I have spent a good bit of time playing with sous vide. There are some things where I think sous vide is superior to other methods, but not very many. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts that are going to be used for some other dish rather than as a main item.... Cook those for 2.5 to 3 hours at 140°F in a sous vide bath. Season them in the bag however you like. That will be the most tender and juicy chicken breasts you have ever had. You can pan sear those in oil or ghee when they are done if you like to serve them as a main dish... It's also a fantastic method for turning a chuck roast into a steak. 18 hours in the bath at 130-132 tenderizes the chuck roast and gives it a texture very similar to ny strip steaks. Just follow it with a sear over fire or on a flat surface... great stuff. My primary use for sous vide circulators is for perfect reheating of other meats that I have vacuum sealed and put in the freezer. That, alone, makes a sous vide circulator worth having.
Man Cave Meals thanks John. Just used it to reheat some left over ribs that we had froze. Best reheated meal ever. Definitely worth having, just doesn’t put all other cooking methods out of business
I've. Done a sous vide brisket then finished it off on the smoker that was pretty bomb but I wasn't able to get that crust that I wanted.... James should do a sous vide brisket vs traditional competition
Just got a Kamado Joe Jr as a gift and have been marathoning your videos. This one rings true to me as typically sous vide and cast iron sear. Looking forward to my first reverse sear this weekend
I cooked some prime ribeyes on my Kamado Joe at 250 on the grill extender, offset from the hot coals, to 114 degrees. Then took the steaks off. I already had my soapstone low over the coals. After the dome temp got to 600 and the soapstone was 800. put the steaks on the soapstone for two minutes each side. After the steaks rested, I sliced them and the meat was even crust to crust. Just like they claim sous vide does. My experience with sous vide is that it lacks the flavor of a reverse seared steak. So, I agree with you completely. Slightly different techniques, but similar results. footnote, my steaks were only 1 inch thick, so I'm thinking that cooking them on the soapstone at a lower temperature, say 500 would yield a better result.
Appreciated the comparison. I wonder if you had smoked the SV steak first, then finished sous vide. I've seen that done b4. Also what about using a ribeye or NY strip vs. the cut you used. Round 2?
This is a fantastic video. I've been saving it to watch since I became a subscriber. I like sous vide, especially for pork chops, but think the grill is still typically best for steak.
Both cooking methods have its benefits. Lol yes, completely biased observation there. I would consider a few degrees higher on the sous vide and probably longer... that being said, it’s all preferential. I think in these cases where the meat can absorb smoke and flavor from the wood, it’s likely it would win. The sous vide is great for tenderizing but needs help in getting more flavor, especially if the flavor is coming from smoke; and as you said for a large party and not to get anyone sick. I think the sous vide has a better chance if we are going reverse sear through the oven and finishing the same way. Thoughts?
I normally SV at 129, i thought the 131 would be enough to help render out the fat but maybe 135 for 3 hours would have been better. I like my sous vide machine for different things, its a great tool... but if we have company over and I want to put my absolutely best tasting steak on the table its not the tool I use
Flat iron is a tough steak (pun intended) for this comparison test. I would say that you might have gotten better results with the Sous vide steak if you would have increased the temp by a few degrees. Fat starts to render at 130 and connective tissue/collagen start to break down at 160. Taking it to 133 will help render out the fat but neither cooking method here will get the collagen to breakdown unless you like charred steaks. I shoot for 133.5 on my Sous vide and go for 2.5 hours for 1.5 inch ribeyes and then finish over ripping hot coals for about 1 minute per side. I do salt mine before vacuum sealing but I hit them with Maldon salt before tabling (in response to the comment below that Sous vide requires more salt). For the record I love reverse searing as well. I would say try this again with ribeye steaks and see if you still think there is such a distinctly clear winner.
I use to love sous-vide before i got my kamado but now reverse sear on charcoal is the only way to go. I still think sous-vide is good if you only own a gas grill as reverse sear on a gas grill is not as good since it dries out the steak more and you don't get that charcoal flavour anyways. Great video as always.
thanks so much. I like sous vide most for reheating leftovers without over cooking them. just did this last night with two half racks of ribs and they were nearly as good as the day we cooked them
@@SmokingDadBBQ Were they frozen before going into the sous vide? I was trying to figure out ways to store extras and reheat them properly. My favorite thing about he sous vide is being able to cook anything from a frozen state and not having to worry about over-cooking. Thanks for the video!
I’ve been sous vide cooking now for a couple years while living in a condo that didn’t allow bbq. I loved the consistent cooking and used a smoking hot cast iron pan to sear them off afterwards…BUT… they always seemed to be missing something. Now that we’ve given up on the retirement condo trial run and have purchased a new home… the Kamado Joe is being delivered TOMORROW
Thanks for this video, an exciting comparison. What I always wonder about the reverse sear method is, if the steak lies outside in the time until the grill is hot, then the core temperature falls back again?
Short answer is yes, and thats a good thing. If I cook a steak to 120f internal temp on a grill at 250f the steak has upward momentum like when you spring of a trampoline.... if you remove the trampoline the second you bounce you continue to go up for a short while before coming back down. Steak does the same thing and often gains ~10f during the rest so now your steak is at 130. If you sear it while its still climbing 130 quickly becomes 140+ which is why waiting until the steak has peaked and is on its way back time is the best time to sear as you can build your crust without changing the overall doneness of the steak
Not sure why sous vide and reverse sear videos have come up today but in both videos the sous vide was under cooked (not safe) and or was not used to its full potential. Tougher meat can and should be cooked longer to further tenderize and render the fat. I often use both sous vide then low smoke finish the steak on the grill. Best of both worlds. Sounds like a lot but let the sous vide do most of the cooking while you watch a movie and spend less time managing a fire. My last chuck eye was cut with a fork. To be fair it was wagu.
spicy argentinian chimichurri Finely chop 2 cups fresh parsley, 1 seeded red chilli pepper, 2 cloves garlic snd combine in a bowl with 3tbsp olive oil. 1tbsp rice vinegar, 1/2 tbsp kosher salt, and 1/4 tbsp crushed red pepper flakes. Whisk well and refrigerate 1hr before serving
Great review, I'm still a sous vide fan, but its one of those things, were we need rotation in our household. To much of the same method anything tends to drive my wife and I crazy. (She mentioned yesterday she's done with smoked foods for a while 😬😂) Once again great review and glad you were able to get the wife involved!
In my world, definitely sous vide > other approaches for getting the meat cooked. The sear, however, nothing beats that charcoal high temperature. My experiences with reverse sear were definitely positive, I just preferred the drastic non-gradient seared outside and the juicy coloring inside.
thanks Andrew. I haven’t used one so in general I try not to give advice that might lead you one way or the other on 0 experience. not specific to that grill, I like Kamado style cookers for their jack of all trades utility, energy efficiency, no rust and lifetime warranty
Hi I am wanting to see you use a classic 2 in your videos. I do not have a big joe 3 with a slow roller. Is there a difference between the 2? What are the difference in setting up a 2? I hope that you can tell those difference in cook time temp direct vs indirect. Thanks for the help
Great video! Question for ya...what gloves do you use for your grill, and do you have a preferred grill brush? I'm waiting on delivery of my KJ Classic II now, and excited to get going soon! thanks
sjarr99 congratulations on the new joe. I am using these High heat gloves - amzn.to/3fNQsU5(good for up to 930f. Changed to these in 2020 after old ones got holes)
I have been asking for and looking forward to this test for awhile! I sort of knew where it would end up with you, ;-) but it doesn't really bother me, I'm also not as passionate about how legitimate your "blind taste test" was as some others. I get my KJ this week so I am anxious to see the RS charcoal results after only doing steak via SV for years!! We usually cook up much thicker steaks(1-1/2" +), and have had nothing but rave reviews for how the SV creates perfectly done meat . I tend to torch most often and will spend extra time around the fat when searing since the rendering is one of the sticking points for SV cooking, but choosing less fatty cuts also helps. I do agree with others that the smoke probably should have been left out as it biased the taste too much, and the time & temp might not have been high enough for the SV, especially on tougher cuts like the flat iron. I have made sirloin that was as tender as a $50 filet by leaving in bath for 3 hrs, and amazing carnitas from 24 hour SV bath on some pork shoulder, and the most perfect scallops ever and don't even get me started on SV strawberries! OMG!! So I'm still going to keep SV in the arsenal but am anxious to try out RS very soon! They are all just tools and no one tool is perfect for everything. Great job James and thanks for all the awesome content you keep producing!
