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Comment by ogre_codes | Hacker News Reader

Anyone who cooks Sous Vide knows the value of the Maillard reaction. You can cook perfectly rare meat in the water bath, but the taste is mediocre. Hit that steak with a torch, broil it briefly, or drop it on a piping hot cast iron skillet and it turns into magic. We just did some ribs last night for about 90 minutes in the sous vide and 4 minutes each side on the broiler and they were amazing.

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I did sous vide steak for many years, but recently switched back to doing it the old fashioned way: Sear both sides for 30-45 seconds and then throw in the oven for several minutes at max heat (500F for me) until reaching the desired internal temp. It’s so much faster and I find the taste at least as good. Sous vide is still really interesting for certain things, but I don’t see the point for steak anymore.

Have you considered doing reverse sear instead? It results in less "grey" band than the conventional way (what you've described). https://www.seriouseats.com/2017/03/how-to-reverse-sear-best...

If you want the perfect edge to edge doneness of sous vide, but you also want an amazing crust then I have an another approach for you.

You sear both sides for 30-45 seconds and then let the steak rest for about 2 minutes, and then repeat until you reach the internal temp you want. Usually about 3 or 4 times for a reasonably thick steak.

I can highly recommend this method and it's also good for cooking large numbers of steaks because you can do 2 or even 3 batches at the same time with the same cast iron pan.

That's very interesting. Do you tent it as it rests?

No, but I would recommend resting on a rack rather than a plate if you want the get the best possible crust. It doesn't make a super huge difference, but the side sitting on the plate will get wet as juices come out which impedes browning slightly in the next sear until they evaporate off.

Just make sure to save those juices that drip down for your pan sauce if you are making one!

Awesome! Thanks v. much.

I think sous vide shines best when you are cooking tougher cuts which don’t do well with short cook times. With better cuts you have a lot more options for how you can make them shine.

I did a 24 hour sous vide ribs. It was ridiculously good. So I know it works for slow cooking "bbq" when you don't have a smoker.

What recipe did you follow? Also did you cut up the ribs to fit in your sous vide? Like in 2s or 3s?

No, it was just a really big plastic bag, in a big tray. We used those catering trays with the hot water, which are generally useful if you’re ever throwing a party.

The run included mustard as a base with lots of the predictable spices.

We put in a whole rack of 10 or so ribs at a time with a dry rub on them. Then just pull them out and broil for a couple minutes each side.

Anecdotal: I have a similar way.

Put a cast iron skillet (which holds lots of heat) in oven at 500F on the top rack. Once it's hot, add the steak and turn on the broiler.

Flip 1/2 way through. Takes 6-12 mins. You can get a well-seared exterior with lots of crispy, browned fat, and the inside is still pink.

Tastes great! (Very smoky.)

This is almost a reverse sear, which, imho, is the best way to cook a medium+ thickness steak, especially ribeye or filet.

I preheat 250-300 and watch a remote meat thermometer until the steak is 95% to desired temp. Usually takes 30-45 minutes. Then I crank up a skillet with ghee until it just starts smoking (~500F) and sear the hell out of the steaks for only a minute on each side. Perfect crust every time. Let rest for about 10 minutes.

Does it work without the oil? I haven't used any oil for mine--I like the result. But maybe I'd get better results with oil.

Yes, I've had good luck without oil. Without oil, I usually wait to pepper until afterward. Pepper burns quickly and most of it will just stick to the skillet, interfering with the surface contact.

Personally, I like using butter or ghee. Aside from the taste, it increases and distributes the heat transfer more evenly across the surface which provides a more uniform sear. If you do use oil, I'd recommend using ghee or refined olive oil and make sure to "temper" it first (allow it to warm with the skillet).

Sous vide is wasted on ribeyes/filets. It is made for skirt - put the skirt steak for 4 hours at 45C then 24H at 56C - and you have perfectly beefy meat with nothing chewy. And juicy beyond comparison.

