Chef Secrets
Dallas chef demonstrates at-home hack for cooking steak sous vide
At Ser Steak + Spirits, executive chef Anthony Van Camp has a lot of expensive equipment at his disposal. Take, for example, the pricey vacuum sealer and immersion circulator he and his staff use to cook sous vide at the Hilton Anatole restaurant.
But you don’t need anything more than a zip-top plastic bag and a large pot to cook sous vide at home, as Van Camp demonstrates in this video, during which he prepares a strip steak. And it’s worth learning, because the technique ensures even cooking, and it seals in all of the flavor, he says.
Another trick Van Camp employs: Submerge the seasoned steak, while the plastic bag is still open at the top, in a sink filled with water. That helps push out all of the air prior to zipping up the bag.
You don’t need a thermometer, either, to measure the water temperature in the “immersion circulator,” aka a pot you might use to boil pasta. “If you put your finger in the water, and you can’t hold it in there for more than two seconds, that’s about the right temperature,” Van Camp says.
To see how Van Camp finishes off his sous vide strip, watch the video.