Thanks Garen, much appreciated. Congratulations on the Joe, I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the reverse sear. My thoughts was best foot forward for each method which is why I included the smoke, the face that you can’t get some depth of flavour elements in of itself is part of the difference between the two. I love having my SV for lots of things, it just isn’t what I grab for my best effort when hosting guests and we want to impress them with a steak
One thing I have learned about the sous vide is for some reason, it seems that I have always needed to add more salt than I normally think is right. I wonder if that's because it distributes more through the meat so you are not getting the salt pop on your tongue like would when it is mostly on the crust. One more thing, I have found no better defroster or re-heater than my sous vide.
Interesting video! What do you attribute the better rendering to since the internals of the different steaks aren’t exposed to much difference in temperature regardless of the method?
I may have missed it because I haven't seen ALL of your videos, BUT, I'm having issues with the TRANSITION from smoke to inferno mode on the KJ3 Classic. I have Weber cotton mitts, BBQ Dragon insulated gloves, leather gloves and insulated rubber gloves. NONE of these are good enough to handle the grates and heat deflectors. Can you do a video on your techniques or provide a hint or two?
sure will do... my gloves can take the deflector plates or a soapstone etc. for short periods no problem without burning me... maybe the gloves you have don't provide as much protection
THIS is why I watch your videos! Awesome content. This video would have been epic if at the last second your wife pulled out a plate, scraped all the steak B into it, and while walking away said "Enjoy your dinner!" P.S. A little scotch tape or painters tape over your recording devices microphone will kill the wind buffering. You are welcome.
So eye-opening! Love both methods! You guys chewing the steak was making our mouths water like crazy!!!!!!!! Now we want some steak with our eggs this morning!!!! Awesome job James!!!!🤤👏🔥💪
Great review, but a little KJ bias! LOL I do my Sous Vide at a lower temp (115) so I can get more sear. You are correct on the smoke part, but I actually do not add smoke to my steaks, that is just my preference. I was surprised about the tenderness part, when I have done it both ways, and have even done this as a comparison test. Every time the Sous Vide was more tender and have had multiple people say the same thing. I also go about 2 1/2 hours up to 3 hours on a thicker steak in the Sous Vide. Great video as always James!
Thanks so much... what do you think I did wrong on the tenderness for the SV? I did dry brine all the steaks ahead of time, and I saw the butcher trim them from all the same piece.
Smoking Dad BBQ I wouldn’t say you did anything wrong, my only guess would be the time in Sous Vide, I usually go 2 1/2 hours minim, but not more than 3. I have even done thin venison steaks for 2 hours and they get more tender Sous Vide. The one wild card is your knowledge on the KJ, you have that dialed in! Keep up the great cooks!
What a great test! Had fun watching this. Going to do the same test very soon. As always, thanks for the tips! Question: I've used KJ reversible cast iron griddle in the Kamado as opposed to the grates to sear and it was fantastic. Thoughts on cast iron vs direct over flame on grate?
In my experience Sous Vid shine most when you take advantage of its greatest advantage which is, time. The moment I heard the Sous would only be two hours my reaction was that's simply not enough time. Better would be twelve hours. Input for a future comparison perhaps...
Rodrigo Garcia sure thing. I use three salts primarily, the one in the video is called diamond kosher crystal salt. Links to all three so you know what to look for in the store below. Dry brine salt - amzn.to/3bCgVRU (dry brine steaks, chicken etc,) Smoked sea salt - amzn.to/3bBlXOw (My go to for adding to dishes) Favourite finishing salt - amzn.to/3g2jUXw (Fleur de Sel, best finishing salt for steaks)
Smoking Dad BBQ awesome ❤️! Thank you! And I think you mentioned on the video that you used a rub with dry garlic and pepper without salt? You made yourself that one or you purchased somewhere?
Rodrigo Garcia not sure if it’s 💯 salt fee but I find it doesn’t get too salty when used on a dry brined steak. bigtimebbqshop.net/collections/big-time-bbq/products/big-time-steak-rub
Have you ever reversed seared a wagyu steak or a Dry Aged steak? I think that Sous Vide is better for these because it keeps more of their flavors. Great Video Regards
Yes I have, and they came out awesome. here is the link if you want to check it out Waygu caveman reverse sear - th-cam.com/video/WGo-Sq1jbhU/w-d-xo.html 50 dry aged tomahawk reverse sear - th-cam.com/video/EWu4xdjugNA/w-d-xo.html
Great comparison! I have the same exact sous vide and they work perfect but are very boring to use compared to the grill. That being said.....I just sous vide cooked some steaks the other day and blasted them with the torch from my forge and they were to die for! Maybe I need to fix something with my grill game🤔. Great video James and Sarah!
It is handy for reheating food. We reheated some baby backs we had left over and froze last night for dinner and I was impressed that they unthawed and came out nearly as good as the first time... so for reheating i like it. For cooking, I don't prefer it to reverse sear
Sous Vide is fantastic for pork, steak, brisket and other cuts of meat. Try watching Sous Vide Everything and watch some of the great creations he has made. A Sous Vide machine should run you under $200 so they’re very reasonable. He’s right about the fat rendering. Pork Butts have a lot more waste when you Sous Vide them but the pork is unbelievably tender. I trim most of the fat off of meats that I Sous Vide vs if I smoke. Plus and minuses to both cooking methods.
Thanks so much... I am now down to 110 and working my way lower. In my video that will come out Thursday I left the probe in after removing it at 110f and it continued all the way to 128f on the rest before the sear which would add some more. I am now thinking 105 as i like medium rare
Smoking Mom is like "yes I've put up with your s**t for 10 years at LEAST" 🤣🤣😂 Love the videos, keep it up! As a fellow vlogger and someone that has started doing cook along livestreams on his channel I've done a lot of microphone tests and I can highly recommend the Rode Video Micro ... also comes with some deadcat mic shields and should help a LOT with the mic popping that you're getting outside with the wind. Maybe check it out!
thanks so much. hehe that for sure was her inner dialogue 😂. just got a takstar mic and a dadcat which I hope helps. this weeks video was the first to have it
@@SmokingDadBBQ I love my kamado but it s a really whole process.The last few months have cooked batches of 2 inches steaks sous vide, and I just reheat them quickly from the freezer + flame thrower or on the Otto (just got it).Great results and very time efficient
thanks. you don’t need to do it as long but chuck done low and slow can make a few things. you can make poor mans burnt ends, you can do shredded beef or treat it like a brisket and do slices. I like the pulled beef sandwich the most with chuck
Lol. I pulled a Guga and a ninja lol. 😂. Sarah the smoking wife does she have a channel too? I really liked this video (had to watch it again in the morning).
