Sous Vide Deer Steaks

[scott1022]

My first test with the sous vide cooking was with tenderloins... Hard to mess those up.

I had them in the marinade over night and cooked them sous vide for 2 hours in marinade to 122°. Took them out, added dry seasoning. Finished them off over a hot fire. Delicious... However, I felt like cooking in the marinade made the texture different.

My second test was with the top and bottom round deer roast cut into steaks.

I marinated over night. Took them out of the marinade, added dry seasoning. Cooked sous vide for 2 hours at 122°. Finished them over a hot fire. Once again, DELICIOUS. I was impressed with the tenderness after only 2 hours. I think I can cook this type of steak longer in the sous vide without ruining the texture of the meat.

I'm happy to participate in the trial and error method. :-) So far, so good.

[stxbowhunter]

I need to try this. I received one as a gift almost two years ago and it's still in the box.

[Adgerc15]

I never cook in the marinade in the sous vide bath. Butter and garlic (dry) if anyting. Agree it makes the texture a bit tough.

ac

[hully1029]

Im a huge fan of sous vide, but not the fan of sous vide for tenders. I prefer my tenders lightly seasoned, allowed to room temp, hot fire to med rare. Straps, its awesome. Its best used for cuts with little to no fat.. sous vide filet mignon is the best.

[scott1022]

I never cook in the marinade in the sous vide bath. Butter and garlic (dry) if anyting. Agree it makes the texture a bit tough.

ac

Good to know! Thanks for the confirmation.

[ThisLadyHunts]

I haven’t experienced great success with my sous vide cooker, but I think it’s due more to human error more than anything. I’ve got some deer steaks in the freezer that I think I’ll thaw out to try again tomorrow. Not a big fan of marinades for red meat but the butter and dried garlic accompaniments sounds intriguing.

We’ll see.

[Mike D]

I’ve tried a few sous vide cooked cuts of meat and my opinion is meh…….


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

[ThisLadyHunts]

I’ve tried a few sous vide cooked cuts of meat and my opinion is meh…….


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

I just don’t think you and I are doing it right. I’ve had sous vide preparations at restaurants and friends’ houses that were excellent. I want to be able to achieve the same thing. Or better.

I think it’s doable.

[Gunnyart]

I love me some sous vide backstrap cut like fillet mignon. I cook at 130 for 1 1/2hour pull them and dry then refrigerate for 10 minutes before searing in a rippin hot cast iron pan. Doesn't get any better to me.

[ThisLadyHunts]

Interesting, chilling them for ten minutes in the ice box before seating. I think I’ll try this, too.

[scott1022]

The constant temperature is hard to beat. I love a good rare-medium-rare steak. This was from the first tenderloin that I did.

From what I'm reading the biggest variable with different cuts of red meat is making sure that you don't leave in the sous vide too long otherwise it can change the texture of the meat. The tougher the meat, the longer you can leave it.

My next attempt will be for a deer shank. Excited to see what it can do to that cut.

[tvc184]

I have used sous vide about 184 times……

This is from my experience and watching friends have issues.

When cooking steaks (of any kind) to rare or medium rare, if the steak is less than 3/4” minimum, it is very hard (if even possible) to get the benefit from sv.

I got a friend at work hooked on sv maybe 3 years ago. I would make sv steaks at work to let people try it. By his comment, he went from eating steak from once a month to 2-3 times a week. I told him about experimenting with temperatures, times, thickness, seasoning, etc.

One day he told me about cooking some ribeyes to maybe 136° that turned out tough. My comment was something like…. Huh??

I was asking about his setup and he bought some choice steaks. Okay but….. they were about 3/8” or maybe even 1/4” thick. Therein lies the problem. For a steak that thin, a sv is (in my opinion) not good and probably worse than cooking by any other method.

When you sear a thin sv steak (which is already completely cooked), it is so thin that the sear with will change the rare or medium rare steak to medium well or well done. It is so thin that even a few seconds on each side will completely change the center temperature. If it is that thin, you are better off just tossing a raw steak on a screaming hot grill or skillet for a minute or so on each side and eating it. Sv in that case is not only a waste of time but likely hurts the final product.

Also pat dry the heck out of the steak before any attempt at a sear.

It is preferable to use kosher salt and least an hour before cooking (even if not sv) so that it will dry brine….. except if you are using marinade, then I have no clue.

A 1 1/2” or 2” filet mignon or 1 1/4” ribeye or NY strip is screaming for sv. Anything less than 3/4” is a waste of time, in my opinion.

[ThisLadyHunts]

[QUOTE=tvc184;16416823]I have used sous vide about 184 times……

This is from my experience and watching friends have issues.

When cooking steaks (of any kind) to rare or medium rare, if the steak is less than 3/4” minimum, it is very hard (if even possible) to get the benefit from sv.

I got a friend at work hooked on sv maybe 3 years ago. I would make sv steaks at work to let people try it. By his comment, he went from eating steak from once a month to 2-3 times a week. I told him about experimenting with temperatures, times, thickness, seasoning, etc.

One day he told me about cooking some ribeyes to maybe 136° that turned out tough. My comment was something like…. Huh??

I was asking about his setup and he bought some choice steaks. Okay but….. they were about 3/8” or maybe even 1/4” thick. Therein lies the problem. For a steak that thin, a sv is (in my opinion) not good and probably worse than cooking by any other method.

When you sear a thin sv steak (which is already completely cooked), it is so thin that the sear with will change the rare or medium rare steak to medium well or well done. It is so thin that even a few seconds on each side will completely change the center temperature. If it is that thin, you are better off just tossing a raw steak on a screaming hot grill or skillet for a minute or so on each side and eating it. Sv in that case is not only a waste of time but likely hurts the final product.

Also pat dry the heck out of the steak before any attempt at a sear.

It is preferable to use kosher salt and least an hour before cooking (even if not sv) so that it will dry brine….. except if you are using marinade, then I have no clue.

A 1 1/2” or 2” filet mignon or 1 1/4” ribeye or NY strip is screaming for sv. Anything less than 3/4” is a waste of time, in my opinion.[/QUOTE


Wow. Great observations and information. Much of What you say mak s sense and may account for the varied and inconsistent results I get.

N Dr time, I’ll pay more attention to the details you enumerated and see if my outcomes improve.

Thanks much.

[tvc184]

It’s hard to show how juicy but this is a 1 1/4” Strip I sous vide about 4 week ago. Crazy moist and the sear didn’t go deep into the thick steak.

I did it about 135° because my wife wanted it that way. I probably would have done about 130° if it was just me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Gunnyart]

I definitely don’t SV fatty cuts like ribeye and keeping the cuts over an inch is correct. The brief chill in the fridge not only prevents over cooking during the sear but really dries the surface so you get a good crust.