Bringing a hunk of beef to room temperature..before sous vide? (And room temp in general)

(Bob M) #1

The local store had some “sirloin coulotte picanha” on sale. Had no idea what it was, but found this sous vide recipe:

This recipe recommends taking the roast out of the fridge and letting it come to room temperature, then putting it in the sous vide. That seems ludicrous to me, as you’re going to sous vide for 4 hours.

Anyone know why I might want to let something come to room temperature before sous vide?

Anyone bring any other meat to room temperature before cooking? This is something I have never done before.

(Brian) #2

I’m not sure why they suggested that, have never done that. Have even put things directly from frozen into the sous vide. It just takes a bit longer to get to its target temp.

I don’t know if there could be something about putting some of the seasonings on and allowing them to spend some time on the meat before going in, I’m no expert on that. But I’m thinking if that’s the case, it should be just fine soaking up flavors in the fridge.

Looking forward to others’ replies. I’m sure I could learn a lot.

(Doug) #3

I’m guessing it might be a holdover from being used to letting meat warm up some before frying, roasting, grilling, etc.

Obviously no danger there with sous vide. Whether the meat is getting heated by room air or sous vide water, it’s being done by a fluid with no danger of a burned outside or underdone center, etc.

The water is just going to do it faster and more efficiently. If anything, I think it would be indicated not to let it sit at room temperature - less time for the meat to be in the temperature zone where bacteria can grow.

(Jens Madsen) #4

Oh - I read it as ‘binging’! :sweat_smile:

(Central Florida Bob ) #5

I’m thinking it’s force of habit. I know I’ve read recipes that try to keep the interior of (usually) a steak cold so that when it’s thrown over a very hot stove top or grill, the inside resists the heat coming better. The thin layer gets that Maillard reaction seared flavor and the heat gets “used up” before cooking the interior to a gray, too-well done.

As you say, think about doing a sous vide cook at 130 for an hour or whatever (a long time), then you’d sear it quickly on that very hot surface, it doesn’t seem like keeping it at room temperature before you put in the sous vide “bath” does anything for you.