I don’t think you can compare a grilled steak to a sous vide steak bc the flavor profiles are different I think if you cooked the other steak in the oven and then seared it would’ve been a more even taste … that being said I do like to grill but I live where it gets cold sometimes I considered buying a sous vide for chicken or red meat bc I don’t cook read meat that often but I guess I just better stick to a temperature probe
I'd call any method where you cook the steak indirectly and then sear it a reverse sear, including the sous vide one :) I do however completely agree that the results of a grilled reverse seared steak will be superior to a sous vide reverse seared steak. That said, I'm not sure how you get the temperature results you do when you discuss that momentum cooking. In my experience, especially when I do a cold grate sear with the Slow n Sear, searing can add 15-20 C to the internal temperature, so if you're also rising 15-20 C with the momentum cook I'm not sure how your steaks don't end up overcooked. Granted, I only have a kettle; I imagine your fire is much hotter than mine, but I suppose my steaks are a lot closer to my fire than yours are; maybe that explains it.
Great question. Using a probe to chart it, I’ve seen the temp continue to rise to close to done temp and then start to fall back down. So when I throw it on to sear for 30 seconds a side it comes back up but generally not past the temp it was at from carry over cooking during the rest
Really curious how you "found there is carry over heat from sous vide"... I think that's literally not possible. Once you remove the meat from the water bath the temp starts to fall... Different cuts of meat will decrease in heat at different rates but none will ever increase...
I should re-phrase that... i cooked it SV to close to finishing temp (135) and then immediately seared it which over cooked it a bit in this example so I found its better to let it rest and cool off (say 120 ish) and then sear so that you never go above the desired temp
@@SmokingDadBBQ thanks for the reply! Just wanted to be sure I wasn't crazy 😁 I less the hard way as well that you don't want to cook a steak SV to finish temp. 120 is a great place to stop if you plan to sear right away. love the content... Take care!
I appreciate the blind taste test but this still isn't fair because you and your wife are use to the reverse sear method so it's more familiar and appealing to you two. It's like comparing everything to grandma's cooking even though someone else might not think your grandma's cooking is better than their grandma's cooking. I personally enjoy both methods and I would have cook the sous vide for an hour and threw it on the grill a little longer to absorb more smoke. Either way, keep up the good work.
I do appreciate any taste test is hugely subjective and if it weren’t for covid I would love a group of 10 equally representing sous vide to charcoal to vote
One possibility that you didn't consider in this video. You could sous vide the steaks all night and then sear them. Obviously you're not going to get as good flavor as reverse searing regardless, but to address the specific issue of the connective tissue breaking down it would probably be more effective with a long sous vide time.
You shouldn't sous vide a regular steak more than 3 hours tops. You're turning the connective tissue essentially into mush. I guess whatever floats your boat.
@@SmokingDadBBQ On a serious note, Guga is the master of sous vide and you’re rapidly becoming the master of the grill. You’re giving those smoker TH-camrs from Mississippi and points south a run for their money.
Tremayne Myles no worries. Love questions. It was about 10min while the grill got up to the temp I wanted for searing and then I rested about 10 min additional after searing before slicing
First and foremost, great use of duct tape - go Canada 🇨🇦 🤩. Do you have a link to that small cooling rack? I have a huge cookie sheet one but it would be nice to have a ‘portion sized’ one. Maybe I didn’t search well enough. Anyhow - great job!
www.amazon.ca/KITCHENATICS-Professional-Stainless-Roasting-Oven-Safe/dp/B0182R3UFY/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?ie=UTF8&psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title&th=1 and
I'm a big fan of reverse sear and think it's better then sous vide. But to be fair you put sous vide behind the eight ball especially in the flavor category. When you added the peach wood there was no way sous vide had a chance.. there was no way to replicate that . Not a fair contest
Reverse sear shouldn't have to fight with one hand tied behind its back to accommodate for the flavour shortcomings of sous vide cooking. Each method should put its best foot forward
@@SmokingDadBBQ - The contest is or at least how you're stating it is sous vide vs reverse sear which METHOD is better. Then that's what it should be about. The cooking method which method works best. You went ahead and prep the meat the same, seasoned the meat the same then when you went to test the actual method: reverse sear or sous vide you gave reverse sear an advantage.. reverse sear is cooking something at a low temperature to make sure you get the desired internal temperature of the meat.. you can do it in an over, grill or smoker.. bit no where does it say adding fruit wood is a necessary step in the reverse sear method. I think it was a good video just not necessarily a fair match up
@@SmokingDadBBQ in fact it looked so good i just made one exactly how you did, with the franks sauce then the dry rub, was without doubt the best flavoured stake i think i have ever had. thanks.
If you only gave it about two hours that’s not enough time time for sous vide to render fat on a tough piece of meat, i’ve seen brisket cooked for three days...
Holy crap dude. The look you gave the camera when she said "the middle to me tasted a bit bland" was epic. "Huh!". It validated the last 10 years of your life. Hahaha. I was laughing out loud. Great video. EDIT: and then the smile while asking about the sear on Steak A LOL
almost every video on Guga's SV everything channel uses these temps and times ... i am an SV newbie so i went with those resources given the millions of views and subs
50 day dry aged Ribeyes for xmas dinner several years back. Perfect specimens and I was SOOOO excited. A family member who will remain nameless (MARK) suggested this salt dry brine thing we never heard of before. Information was scarce online so I listened and we proceeded to douse the steaks with TABLE SALT overnight. the next day the extended family gathered to enjoy the hype for the steaks i've been promoting for months leading up to this moment ..... the first bite was the last bite. They were so salty a deer wouldn't lick them
hahaha. It is handy for reheating food. We reheated some baby backs we had left over and froze last night for dinner and I was impressed that they unthawed and came out nearly as good as the first time... so for reheating i like it. For cooking, I don't prefer it to reverse sear
This is a pretty unfair review. First, you have been cooking on the Kamado for years, how many times? And your first go at sous vide is compared with all your experience bbqing? I have been grilling and cooking sous vide for years, and sous vide is not the right tool for everything, but I have cooked some really great meat with it. (My daughter is the biggest foodie and harshest critic I know and she says the tri-tip I made sous vide is the best steak she's ever had.) In some cases I can get better results than I can get on a grill. In some cases a grill or bbq is a better tool. You need to do things differently with sous vide, and it takes some experimentation to get the best results from it. You can definitely get the depth of flavor, smokiness, saltiness, etc. but you can't expect to use the same methodology you would use on the bbq. Just the fact that you didn't properly render the fat should have told you that you were doing something wrong. One of my favorite things to cook sous vide is chicken thighs, but any meat that does well low and slow is great for sous vide. I cook my thighs for eight hours, and I have experimented with many different times. Because you're going to lose liquid that will take salt with it, you can't expect to use the same amount of salt and get the same result as a reverse sear. In the case of my chicken I actually found (to my surprise) that the result is more tender if I don't season it at all until right before I sear it. If you really want to be fair, take some time to learn to use the sous vide machine and methodologies and do some research. Get the best results you can, then do a side-by-side. You may still prefer the reverse sear, but at least you would have done a fair test. Last, an important benefit to barbecue is the slow infusion of smoke. You can add liquid smoke to sous vide, but it's not the same IMO. But I have also found ways to get good smokiness on the grill without overcooking the center of the steak that you so painstakingly and lovingly cooked to perfection. So, I hereby challenge you to master cooking a piece of meat on sous vide and then do a blind taste test with your wife (and some others). And don't let them look at the food. There's an obvious visual difference that may sway your tasters.
