Smoke Flavor or Charcoal Flavor B/4 Sous Vide Steak?

[pmillen]

After a few years of mulling sous vide over I'm about to pony up a couple hundred bucks for an Anova.  But I know that we won't be happy if the fire flavor is missing.  I'm referring to the flavor we think a charcoal or a wood fire provides.

I have a pellet-fired pit with a grilling area directly over the flame so I could smoke a steak at a relatively cool temperature or sear it in the flame zone.  Searing over the flame doesn't appeal to me, I'd rather do it in blazing hot cast iron, 'cause the pit's flame zone could quickly overcook a 140° steak.

Are any of you smoking your steaks before cooking sous vide and then searing?

[Las Vegan Cajun]

I just got my Anova yesterday and will be experimenting with it, last night did chicken breast and I grilled them after the sous vide bath.  The juiciness and tenderness was unlike any chicken breast I have had before.

Today I'm going to do a steak and I'm going to use the presearing method recommended at this site.
http://www.chefsteps.com/activities/presearing-for-sous-vide#/

[Pam Gould]

Does the Anova just read in Celsius? Can it be set for Fahrenheit?  Pam    .☆´¯`•.¸¸. ི♥ྀ.

[Las Vegan Cajun]

Does the Anova just read in Celsius? Can it be set for Fahrenheit?  Pam    .☆´¯`•.¸¸. ི♥ྀ.

It can be set for either C or F, it came set to C and I changed it to F.

[pmillen]

Today I'm going to do a steak and I'm going to use the presearing method recommended at this site.
http://www.chefsteps.com/activities/presearing-for-sous-vide#/

I've read that cooking a steak sous vide will soften the sear.  That article recommends a quick sear after SV to firm it up.
S-SV-QS makes sense.  Please let us know what you seasoned the meat with and how long you did each step.

Also, do you enjoy the fire provided flavor?  Do you miss it when you cook SV?

[CDN Smoker]

Today I'm going to do a steak and I'm going to use the presearing method recommended at this site.
http://www.chefsteps.com/activities/presearing-for-sous-vide#/
[/quote]

I watched the video, here's a question if you pre-seared then vac sealed. Could you do a bunch up and put in the freezer for use at a later date?

Very interested on how you make out

[Las Vegan Cajun]

Today I'm going to do a steak and I'm going to use the presearing method recommended at this site.
http://www.chefsteps.com/activities/presearing-for-sous-vide#/

I've read that cooking a steak sous vide will soften the sear.  That article recommends a quick sear after SV to firm it up.
S-SV-QS makes sense.  Please let us know what you seasoned the meat with and how long you did each step.

Also, do you enjoy the fire provided flavor?  Do you miss it when you cook SV?

So far I seared in a cast iron skillet with butter and fresh thyme springs for two minutes each side over medium heat.  They have been in the sous-vide bath going on two hours now, will let you know how it turns out when done. I usually use cracked peppercorn and a light coating of Lawry's seasoned salt, I'll probably use that combo when I do the quick sear at the end.

Yes, sous vide does sort of rob me of one of life's pleasures, standing outside in nice weather around the hot grill with a cold beer while discussing various other cooking methods and telling fish stories.   SV won't become my only method of cooking but it has it's advantages in that when I'm busy and need to get other things done I can put things in the SV bath and let it do it's thing while I do other things. 

[Las Vegan Cajun]

I watched the video, here's a question if you pre-seared then vac sealed. Could you do a bunch up and put in the freezer for use at a later date?

Very interested on how you make out

I don't see why not, that's another experiment I can try too.  I do have some more steaks that I did not presear, just vacuumed sealed with a pat of butter and fresh thyme springs. I'll try them next, sous vide without presear and then on the Weber with GrillGrates for the final sear.

[LostArrow]

I post cook in a hot cast iron skillet for 60 sec. Each side .
If you still need to post sear don't see point in pre. Cook sear.
If you want to smoke cool smoke a bunch then seal & freeze.

[Las Vegan Cajun]

I just pulled a sample steak out of the SV bath, seared it for 30 seconds each side in a cast iron skillet with butter...WOW...Most tender juicy sirloin I've ever had.

Got two more still sitting in the SV bath for dinner tonight, those two are going to get seared on the Weber/GrillGrates with Kingsford Competition.

One note: I set the SV for 135F and the steaks are a nice even pink throughout, a little too much for my liking.  I prefer more red rare so I will dial down the temp a few degrees on the next round.

[LostArrow]

Sous- vide steaks cooked below 130F may have a funny texture , I cook at 130

[Las Vegan Cajun]

Sous- vide steaks cooked below 130F may have a funny texture , I cook at 130

Thanks for the tip, I'll do 130F on the next round. 

[pmillen]

I post cook in a hot cast iron skillet for 60 sec. Each side .

That's helpful, thanks.

If you still need to post sear don't see point in pre. Cook sear.

Las Vegan Cajun's recommended link suggested several reasons for pre-searing but suggested post-searing to crisp up the crust.

If you want to smoke cool smoke a bunch then seal & freeze.

Good idea.  I'll do that after I perfect the process.

[pmillen]

I re-read all of the replies.  It appears that no one is smoking their SV meats.

I'll take LostArrow's suggested method and cold smoke before SV cooking.  I have a pellet smoker but I think I can do it at a lower temperature in my Bradley with the heating element off.  It shouldn't take long to get appropriate smoke flavor, after all a steak is only over charcoal for a few minutes.

The sequence will be - cold steak cold smoke - sear - sous vide - season - quick sear.

[Las Vegan Cajun]

The steaks I did last night didn't sear very well for the post SV sear on the Weber with GrillGrates, probably would have been better of doing it in a skillet for the post SV sear. The steaks were still very tender though, just not as eye appealing as a well grilled steak.

Yesterday I smoked some sausages I made for about an hour with applewood then I pulled them and vacuum sealed them in the Food Saver.  This morning I put them in the SV at 165 for 2 hours then pulled them from the water bath and seared them on the stove in a cast iron skillet, they turned out excellent.