>Sous vide is wasted on ribeyes/filets

I do it just because I don't have to worry about doneness later - the inside is already cooked, just sear it and it's done.

I wouldn’t say sous vide is wasted on good cuts, but it definitely shines most with tougher cuts.

If you don't want to spend the time on a sous vide, then at least do the reverse sear.

Have you done your steaks in the broiler? I usually use a torch since I find that in order to get the sear I want, I have to leave them in the broiler too long. I usually cook the steaks to 129 F, but I guess I could drop down to 122 F or something.

For steaks I heat my cast iron up and drop it on the skillet, just a few seconds each side. I use the broiler for odd shaped stuff like ribs.

I know a lot of people use a torch, but personally I like the skillet. Seems less fiddly and generally faster for a steak.

Maybe I’m just paranoid and missing out on some flavor but I don’t cook anything other than fish below 135F to kill any bacteria. https://www.amazingfoodmadeeasy.com/info/sous-vide-safety/mo... (Update) I’ve seen other reliable sources suggest 130F for 2+ hours is safe.

> but I don’t cook anything other than fish below 135 F

That's funny; fish is the one thing I'm ultra paranoid about. Many parasites survive in fish up to 145 F, and parasites are much more common than you might think. The gross out factor convinced me to switch away from wild salmon to farmed. Sushi grade fish is a bit different since it's required to be flash frozen in the U.S., but you're still eating parasite corpses (which doesn't bother some people, but personally makes me a bit squeamish).

Eating parasite corpses objectively isn't worse than any other live matter in a fish.

As a society we live bathed in feces. The fecal-oral route is the most common way in which we get food poisoning. Yet it's only when the feces is pathogen-laden that we actually get food poisoning.

Worrying about dead parasites seems a little pointless when most people don't even wash their hands correctly.

My only hope with this pandemic is that people will wash their hands more than before.

> That's funny; fish is the one thing I'm ultra paranoid about.

For me anyhow, beef at 135 is decent (pork and chicken at 145 is my goto FWIW), but lots of fish tastes rubbery and just bad when cooked above 125 or so. I don't eat a ton of fish so I gamble on that.

Practically all commercial fish is frozen to kill parasites. "Sushi grade" is a marketing term.

Another good reference for sous vide safety is Doug Baldwin: https://www.douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html#Safety

He has a fairly exhaustive explanation of the different food-born microorganisms and how to kill them.

My main gripe with the cast iron is that it generates so much smoke (even with fancier oils like grapeseed) that I get a pretty bad headache. I guess my ventilation is just not up to par. I've been eyeing a portable induction cooktop to use outside, but my boyfriend just wants me to get a grill.

Induction cooktops are MAGIC. Since I am a lazy i used the portable ones, because having not to install them. And discovered i can flip/fold them against the wall when not in use to save space!

Anyways, go get at least one!

How are induction cooktops going to help with smoking oil?

I think it was because the poster was specifically buying one for outdoor use (rather than the fact that it was induction).

To piggyback on this comment, one reason I love using a cast iron skillet for steaks is so I can get a nice fond and deglaze for a sauce to go over the steak/potatoes/whatever. It's like a freebie!

> I think it was because the poster was specifically buying one for outdoor use

Ahh, that could make sense, yes.

> one reason I love using a cast iron skillet for steaks is so I can get a nice fond and deglaze for a sauce

Yup. Pan sauces are free flavor that you get with every pan meal :) Works well with stainless steel skillets too.

Yeah, I think my preference to the cast iron is mostly that the torch seems so fiddly and slower, otherwise it works just fine.

Careful with cook times if going lower than 130F (IIRC). I don't know the right numbers offhand, but you need to watch out at those temperatures. You might be safe under an hour but I'm not sure.

One solution to having to broil them for too long might be to finish your sous vide cook, then chill them in an ice bath, and only broil once cold. That way the lower meat temp protects against the broiler overcooking the inside.

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