Hey Michael, thanks for the note. I still don't think it would be fair, as I think you can taste passion and even after dedicated a decade to perfecting Sous Vide I still wouldn't enjoy it like I do cooking with fire so it still wouldn't be fair. I'd rather find someone who is passionate that can represent team SV as best as possible and do that blind taste test
@@SmokingDadBBQ Yeah, I agree. If you don't love the cook then you're losing a lot, even if the food comes out great. But consider this: as a cook you should have as many tools in your arsenal as possible, and if you can master sous vide and add it to your tool belt then you'll probably find times where it makes sense to use it, and you might enjoy the process more than you think. Most of the time using sous vide is just waiting for it to do its thing, and there is a certain happiness to that, like doing an overnight cook when you know your temp is rock steady. This weekend I'm making duck confit, and I'm doing half the traditional method and half with a 36-hour sous vide. Stand by for the results. I'm starting with a whole duck, so I'm going to cook the breasts in a cast-iron skillet, but I'm considering doing half sous vide there as well, just to compare again. I do personally enjoy complicated cooks, some that take days or longer, so I totally get the joy of doing things the hard way just for the enjoyment and victory in it. And often you can get 95% of the results with a simpler method, but maybe you want that last 5% or you just want the satisfaction of using a traditional method. I think you found something like this with your recent pizza comparison, though in that case I would favor not using a dedicated tool and seeing if I can master my bbq-only technique.
P.S. I've watched a bunch of videos from different people on the KJ (more than I care to admit), and yours are the best, which is the only reason I felt I had to call you out on 1) confirmation bias, 2) bad scientific methodology, and 3) not interpreting and reporting your findings correctly. Smoking dads are better than this. :o) I should also point out that the best sous vide master and the best KJ master head-to-head might still likely favor the reverse sear, especially if you really like the smokiness in your meat. But I think the results would be closer, and it may be more up to individual taste. I still think you should learn more about sous vide and experiment a bit with it and then run the test again. Or, find a local sous vide master to help you. I think the public deserves a more fair and dispassionate comparison, and I think it would be interesting to find out what you learned in the process.
Hi, your problem with sous vide, comes form the lack of experience with it. you seem to have relied on the standard cooking time, coming from the phone app which in most applications does not account for the meat thickness and weight. Give it another shot, for a piece of meat like the one you've shown, leaving it in the water for 3 hours. Of course you cannot get the smoky touch on sous vide, on the other hand, sous vide cooking, retains more of the meat juces in. At the end you will realize that asking which one is better is like asking which one is more beautiful between blonds and brunettes, there is no answer.
I have spent a good bit of time playing with sous vide. There are some things where I think sous vide is superior to other methods, but not very many. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts that are going to be used for some other dish rather than as a main item.... Cook those for 2.5 to 3 hours at 140°F in a sous vide bath. Season them in the bag however you like. That will be the most tender and juicy chicken breasts you have ever had. You can pan sear those in oil or ghee when they are done if you like to serve them as a main dish... It's also a fantastic method for turning a chuck roast into a steak. 18 hours in the bath at 130-132 tenderizes the chuck roast and gives it a texture very similar to ny strip steaks. Just follow it with a sear over fire or on a flat surface... great stuff. My primary use for sous vide circulators is for perfect reheating of other meats that I have vacuum sealed and put in the freezer. That, alone, makes a sous vide circulator worth having.
Man Cave Meals thanks John. Just used it to reheat some left over ribs that we had froze. Best reheated meal ever. Definitely worth having, just doesn’t put all other cooking methods out of business
I've. Done a sous vide brisket then finished it off on the smoker that was pretty bomb but I wasn't able to get that crust that I wanted.... James should do a sous vide brisket vs traditional competition
Totally agree with you on the chicken. It's the one thing I can make with my sous vide that can't even come close to replicating without it.
To add to things Sous vide does well, cream brûlée
Only thing I do sous vide nowadays is fish.
Excellent comparison James, I agree 100% with you! Reverse sear is king!
Thanks Darrin
Just got a Kamado Joe Jr as a gift and have been marathoning your videos. This one rings true to me as typically sous vide and cast iron sear. Looking forward to my first reverse sear this weekend
Good luck!
I’ve done both methods with steak as well as pork as well and find the flavour so much better when you reverse sear using charcoal!!
Mark Andersen agreed
Very cool James really like this challenge and certainly a reverse sear fan.
Thanks so much Matt, much appreciated
Glad to see these since I have recently bought both a Joule sous vide and a Joe!
congratulations on both
I cooked some prime ribeyes on my Kamado Joe at 250 on the grill extender, offset from the hot coals, to 114 degrees. Then took the steaks off. I already had my soapstone low over the coals. After the dome temp got to 600 and the soapstone was 800. put the steaks on the soapstone for two minutes each side. After the steaks rested, I sliced them and the meat was even crust to crust. Just like they claim sous vide does. My experience with sous vide is that it lacks the flavor of a reverse seared steak. So, I agree with you completely. Slightly different techniques, but similar results. footnote, my steaks were only 1 inch thick, so I'm thinking that cooking them on the soapstone at a lower temperature, say 500 would yield a better result.
sounds like you nailed it... i agree its a much better tasting outcome
Appreciated the comparison. I wonder if you had smoked the SV steak first, then finished sous vide. I've seen that done b4. Also what about using a ribeye or NY strip vs. the cut you used. Round 2?
hey i get to eat steak at the end... I am down for as many rounds as it will take lol
This is a fantastic video. I've been saving it to watch since I became a subscriber. I like sous vide, especially for pork chops, but think the grill is still typically best for steak.
Thanks for the sub!
Another great video, man I can't wait to get my kamado joe. Would you kind posting a video of how to grill really thick pork chops!?
Mind*
devin montgomery deal. Looking forward to it
devin montgomery and congratulations by the way
Both cooking methods have its benefits. Lol yes, completely biased observation there. I would consider a few degrees higher on the sous vide and probably longer... that being said, it’s all preferential. I think in these cases where the meat can absorb smoke and flavor from the wood, it’s likely it would win.
The sous vide is great for tenderizing but needs help in getting more flavor, especially if the flavor is coming from smoke; and as you said for a large party and not to get anyone sick. I think the sous vide has a better chance if we are going reverse sear through the oven and finishing the same way. Thoughts?
I normally SV at 129, i thought the 131 would be enough to help render out the fat but maybe 135 for 3 hours would have been better. I like my sous vide machine for different things, its a great tool... but if we have company over and I want to put my absolutely best tasting steak on the table its not the tool I use
Thanks for this review, I know to stay with smoking and grilling.
Can you do one on the sous vide rest?
Flat iron is a tough steak (pun intended) for this comparison test. I would say that you might have gotten better results with the Sous vide steak if you would have increased the temp by a few degrees. Fat starts to render at 130 and connective tissue/collagen start to break down at 160. Taking it to 133 will help render out the fat but neither cooking method here will get the collagen to breakdown unless you like charred steaks. I shoot for 133.5 on my Sous vide and go for 2.5 hours for 1.5 inch ribeyes and then finish over ripping hot coals for about 1 minute per side. I do salt mine before vacuum sealing but I hit them with Maldon salt before tabling (in response to the comment below that Sous vide requires more salt). For the record I love reverse searing as well. I would say try this again with ribeye steaks and see if you still think there is such a distinctly clear winner.
James W thanks James. I am down for eating more steak lol
I use to love sous-vide before i got my kamado but now reverse sear on charcoal is the only way to go. I still think sous-vide is good if you only own a gas grill as reverse sear on a gas grill is not as good since it dries out the steak more and you don't get that charcoal flavour anyways. Great video as always.
thanks so much. I like sous vide most for reheating leftovers without over cooking them. just did this last night with two half racks of ribs and they were nearly as good as the day we cooked them
@@SmokingDadBBQ Were they frozen before going into the sous vide? I was trying to figure out ways to store extras and reheat them properly. My favorite thing about he sous vide is being able to cook anything from a frozen state and not having to worry about over-cooking. Thanks for the video!
