and waiting until the pan is hot (like smoking hot !). Put your steak on the pan for about 1.5-2 mins a side and that's it !  Next time I'm going to try and sous vide my coffee rub steak, maybe some fish and veggies. I think I'm obsessed now ! Enjoy !