Decided to splurge on some Ribeye steaks to see what all the fuss is about. 137 for 2.5hr from frozen. Seasoned with salt and pepper in the bag. Pat-dried, cooled in fridge, seared in a cast iron. Looks good but taste is AWFUL… I feel like I just made very expensive dog food lol any advice is appreciated. I can’t even describe the flavor, like it tastes more like a dirty sock than a steak
by rryred
14 Comments
Is it possible that the steak was spoiled?
Could be as simple as the meat was spoiled before being frozen. I have had similar experiences before buying from a new company. But you’d be better to let it defrost first, then S&P, then vac pac and sous vide.
I dunno man it looks great. Maybe too much seasoning, or not enough? Try seasoning with a bit of garlic powder too. Then top your steak with some garlic butter after seasoning.
Temp your water. Any chance your sous vide is off and you’ve just been incubating bacteria at 120 or something?
Also your sear doesn’t look great. Did you heat your cast iron until smoking? Did you use enough oil?
… did you use olive oil?
I’d say it depends on your seasoning? I’ve read on here that some people don’t even like to put pepper on the raw steaks because it imparts so much flavor. Im pretty big on seasoning so I’m not one to make such claims.
Based on what I see I’d say maybe try a thicker cut steak? Beef is so expensive where I live that honestly a nice size ribeye costs about $7 less than two center cut fillets. Which my wife prefers anyway and they are usually thicker, so my end result is usually better. That being said, I’m not what I’d consider to be a pro with Ribeyes. I still prefer reverse seared ribeyes to what I make I the Sous Vide.
Lastly, I’m sorry your splurge didn’t turn out great. I know that can be disheartening. Try cooking other meats! I love pork chops and they are dirt cheap to boot!
Sounds like your steak was off when you cooked it. I can’t think of any other reason for it to taste that bad
Not sure, I’ve been doing my steaks at 128 F forever but recently decided to try the 137 band wagon on a ribeye. It was fantastic. But I did a tri tip roast at 137 and thought it was just ok. It probably didn’t have enough fat to render though.
I don’t know but that cutting board isn’t doing your knife any favors
It looks like your temp was too low. Might have been improperly aged. Don’t cool it in the fridge as long.
Did you find it tasted irony / metallic? I’ve had the same issue with Chuck and organ cuts but used a brine that removed the taste.
137 F = 58.3 C. This is way too high for tender cuts and should lead to well-done ribeye a.k.a. gray steak. however your meat still looks rare. That doesn’t add up. Have you checked water temp with an external thermometer?
Nothing wrong with your process (though cooling in fridge is unnecessary IMHO). You got a bad piece of meat. Just did a ribeye today, 137 straight to the griddle for the sear, sublime.
This happened to us once before, and it actually WASN’T spoiled meat.
We think it had something to do with the type of bag we used to Sous Vide. It was so long ago now and hasn’t happened since, but I think we did get new bags and it fixed the problem.
I don’t remember the brand.
Usually it happens with longer cooks but I’ve heard of lactobacillus bacteria causing this. It’s not unsafe to eat but yes the smell and taste can be off putting. Some people recommend blanching ie putting your bag in a boiling water bath for 30 seconds or so to kill surface bacteria before starting the sous vide process.