Is lots of red juice normal when making sous-vide steak?
So I made a 1lb hanger steak via sous-vide the other day and cooked it for 45 minutes at 130F.
After I seared in a cast iron pan, I took the meat off of the pan and let it sit for a few minutes and then sliced it up(against the grain) into smaller portions.
I noticed a lot of red juice in the plate as I was slicing it up but after I put it on a plate and it was sitting at the table, the meat almost ended up swimming in red juice.
When I order medium rare steak at a restaurant and it comes out pre-sliced, I don't usually notice this much red juice.
Is this normal?
UPDATE:
Found this great article explaining what was going on: http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/12/how-to-have-juicy-meats-steaks-the-food-lab-the-importance-of-resting-grilling.html#continued
He has another article about sous vide ( http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/03/how-to-sous-vide-steak.html ) where he claims that you don't need to let the meat rest after searing. This is the one that originally led me to not need to rest the steak.
Looks like there is some resting that is required. Will post up with results next time I make some steak.
Best Answer
Pretty much...yes, but you can fix it!.
When you properly sous vide or very slow cook anything, you'll retain more of the myoglobin color because of the even cooking that often doesn't go above 140 at all. So a properly cooked steak like this will retain much more of its red colored myoglobin. Simply put, the meat will have more red juices to release! (Its a great, great thing about sous vide.)
As @Ronald mentions, the other thing is the resting of the meat. It's an important step as the muscle fibers relax after the heat is off and hold juices better then. An often misstep for the home cook is they allow a hot piece of meat to rest on a flat, solid surface. This causes the bottom of the meat to steam against the board, open the fibers in the meat more, and release the juices on to the board. Rest your meat on a raised baking rack so that it has air circulation all around it.
After a short rest - for most steak 10 minutes is fine, then you can cut into the steak. Use a very sharp knife to slice. The meat here is essentially a sponge and you don't want to compress it and squeeze out the juices. A dull knife will do this and you'll lose more juice on the cutting board again. Use a sharp knife and apply steady, even, but light pressure while slicing - let the edge do the work (if it won't, sharpen the knife more).
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Quick Answer about "Is lots of red juice normal when making sous-vide steak?"
Many people are discouraged at how much juice comes out of the their food when it is sous vided. Don't worry though, it's less than most traditional methods, it's just all saved in the bag instead of evaporating away.Why does my steak have so much juice?
Chances are if a lot of juices are coming out of your steak, its because you are cooking it past medium. I like to think the proportion of 'grey' meat in a cooked steak indicates how much red juice has been 'squeezed' out of the meat fibrils and is now on the plate.Is it normal for cooked steaks to have red juice?
The protein is what gives the meat and its juices a red hue, and it's perfectly normal to find in packaging. Similar to the hemoglobin found in our blood, myoglobin carries oxygen to the animal's muscles, according to the New York Times.Why is my steak dripping red?
As meat ages and is handled or cut, proteins lose their ability to hold onto water. Over time, some water is released and myoglobin flows out with it, giving the liquid a red or pink color.Is it OK to eat steak with red juice?
The thought of consuming raw meat is very frightening, so the sight of the red juice in steak can dissuade many of us from eating it. Well, fear not. That red in the steak is safe for consumption and is the source of a steak's flavor.Sous Vide Steak TIME EXPERIMENT - How long should you cook your STEAK?
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Answer 2
I just wanted to add a counterpoint to what I'm seeing here. A lot of people mention resting the meat but this is strictly unnecessary for a sous vide prepared steak.
The purpose of resting in standard preparation techniques is to allow moisture that has been driven into the center by intense outward heat to redistribute itself evenly across the steak. In sous vide cooking there is no extreme outside temperature (a quick sear will not drive moisture inward) so it is not necessary to rest the meat.
I've found this to be true in my own sous vide experiences which have been pretty numerous in the past couple of years for an at home cook, but a quick google search found this thread:
Answer 3
Usually a steak at a restaurant is allowed to "rest" for 10 minutes before being served, perhaps that helps? Also, cooking in a normal method gives more opportunity for moisture to escape.
OK, I'm just winging it, I don't have a sous-vide set up yet.
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