Beer Cooler Steak (AKA: Redneck Sous Vide)

OK, I know it's not BBQ, but I still thought you guys would be interested. I've been interested in Sous Vide cooking for several years, but the home devices have been too expensive (though they're coming down). However, after reading this article, I decided to give the "at home" method a run http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/04/...er-cooler-the-worlds-best-sous-vide-hack.html Here's the process:


This is the cooking device I used. The best part of the whole thing was my wife walking in and saying, "What's with the cooler?" and me responding "Just cooking steak" then leaving the room. I like to mess with her head like that.


Water from my tap came out at 128 degrees. Perfect, 125 is what I'm planning on cooking at anyway.


Stars of the show, a couple of flat irons from The Double R Ranch.


All seasoned and in the ziploc bags. I made sure they were closed air-tight and all the air was sucked out of the bags, I wanted to make sure they sank in the water.


Drop bags in cooler and wait. I gave it an hour. The cooler lost a bit of the temp, about halfway through I added some boiling water to get it back up to 125. However, I was blown away at how well it held the temp overall.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a pic of the steaks coming out of the bag. Honestly, they didn't look particularly appetizing, they were basically gray on the outside. I checked internal temps and it looked good though, so I went with it. Through them on a super-hot cast iron grill for about 30 seconds each side, and away we went.


First cut through to see how I did. Turned out awesome...perfectly done from edge to edge.


The money shot. Exactly how I like it.

I have to say, although I do love using the grill, this may be my new favorite way to cook steaks for a bit. It just came out so perfect. Thanks for looking!

Aha - got it, thanks! I'll come back and fix the pics later today.

cpw said:

So you seriously just dumped hot water in a cooler, and then topped it off with more hot water when it cooled? That's crazy easy!! How long were the steaks in the sous vide for?

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I left them in for about an hour. The cool thing is that they could have been in there for 3 or 4 hours and they would have come out exactly the same (not overcooked) which makes it an awesome way to cook for groups and a TBD dinner time.

pigsmoke said:

That's a great looking set of steaks! My boss gave me a sous vide circulator in 2012 as a year end bonus and I've used it like crazy. Next to smoking and grilling, sous vide is my 3rd favorite style of cooking. If you're interested in this type of cooking, I highly recommend spending the money to buy a good circulator, there are things that you can make this way that cannot be beaten. I make amazing (humble brag) beef short ribs in it, but they need to cook for days.

If you can keep your water temp above 183* (and if your cooler can handle it) you should try some carrots sous vide style - they're amazing.

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Yeah, after trying this little experiment, I'm now VERY interested in a sous vide circulator for home use. Although, there is something cool about a beer cooler....LOL.