Sous Vide Sirloin Steak

December 12, 2018

Sous Vide Sirloin Steak

Sirloin is a lean, moderately firm steak cut from the hip end of the animal. In the US it’s sold as top sirloin; in the UK, the same cut goes by rump steak. Confusingly, British butchers also use the name “sirloin” for a different, more tender muscle - the one Americans call strip loin or New York strip. This recipe is for the leaner hip cut, whichever name your butcher uses for it.

Sous vide solves the one real problem with sirloin: it’s easy to overcook past medium-rare, and once that happens there’s no fixing it. Cooking the steak in a precisely controlled water bath brings it to temperature evenly from edge to edge, so there’s no gray band of overdone meat sitting under the crust. A hard, fast sear afterward builds the crust that the water bath can’t.

Because sirloin is leaner and a bit chewier than ribeye or tenderloin, it also benefits from spending longer in the bath than doneness alone requires. Extra hours at the same temperature soften the connective tissue without pushing the meat past medium-rare - something a pan or a grill can’t do on their own.

Season it simply - salt, pepper, maybe a sprig of thyme and a smashed garlic clove in the bag - and let the sear do the flavor work: a dark, savory crust around lean, beefy meat that stays rosy and tender edge to edge, without the chew sirloin gets when it’s cooked hot and fast from raw. It’s an easy weeknight steak dinner, and since the bath can run hours ahead, it’s just as good for feeding guests without babysitting a pan at the last minute. Slice it against the grain and serve it the way you’d serve any good steak: with potatoes, a green salad, or a pan sauce built from the fond.

Ingredients

Serves 4

4 top sirloin steaks (or rump steaks), 2.5-4 cm thick, 200-250 g each
kosher salt
black pepper, freshly ground
1-2 tbsp neutral oil (canola, vegetable, or grapeseed), for the sear
2-3 sprigs fresh thyme, optional
2 garlic cloves, optional, lightly smashed
2 tbsp butter, optional, for basting or as a pat on top

Directions

Fill a large pot or container with water and clip on the sous vide circulator. Set it to 130°F (54°C) for medium-rare - you can nudge that anywhere from 128°F to 134°F (53-57°C) to taste, but stay at 130°F (54°C) or above unless you plan to keep the total cook time under two and a half hours.

Pat the steaks dry and season generously with salt and pepper on both sides. Put them in a vacuum bag, or a zip-top freezer bag using the water-displacement method to push out the air. Tuck in the thyme and garlic if using.

Submerge the bag and clip it to the side of the container so it stays under water. Cook for 2 hours - anywhere from 1.5 to 4 hours works just as well for a steak this thickness, and if you want a noticeably more tender result, you can push it as far as 8 to 10 hours at the same temperature.

Take the bag out of the bath, remove the steaks, and discard the thyme and garlic. Pat the steaks very dry with paper towels - a dry, cool surface sears far better than a wet, hot one straight out of the bag - and let them rest on a plate for 5 minutes.

Heat the oil in a cast iron or heavy stainless pan until it’s just smoking, or get a grill screaming hot. Sear the steaks for 60 to 90 seconds per side, flipping frequently, until a deep brown crust forms on both faces, and use tongs to hold the edges against the pan for a few seconds too. If you’re using butter, add it in the last 30 seconds and baste the steaks with it.

Let the steaks rest for 3 to 5 minutes, then slice against the grain and serve.

Notes

If the steaks are frozen, add about an hour to the bath time.

Sirloin is leaner than ribeye or strip loin, so don’t skimp on the fat during the sear - it’s doing real flavor work, not just building crust.

For extra tenderness from a tougher piece of sirloin, extending the bath to 8-10 hours at the same 130°F (54°C) breaks down more connective tissue without overcooking the meat. It’s optional, not necessary.

Check doneness with an instant-read thermometer the first few times you make this - the water bath cooks evenly, but a bag seal can fail or a circulator can drift off target.