I seasoned immediately before I put them in the vacuum sealer. I think later this week I'm going to try a marinade.

Well, the pan is glazed with the bourbon, with the steak on the final side. I cheat, and put a lid on the steak for a couple mins. The water is the de-glazing agent, afterward. That's about it; makes for damn good au jus.

Oh, like I said earlier, there's no way I'm giving up fire. The flavor of this steak and one off the charcoal is totally different. I'd say sous vide actually lets the flavor of the meat shine through a little more, whereas grilling is as much about the charcoal and smoke as it is about the meat itself.

This is just another tool in my arsenal.

The gristle won't ever render, if I'm not mistaken. I trimmed some of it off after I cooked it.

I've read that you don't want to use meat that has a lot of fat (marbled is OK; hunks of fat, not OK) because the low temperature doesn't render fat very well. It'll render the collagen in brisket or a roast, but not the other stuff.

Thanks for the tip, sounds like a good reason to pick up a bottle of Maker's.

FMB

That is a great looking steak!!! Well done (no pun) Sir. Do you get what I was talking about texture wise now. I prefer a good chew to my steaks (not tough) but not mushy like a filet and the texture in sous vide is just different.
You should try a Hanger steak. It seems the tougher steaks do better sous vide. I did do a 24 hour leg of lamb at 142 with preserved lemon, garlic and oregano. It was solid.

Great thread.

Ang

Yeah, I completely understand what you're talking about with the texture. I'll definitely try some hanger steak. I've got some flat iron steaks in the fridge that I found on sale, may try those. I've got some family in town this week and was thinking about doing some risotto along with something out of the sous vide.

I just made my first brine on Saturday; put a 5.5lb brisket in to make some corned beef.

hopefully it turns out good; I've got a few tasty recipes picked out for the 'leftovers'
(one of which is like a corned beef hash cake/patty, lightly browned up; and topped with a poached egg...mmmm)

sounds exactly like my wife.
she can bake extremely well, whereas I cannot. She can make Mac n Cheese...and thats about it.

My wife has managed to burn hot dogs ... that she was BOILING.

What is it with women and baking/cooking. It's weird, too, because it makes little sense from what we know about genetic proclivities. Women are supposed to be good multi-taskers... and that's what much of cooking is (that's the part that trips my wife up... working on multiple dishes at the same time). Anyway, add my wife to the list of women who can bake but can't cook.

...and, my wife simply cannot cook a meal (in the very rare instances where she does) without completely destroying the kitchen. she was making baked chicken and rice one day; kitchen was desroyed - as usual - and I sh*t you not...there was flour all over the place.

FLour?
lol

..and, she can't complete the meal on time; certain things will be done (or overdone lol) well beofre other things, resulting in a plate of food at varying temps.
She doesn't understand when I say "Ok, go ahead and get your drink ready; dinner will be ready in 1 minute or so"...then she dorks around doing other stuff while the mashed taters are getting cold, etc. I try to tell her I time everything to be 'done' so she can have a plate of hot food....amazing. She can be watching TV/reading etc all while I'm preparing dinner, then when it's ready....that is apparently the time to go do some laundry.

ROFL Same here with the timing. Apparently, when I say 2 minutes, that's code for sometime in the next 15 minutes.

Yeah, it's my wife's job to set the table, get the kids' drinks, and plate the kids' food (the kids often eat slightly different stuff than we do, since I cook spicy a lot). I tell her that I'm ready for her to start plating, but she, evidently, doesn't think plating should start until the whole family sits down at the table and is impatiently waiting to eat.

That brings up another question:
How many of you plate your food in the kitchen and how many of you bring bowls/platters of food to table and eat "family style"?

I think we'll move to family style as the kids get older, but currently we plate everything in the kitchen.

We plate in the kitchen, but rarely eat at the table. But it's just me and my wife, so we go very casual. Once we have kids, we'll probably move to a table.