I thought I had steak down- as a person who loves to grill food, owner of The Big Green Egg — I thought I knew how to make a steak. Then I started to cook Sous Vide.  Simply put- these are the best steaks I have ever had. They are so good, that my wife hates it when we have to meet friends at a steak restaurant, because these make it so much better.

Sous Vide was invented in France – hence the name, and brought to the United States about 2000. Because it provides such consistently good food many of the great restaurantsin the United States use this method exclusively. The first machines were quite expensive, but now you can get them much less or you can “hack” the sous vide and try making this with just an ice chest, ziplock bags, and a thermometer.

The first choice for many people is to make a steak – and lets make it easy. There are two rubs you can do- you can do one that has a bit of “spice” to it- or you can do a simple rub to start.

The simple rub:

Salt and pepper

Here is the spicy rub (maybe 2 star spicy)

Equal parts of Kosher salt, paprika, brown sugar, and ground pepper.

Season a steak with salt.
Rub in the rub– generously.
Put in a water bath between 132 and 136 degrees for 45 minutes. You can go longer if you like- and sometimes I find an hour works well too. The advantage of Sous Vide cooking is that you will not overcook — the water is at the most 136 degrees. So if you have friends over and not ready to serve- let it sit.

Nothing like great grill marks on a steak

Once you are ready- have a grill pan on high – so you can sear the outside of the steak. My favorite grill pan has marks on it. You can also do a quick grill on your outdoor grill if you like. No more than two minutes a side

Serve the steak. Simple – easy- and notice the steak. Inside of it it is all medium rare- not just the center. This means that steak is juicy!

Don’t have a Sous Vide machine? Treat yourself and start changing the way you cook.

More recipes later!