Best way to Sous vide two steaks to different temperatures
What's the best way to prepare two steaks via sous vide if you want to cook a medium rare and a medium steak? Is it best to cook the medium steak first at its temperature, then lower the temperature, leave the medium steak in and cook the medium rare steak?
Best Answer
Pretty simple, cook the two steaks separately at the required temperatures the day before. Cool in an ice bath and reserve in the fridge. The next day rethermalise the steaks in the bath at say 55C: you really only need to heat them for around 25-30 minutes, as all you want to do is take the chill out of the steaks before you sear them on as a high a heat as possible. Do not season your steaks before they go in the bag because the meat will cure slightly overnight in the fridge.
There's some good info on Cooking Issue around the cook/chill method, especially the pre-salting question:
http://www.cookingissues.com/2011/10/12/to-salt-or-not-to-salt-thats-the-searing-question/
There are two main types of low-temperature cooking – direct-serve and cook-chill. For direct-serve you cook foods and serve them right away. For cook-chill, foods are cooked, chilled, stored, and rethermalized at service time. Here is a typical sequence for cooking a steak:
Sear the raw rib-eye. This step kills bacteria on the surface, starts the browning reactions that contribute to good meat flavors, and ensures that a nice crust will be formed quickly later when the meat is seared again.
Put meat in a bag with butter.
Cook the steak for 1-4 hours at 55 C. The optimum length of time depends on how tough the particular steak is.
Now, either:
- Pull the steak out of the bag, sear it (to make a nice crust) and serve it. This is Direct Serve.
Or:
Chill the meat and store.
Retherm it at 52 C.
- Pull the steak out of the bag, sear it and serve it. This is Cook-Chill.
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Quick Answer about "Best way to Sous vide two steaks to different temperatures"
The easiest method to sous vide two steaks to different temperatures, and the one I use the most, is to simply sear the more well done steaks longer. You would heat the sous vide water bath up to 131°F (55°C) and put both steaks into it.Can you sous vide two steaks at once?
Yes, you can sous vide multiple steaks. In fact, the number of steaks you can sous vide simultaneously is only limited by the size of your sous vide water bath. What is this? Every steak needs to have plenty of room for the water to circulate freely on all sides, for the most accurate and even cooking.How do you cook steaks at different temperatures?
Steak Doneness GuideCan you sous vide multiple things at once?
How It's Done. Simply put multiple pieces of meat into your vacuum pouches, and fill up your sous vide water bath or container as much as you want, as long as you leave plenty of room for the water to circulate.How long does it take to sous vide two steaks?
A traditionally-cooked steak goes from fridge to plate in 15 to 20 minutes (a bit longer if you have to preheat your oven). A sous-vide steak will take an hour or more, though with sous-vide cooking, this time is almost 100% hands-off. You will not achieve the exact same sear.2 STEAKS Temp 1 CIRCULATOR - Well Done and Medium Rare in 1 Sous Vide Machine
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Answer 2
Cook the medium steak at the temperature you desire until its done. The add ice or cold water to lower the temp for the rare steak. The first steak will only stay warm, but not cook past medium since you have lowered the temp. When the second steak is fully cooked then remove and char both.
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