OT: - Steak Thread Reopened | Page 2 | The Boneyard

OT: Steak Thread Reopened

Can the meat be frozen after the water bath is done, or does it need to be grilled immediately?

Also: Costco sells meat in vacuum sealed plastic. Can these be used as is?
 
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temery said:
Can the meat be frozen after the water watch is done, or does it need to be grilled immediately?

Also: Costco sells meat in vacuum sealed plastic. Can these be used as is?
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I never tried that but it could work i guess. If meat can fit in the bath you could do that with a sealed package but I prefer to season then put in the bath. Just thought of something too, you know how you buyrare roast beef at the deli for $12 a pound and 3 days later it goes bad? I had a chunk of week old marinated Sous vide then grilled cooked rare london broil in the fridge in foil, sliced it thin made a sandwich and it was perfect. It tasted better and saves a lot of money.
 
Once the meat is done, you can put it in an ice bath to cool down for an hour or so and then put it in the fridge.
Supposedly, you can freeze it up to a year before using (link). Never done that though, always finished the food within 3-4 days after cooking.
 
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cordarone said:
Once the meat is done, you can put it in an ice bath to cool down for an hour or so and then put it in the fridge for 2-3 days before using. I don't think it'll do well with freezing.
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That is exactly how many restaurants do it for certain cuts of meat, short ribs for instance. They will sous vide them for 36,48,72 hours whatever the chef wants at the tempature they want. They then cool them down and refrigerate them. You come and order them, they pull them out of the reefer, pop them back in the sous vide at the original tempature and in a few minutes their done and waiting to be finished. You the guest gets to enjoy a meal that actually took them days to prepare.
 
FriarJ said:
That is exactly how many restaurants do it for certain cuts of meat, short ribs for instance. They will sous vide them for 36,48,72 hours whatever the chef wants at the tempature they want. They then cool them down and refrigerate them. You come and order them, they pull them out of the reefer, pop them back in the sous vide at the original tempature and in a few minutes their done and waiting to be finished. You the guest gets to enjoy a meal that actually took them days to prepare.
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Yup, my son worked in a restaurant in NY city and this was what they did. They also charged big bucks and the restaurant advertised sous vide technique. I think with people using smokers and sous vide unless you are willing to spend a ton of money a lot of restaurant food is way inferior to what you can do yourself.
 
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temery said:
Also: Costco sells meat in vacuum sealed plastic. Can these be used as is?
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Pre-sealed stuff is tricky. Some stuff is heat-sealed and others are glued. Glue (usually like easy-peel packaging) is susceptible to leaking at higher sous vide temps or durations. It's often safer to just re-bag and then you can season as well, but I've had success straight sous vide-ing some stuff like packaged pork tenderloin from Trader joe's. Not sure personally about the costco stuff.
 
This may explain why the guy at Costco had no idea what I was looking for.


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jibsey said:
I think a freezer bag is sturdier, but double the zip lock bags and that would work. A great steak like a ribeye I did for an hour or 2. Less tender cuts you go longer 6-8 hours but I never went as far as 24 hours.....yet.
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Freezer bag = vacuum sealed?
 
temery said:
Freezer bag = vacuum sealed?
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You do not have to seal the bag, in fact as you lower the steak in the freezer bag in the water the air in the bag goes out. You need a couple extra inches of bag so you can clip it to the top of the pot or container, no water gets in. The steak in the bag is completely submerged in the water except the top. I didn't get it until I did it the first time. The steak can also b e completely sealed in the bag but I don't want the opening of the bag to be in the water sealed or not.
 
temery said:
Freezer bag = vacuum sealed?
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jibsey said:
You do not have to seal the bag, in fact as you lower the steak in the freezer bag in the water the air in the bag goes out. You need a couple extra inches of bag so you can clip it to the top of the pot or container, no water gets in. The steak in the bag is completely submerged in the water except the top. I didn't get it until I did it the first time. The steak can also b e completely sealed in the bag but I don't want the opening of the bag to be in the water sealed or not.
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@temery, you can do some sous vide cooks in regular zip lock bags that are "sealed" via water displacement. Other cooks, such as for longer time periods, stuff you want to be extra careful with, need to submerge completely, or things you plan on saving for prolonged periods, should be properly vacuum sealed.

I have both a vacuum sealer and also use ziploc bags, because the vacuum bags are more expensive. I do, however, usually zip the ziplocs after removing the air, to keep stuff from floating or accidentally getting water in there (especially for lighter items like sausage).
 
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I had never heard of sous vide but I'm now designing a restaurant in Farmington where sous vide is a major component of the kitchen...assuming they finally get their financing. Upper left corner #52 units.
5cornersSD3rev1.jpg
 
Bezzz said:
I had never heard of sous vide but I'm now designing a restaurant in Farmington where sous vide is a major component of the kitchen...assuming they finally get their financing. Upper left corner #52 units.
View attachment 24754
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You put the beer cooler right next to the bathrooms. Nice touch.
 
On the topic of steak: J. Gilbert's. I am not prone to using profanity, but last time I was there I couldn't help but say duck when I took my first bite. Their steaks are that good. I think 3 of the 4 best steaks I have ever had have come from there.
 
