Steak – Cooking Sous Vide

[ElsieD]

I was at our local butchers today to buy a brisket which I plan to turn into corned beef. While there, I saw they had hanger steak which is a cut of meat I have heard lots about (and maybe even eaten in a restaurant). So, not having had one before, I had to buy it. It is now sitting sitting in my fridge waiting for me to do something with it. I was thinking of cooking it sous vide and I am wondering - will it take a long cook, say 48 hours? Or does it need a quick cook much like, say, a striploin, followed by a quick sear? Should I put a rub of some sort on it before cooking it?

Any thoughts are appreciated by this sous vide newbie.

Elsie

[avaserfi]

My absolute favorite cut of beef is the hanger. In fact, my favorite days are when we get a whole cow in at work. As soon as I get to butcher the short loin, I pull out the small bit of hanger that often finds its way left in the subprimal from the slaughter house (most of it is found in the plate) and we have a small staff snack. Most of the time this portion isn't good enough looking to sell (the cows we get are 20+ days dry aged and this portion of the hanger is left exposed), but they are delicious.

If cooking the hanger sous vide, I would (and have) cook the hanger at 55-56C for an hour or until cooked through, season and then sear it very hard. Slice thinly against the grain and serve. Hanger steaks are intensely beefy, but aren't the most tender cut of meat because of their grain structure, so they need to be sliced similar to flank before serving.

[inductioncook]

I do it at 52 degrees C for about 40 minutes, or until caught up to that temperature, then sear in a pan or under a salamander (broiler) or use a blowtorch. Don't cook it for 48 hours. Nice post by aveserfi.

[inductioncook]

It's also awfully good just cooked quickly by conventional means until the center is at least 50 degrees C. A lot of people marinate or rub it but it is such a flavorful cut -- maybe the most flavorful steak of all -- that seems a shame to me. Some times in France it is "butterflied" and opened up and seared quickly. That's called an "onglet ouvert."

[Justin Uy]

Hanger steak is probably my favorite cut to do sous vide. I've got two of them sitting in the fridge as I type this.

I'm going to agree with the others and say doing it to temperature is the way to go. I've gone as long as 12 hours with it, and it didn't lose any texture, but it seems that the longer that it's in the bath, the more the kidney/organish notes come to the surface.

[vengroff]

I'll add another vote for cooking just to temperature (54.4C for medium rare) followed by a quick sear.

Edited March 12, 2012 by vengroff (log)

[rlibkind]

De gustibus non disputandem, but why on earth would you want to cook this SV? It's quicker, easier to grill/broil, the way God meant! Save the SV for where it's tastier, easier or more appropriate. Call me an old school curmudgeon.

[Chris Hennes]

You're an old-school curmudgeon. SV is easy as can be, and basically foolproof. Why not SV it?

[Todd in Chicago]

I was lucky enough to stumble across a bowl of these in my local butcher shop recently (5 of them) and bought all of them. They are already cooked SV and currently frozen and ready for a reheat/sear. I can't remember the time/temp at the moment, but I believe these were sub 130 F. I normally don't cook very many things less than 130, but I got the time/temp (I think from MC) from somewhere. Since I normally always use 130 F for a reheat, anytime I cook anything less than that I note it on the bag so that upon reheat, I will never go over the original temp. I'll see how they turn out, my wifes a stickler for tender been and is hooked on tenderloin and usually frowns on much else. I do love the hanger and a restaurant across the street (BLT) in Chicago has hanger steak on the menu.

Cheers....

Todd in Chicago

[ElsieD]

Thank you all for the help. I cooked it sous vide at 134F followed by a quick sear. I thinly sliced it across the grain and I dare say it is the best piece of beef I have ever tasted. Better yet, I cut the thing in half and packaged each separately so I have the other half for another day. The butcher had several of them in the freezer so I think I'll go back and scoop me some more.

[kryptos1]

I went to a higher end grocery store and asked for Hanger steak and he said he cannot get them due to everyone exporting it to Japan. Anyone else heard this? I get them from a local farmer usually.

[m61376]

Thank you all for the help. I cooked it sous vide at 134F followed by a quick sear. I thinly sliced it across the grain and I dare say it is the best piece of beef I have ever tasted. Better yet, I cut the thing in half and packaged each separately so I have the other half for another day. The butcher had several of them in the freezer so I think I'll go back and scoop me some more.

