It doesn’t get easier, or more delicious, than this!
Confession time. Grilling steak has always terrified me. I inevitably end up overcooking it, every. single. time. It’s like I live in mortal fear of some food borne illness lurking just at the corners of a slightly too rare steak. But really, it’s because I just can’t seem to judge when I’ve hit that perfect medium or medium rare. I’ve tried the whole touching it and comparing to my nose, chin and forehead thing, but damned if that helps even the slightest. I had given up, assuming that this just wasn’t something I could do well, and then a little miracle gadget found its way into my kitchen. The sous vide. This wondrous little guy changed my steak game 1000%. I went from steak that could pass as a briquette, to steak that my husband says rivals anything he’s had in a restaurant (high praise coming from him). This is a sure fire way to impress the hell out of anyone you cook for, and you don’t have to mention your secret weapon. Your secret is safe with me, I promise.
So here we go, perfect steak, every time.
Start with a good quality filet (yes, other cuts will work, filet is just my favorite). Our local Fred Meyer (a grocery store of the Kroger brand, for those not from the PacNW) sells these perfect little filets pre-wrapped in bacon with a hefty amount of black pepper. Yum!
Set up your sous vide. I have a large plastic container that I use exclusively for sous vide-ing (if that is even a word). But you can use a large stock pot if you like.
Set your sous vide to your desired temperature. I use this one which has a great app that allows me to just choose what I am making, how thick it is, and how I want it cooked (rare-well done) and then alerts me when the water is up to temp.
Salt both sides of the steak and rub with minced garlic (if you aren’t using a pre-peppered filet, add a generous amount of pepper here too).
Place in a ziplock bag (when I first got the sous vide I also got the vacuum sealer and bags, but find with a particularly juicy steak, the vacuum sucks up all the meat juice and won’t seal right. Ziplock gallon bags work perfectly, more cheaply, and with much less hassle). Add in one tablespoon of cold butter per steak. I don’t do more than 3 small steaks per bag, but you can place multiple bags in the water at once. Toss in some fresh herbs of your choosing (today I used tarragon, marjoram and time). I find the removing the stems helps when it comes time to seal up the bag. Having stems in there always causes my bags to float to the top of the water, meaning they don’t cook. Less than ideal.
Seal up the bag but leave about an inch open. Submerge the bag slowly into the water. As you do this, the air will all push out, essentially vacuum sealing it. Once you’ve got the air out, seal up the bag the rest of the way. The portion of the bag containing the steaks will sink to the bottom, but I always use these handy clamps to secure it to the side.
Use the app to let your sous vide know you’ve added the food and it will start the timer. For the steaks I use, it always takes an hour. They can stay in the water for 1-2 hours once they are done and they won’t overcook. That’s the beauty of the sous vide, it keeps it at exactly the right temp.
Pour yourself a glass of wine while it cooks. Maybe toss together a couple quick sides or a salad.
Once the wonder machine lets you know the steak is done, it’s time to sear. You’ll need a very hot pan for this. I am a weird cook in that I really, really hate my house to smell like seared meat or oil at the end of the day. I always hate cleaning up the splatter too. So recently while scrolling through Gilt, I found a fantastic deal on a stand alone induction cook top (I paid $200 for mine, that’s not what it is at the time of posting this, so keep a keen eye, deals are out there!). I snapped it up and now when I want to sear or fry meat mess free, I just set it up on the side of the BBQ grill and cook to my little heart’s content.
Get the pan nice and hot, like, really hot. Remove the steaks from the bag (reserve cooking juices). Pluck off any really large herb bits and set them in the pan.
Sear for 1-2 minutes each side. After you have flipped them, add the reserved pan juices (excluding any really large pieces of the herbs, which can burn crispy in the pan) and another 1 tbsp of butter per steak. I turn off the cooktop at this point. It will stay plenty hot.
Spoon the pan juices over the tops of the steaks several times.
Et viola! Perfect steak, ready to serve!
