Serious question, has anyone tried a full sous vide prep for a busy Friday night?

I set up six circulators in my kitchen in Chicago to handle all our proteins, even the fish. The result was a line that moved twice as fast, but the sear on the steaks was a bit flat without the usual pan fond. I learned you can't skip the old school sear station, even with perfect internal temps. What's your fix for getting a good crust when you're leaning hard on sous vide?

2 comments

2 Comments

parker5432d ago

Honestly, that's a solid point about the sear. Are you chilling the steaks down a bit before you hit them with the torch or pan?

lee.casey2d ago

@parker543 brings up a good step, but chilling can dry the surface out if you're not careful. A lot of people miss that you need to pat the steak bone dry right before the sear, way more than just letting it sit in the fridge. That dry surface is what gets you the real crust. If it's even a little damp, you're just steaming it with the torch. I'll take a dry room-temp steak over a chilled wet one any day for that reason.