Kenny yes I froze the ribs
@@SmokingDadBBQ Thank you!
I’ve been sous vide cooking now for a couple years while living in a condo that didn’t allow bbq. I loved the consistent cooking and used a smoking hot cast iron pan to sear them off afterwards…BUT… they always seemed to be missing something. Now that we’ve given up on the retirement condo trial run and have purchased a new home… the Kamado Joe is being delivered TOMORROW
congrats
Thanks for this video, an exciting comparison.
What I always wonder about the reverse sear method is, if the steak lies outside in the time until the grill is hot, then the core temperature falls back again?
Short answer is yes, and thats a good thing. If I cook a steak to 120f internal temp on a grill at 250f the steak has upward momentum like when you spring of a trampoline.... if you remove the trampoline the second you bounce you continue to go up for a short while before coming back down. Steak does the same thing and often gains ~10f during the rest so now your steak is at 130.
If you sear it while its still climbing 130 quickly becomes 140+ which is why waiting until the steak has peaked and is on its way back time is the best time to sear as you can build your crust without changing the overall doneness of the steak
Thank you! Makes sense 👍
Not sure why sous vide and reverse sear videos have come up today but in both videos the sous vide was under cooked (not safe) and or was not used to its full potential. Tougher meat can and should be cooked longer to further tenderize and render the fat. I often use both sous vide then low smoke finish the steak on the grill. Best of both worlds. Sounds like a lot but let the sous vide do most of the cooking while you watch a movie and spend less time managing a fire. My last chuck eye was cut with a fork. To be fair it was wagu.
I think wagyu gets most of the credit for a tender chuck roast not cooked like a brisket 😂
another great video - thanks! (Any chance that you could include centigrade temps too for your non NA viewers!?)
Great suggestion! have started this recently.
Poor Sous Vide never had a chance. Nothing beats a steak perfectly cooked on a charcoal grill.👌
I 💯 feel the same way. thanks for checking it out
Char Griller ....I’ll go with you! 👍🏻 Sous vide is good....but reverse and seared on charcoal is better! 🤩🤩🤩
BigBubbaBBQ now I’m hungry 😋
BigBubbaBBQ Thanks triple B. I subbed your channel I can tell you are a man of good taste. Look forward to watching your videos.
Greeting from Denmark... I cant seem to find the link to the chimichurri in your notes, did you forget to put them in? :)
spicy argentinian chimichurri
Finely chop 2 cups fresh parsley, 1 seeded red chilli pepper, 2 cloves garlic snd combine in a bowl with 3tbsp olive oil. 1tbsp rice vinegar, 1/2 tbsp kosher salt, and 1/4 tbsp crushed red pepper flakes. Whisk well and refrigerate 1hr before serving
Great review, I'm still a sous vide fan, but its one of those things, were we need rotation in our household. To much of the same method anything tends to drive my wife and I crazy. (She mentioned yesterday she's done with smoked foods for a while 😬😂) Once again great review and glad you were able to get the wife involved!
haha i've heard that before lol
Different tools for the toolbox. At the risk of a Spirtual Slap from Guga, maybe you can’t (or at least SHOULDN’T) SV everything. 😂
christopher johnson go into hiding for a few days to be safe lol
Frank's hot sauce is a good binding agent for other stuff too! We have used it on chicken nuggets and roll in flour and fry - yum!!!
Thanks for the tip!
I’ve shifted from sous vide to reverse sear by charcoal, if you have the right tools it’s just as easy and consistent
Yes exactly. I get it for a conference centre, sous vide all day but for the home cook reverse sear please
I've never had a sous vide steak I was happy with, the flavor of charcoal win every time
same here
In my world, definitely sous vide > other approaches for getting the meat cooked. The sear, however, nothing beats that charcoal high temperature. My experiences with reverse sear were definitely positive, I just preferred the drastic non-gradient seared outside and the juicy coloring inside.
Right on
Nice video James.
Thanks so much Robert
Awesome video James👍 I want some steak now.... What is your thoughts or opinion on the masterbuilt gravity 560 or 1050 smoker?
thanks Andrew. I haven’t used one so in general I try not to give advice that might lead you one way or the other on 0 experience. not specific to that grill, I like Kamado style cookers for their jack of all trades utility, energy efficiency, no rust and lifetime warranty
@@SmokingDadBBQCool, thank you👍
Can you give us a good recipe on how to do scallops on Kamado please!! Love your videos
These come out amazing... do you have a cast iron half moon or a soapstone at your disposal? Would be happy to do a video showing how I do them
Hi I am wanting to see you use a classic 2 in your videos. I do not have a big joe 3 with a slow roller. Is there a difference between the 2? What are the difference in setting up a 2? I hope that you can tell those difference in cook time temp direct vs indirect.
Thanks for the help
Thanks Brad, I don't have a classic 2 but outside of the sloroller approach it exactly the same
Great video! Question for ya...what gloves do you use for your grill, and do you have a preferred grill brush? I'm waiting on delivery of my KJ Classic II now, and excited to get going soon! thanks
sjarr99 congratulations on the new joe. I am using these High heat gloves - amzn.to/3fNQsU5(good for up to 930f. Changed to these in 2020 after old ones got holes)
I have been asking for and looking forward to this test for awhile! I sort of knew where it would end up with you, ;-) but it doesn't really bother me, I'm also not as passionate about how legitimate your "blind taste test" was as some others. I get my KJ this week so I am anxious to see the RS charcoal results after only doing steak via SV for years!! We usually cook up much thicker steaks(1-1/2" +), and have had nothing but rave reviews for how the SV creates perfectly done meat . I tend to torch most often and will spend extra time around the fat when searing since the rendering is one of the sticking points for SV cooking, but choosing less fatty cuts also helps.
I do agree with others that the smoke probably should have been left out as it biased the taste too much, and the time & temp might not have been high enough for the SV, especially on tougher cuts like the flat iron. I have made sirloin that was as tender as a $50 filet by leaving in bath for 3 hrs, and amazing carnitas from 24 hour SV bath on some pork shoulder, and the most perfect scallops ever and don't even get me started on SV strawberries! OMG!! So I'm still going to keep SV in the arsenal but am anxious to try out RS very soon! They are all just tools and no one tool is perfect for everything.
Great job James and thanks for all the awesome content you keep producing!
Thanks Garen, much appreciated. Congratulations on the Joe, I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the reverse sear. My thoughts was best foot forward for each method which is why I included the smoke, the face that you can’t get some depth of flavour elements in of itself is part of the difference between the two. I love having my SV for lots of things, it just isn’t what I grab for my best effort when hosting guests and we want to impress them with a steak
One thing I have learned about the sous vide is for some reason, it seems that I have always needed to add more salt than I normally think is right. I wonder if that's because it distributes more through the meat so you are not getting the salt pop on your tongue like would when it is mostly on the crust.
One more thing, I have found no better defroster or re-heater than my sous vide.
Well said, i have noticed that which is why I am relying on the dry brine for 24-36 hours to try and help even them out. But good point
Interesting video! What do you attribute the better rendering to since the internals of the different steaks aren’t exposed to much difference in temperature regardless of the method?
