Rib Eye Steak. Why Sous Vide?

I am a curious guy who likes to watch and learn.

When I began the never ending journey into the art of steak cooking in early 2ooos my goal was to find the ultimate recipe. Countless cooking websites, Facebook groups and YouTube videos were carefully examined during this quest. Finding information is easy nowadays but similar to watching porn – when it comes to do real fucking – you will be doing it differently than observed in the movies and probably not as skillful. But practice makes all the difference.

When I practice, I need to set a goal. Incidentally, my work at the time  presented several opportunities to try best steakhouses of New York and London.  Those thick, crusty steaks that oozed bloody juices when cut, consistently medium rare, lacking the thick layer of overcooked meat typically present on both sides of home-made or steaks found at cheap restaurants became my goal and obsession.

Countless home-based attempts to reproduce such steaks failed miserably. They came out either extremely rare and unfit for consumption or with that well done layer was there which pissed me off greatly. And the taste wasn’t the same either.  My journey continued and  eventually my grilled steaks became pretty good but not always and I don’t like guessing when it comes to steak.   

Consistency is the biggest challenge of all when it comes to any dish.  The many variables one needs to account for when cooking steaks make it close to impossible to guarantee repeatable outcome.  Unlike your sex partner – steaks are unforgiving. Once you fuck them up – they stay this way no matter what sauce is put on top. Making steaks consistently medium rare on a grill is impossible. A brief distraction at critical moment can lead to overcooked meat and I am easily distracted.

I also wanted to master the tenderness and achieve the incredible taste I tried at those fine places mentioned above.

Upon digging deeper the secret missing part was finally discovered. It wasn’t that well hidden to begin with; I just had to use different key words to find a totally new world.

Sous vide changed my perspective on cooking instantly and forever.

This method delivers medium rare juicy, tender steak with a solid level of consistency. You can safely watch porn or engage in any other more productive activities such as cooking other dishes while your steaks are being readied and not worry about them being overcooked.

Here are some of the benefits delivered by sous vide:

• No well done layers. No waste of meat.
• No chance to overcook or undercook the meat unless you screw up the searing or kept the meat in for a very long time.
• Very light effort for the chef as there is no need to babysit the process.
• Invest free time to do side dishes, soups, salads and other things to serve with steak.
• More importantly, it offers a solid chance to develop a process and  repeat it with the same results.

When I told my wife that I need to buy another kitchen device along with a vacuum sealer and few other things – she rolled her eyes. 

Our kitchen is small and every new device clutters already overused space.

However, since I unpacked it in early spring of 2015 and cooked first few dishes sous vide style – my Anova circulator quickly took a prominent place among my kitchen toys and now works harder than most of them.

Ever since anyone who tasted my sous vide steaks admitted that the taste was out of this world. It is one of the juiciest, flavorful and tender steak folks ever tried. I was thrilled. I found a way to do steaks with guaranteed results that matched and often exceeded the quality of steaks I tried in those posh places for incredibly insane amounts of money.

I was now a fully recovered vegetarian who mastered the art of steak cooking. Well,  mastered is a big word. Let’s say, I discovered a path to mastery and now my journey has that light at the end of the tunnel.

My obsession with sous vide propagated to many other products that I will slowly but surely cover here even for my own sake because I tend to forget recipes and their details quickly.

Enjoy playing with your toys and rock her world!

Be grateful, generous and horny!