Porterhouse Steak, dry brined with salt in the fridge overnight.
137f for 3 hours. Removed from bag, patted dry and put in the fridge for 15 minutes while my cast iron pan preheats. Patted dry again when taken out, surface temperature measured at about 73f.
Cast iron preheated on Med-High for 15 minutes, then whacked up to High when I put my oil in (vegetable oil).
Meat added once oil is in a rolling smoke. Each side seared for 45 seconds while pressing down with a meat press.
The crust is okay, could be better, but as you can see it's already got a big grey band so I couldn't have developed it any further.
Not sure what my issue is. Is the pan too hot, cooking more than it needs to for the maillard reaction? Is the pan too cold, and not developing enough crust quickly enough? Is it my oil? Needs to cool more in the fridge? Not sure which direction I'm supposed to adjust.
by Barmy90
38 Comments
With sous vide you want to get the pan as hot as possible, and sear as quickly as possible. I usually do about 30-40 seconds a side for my sear. Also use a high smoke point oil to reduce smoke.
ETA: Lmao I was half asleep when I read this and thought you were searing it for 15 minutes 😂
Sear time and temp seems good. I sear mine for even longer, 60-90 seconds, and the grey band is much smaller.
I think you didn’t cool it enough. Cooling for 15 minutes with just air is not enough – I bet it was still warm inside.
You can cool the bag in cold water for a couple of minutes, take the meat out of the bag, pat it dry, and let it rest at room temperature for about 20-30 minutes.
Sear it as hot as you can and for a shorter time. Use avocado oil for a higher smoking point.
You’re not gonna be able to get a much better sear starting at 137… But I usually leave my steaks on a cooling rack so it gets airflow for ten minutes before searing.
Searing should be no more than a minute after sv or it will be over cooked.
Use a super hot pan and a high smoke point oil and turn your range hood on full blast.
You could also try spreading a super thin layer of mayo on the outsides of the steak before searing. The egg protein gives you a really nice crust and the even coverage gives everything better contact with the pan.
Have you have you tried using a searing torch? I Use both methods, use avocado oil in the cast iron. Try just seasoning the steak before the bath, once out of the bath pat dry, re-season and hard sear
I’d do an ice bath while still in the bag. Gets it way more cooled down. I have much less grey ring now.
You need an ice bath. The fridge won’t cool it enough in 15 minutes.
I feel a lot of people are skipping over the fact that you shouldn’t have any grey band with what you are doing.
I’ve seared thinner steaks for longer (60 seconds is my goto) and have never got a grey band like that.
How hard are you pressing with your meat press? I have a weight that I place on top, but again, no greying like that.
Have you checked your sous vide is heating to correct temp? This one is unlikely but worth just checking.
I’ve never ice bathed or cooled steak, always seared straight from the bag (pat dry)
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It’s the meat press… can’t believe hardly anyone is commenting on it here… using the meat press is forcing more heat, deeper into the steak, you want to sear without a meat press.
Meat press = deeper penetration of heat into your protein.
Charcoal chimney starter!
I never got really good results until I started searing them outside on a serious gas burner. Like 100k btu. Carbon steel pan. Forget the cast iron. It’s overrated IMO. It should generate a ton of smoke that you don’t want in the house. Oil should flash and there should be momentary flames. If the flames persist add more oil to cool it down a bit. It’s a bit or trial and error till you nail it just right.
I barely have to sear post sousvide to get an amazing crust I don’t know what people here are doing wrong sometimes. Are you not drying the outside with paper towels? The surface has to be BONE dry. Cover it with paper towels and soak every drop of moisture then honestly the pan doesn’t even have to be THAT hot it will fairly quickly sear the outside. I’d bring the temp down first by throwing it in the freezer for a few mins before removing from the bag. Also I do a good 1-2 hr dry brine before bagging which I think helps too.
Despite what everyone says you don’t need a ripping hot pan. Flip often and the heat won’t get deep enough to affect the inside. Often being 10-15 seconds. I keep the pan right around medium heat. And I say no to meat presses if they’re too heavy. Just enough pressure to give it an even sear and sounds like you’re using too much and use an unhealthy amount of oil. Enough to cover the bottom. Don’t worry it won’t increase your calories by more than 100. Just make sure you don’t pour it on your plate.
No press. Quicker sear. Get a blow torch for after
Ripping hot pan and a weight
Ice bath, pat dry and sear outside on a ripping hot grill with flat side of GrillGrates – with no meat press
Ditch the meat press. Use tongs or a spatula to make sure all surfaces get good contact with the pan, but you don’t need to press down very hard to get a good sear.
