Sous vide attempt #1: Western Grillers
- Catherine Mello
- Jun 17, 2017
- 1 min read
An inexpensive 24 oz "Western Griller Steak" (I had to look it up, it's from the bottom round) was used for the maiden voyage of my ANOVA. I knew I wanted about 130F (medium-rare) for this cut, but cooking times are seriously all over the place. The Internets reports anywhere from 3 to 27 hours - clearly a matter of personal tastes to some degree. As a test case, we made three smaller steaks which were cooked for approximately 16, 12, and 8 hours. All were seasoned with salt, pepper, some pureed garlic and a mix of fresh herbs from the garden (oregano, rosemary, and thyme). To work around the pesky necessity of sleep, one piece had to be removed early (and shocked in a water bath), and the other put in later. It was easy enough to return the chilled steak to the bath shortly before dinner. Seared with as little fat as possible in a nonstick pan (I know... Work with me here).
Juice loss was minimal. We tended to like the 8 hour and 12 hour ones best eaten warm, but the 16-hour cooked one was still quite nice cold, as a leftover. It had acquired a slightly powdery texture from the broken-down connective tissue. I don't think this cut is either fatty enough or tough enough to justify this sort of cooking time.
Hers: 4.33 oz bottom round (173)
1 medium zucchini (33)
Pepper & onions (32) Eggplant (34) Oil (13)
Total: 285
His: Add Medium potato (172) Sour cream + lite butter (22 + 40)
Total: 485