Sous Vide Steak

First time experimenting with the Anova sous vide and decided I’ll test it out by making a rib eye steak, courtesy of Farmers Kitchen. Naturally farmed and grass fed, the Black Angus Beef comes from the far south eastern corner of Australia.  The meat can be ordered online, and comes chilled (never been frozen before) in a vacuum sealed pack.
So what exactly is Sous vide? Simply put, “Sous vide” is French for “under vacuum” and refers to the process of vacuum-sealing food and cooking it in temperature controlled water bath. However, that’s a bit of a misnomer. You don’t need to vacuum seal your food to cook sous vide. Instead, this technique is really about bringing food to a very precise temperature and holding it there for a period of time, which is why some people refer to the technique as “precision cooking.”
So why should one opt for the “sous vide” method of cooking?
If you are tired of overcooking your fish, chicken or steak then sous vide could be the right solution for you. After all, the most obvious benefit of sous vide cooking is that you can prepare perfectly cooked food every time you step into the kitchen — all with very little effort.
But that’s not the only reason to cook sous vide. The gentle, oxygen-free cooking environment helps to retain your foods’ valuable nutrients. Plus, foods cooked in a vacuum-sealed bag are far more shelf stable than those cooked on the stovetop — this means you can cook countless meals ahead of time without worrying about your dinner spoiling.
Another benefit? When cooking sous vide, proteins like chicken and pork can be served at lower temperatures than when following traditional cooking methods. The increased minimum cook time for the sous vide cooking process essentially pasteurizes the meat, which means that medium-rare pork chops and subtly pink chicken are perfectly safe to eat.
Even better — sous vide cooking is truly a “set it and forget it” method of cooking. Seal your food, place it in your water bath, and walk away. Since the water bath will never get above the desired temperature, the food will never exceed your preferred level of doneness. What does this mean? You can throw dinner parties with ease — that juicy ribeye or pork tenderloin can be made hours ahead of time and finished right before serving, leaving you plenty of time to socialize with your guests.

Sous Vide Steak

INACTIVE TIME: 45 minutes | ACTIVE TIME: 2 minutes | SERVES: 1
INGREDIENTS:

• 300g sirloin steak (feel free to choose the “cut” of your choice)
• salt and pepper to taste (I used some “Salt with Attitude”, thanks to the kind compliments of Farmers Kitchen)

 
METHOD:

1. Place sous vide immersion circulator into a pot of water and adjust temperature to 57°C for steak down medium (assuming steak is roughly 1 inch thick).
2. Drop the steak inside a vacuum sealed bag or zip lock bag.
3. Once water reaches the desired temperature, use the water dispersion method to remove air from the zip lock bag and clip bag onto the side of the pot.  Set timer for 45 minutes.
4. Once 45 minutes is over, heat a cast iron skillet or grill pan on high heat. Remove steak from ziplock bag and sear both sides – roughly 1 minute each side – to get a nice crusty exterior.
5. Remember to gently sear the sides of the steak too (~30 seconds) on the hot pan too.
6. Layer steak on a plate. Allow the steak to rest for 5 minutes before consuming. To serve, sprinkle some salt to taste. Here, I used Salt with Attitude thanks to courtesy of Farmers Kitchen.