Have I just Committed Treason?


 

WJones

New member
I got a Sous Vide cooker for my birthday...I've cooked a couple steaks and a pork tenderloin with it, finishing with a stovetop grilling pan. Ok they were perfect except NO BBQ Character at all. I'm thinking I'll give the next ones a 2-3 minute kiss on on the Genesis.
I hate to fire up my WSM but maybe there's a connection.
Anyone have any ideas for using this technology with what we do in here...
 
I got a Sous Vide cooker for my birthday...I've cooked a couple steaks and a pork tenderloin with it, finishing with a stovetop grilling pan. Ok they were perfect except NO BBQ Character at all. I'm thinking I'll give the next ones a 2-3 minute kiss on on the Genesis.
I hate to fire up my WSM but maybe there's a connection.
Anyone have any ideas for using this technology with what we do in here...

Here's the question I always ask myself when wondering about the sous vide craze: if I have to fire up one of my 10 Webers to make my sous vide meats taste good, then why am I even bothering with the multi hour hot tub bath to begin with?

Don't see myself ever going the sous vide route. Lol.

Sous vide is great for very large restaurant applications when they can have hundreds of pieces of meat ready in advance to only need a quick sear as they are ordered. Restaurants use it for logistics, not because it makes a better steak, etc. Having a tiny version in your kitchen that makes a steak in hours that you can grill perfectly and that tastes better on a grill in minutes, just doesn't seem like a good way to go to me.
 
I love my sous vide. More importantly my wife loves my sous vide. Perfectly cooked, thick chops or steaks, everytime. Chicken cooked to a lower temp so it's still juicy. Sear them in a cast iron skillet with some butter. Or throw them on a hot grill for the sear. Whatever suits you at the time.

There's a time and place for everything.
 
If you committed treason then you're not alone. Last summer I experimented a lot with combining the tenderness of the Sous Vide with the flavor of smoked BBQ. I did ribs, pulled Pork, and Brisket. Each more than once. I converted an old 48 qt. cooler to a Sous Vide cooker so I could handle large hunks of meat. I played with Sous Vide first and then smoke but settled on Smoke, then Sous Vide, and then smoke or omit the last smoke session. Sous Vide first just doesn't give you enough smoke flavor. It takes planning, definitely more work than just smoking, and a lot more time, but it does give excellent tasting and very tender food. Here's a post I made in June in the "Why can't we just call it all barbecue" thread. "I cooked a Brisket for Fathers Day. It had bark and a smoke ring. It passed the pull test, sliced wonderfully, and tasted great. Was that BBQ? You tell me. Smoker 6 hrs. at 180°, Sous Vide 36 hrs. at 165, smoke 2 hours, rest, and serve." That's, essentially, 2 full days devoted to the Brisket cook plus prep time.

Everyone gets to decide if it's worth the extra work and time. Since I can get the flavor and tenderness without the Sous Vide I'm sticking with my Smoker alone for BBQ. However, I had a lot of fun and some good eats arriving at that conclusion.
 

 

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