Why sous vide steak is better

Our customers say that steak cooked withsous vide is better than what they could produce using a grill, stovetop, oroven. The reason – when usingtraditional methods of cooking, heat transfers inefficiently. For example, whenyou use a grill, stovetop, or oven, heat and temperature fluctuate. Accordingto this Slate article, “A 350-degree residential oven is designed to stay between around 330and 370 degrees—and that’s if it’s well-calibrated…” Your stovetop and grill are evenless precise. Ever wonder what the difference is between “9” and “high” on your stovetop?

Let’s take a look at your steak when it’s cooked on a grill, stovetop, or in an oven:

Heat fluctuation:    >40°

Medium-rare steak target temp:     129° F / 54° C

Difference between medium-rare and medium:    5°

Chances of hitting 129° F / 54° C:  0%

Heat moving through air is impossible tocontrol or predict. It’s always in flux, which is why you often can’t take your eye off that steakwithout it burning. Sous vide eliminates this difficulty – set the temperature to 129° F / 54° C, and you’ll get steak cooked precisely to129° / 54°.

Even if you get lucky and come close toyour target temp, it’s impossible for you hit that temp on anything more than a fractionof the finished product. That’s because heat transfers from the “outside-in” in uneven bands, leaving most of the steak at a temp well above thetarget. With sous vide, the entire steak is cooked evenly, resulting in, well,perfection.

meat cooking                          sous vide