I'd love a scientist to weigh in but I suspect the speed at which its gaining heat from higher radiant heat has something to do with it. good question
Smoking Dad BBQ apologies if I missed it in the video, but was the reverse seared steak on the KJ about as long as the SV was in the water bath?
christopher johnson no it was under an hour as the temp was 225f and the SV was 131
I may have missed it because I haven't seen ALL of your videos, BUT, I'm having issues with the TRANSITION from smoke to inferno mode on the KJ3 Classic. I have Weber cotton mitts, BBQ Dragon insulated gloves, leather gloves and insulated rubber gloves. NONE of these are good enough to handle the grates and heat deflectors. Can you do a video on your techniques or provide a hint or two?
sure will do... my gloves can take the deflector plates or a soapstone etc. for short periods no problem without burning me... maybe the gloves you have don't provide as much protection
@@SmokingDadBBQ I'm thinking of getting a pair of welding gloves from the local tractor supply store.
Great video! Just curious, how long was your cook time for the reverse sear steak? Thanks!
thanks Jeff. good question, testing my memory but I think it was about 45min
THIS is why I watch your videos! Awesome content. This video would have been epic if at the last second your wife pulled out a plate, scraped all the steak B into it, and while walking away said "Enjoy your dinner!" P.S. A little scotch tape or painters tape over your recording devices microphone will kill the wind buffering. You are welcome.
hahah love your idea for how the video should have ended. great tip, thanks
So eye-opening! Love both methods! You guys chewing the steak was making our mouths water like crazy!!!!!!!! Now we want some steak with our eggs this morning!!!! Awesome job James!!!!🤤👏🔥💪
thanks so much. now that you mention it... steak and eggs sounds delicious 😋
Smoking Dad BBQ you can never go wrong with steak and eggs!!!!🤤🤤🤤
Great review, but a little KJ bias! LOL I do my Sous Vide at a lower temp (115) so I can get more sear. You are correct on the smoke part, but I actually do not add smoke to my steaks, that is just my preference. I was surprised about the tenderness part, when I have done it both ways, and have even done this as a comparison test. Every time the Sous Vide was more tender and have had multiple people say the same thing. I also go about 2 1/2 hours up to 3 hours on a thicker steak in the Sous Vide. Great video as always James!
Thanks so much... what do you think I did wrong on the tenderness for the SV? I did dry brine all the steaks ahead of time, and I saw the butcher trim them from all the same piece.
Smoking Dad BBQ I wouldn’t say you did anything wrong, my only guess would be the time in Sous Vide, I usually go 2 1/2 hours minim, but not more than 3. I have even done thin venison steaks for 2 hours and they get more tender Sous Vide. The one wild card is your knowledge on the KJ, you have that dialed in! Keep up the great cooks!
Reverse sear for me, great comparison, thanks.
thanks for checking it out
I'm more in the reverse sear camp, but I would have added rosemary and garlic to the sous vide bag
Guga tested it and says it actually comes out better not doing that. he used to add butter and aromatics in the bag early on
What a great test! Had fun watching this. Going to do the same test very soon. As always, thanks for the tips! Question: I've used KJ reversible cast iron griddle in the Kamado as opposed to the grates to sear and it was fantastic. Thoughts on cast iron vs direct over flame on grate?
I set mine up the same way. over direct heat
If you could the FIS in the Sous Vide longer would it have made a difference?
I think it couldn't hurt
In my experience Sous Vid shine most when you take advantage of its greatest advantage which is, time. The moment I heard the Sous would only be two hours my reaction was that's simply not enough time. Better would be twelve hours. Input for a future comparison perhaps...
I was following Guga on Sous Vid everything who is always two to 2.5 hours for this size steak
@@SmokingDadBBQ Guga is super legit. Thanks for the great content. I expect a Big Joe in my backyard will very soon be true. 🥩🥩🥩
Hello James! I was trying to find the run without salt you used in the video description but couldn’t find it. Do you have handy the link?
Rodrigo Garcia sure thing. I use three salts primarily, the one in the video is called diamond kosher crystal salt. Links to all three so you know what to look for in the store below. Dry brine salt - amzn.to/3bCgVRU (dry brine steaks, chicken etc,)
Smoked sea salt - amzn.to/3bBlXOw (My go to for adding to dishes)
Favourite finishing salt - amzn.to/3g2jUXw (Fleur de Sel, best finishing salt for steaks)
Smoking Dad BBQ awesome ❤️! Thank you! And I think you mentioned on the video that you used a rub with dry garlic and pepper without salt? You made yourself that one or you purchased somewhere?
Rodrigo Garcia not sure if it’s 💯 salt fee but I find it doesn’t get too salty when used on a dry brined steak. bigtimebbqshop.net/collections/big-time-bbq/products/big-time-steak-rub
Have you ever reversed seared a wagyu steak or a Dry Aged steak? I think that Sous Vide is better for these because it keeps more of their flavors.
Great Video
Regards
Yes I have, and they came out awesome. here is the link if you want to check it out
Waygu caveman reverse sear - th-cam.com/video/WGo-Sq1jbhU/w-d-xo.html
50 dry aged tomahawk reverse sear - th-cam.com/video/EWu4xdjugNA/w-d-xo.html
Great comparison! I have the same exact sous vide and they work perfect but are very boring to use compared to the grill. That being said.....I just sous vide cooked some steaks the other day and blasted them with the torch from my forge and they were to die for! Maybe I need to fix something with my grill game🤔. Great video James and Sarah!
Thanks so much
Which sous vide did you try. I have been thinking about adding one to my collection
thanks Charles. I went with the Inkbird, link to it in the description. it was cheap and had all the key features
Friend has that exact Inkbird, he loves it!
Can you use pink Himalayan salt for brining.
Yes you can if it’s not fine like table salt. I use diamond kosher crystal salt as it’s less salty to taste but with all the salt benefits
I was tempted to get a sous vide machine. Clearly I don't need it or want it anymore. lol
Thanks for making my decision up!
It is handy for reheating food. We reheated some baby backs we had left over and froze last night for dinner and I was impressed that they unthawed and came out nearly as good as the first time... so for reheating i like it. For cooking, I don't prefer it to reverse sear
Sous Vide is fantastic for pork, steak, brisket and other cuts of meat. Try watching Sous Vide Everything and watch some of the great creations he has made. A Sous Vide machine should run you under $200 so they’re very reasonable.
He’s right about the fat rendering. Pork Butts have a lot more waste when you Sous Vide them but the pork is unbelievably tender. I trim most of the fat off of meats that I Sous Vide vs if I smoke. Plus and minuses to both cooking methods.
Good video how far off final temp do you pull the steak on reverse sear?
Thanks so much... I am now down to 110 and working my way lower. In my video that will come out Thursday I left the probe in after removing it at 110f and it continued all the way to 128f on the rest before the sear which would add some more. I am now thinking 105 as i like medium rare
Smoking Dad BBQ good to know thanks hoping to try shortly will go to 105
wakeywarrior you can always add more. Can’t take doneness away
Smoking Dad BBQ never a truer word spoken!
Smoking Mom is like "yes I've put up with your s**t for 10 years at LEAST" 🤣🤣😂
Love the videos, keep it up! As a fellow vlogger and someone that has started doing cook along livestreams on his channel I've done a lot of microphone tests and I can highly recommend the Rode Video Micro ... also comes with some deadcat mic shields and should help a LOT with the mic popping that you're getting outside with the wind. Maybe check it out!
thanks so much. hehe that for sure was her inner dialogue 😂. just got a takstar mic and a dadcat which I hope helps. this weeks video was the first to have it
I like the kamado but I nowadays I get great results with sous vide + flame thrower ( or the Otto wilde)
Damien right on
@@SmokingDadBBQ I love my kamado but it s a really whole process.The last few months have cooked batches of 2 inches steaks sous vide, and I just reheat them quickly from the freezer + flame thrower or on the Otto (just got it).Great results and very time efficient
They are both reverse seared, pure genius
cheers
Sooooooo good. Nice one. Cheers.
