Sous Vide Sad, Awful Fail

Ah, sous vide … just saying it correctly evokes the sophisticated smugness of a head chef in a five-star restaurant. Or is that just me? I was introduced to this esoteric cooking technique while promoting a certain grocery store’s side project — a restaurant across the street from their flagship store. It was my job to explain how a culinary method that resembled the boil-in-bags of yesteryear is actually more analogous to low-and-slow cooking, like braising. So instead of a lovely cut of meat sitting in a shiny All Clad roasting pan, it’s sealed into a zipper bag and submerged in a water bath.

Love Me Tender

How did sous vide become the new darling of the DIY cooking world? In a nutshell, insane tenderness. This once mysterious, super-expensive gadget (apparently it started out costing thousands?!) could only be found in professional kitchens. Then some enterprising sous chefs brought home cast-off cookers and a food trend was born. Eventually, manufacturers like Anova brought these devices to market at a consumer-friendly price tag.

Unfortunately, $199 is still too pricey for me so I was unwilling to shell out the money for it. Then my awesome foodie of a son, who makes a sous-vide brisket that will make you weep, handed down is old cooker to me! I couldn’t wait to get started and spent some lockdown time watching Anova’s video tutorials. Then I found out the hard way that getting the right cooking container somehow seemed trickier than learning the technique.

Stockpot or Special Container?

After a month of trying to get both a sous-vide container and a lid to be delivered in the same package or just make it to our address, we were in business! Note: This is not news, but not all Ebay sellers are created equal or respond without getting the company involved to resolve disputes. As I waited for refunds, I looked for a stockpot at a couple newly reopened retailers.

I only found two on the shelf at Target that were deep enough to accommodate the cooker, which needs some room under it to properly circulate the water. That’s what keeps the food at a consistent temperature — essential for sous-vide success. Ultimately, I found the plastic container/silicone lid combo on Amazon for about $25 — which arrived on time at my house. Miracle!

Not Making the Cut

As excited as I was to see this cool machine in action, I was not so thrilled with my results. So, it turns out that meat cuts matter. I had a skirt steak handy, and prepped it for the sous vide plunge despite knowing full well that it’s tricky to cook with conventional methods. Using it for my very first foray into a trickier-than-it-looks cooking method was, at best, ill-advised.

Controlling doneness is the big appeal of sous vide according to Serious Eats, a James Beard award-winning website. But it can’t make up for a poorly sourced, less desirable cut of meat. Not to mention, a little water seeped in the zipper bag when I attempted to do the “immersion seal” (vs using a vacuum sealer–ugh, more special equipment!). To be fair, you’re supposed to use a freezer-grade bag. I haven’t researched whether that’s truly a factor but there’s no arguing that the steak was tough after the proper 1.5 hour cooking time at 140 degrees. And, it was still tough when my husband PUT IT BACK IN OVERNIGHT.

Technically, you can’t overcook the meat. You can turn it mushy according to some YouTubers. We didn’t get mushy, we still had tough. Dejectedly, we cut up the steak, put it in a slow cooker with vegetables and broth thinking if nothing else it would have some flavor. Two bites in, we gave up on that making a crappy skirt steak better.

Round 2

Clearly, I have a lot to learn. Nevertheless, I think my second try with country-style beef ribs may turn out as advertised. However, I’m going to try a recipe that’s actually for short ribs, but looks amazing (and requires pre-searing). Also, all the recipes I’ve found use vacuum sealing, so I may have to break down and buy one if I ever hope to get good results.