The ultimate home-technique for cooking steak.

This method uses a mixture of traditional searing, with Sous-vide cooking (cooking food in vacuum sealed bags in a water bath)

1.  The first and most crucial step is to get a good piece of meat. In this instance, I needed to beg the only importer of unfrozen angus beef on the island that I reside to cut a rather large slab of beef. The meat must be pre-seared before going into the water bath.  The steak should be cold so it does not cook past the surface. (You shall see later). It is best to use a very good cast-iron pan. The pan here is from Le Crueset, and is brand new that was snuck into my suit-case during my last visit to civilization

2. Place the slab of beef into a ziploc bag with thyme and butter. The snotty-nose nerdy food blogs seem not to think that the herbs and butter make a difference in the vacuum bag, but why not add more flavor?

3. Place the steak into a water bath at a constant temperature of 54.5 degrees Celsius (131 in the american measurement) for a few hours. At this thickness it should probably be in the water for around two hours. I’m using an immersion circulator that I again stuck in my suitcase at one of my previous visits to civilization. This little device essentially circulates the water and keeps it at constant temperature.

4. Remove the steak from the vacuum bag and pat dry with a paper towel and then cover with salt and pepper (Maldon salt is best!). Sear again, this final sear we baste with butter infused thyme! Also prepare your sauce bordelaise (red-wine sauce prepared previously and stored in freezer).

5. Plate with sauce and a few greens that will remind your stomach that you are no longer a meat-eating savage.  See that color. Red all the way through with an excellent crust on the outside, the crust thanks to the cast-iron skillet. Unbelievable

3 thoughts on “

  1. I use a device, called an immersion circulator, that sits in the water. It has a heating element (similar to a kettle) with an automatic thermostat that switches on and off depending on the temperature. You can buy them at most kitchen shops now for around $200. See http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/12/sous-vide-circulator-review-sansaire-nomiku-anova.html for survey of popular devices! Alternatively you can annoyingly use a heavy based pot with a thermometer and constantly adjusting the temperature on the stove…

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