First time beef. I wanted to start minimal and cheap. However, the result wasn’t good, even for cheap meat. I’m thinking, higher temps (130 ->135 F, longer cook time (1 -> 2 hours) or an acidic marinade. What do you think?
Detailed process:
I don’t know what the cuts are, just “supermarket beef”, and they are small at 100 grams / 3.5oz each.
Without any seasoning, they spent an hour in the sous vide at 130F/54C. Displacement method, mostly vacuum, but it did have one air bubble on one of the pieces that I couldn’t get out.
After that was done, I dried, salted and aircooled them for 20 mins. Then seared in a buttered cast iron pan that was kept at Maillard temps (between 350F/177C, and 392F/200C) (thanks u/tetlee), until the core thermometer hit 130F/54C.
The thermometer was not in the middle of the meat but closer to the pan (heightwise), to make sure that the whole thing wasn’t overcooked.
The meat was not great, as was expected, but it was chewy in the middle, which I didn’t expect.
I think I controlled the pan temps well, so it’s the sousvide process I’m looking to improve.
Apart from having a more forgiving cut, I’m thinking the temperature should be higher or the sous vide time longer. Or both? Or acid marinade beforehand?
Note that the thermometers in the pictures are in Celsius.
by JohnnieDarko
10 Comments
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I’m not sure I would go higher on the temp with that steak, at least not very much. I probably would go closer to two hours with the same cuts though.
However, you’ve changed every variable in the equation at the same time. New technique on a new and unknown cut. You were set up for failure. Get a cut you know you like, look at some posts here with recipes for that cut that end up looking like what you want to accomplish (or just ask here in this post) and try again.
What cut of meat is this? If it’s a piece that has a lot of connective tissue, 2 hours won’t be near enough to break them down.
Step one: Never buy anything that’s labeled “supermarket beef”.
Time affects tenderness temperature affects doneness. When I pull chuck 137* chuck roast before 40 hrs my results are chewy.
I’m not sure what cut that is but I go 2 – 3hrs @ 137* with ribeye. If you plan on using that cut again try doubling the cook time.
I think you may not have cut it across the grain. That makes way more of a difference than you might think.
All beef is not the same. if you don’t know what part of the animal it came from, we will not be able to tell you how long to cook it in order to make it tender, without it turning to mush.
Beef cheeks are a long cook. I do mine in the pressure cooker.
That looks like Albert Heijn biefstuk (to clarify: beefsteak from a large supermarket chain). I have never been able to get that perfect with any technique at all, even SV. It’s not a bad cut of meat, it’s just wayyyyy too lean for any preparation that takes longer than a couple of minutes.
Spend a little bit more and try their ribeye or entrecote. What also works well is chicken legs, pork tenderloin (varkenshaas) and most of their excellence range (the cote de boeuf was really good, even!).
If you really want to give this cut another go, the best I’ve achieved with it is 30 minutes at 42C, then dry with a paper towel, pepper+salt, and then do max 1min/side in a very hot pan. Do not let the core temp get above 48 degrees (my aim is usually 45), or else it’ll be about as tender as a leather shoe sole.
You could even skip the SV part and just go a little longer in the pan, but then you risk a cold center or a chewy pice of meat with a warm inner. The SV part just makes sure you’re not eating a cold steak.
I use this to make Portuguese prego sandwiches: SV the steak as above, heat a pan to very hot, add olive oil, 2-3 bay leaves, 2-3 cloves of garlic, peeled and gently flattened a little. Fry one minute, then add the meat 1 min/side to get a very brown crust. Rest the meat for a bit, then cut in slices of ~3mm. Add to white pistolet/schnitt or Kaiserbrötchen and add a bit of yellow mustard.
You gotta know what kind of beef you’re cooking, the methods for different cuts are wildly different.