Sous Vide How to pasteurize steak?

Been reading on the web and haven't found anything that's been terribly clear or trustworthy, so I thought I'd ask the pros. How do you do it? I'm thinking maybe boneless 1.5" thick NY strip. Wife is preggers but I'm dying to try the sous vide yet make sure it's safe.

Witing for the pros to chime in may be safer, but this is where i would look:

http://www.douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html#Beef

Stefan

Thanks, Stefan!

I don't think you can 'pasteurize' a steak and still keep it edible. Sous Vide might be your worst option due to the long time spent in the time/temp danger zone. Irradiation might be the only, if thoroughly impractical, option.
Start off with meat from a reliable source and follow some basic HACCP procedures...you should be GTG. Or just cook to extra well done (again, not a good option).
Congrats on the impending new arrival.

Maybe the anova will have to wait until after the new year when the babys here. I don't want to take any chances. I do have a spaetzel maker I haven't used yet

And thanks! Kid #2 and we are DONE!

really? Assuming sous vide is done properly, there should be no problem eating med-rare meat. You're probably at more risk from good caesar salad dressing than a med-rare steak

I'm no expert, which is why I was asking. So much caution on the intrawebz about avoiding sous vide while pregnant.

avoid poorly done sous vide or things at extremely low temps. There are time/temp charts that show how long you need to kill bacteria.

JBroida said:

avoid poorly done sous vide or things at extremely low temps. There are time/temp charts that show how long you need to kill bacteria.

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Agreed. The warnings get a little crazy. No reason to avoid sous vide.....just don't use crazy low temps or let your steak sit in the danger zone after sous vide. Either rapid chill, or finish with a sear and eat. And use a local, reputable butcher.

Each to their own and all but I have tried steak every way I can think of. Done sv so many times now, I have decided grilled is by far better.

If you do vs, the best way I gp have found is to take it to about 120 and flash it on each side with a very hot cast iron pan (assuming you wanted it a bit more done).

Honestly I just don't see the value in sv for steak.

You can kill any bacteria off and still cook steak medium rare - the trick is to do it long enough: Here is a great reference:

http://www.foodprotect.org/issues/packets/2012Packet/attachments/III_018__all.pdf

a 7 log 10 reduction can be obtained in 121 minutes once the meat has reached an internal temperature of 130. I'm not sure how long that takes but it is hard to believe that say 3 or 4 hours in a 130 degree sous vide bath wouldn't give you the 7 fold reduction you would want to solve your problem.

Also you can sear the outside to kill off surface bacteria for example and sear again after taking it out of the souse vide. (I actually dry then use a hair dryer to dry some more before searing in a super hot cast iron pan when I make steaks sous vide - oh so good. But more a home cook technique than a restaurant technique I suspect :- ))

Vesteroid said:

Honestly I just don't see the value in sv for steak.

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I thought that one of the main advantages is that there would be uniform doneness (through a cross section), rather than progressively less cooked from outside to center.

Let's you turn cheap cuts like chuck roast into something as tender as the best filet but much tastier, :- )

+1 ... follow Baldwin (from apicius above) along with ecchef's general guidlines and you won't go wrong ... if you, or your pregers, are worried about it just don't eat meat for what is obviously < 9 months ... after all it was probably a great steak + copious quantaties of red wine that got you in the situation you find yourselves in today = ;-) , just kidding - actually CONGRADULATIONS are in order & wishing you a healthy and happy bouncing baby and mother!

Namaxy said:

Agreed. The warnings get a little crazy. No reason to avoid sous vide.....just don't use crazy low temps or let your steak sit in the danger zone after sous vide. Either rapid chill, or finish with a sear and eat. And use a local, reputable butcher.

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Either eat meat or don't...You don't need to pasteurize good meat. Also Sous Vide is pretty much nonsense. Sear it hot cast iron pan constant flip method, let rest and eat.

I'd rather eat a steak cooked the pioneer way than some molecular gastronomy jerk method. Also be sure to fry it in duck fat, the baby needs his cholesterol for the skin. My grandmother lived to be 96 and she didn't have money to be delivered in some hospital. She was dirt poor and pretty much had most of her medicine cooked up by her mom on the farm. Also she swore by Dr. Chases book who was a known quack.

Ground beef is far more likely to be risky than a solid piece of beef.

first of all many congrats!

Personally I think it makes good sense to reduce risks, I rather err on the side of cautious. I used a polyscience app to assess times when my wife was pregnant.



enjoy the pregnancy and the dinner!

riba said:

first of all many congrats!

Personally I think it makes good sense to reduce risks, I rather err on the side of cautious. I used a polyscience app to assess times when my wife was pregnant.

enjoy the pregnancy and the dinner!

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Let's try again with a link

Thanks guys

Don't stress too much over what's on the "do not eat" list. They need to cover their butts so they tend to go overboard. If you think about it, people all over the world eat the same stuff they normally do while being pregnant and most don't have dietary restrictions. When I had my last two they gave me a huge list of what to stay away from, which I didn't really pay attention to. My sister in law is now pregnant and her dr just said to practice moderation like you normally would. The one thing I did and do recommend staying away from is deli meat. You don't know how long it's been sitting there.

We are a little lax now with our second. Hehe. Funny, the only things we've stayed away from are unpasteurized cheeses and dirty water dogs. Here in NJ, deli meat flies off the meat counter like its free, so she's had the occassional sandwich

I never thought you could sou vide a steak either but I guess it's worth trying for the even texture.

Clarence said:

I never thought you could sou vide a steak either but I guess it's worth trying for the even texture.

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Why wouldn't you be able to cook a steak under vacuum?

I'll just add from an evolutionary POV, Humans (mammals) are designed to eat, decayed rotting caucuses. I know that doesn't sound to appetizing, and I'm certainly not advocating it, but truth is there are very few ways to preserve dead animal tissue without it decaying (and fast).


Our early ancestors didn't turn all their meat into salted smoked Jerky either. Just saying, most people are paranoid and delusional regarding what human's could consume and live happily.

For me, I'll take my dry aged, desiccated, platelet coagulated NY strip medium rare please.

+1!

We are scavengers. Hunters and gatherers.

Nothing like scavenged dry aged prime. Although sometime it can be over kill.

Mucho Bocho said:

I'll just add from an evolutionary POV, Humans (mammals) are designed to eat, decayed rotting caucuses. I know that doesn't sound to appetizing, and I'm certainly not advocating it, but truth is there are very few ways to preserve dead animal tissue without it decaying (and fast).


Our early ancestors didn't turn all their meat into salted smoked Jerky either. Just saying, most people are paranoid and delusional regarding what human's could consume and live happily.

For me, I'll take my dry aged, desiccated, platelet coagulated NY strip medium rare please.

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I'm not quite sure what you are asserting MB...but...the evidence is pretty clear that the growth in brain size and fold complexity (two of the most important indicators of intelligence) is unparalleled since the advent of cooking--i.e. "raw food diet is complete and utter shite*"....I dunno how that interacts with your thesis though.



*meaning we aren't built for eating a raw food diet. we are built for eating primarily vegetables, with a little bit of meat, and most of it cooked.

Maybe you cook it to a much higher internal temperature than it should be? I don't really know.

Hi there
for a better texture by a long time sous-vide you should have a first bath of 4 Minutes at +-65°C and then in a bath with the temperature you need in meat's core.
If higher Temperatures are needed for your wife you should use a CLEAN meat tenderizer (Jaquard or Microplane) to have a juicier meat.
Cheers