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

There is only one way to prepare a beautifully thick, tender and juicy steak while maintaining the perfect temperature throughout the entire piece of meat. There is only one way to ensure your steak is undercooked and prevent it from undercooking. There's 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 restaurants

If you've ever had 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 a precisely temperature-controlled water bath is not new. Sous-vide was perfected in the 1970s by French chef Georges Pralus. Since then, it has been used by many high-end restaurants and has only recently become very popular (and affordable) among home chefs.

No more stress in the kitchen with sous vide

The best thing about sous vide is that it completely removes the stress of timing food preparation 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 until you are ready. Cooking depends only on temperature and a minimum time period to ensure that the entire piece of meat has reached the correct temperature.

Perfectly cooked meat, every time

We like our steak best when it is "medium rare". The exact temperature at which steak reaches this is 54.4 ° C. Below you will find the difference between a steak prepared with clear 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 done (brown) from the crust to just right in the center, but the sous-vide cooked steak (right) is perfectly medium rare throughout its 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 and time again! Chefs sometimes say: you are only as good as your last result.

Success is guaranteed with sous vide!

We hope this will also get you excited about trying sous vide. On our webshop we offer a wide range of high-quality sous-vide water bath ovens and circulation controllers (circulators) for professional and home use.

Below you will find a list of temperatures and cooking times, and the recipe and preparation method for a perfect steak.

What do you need for sous vide?

What you need to get started with sous-vide:

1. A sous-vide stick * and a water tank. You can also use a pan or even a bucket, but we recommend a polycarbonate sous-vide water bowl They are now even available with an energy-saving insulation cover.
2. Or a sous-vide water oven *.
3. A vacuum machine and vacuum bags or vacuum foil. While not strictly necessary, we definitely recommend using a solid vacuum machine for much better, more consistent sous vide results. You can get a vacuum machine for less than 50 euros and it is more than worth the money.

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

Do you want to get started with sous-vide at an affordable price? Buy a sous-vide discount bundle!

Our best-selling Ziva Savant sous-vide bundle is by far the most affordable sous-vide starter set; carefully composed by our team of sous-vide experts. With the compliments of real Connoisseurs!  

Temperatures based on cooking

Steak has specific temperatures at which it reaches a certain boiling point. But every steak is not the same, so it may take some experimenting to find the right temperature and cooking for your favorite butcher's dish. But once you find it, a perfect result is easy to repeat 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 in the core increases exponentially with thickness. The optimal thickness for a steak is about 2.5 cm. Avoid allowing the steak to become much thicker, otherwise the sous-vide cooking will take 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)

Don't leave it in the sous-vide for too long!

Leave steak of normal thickness (approx. 2.5 cm) in a warm sous-vide water bath for up to 4 hours. Although the steak will not continue cooking and will remain nice and tender, the tenderness will eventually change to a mushy texture. This is also a reason not to use pieces of meat that are too thick. 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 2.5 cm thick)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Other herbs and spices to taste
• Sous-vide equipment and pan or reservoir
• Possibly a 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 preparation (see above or on the connoisseur cooking times and temperatures table laminated to our sous-vide cooking times and temperatures table).
2. Turn on the sous-vide stick or water oven and continue cooking the steak while the sous-vide water bath heats 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 available Fridayij 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.
   • Inexpensive: use a vacuum bag with a zipper for this purpose. Hold the vacuum bag with the opening upwards and carefully 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 zipper. 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 elapsed and remove the steaks from the vacuum bags.
8. Pat them with a clean cloth and season with salt and pepper.
9. Fry them briefly until brown in a frying pan, grill pan, on the barbecue or with a chef's burner .
10. Serve and enjoy!

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

Honestly,

the team at Sousvidekenner.nl