Have you ever seen such a thoroughly cooked piece of meat before? The same consistent rosé color throughout the thickness. You just see how this tastes. If we tell you that this is not the work of a seasoned chef and that you can easily achieve the same result at home, you probably won't believe us. But it is true ....

There is only one way to prepare a nice thick, tender, and juicy steak while maintaining the perfect temperature throughout the whole piece of meat. Only one way to ensure your steak is undercooked and to prevent it from undercooking. Only one way to take the guesswork out of meat preparation: sous-vide.

Never heard of sous vide cooking? Then first read our article "What is sous-vide?".

Sous vide: The Secret of Chefs and Top Restaurants

If you've ever eaten a heavenly steak at a fancy restaurant, chances are it was prepared using sous-vide. The process of cooking (or rather heating) meat packed in vacuum bags in an exactly temperature-controlled water bath is not new. Sous-vide was perfected in the 1970s by the French chef Georges Pralus. It has since been used by many high-end restaurants and has only recently become very popular (and affordable) among home cooks.

No more stress in the kitchen with sous vide

The best thing about sous-vide is that it completely takes the stress out of having to time the preparation of food perfectly. Because your steak is prepared in a water bath that is kept at exactly the right temperature, there is no risk of it being overcooked. Are your guests late? Is a side dish not quite ready yet? Do not panic. Your steak (s) can easily remain in the sous-vide water bath for a while longer until you are ready. The cooking only depends on the temperature, and a minimal time span to ensure that the whole piece of meat has reached the right temperature.

Perfectly cooked meat, through and through, time after time

We like our steak best when it is "medium rare". The exact temperature at which steak reaches this is 54.4 º C. Below you can clearly see the difference between a steak prepared with sous-vide and a steak prepared in a traditional way in a pan. As you can see, the traditionally cooked steak (left) has a transition from overcooked (brown) from the crust to just right in the middle, however, the sous vide cooked steak (right) is perfectly medium rare over the full thickness. The taste is also fuller and more complex because all flavors and nutrients have been preserved in the vacuum bags and have not evaporated. And this result is easily repeatable, time after time! Chefs sometimes say: you are only as good as your last result.

Success is guaranteed with sous vide!

We hope that this also makes you enthusiastic to try sous-vide. In our webshop, we offer a wide range of high-quality sous-vide water bath ovens and circulation regulators (circulators) for professional use and home use.

What do you need for sous vide?

What do you need to get started with sous-vide:

1. a sous-vide stick * and a water reservoir. You can also use a pan or even a bucket, but we recommend a polycarbonate sous-vide water bowl.
2. or a sous-vide water oven *.
3. a vacuum machine and vacuum bags or vacuum foil. Although this is not strictly necessary, we definitely recommend using a solid vacuum machine for a much better, more consistent sous-vide result. You already have a vacuum machine for less than 60 euros and it is worth the money.

* In this article we explain the difference between a sous-vide stick and a water oven.

Would you like to start with sous-vide at an affordable price? Buy a sous-vide discount bundle!

Our Ziva Savant-sous-vide discount bundle is by far the most advantageous sous-vide starter set; composed with care by our team of sous-vide experts. Knowledge makes the difference!  

Temperatures based on cooking

Steak has specific temperatures at which it reaches a certain cooking. But one steak is not the other, so it may take some experimentation to find the right temperature and cooking for your favorite butcher's cut. But once you have found it, a perfect result is easily repeatable with sous-vide.

Cooking time based on thickness

The thickness of the meat is very important. The time it takes for the meat to reach the right temperature to the core increases exponentially with the thickness. The optimal thickness for a steak is about 2.5cm. Avoid that the steak is much thicker, otherwise the sous-vide cooking takes too long.

• 0.6 cm = 23 minutes
• 1.2 cm = 30 minutes
• 2.5 cm = 60 minutes (1 hour)
• 3.7 cm = 106 minutes (1 hour and 46 minutes)
• 5.0 cm = 242 minutes (4 hours and 2 minutes)
• 7.5 cm = 374 minutes (6 hours and 14 minutes)

Not too long in the sous vide!

Leave steak with a normal thickness (approx. 2.5 cm) in a warm sous-vide water bath for up to 4 hours. Although the steak will not continue to cook and remains nice and tender, the tenderness will eventually turn into a more mushy texture. This is also a reason not to use too thick pieces of meat. It is better to cut very thick pieces of meat into thinner slices before cooking them sous-vide.

Recipe and preparation of a perfect steak

Requirements

• Steak (preferably 2.5cm thick)
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Other herbs and spices to taste
• Sous vide equipment and pan or reservoir
• Possibly vacuum machine, but it is also possible without a vacuum machine

Preparation

1. Set the sous-vide machine to the correct temperature based on the desired cooking (see above our sous-vide cooking times and temperatures table).
2. Switch on the sous-vide stick or water oven and continue preparing the steak while the sous-vide water bath is heating up to the set temperature.
3. Place the steak in a good quality vacuum bag, possibly with herbs and spices to taste.
   Tip: all vacuum bags in our webshop are free of BPA, odorless, and tasteless.
4. Vacuum the bag and seal it. This can be done in two ways:
   • Optimal: using a vacuum machine. This method removes most of the air from the bag and guarantees the best sous-vide result.
   • Economical: use a vacuum bag with ziplock closure for this. Hold the vacuum bag with the opening up and gently lower it into the water along one edge of the reservoir or pan. The pressure of the water will push the air out of the bag. When the bag is almost completely submerged, close the ziploc closure. Note: do this before the water is too hot!
5. Place the vacuum bags with your steak (s) in the water bath.
6. Set the sous-vide device to the correct (minimum) duration (see above or our table).
7. Wait until the minimum time has passed and remove the steaks from the vacuum bags.
8. Pat them with a clean cloth and season with salt and pepper.
9. Brown them briefly in a frying pan, grill pan, on the barbeque, or with a chef's burner.
10. Serve and enjoy!

We wish you a lot of tasteful pleasure with your sous-vide journey of discovery!

Sincerely,

the Sousvidekenner.nl team