Achieving Ultimate Sous Vide Cooked Steak Perfection
Crank up your sous vide game with Lisa Q. Fetterman's foolproof recipe for a mouthwatering medium rare ribeye steak. No more guesswork or unfortunate overcooking – this method ensures a flawless, juicy, and beautifully-seared steak every single time.
Why Sous Vide Steak?
Sous vide cooking is like the superpower of meal prep. By enclosing your food in a vacuum-sealed plastic pouch and immersing it in a water bath that's been precisely heated, you can achieve impeccable, consistent results. And for steak, where doneness counts for everything, sous vide is the gold standard.
Moreover, this cooking technique allows each diner to customize their steak exactly to their preference. Fancy something more medium well? No problem. Prefer a rarer cut? Sous vide has got you covered! Since the temperature is controlled, you can experiment to find the ideal doneness suited to your taste.
Ribeye Steak Sous Vide – Serves 4
Ingredients
- 2 (1-inch-thick) boneless rib-eye steaks (around 1 pound each), with the fat cap intact if possible
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon canola or other mild vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4-6 fresh thyme sprigs
- 1 clove garlic, lightly crushed
Pro-tip
Pro-tip: The technique of basting the steak with butter while in the pan is an excellent method any time you want to achieve a uniform sear on the stove top.
Steps
- Preheat your sous vide water bath to 130°F (54.4°C).
- Season the steaks with salt and pepper. Place them in a gallon-size freezer-safe ziplock bag, seal using the water displacement method, and let them submerge in the water bath. Cook for 1 hour.
- When the steaks are ready, remove the bag from the water bath and let them rest for 10 minutes. Transfer the steaks to a platter or tray and pat them dry with paper towels.
- Heat a large, heavy sauté pan or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the oil and sear the steaks until both sides are browned and the fat cap is crunchy, about 1-2 minutes per side.
- Add the butter, thyme, and garlic off to the side of the pan in that order. Baste the steaks with the delicious, buttery sauce, searing until the entire surface is a deep, rich brown, about 30 seconds per side, making sure not to overcook them.
- Transfer the steaks to a platter or tray. Let them rest for 2 minutes before slicing to allow the juices to redistribute after the high-heat searing.
- Serve and enjoy your sous vide ribeye perfection!
Experiment with different temperatures and lean on your personal taste to reach the perfect medium rare or cooked to your liking. With this sous vide steak recipe, you'll be dining like a restaurant-quality master chef in no time!
Sous vide cooking, with its precise temperature control, ensures a consistently perfect medium rare ribeye steak, allowing each diner to customize their steak to their preference, be it more medium well or a rarer cut. In this recipe, we're using a sous vide water bath preheated to 130°F (54.4°C) for a 1-hour cook, creating an uncategorized yet mouthwatering dish. The steak is then seared in a pan for a uniform sear, as the pro-tip suggests, before being finished off with butter, thyme, and garlic, resulting in a delightfully flavored steak that showcases the sophistication of the sous vide technique in making restaurant-quality meals at home.