Thanks for chiming in, much appreciated
I’ve read where people sous vide chuck roast at 135 for like 29hrs then seat on grill. Is there any way to do that on the Kama do Joe?
thanks. you don’t need to do it as long but chuck done low and slow can make a few things. you can make poor mans burnt ends, you can do shredded beef or treat it like a brisket and do slices. I like the pulled beef sandwich the most with chuck
Lol. I pulled a Guga and a ninja lol. 😂. Sarah the smoking wife does she have a channel too?
I really liked this video (had to watch it again in the morning).
haha thanks Steven...i am trying to talk her into doing one as she makes all our side dishes (sarah's sides) or something
I wander what will happen if you first smoke the meat to 100-120 on Kamado and then sous vide it to 135 -145 for 1-2 h ???
hmm interesting, haven't tried that order of operations
I forgot to ask, Why did you use the grid extender?
Tank great question. I wasn’t using the SloRoller so I found the convection smoke is better up high in the dome with the plates
How would the same test treat fillet mignon?
only one way to find out lol
Why wouldn’t you use a Grill Grate for this step?
(a) don't have them (b) having used them before, I found the taste of a full crust tastes better than black lines which look pretty.
I don’t think you can compare a grilled steak to a sous vide steak bc the flavor profiles are different I think if you cooked the other steak in the oven and then seared it would’ve been a more even taste … that being said I do like to grill but I live where it gets cold sometimes I considered buying a sous vide for chicken or red meat bc I don’t cook read meat that often but I guess I just better stick to a temperature probe
I'd call any method where you cook the steak indirectly and then sear it a reverse sear, including the sous vide one :) I do however completely agree that the results of a grilled reverse seared steak will be superior to a sous vide reverse seared steak.
That said, I'm not sure how you get the temperature results you do when you discuss that momentum cooking. In my experience, especially when I do a cold grate sear with the Slow n Sear, searing can add 15-20 C to the internal temperature, so if you're also rising 15-20 C with the momentum cook I'm not sure how your steaks don't end up overcooked.
Granted, I only have a kettle; I imagine your fire is much hotter than mine, but I suppose my steaks are a lot closer to my fire than yours are; maybe that explains it.
Great question. Using a probe to chart it, I’ve seen the temp continue to rise to close to done temp and then start to fall back down. So when I throw it on to sear for 30 seconds a side it comes back up but generally not past the temp it was at from carry over cooking during the rest
theres no way resting a steak, let alone searing it would raise the temp anywhere close to 20c/68f
@@dirtrider88 Yeah. I meant 20 F. I'd just rebuilt my computer that weekend so had C on the brain as that's what Temps are shown in.
Hooray for Smokin’ Wife cameo! 😘
hahaha 😂
Reverse sear on the Joe for the win! Very enjoyable. Gloat away. SHOUT IT FROM a MOUNTAIN TOP!
DrTasteGoodBBQ heck yes. Thanks buddy
Look like the best steak
Thanks
Really curious how you "found there is carry over heat from sous vide"... I think that's literally not possible. Once you remove the meat from the water bath the temp starts to fall... Different cuts of meat will decrease in heat at different rates but none will ever increase...
I should re-phrase that... i cooked it SV to close to finishing temp (135) and then immediately seared it which over cooked it a bit in this example so I found its better to let it rest and cool off (say 120 ish) and then sear so that you never go above the desired temp
@@SmokingDadBBQ thanks for the reply! Just wanted to be sure I wasn't crazy 😁 I less the hard way as well that you don't want to cook a steak SV to finish temp. 120 is a great place to stop if you plan to sear right away. love the content... Take care!
I appreciate your wife participating. It is nice to get a woman’s perspective. You should do more videos together.
I appreciate the blind taste test but this still isn't fair because you and your wife are use to the reverse sear method so it's more familiar and appealing to you two. It's like comparing everything to grandma's cooking even though someone else might not think your grandma's cooking is better than their grandma's cooking. I personally enjoy both methods and I would have cook the sous vide for an hour and threw it on the grill a little longer to absorb more smoke. Either way, keep up the good work.
I do appreciate any taste test is hugely subjective and if it weren’t for covid I would love a group of 10 equally representing sous vide to charcoal to vote
What thickness of steak is the best to cook?
I prefer thicker than an inch ... 1-2 is great
Yes I want the BEST steak! Now can I have the one you reverse seared?!
lol 😂 coming right up
One possibility that you didn't consider in this video. You could sous vide the steaks all night and then sear them. Obviously you're not going to get as good flavor as reverse searing regardless, but to address the specific issue of the connective tissue breaking down it would probably be more effective with a long sous vide time.
thats a good idea for a round 2
You shouldn't sous vide a regular steak more than 3 hours tops. You're turning the connective tissue essentially into mush. I guess whatever floats your boat.
Way simpler to grill than it is to sous vide. Grill for the win!
Thanks David, much appreciated
Though I still think reverse sear would win anyways even with out the wood 😁 but that's more my bias then actual fact lol
I think so as well, the steaks looked different inside
At some point you were supposed to say, “I know it doesn’t look that good right now, but watch this!”
hahaha I think Guga trademarked that
@@SmokingDadBBQ On a serious note, Guga is the master of sous vide and you’re rapidly becoming the master of the grill. You’re giving those smoker TH-camrs from Mississippi and points south a run for their money.
@@emmgeevideo thanks so much
Reverse Sear 💪🏽
100%
How thick were the steaks (in inches)?
from memory I would say 1.5 to max 2”
@@SmokingDadBBQ thank you for responding. Last question I think lol. How long do you let the reverse sear steaks rest before searing them?
Tremayne Myles no worries. Love questions. It was about 10min while the grill got up to the temp I wanted for searing and then I rested about 10 min additional after searing before slicing
@@SmokingDadBBQ thank you.
First and foremost, great use of duct tape - go Canada 🇨🇦 🤩. Do you have a link to that small cooling rack? I have a huge cookie sheet one but it would be nice to have a ‘portion sized’ one. Maybe I didn’t search well enough. Anyhow - great job!
www.amazon.ca/KITCHENATICS-Professional-Stainless-Roasting-Oven-Safe/dp/B0182R3UFY/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?ie=UTF8&psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title&th=1 and
@@SmokingDadBBQ ty sir
Nothing in the bag with the meat except salt. Add in everything on the meat afterwards before you do your sear.
good tip
Audio seems to clip a lot
I got a new microphone this summer that fixed this issue
@@SmokingDadBBQ Superb, enjoy your videos, keep up the good work
@@SuperStubbys thanks
Try to cook the sous vide steak for 4h next time to render dow fat a bit more
good point. that should help the tenderness... don’t think the smoke or crust will change but I can see that helping.