What works for me is to cool the steak down a few minutes in the vacuumbag under cold running water, unpack it, pat it really dry with kitchen paper, and let it rest at the counter for 15 minutes. Than I use a cast iron which I get blazing hot, and can’t notice a difference between the avocado oil I used to use and the pork lard I use now. Both create an excellent sear. I do use a meat press also.
I’m going to tell you what I do with great results and it’s the opposite of what a lot of people say here. You are going too hot. Ripping hot, smoking oil, is not the best way to sear.
You want your steak cooled, so an ice bath would be fine but, honestly, I get good results just letting it sit out 10-15 mins myself.
Dry the outside with paper towel, so you don’t get a lot of oil jumping out at you when you put the steak on.
Heat the oil in your pan to 350-400. Make sure there’s enough oil to fully coat the bottom of the pan. I like avocado oil or beef tallow.
Sear the steak for about 30s a side. If the steak is uneven or bendy, feel free to use your meat press to lay on top of it. You don’t need to smash it, you just want it to hold it down. I often just use tongs.
Flip after 30s. Have a timer out. It goes fast. Repeat until you’ve done each side 2x. That’s my sweet spot but use your judgement.
You can consider slicing your steak (in half or pieces) immediately if you’re concerned about carry over cooking.
do an ice bath with steak still in the bag for like 4-5 minutes instead of the fridge. probably are not stopping the cook in fridge
Do you preheat the meat press with the pan? Then you don’t have to flip it.
Well… what level of doneness were you going for?
*IF* you were going for medium rare, you overshot it by putting it in at 137. Nothing you were going to do after that would prevent it from not getting like that. When I go for medium rare, I set it at 128 and go for 3 to 4 hours (during the afternoon while I’m upstairs working).
Also… when it comes to searing, no need to use a press on it. Additionally, you are only giving your sear about half the time it needs on each side. I go for a minimum of 90 seconds on each side (and then judge from there if the side needs a few more seconds). I also baste it with the oil after the flip.
1. Try a 5-minute ice bath while still in bag instead of the fridge. It’s incredibly easy, just put some ice cubes in a mixing bowl, put the bag in, cover with cold water. Barely an extra dish since mixing bowl can just be rinsed out and put on drying rack.
2. After drying with paper towels, rub the oil directly onto the steak instead of the pan. This produces a much better crust for the uneven steak so that you….
3. don’t use a meat press. You don’t have to force contact with the pan so much if the oil is on the steak rather than *forcing* the meat to touch the hot oil on the pan, which has a tendency to pool together anyway. This method will also allow you to…
4. stop with the “ripping hot smoking oil sear! IMO it’s the worst oft-repeated advice on this subreddit. Why would you intentionally, unnecessarily add the taste of burnt oil to your delicious steak instead of just the perfection that is the Maillard reaction?
[https://youtu.be/IZY8xbdHfWk?t=89](https://youtu.be/IZY8xbdHfWk?t=89)
Dry it off and develop a bit of a pellicle before the sear.
Skip the oil and do a mayo sear!
I just nailed piping hot cast iron sear with avocado oil. 30 sec per side.
https://preview.redd.it/ia2qeey076ge1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c2bcbcef7aea5b94485e78dd4e45f969ff269622
I remove from bag before going in freezer. Helps dry the meat.
Here’s the method I usually do;
Sous vide
Put in fridge overnight
Place in 250F oven until probes at about 100F
Then I sear it until it’s 5degrees below my target cook temp.
Get your pan hot. Dry, hot cast iron. I mean get ready for smoke detectors hot. Pat meat dry, oil meat, then place in hot pan. 30-40 seconds, flip, another 30-40 seconds. Get yelled at by wife for alarms and smoke. Enjoy perfect crust while still having edge to edge pink.
Hard to say without watching you do it. My guess is it’s either not as dry as it needs to be and/or you’re not using enough oil at the right temperature. Mixing your oil with some clarified butter will help you get better color, also. 137F is also on the higher end. Not exactly helpful for improving sous vide but if you want control and a better product just reverse sear it. It’s difficult to get a great crust with all that moisture soaking the exterior. Try doing an ice bath or longer fridge rest if you want to stick with sous vide.
128f instead, hotter pan, no meat press, might not be using enough oil either imo
First double check your SV is really 137. I would even cut a small piece off your next steak to check the interior before searing.
No matter what you did meat press, hot pan, etc 45 seconds per side would not result in that gray band.
Maybe a hotter grill??? Sizzling hot one
137…
Meat press is bad full stop.. Cook it properly
I use a meat press and a lodge rippin hot and never have grey bands. I’m not sure what happened tbh.
As dry as possible, as hot as possible.