So how long did you land up cooking it for?

[ElsieD]

I cooked cooked it sous vide for an hour. It was perfect. I did separate the steak into two halves and each would have been slightly over a pound as the whole thing was just over a kilo.

[Todd in Chicago]

I was lucky enough to stumble across a bowl of these in my local butcher shop recently (5 of them) and bought all of them. They are already cooked SV and currently frozen and ready for a reheat/sear. I can't remember the time/temp at the moment, but I believe these were sub 130 F. I normally don't cook very many things less than 130, but I got the time/temp (I think from MC) from somewhere. Since I normally always use 130 F for a reheat, anytime I cook anything less than that I note it on the bag so that upon reheat, I will never go over the original temp. I'll see how they turn out, my wifes a stickler for tender been and is hooked on tenderloin and usually frowns on much else. I do love the hanger and a restaurant across the street (BLT) in Chicago has hanger steak on the menu.

Cheers....

Todd in Chicago

I did just check my bags in the freezer....not sure where I got the time/temp from, but did 12 hours @ 131F. My thought is to bring up to temp in a 130F bath, and then a quick sear either on the grill or a pan. We'll see how it comes out!

Todd in Chicago

[Abe]

It takes an hour to pasteurize per inch of steak. 57 C for 1 hour, take it out, pat it dry, sear it, and eat it!

Good luck

[ElsieD]

I recently purchased a couple of flat iron steaks. I have never purchased these before but want to cook them sous vide. I have researched the topic on google and it seems people cook it from anywhere to one hour to 72 hours. What have you found to be the best length of time? I will be doing them at 132F. Thank you.

[KennethT]

I'm not exactly sure what a flat iron steak is - is it similar to flank steak? I commonly do flank steak at 132 for 24 hours, then a fast sear and it comes out great every time.

[Kerry Beal]

I do 24 hours at 55º C.

[Keith_W]

Before you cook it, make sure that the tough fascia that runs down the middle has been removed. Ideally your butcher should have removed this before cutting the meat into steaks, but some butchers simply leave it in. The problem with this fascia is - if you cook your steak long enough to tenderize it, the rest of the meat will be overcooked.

Note I am Australian, and I believe your "flat iron steak" is the same as our "oyster blade steak". It is quite plausible that butchering practice in the USA is different to here.

[rotuts]

if you can, try to get the 'steak' as a roast: its a blade roast. its much easier to take out the central tendon that runs between the two muscles.

you will end up with 4 very nice steaks where the muscle fibers run horizontally through the meat rather than the usual cut for steak which is across the grain.

if the tough bits are removed, I like 130.1 for 8 hours. this 'cut' is also very tasty for a quick hot grilling.

[Zeemanb]

For the money, this is one of my favorite cuts...we can generally always get Piedmontese or Belgian Blue from our local butcher, and I'll even get Wagyu from time to time. It's also what I started on as far as sous vide, initially using what David Chang refers to as the "ghetto" method in my sink before I got a SVS. I usually only cook it for a couple of hours at 122-123F and then finish with a quick sear in a blazing hot pan or on the grill. The last time I made it was w/wet aged Belgian, and it was honestly one of the best steaks I've ever cooked at home.

[rotuts]

Wow, arnt you lucky! I usually end up with Stop&Shop! no decent (fairly priced) butchers near me.

If you butcher allows, many of us ( ie me) would love to see some snaps of the Meat Case!

[Zeemanb]

I think I took some photos for my eG blog last year in the link below. But yeah, Paradise Locker Meats in Trimble, Missouri is where I go....family owned and operated, just fantastic people and price/selection are pretty solid. Selection is ever-changing. I'll try to remember to get more photos when I'm up there next time.

[ElsieD]

I did do them for 24 hours at 55C. Unfortunately, I had marinated them in teriyaki sauce for a while beforehand and the steaks were mush. Only after they were cooked did I look at the ingredient list on the jar of sauce and found it contained Asian pear which of course, is what turned the meat to mush. The flavour was good, texture not. Thank you all for responding.

[BigDan1989]

I'm going to be doing steak for a dinner party at the weekend but people want their steak cooked differently. What's the best way to tackle this as I only have one sous vide cooker? Should I set the water temperature to the highest needed and then remove the steaks once they get to their target core temperature or will I have to do it in batches?

Thanks for any help