On Christmas Day, my children gave me a gift that I could not identify even after I unwrapped it.  I removed the wrapping paper, opened the cylindrical package and took the gift out of its protective case, and I still didn’t know what it was.

It was a sous vide cooker from a company called Anova.  “Sous Vide” is French for “under vacuum” which is not a particularly clear description of what the device does.  You fill a tall pot to create a water bath, you attach the Anova Sous Vide device to the side of the pot, you plug it in and set if for a desired temperature.  The device takes the water to the desired temperature, keeps it there for as long as desired, and gently circulates it around the pot to maintain an even temperature throughout the water bath.

The item you are going to cook – principally proteins, although it works fine on vegetables – is placed in a sealed plastic bag.  I don’t have a Foodsaver home vacuum, so I used a zip lock bag with the air removed via displacement.

The Anova company directs users to the Serious Eats website, which goes into a lot detail about how to use the device.  The website says that the first thing anyone ever cooks sous vide is a steak.  I signed up right away.

Earlier, I posted a blog about my favorite method for cooking steak.  I know that blog has influenced steak preparation in three, possibly four, households, so I felt I owed the readership an update now that a revolutionary cooking method has walked through my front door. The basic idea is that the steak goes into its sealed plastic bag.  Once the water is at the desired temperature, the bag goes into the water.  I was cooking a prime tenderloin, so I set the temperature to 129 degrees F, which is at the rare end of medium rare.  It takes a tenderloin steak about 45 minutes to get to 129.  At that point, it can be held in the bath for as much as an additional 75 minutes, possibly longer.  When I was within three or so minutes of having everything else ready, I put it on a grill for about 1-1/2 minutes per side to give it a bit of a char.

Here is a step by step, along with some photos.

Two hours before dinner:  Take the steak out of the refrigerator, pat it dry, salt with Kosher salt, put it on a rack over a plate to sit for an hour.  I made oven-browned potatoes, so I microwaved two large Yukon potatoes for three minutes, flipped them over for another three minutes, then let them cool.

Ninety minutes before dinner:  Fill a deep pot about 2/3 full with hot tap water.  Put it on the stove (which is not turned on for this use), or other heat-proof surface, attach the Anova device, set it for 129 F, and wait for it to come to temperature.  Also, I turned the oven to 400 degrees so it would be ready for the potatoes.

One hour before dinner: (1) The steak, nicely sealed in its plastic bag, goes into the water bath.  (2) A roasting pan with a couple Tb of olive oil and a couple Tb of butter goes into the oven to heat and melt.  (3) A diced onion goes into a sautee pan lubricated with olive oil to cook over medium low heat.  (4) The potatoes are cut into 3/4 inch wedges and placed in the roasting pan, then stirred to coat.  [This paragraph edited on 1/1/16 to get the potatoes into the oven.]

I occasionally stirred the onions and the potatoes to prevent burning.

Thirty minutes before dinner, I turned my grill on to high.

Fifteen minutes before dinner, I added a half pound of sliced mushrooms to the onions, along with about 1-1/2 Tb of butter, and turned the heat up a bit.  The potatoes might need to come out at this point.  I just keep checking.

When the sous vide hour was up, I used tongs to pull the plastic bag from the water bath and to remove the steak from the plastic bag.  I patted it dry, to help it get a char on the grill.  I put it on the grill at a NW-SE angle for about 45 seconds, then turned it 90 degrees to a NE-SW angle for another 45 seconds.  Then I turned it over to cook for about a minute.

I didn’t think it needed to rest at that point, so I brought it inside and started slicing.

The results were spectacular.  The steak was meltingly tender.  The gentle heat had not caused the protein to shrink much, so the steak had a slight resistance to the tooth and was as tender as any steak I have ever eaten.  I hope these pictures give you an idea.

Here is the sous vide device at work:

This is the way the steak looked when it was removed from the bag.  It’s medium rare pink all the way through, even at the surface.

It’s not the most beautiful sight a meat-lover has laid eyes on, but here is what it looked like after about three minutes on the grill:

And a minute later, after a couple of slices were cut:

Finally, here is the assembled plate:

This is said to be a terrific method for cooking salmon and other fish, as well as boneless skinless chicken breasts and pork.  I look forward to trying it for all manner of foods, but if it does nothing but turn out steaks this good, I will be delighted.

Thanks, kids!

Bon appetit!