This is smoking wife thanks for vid and the laugh
haha i was so excited for that joke... Sarah less so lol
I sou vide.
awesome
i mean, ive never tried sou vide, but you can't tell me "cooking" food in hot water bath is ever going to be as good as fire from start to finish.
you’re right 😂 it’s not as good in my opinion either and this test confirms it
I'm a big fan of reverse sear and think it's better then sous vide. But to be fair you put sous vide behind the eight ball especially in the flavor category. When you added the peach wood there was no way sous vide had a chance.. there was no way to replicate that . Not a fair contest
Reverse sear shouldn't have to fight with one hand tied behind its back to accommodate for the flavour shortcomings of sous vide cooking. Each method should put its best foot forward
@@SmokingDadBBQ - The contest is or at least how you're stating it is sous vide vs reverse sear which METHOD is better. Then that's what it should be about. The cooking method which method works best. You went ahead and prep the meat the same, seasoned the meat the same then when you went to test the actual method: reverse sear or sous vide you gave reverse sear an advantage.. reverse sear is cooking something at a low temperature to make sure you get the desired internal temperature of the meat.. you can do it in an over, grill or smoker.. bit no where does it say adding fruit wood is a necessary step in the reverse sear method. I think it was a good video just not necessarily a fair match up
ArMond Lofton happy to do it again... only means more steak to eat lol
@@SmokingDadBBQ lucky you lol.. but I love the video I will check you out agin really soon
I love the sousvide way but not for all of my meat 😎☀️👍🔥
cheers
Nice experiment in theory but in practice steak A really looks cooked wrong in the closeup.
new camera does better than the smart phone i had 3 years ago when this was recorded
@@SmokingDadBBQ Ah cool, thanks for making the videos👍
Guga and ninja😂🤣🤣
lol just happened
I know this comment doesn’t look good right now, but watch this!
@@christopherjohnson2420 Cue salivating guitar riff....
Reverse sear looked so much nicer
thanks Alan
@@SmokingDadBBQ in fact it looked so good i just made one exactly how you did, with the franks sauce then the dry rub, was without doubt the best flavoured stake i think i have ever had. thanks.
reverse sear winss
100% for the win
If you only gave it about two hours that’s not enough time time for sous vide to render fat on a tough piece of meat, i’ve seen brisket cooked for three days...
this is a single serving of steak vs a 15lbs brisket. I am happy to do it again at 4 hours if that’s better
How do you know that, Smoking Dad?
Sorry, how do I know what? Happy to answer
Science!
In prehistoric times, they didn't have a sous vide machine. They did have coal, fire and their version of a kamado 😂👍Kamado forever.
haha true... maybe volcano hot springs were their version of SV lol
Holy crap dude. The look you gave the camera when she said "the middle to me tasted a bit bland" was epic. "Huh!". It validated the last 10 years of your life. Hahaha. I was laughing out loud. Great video.
EDIT: and then the smile while asking about the sear on Steak A LOL
hahaha. Glad you enjoyed it
Temp was too low on sous vide to really render the fat.
almost every video on Guga's SV everything channel uses these temps and times ... i am an SV newbie so i went with those resources given the millions of views and subs
@@SmokingDadBBQ run thru an experiment, see how it goes.
Eat your steak blue and you won't have to use either!
Thanks so much, cheers
I wanna hear your salt story. 😜
50 day dry aged Ribeyes for xmas dinner several years back. Perfect specimens and I was SOOOO excited. A family member who will remain nameless (MARK) suggested this salt dry brine thing we never heard of before. Information was scarce online so I listened and we proceeded to douse the steaks with TABLE SALT overnight. the next day the extended family gathered to enjoy the hype for the steaks i've been promoting for months leading up to this moment ..... the first bite was the last bite. They were so salty a deer wouldn't lick them
I scrolled through the comments just to find this story. Thanks Steven!
🤔🤔Sous Vide HATER 😜😜😜
hahaha. It is handy for reheating food. We reheated some baby backs we had left over and froze last night for dinner and I was impressed that they unthawed and came out nearly as good as the first time... so for reheating i like it. For cooking, I don't prefer it to reverse sear
This is a pretty unfair review. First, you have been cooking on the Kamado for years, how many times? And your first go at sous vide is compared with all your experience bbqing? I have been grilling and cooking sous vide for years, and sous vide is not the right tool for everything, but I have cooked some really great meat with it. (My daughter is the biggest foodie and harshest critic I know and she says the tri-tip I made sous vide is the best steak she's ever had.) In some cases I can get better results than I can get on a grill. In some cases a grill or bbq is a better tool. You need to do things differently with sous vide, and it takes some experimentation to get the best results from it. You can definitely get the depth of flavor, smokiness, saltiness, etc. but you can't expect to use the same methodology you would use on the bbq. Just the fact that you didn't properly render the fat should have told you that you were doing something wrong.
One of my favorite things to cook sous vide is chicken thighs, but any meat that does well low and slow is great for sous vide. I cook my thighs for eight hours, and I have experimented with many different times. Because you're going to lose liquid that will take salt with it, you can't expect to use the same amount of salt and get the same result as a reverse sear. In the case of my chicken I actually found (to my surprise) that the result is more tender if I don't season it at all until right before I sear it. If you really want to be fair, take some time to learn to use the sous vide machine and methodologies and do some research. Get the best results you can, then do a side-by-side. You may still prefer the reverse sear, but at least you would have done a fair test.
Last, an important benefit to barbecue is the slow infusion of smoke. You can add liquid smoke to sous vide, but it's not the same IMO. But I have also found ways to get good smokiness on the grill without overcooking the center of the steak that you so painstakingly and lovingly cooked to perfection.
So, I hereby challenge you to master cooking a piece of meat on sous vide and then do a blind taste test with your wife (and some others). And don't let them look at the food. There's an obvious visual difference that may sway your tasters.
Hey Michael, thanks for the note. I still don't think it would be fair, as I think you can taste passion and even after dedicated a decade to perfecting Sous Vide I still wouldn't enjoy it like I do cooking with fire so it still wouldn't be fair. I'd rather find someone who is passionate that can represent team SV as best as possible and do that blind taste test
@@SmokingDadBBQ Yeah, I agree. If you don't love the cook then you're losing a lot, even if the food comes out great. But consider this: as a cook you should have as many tools in your arsenal as possible, and if you can master sous vide and add it to your tool belt then you'll probably find times where it makes sense to use it, and you might enjoy the process more than you think. Most of the time using sous vide is just waiting for it to do its thing, and there is a certain happiness to that, like doing an overnight cook when you know your temp is rock steady. This weekend I'm making duck confit, and I'm doing half the traditional method and half with a 36-hour sous vide. Stand by for the results. I'm starting with a whole duck, so I'm going to cook the breasts in a cast-iron skillet, but I'm considering doing half sous vide there as well, just to compare again. I do personally enjoy complicated cooks, some that take days or longer, so I totally get the joy of doing things the hard way just for the enjoyment and victory in it. And often you can get 95% of the results with a simpler method, but maybe you want that last 5% or you just want the satisfaction of using a traditional method. I think you found something like this with your recent pizza comparison, though in that case I would favor not using a dedicated tool and seeing if I can master my bbq-only technique.
P.S. I've watched a bunch of videos from different people on the KJ (more than I care to admit), and yours are the best, which is the only reason I felt I had to call you out on 1) confirmation bias, 2) bad scientific methodology, and 3) not interpreting and reporting your findings correctly. Smoking dads are better than this. :o) I should also point out that the best sous vide master and the best KJ master head-to-head might still likely favor the reverse sear, especially if you really like the smokiness in your meat. But I think the results would be closer, and it may be more up to individual taste. I still think you should learn more about sous vide and experiment a bit with it and then run the test again. Or, find a local sous vide master to help you. I think the public deserves a more fair and dispassionate comparison, and I think it would be interesting to find out what you learned in the process.
Hi, your problem with sous vide, comes form the lack of experience with it. you seem to have relied on the standard cooking time, coming from the phone app which in most applications does not account for the meat thickness and weight. Give it another shot, for a piece of meat like the one you've shown, leaving it in the water for 3 hours. Of course you cannot get the smoky touch on sous vide, on the other hand, sous vide cooking, retains more of the meat juces in. At the end you will realize that asking which one is better is like asking which one is more beautiful between blonds and brunettes, there is no answer.
Best answer yet. Thanks Renato