Huskybass said:
On the topic of steak: J. Gilbert's. I am not prone to using profanity, but last time I was there I couldn't help but say duck when I took my first bite. Their steaks are that good. I think 3 of the 4 best steaks I have ever had have come from there.
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I have never had a bad steak or bad meal there. It may not be the super high end foo foo steak place, but it's consistently delicious.
 
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It's my experience that sous vide does not cure a lousy steak or cut which is the number one factor. A great high quality steak can be cooked any way and be delicious as long as it's not overcooked. Because tenderness and juiciness can be maintained but if the flavor or marbling is not there nothing else matters. Just got some prime ribeye from Costco and it was very good but not better than their regular ribeye (which is great) in this one case. Once had a Whole Foods ribeye that blew the doors off but I don't want to pay those prices all the time.
 
jibsey said:
It's my experience that sous vide does not cure a lousy steak or cut which is the number one factor. A great high quality steak can be cooked any way and be delicious as long as it's not overcooked. Because tenderness and juiciness can be maintained but if the flavor or marbling is not there nothing else matters. Just got some prime ribeye from Costco and it was very good but not better than their regular ribeye (which is great) in this one case. Once had a Whole Foods ribeye that blew the doors off but I don't want to pay those prices all the time.
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It can help turn cheap or tough cuts delicious like chuck roast, though. But those cuts won't necessarily be steak-like.

In general though, you are right. Crappy grades, poorly marbled, etc. will often always be crap.
 
Huskybass said:
On the topic of steak: J. Gilbert's. I am not prone to using profanity, but last time I was there I couldn't help but say when I took my first bite. Their steaks are that good. I think 3 of the 4 best steaks I have ever had have come from there.
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J. Gilberts serves certified angus prime which is a very high level. I always ask when ordering steak in a restaurant if it is choice or prime because very few places serve prime, even sometimes big name places that you'd think would. Never assume even if it is priced high.
 
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FriarJ said:
You want to try something really amazing? Short ribs for 72 hours at 129 degrees.
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I know its basketball season and steak talk is over, but thanks to this thread I decided to try Sous vide cooking! I have a short rib that I'm going to put in tonight i think. Found this site https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/beef-short-ribs-your-way and am considering the 129 for 72 hours. Is it really that good? If I wait 72 hours it must be amazing. And is it safe? Do i have to worry about bacteria or other bad things in the meat that arent killed off at that low temp?
 
UconnFanNVa said:
I know its basketball season and steak talk is over, but thanks to this thread I decided to try Sous vide cooking! I have a short rib that I'm going to put in tonight i think. Found this site https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/beef-short-ribs-your-way and am considering the 129 for 72 hours. Is it really that good? If I wait 72 hours it must be amazing. And is it safe? Do i have to worry about bacteria or other bad things in the meat that arent killed off at that low temp?
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There are a lot of worse ways to die!
 
UconnFanNVa said:
I know its basketball season and steak talk is over, but thanks to this thread I decided to try Sous vide cooking! I have a short rib that I'm going to put in tonight i think. Found this site https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/beef-short-ribs-your-way and am considering the 129 for 72 hours. Is it really that good? If I wait 72 hours it must be amazing. And is it safe? Do i have to worry about bacteria or other bad things in the meat that arent killed off at that low temp?
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129 is the lowest you should possibly go for just about anything, and I'd maybe go a degree or two higher for safe than sorry reasons. Also, over that long period of time I'd consider other actions to eliminate some non-lethal but potentially flavor-spoiling critters that pop up during long cooks.

Definitely:
-Make sure the whole bag is vacuum sealed or entirely submerged so there's no air pockets out of the water for stuff to grow in.
-Try to have a lid, plastic wrap, or ping pong balls to prevent too much evaporation. You may need to add water during the cook otherwise.

One of these:
-Submerge the meat out of bag in boiling water for like a minute to kill surface stuff.
-Pre-sear the meat instead of doing the sear/grill after.
-Start the water at a higher temp (180), add bag and fully submerge, and then immediately set it to target temp and allow it to come down. Achieves a similar effect to the boiling water.

As an aside, I've had great results with 36-48 hours instead of 72 at around 136 for short ribs.
 
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Thanks auror! I think I'm going for 48 hours this time. I have a lid so evaporation shouldn't be an issue.

Definetely opens up the cooking world for me. I'm looking forward to experimenting and enjoying the outcomes.
 
temery said:
Cholesterol isn't too bad. Chronic Kidney Disease diet.
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Those high protein diets will kill your kidneys, you can live with high cholesterol and high carbs (pizza, pasta, lasagna, garlic bread...all my favorites...Lol), but you can't live without your kidneys. So if you have kidney disease, high protein foods can be poison. I can afford my high carb diet, still run 20 miles a week, and have been doing that for 30 years, my running also makes me drink a ton of water which helps flush out the kidneys. My opinion is, people who try and micro manage their diet from a chemistry perspective end up killing themselves sooner or later, while those who tend to commit all the Cardinal sins of diet but shield themselves through an intense exercise regimen tend to enjoy the golden years a little better. That is if you are lucky in the knee and back Dept.
 
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