I did a rib steak for 2.5 hours at 135f and it was way overcooked. Was only able to get a pic of the finished product after it was mostly eaten haha.
I was still tender and really tasty but overcooked.
I used olive oil, Montreal steak spice, garlic and rosemary.
What can I improve to make it medium rare?
Not looking to chance the taste, just how cooked it was.
135f at an 1 hour 45 minutes or something else?
Would appreciate the feedback! Thanks
by SkepticalHikerr
27 Comments
Lower the temperature.
I would get a food thermometer to check if the water bath was really 135f.
I never cook above 130° regardless of how I want it rare. Med, etc. The second you sear the meat, the temperature increases. 135 is the at the top of medium rare. 136 to 145 is medium. Go between 125 to 130° to get med rare. For Rare shoot for 120 to 125° then sear. The legenth of time cooked is not as important as the temperature.
That said, it still looks very tasty. Sear for 60 to 90 seconds per side in a hot skillet or grill (500° +) .
Try 127° water bath 1½ hour. Let cool a couple min if your gonna sear it, that will bring finishing temp to medium rare.
I prefer rare, so I do 123° then let cool with lil sear to keep it in the 20s.
You’re going to get carryover heat from the sear. If you want to do 135, do an ice bath or full cool down the steak before the searing process
The responses here are all on point for cooking at a lower temp, but nobody has mentioned that you don’t want ti use garlic at that low of a temp. 135 is not hot enough to actually cook the garlic so it’s going to be bitter. The risk of botulism is there but fairly low since it can’t produce spores much past about 125 degrees, but there is still some risk. Usually want to save the garlic to use when basting if you’re cooking in cast iron or something similar.
One thing I will say about sous vide, even if you over cook it….it’s still relatively juicy and not dry. The learning curve is very forgiving. At least for me it has been
I put my sousevide to 128
I had this same issue. So I started doing shorter cook times and everything works perfectly now. I do 45-55 min 137 and get beautiful medium rare. I got downvoted last time I gave this advice, but it’s what worked for me.
https://preview.redd.it/dgn9f1p0ge8d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5fd2d50ef140f7e1f78b5e1f332e1518d7567fad
Did you icebath it afterwards?
A rib steak at 2.5 hours is too long. Unless it is a poor quality and needs more time to break down.
I don’t bother with sous vide on a ribeye.
Strip steaks are great in the water bath to break them down.
You do want it hot enough to render the fat.
Med rare is the best for that.
Let them cool for a bit then sear with a torch ( grill blazer/ searzall) for best results.
Too many people have been trolled by the 137 crowd.
That’s ok. Just bring it to my house and I’ll suffer through it. I’ve recently heard some chefs prefer medium/medium well vs rare/mod rare. I think Bobby flay said that. Something about the fat not getting a chance to render.
I overcooked my strips today too. Cooked them at 129.6 for two hours, ice bath for 7ish minutes, but I think I left them on the grill too long. I was trying to bring them up to 130. Instead of just searing them. Came out medium. 🤷🏻♂️
Probalby too much sear overcooking. You may want to check your circulator accuracy with a thermometer.
120
Your picture is all blown out. All the pictures in this sub, cooked at similar temps and with similar blown out color profiles all look the same.
Then, look at the 137s that look like you want them to look. Note how over saturated those colors are, especially greens on the side.
You can’t judge by the pictures.
135 is at the upper end of med-rare and you can’t go back.
BTW adding fat (butter in your case) doesn’t enhance the flavor of sous vide. It actually does the opposite and draws out flavor. Skip it next time.
try 130-132, depends on how thick the steak is and how much time it spends on the grill to sear. You can do 130 and always cook it more if you need to.
How thick was it?
Dang OP. Did you cool them after the bath?
In my opinion, the temp is too high. 130° for 2 hrs then the sear.
You need higher heat, and an ice bath before searing. Also make sure you pat the steak down a lot before searing.
135? I do 119 for steaks. It’ll leave it a bit undercooked. When you sear it’ll be perfect.
You don’t need to do an ice bath or let it cool. Just pat it dry and do a 500°f sear each side for 30 or sec
I truly don’t understand why anyone cooks steak sous vide.
You didn’t specify how long your sear was.