FOR MAX MACHINES ONLY / FEWER THAN 10 INGREDIENTS / GLUTEN-FREE
2 servings
When you cook strip steaks with the sous vide technique, you end up with rare steaks all the way to the edge, a solid block of red (or pink) tender meat: incredibly juicy, perfect every time. Many so-called experts put the steaks in the water bath for 1½, maybe 2 hours—which may result in a faster dinner but not a better one. After two hours, the cartilage has not softened; the interstitial fat has not begun to melt. In our minds, such culinary silliness is only a souped-up version of bringing a steak to room temperature before grilling it. What’s the point? If we’re going to the trouble to put strip steaks through the sous vide process, we want them at maximum perfection. Thus, these go for 10 hours. After that, they are unbelievably tender and juicy, the best medium-rare steak you’ll ever have.
Water as needed
Two 10- to 12-ounce boneless beef strips steaks, each 1 inch thick
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
12 fresh chives, cut in half widthwise
2 medium garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
1. Fill a MAX Instant Pot two-thirds or to the Max Fill line with water. Set the machine’s heat-safe trivet in the pot’s bottom. Latch the lid onto the pot.
2. Set the machine to its SOUS VIDE function. Set the timer for 10 hours. Set the temperature for 130°F. Press the START button.
3. As the water heats, rub the steaks with the oil; season them with salt and pepper. Set each steak in a small vacuum-sealer bag; add half the chives and half the garlic. Seal the bags on the regular setting of the vacuum sealer. If you don’t have a vacuum-sealer, set each steak in a 1-quart zip-closed plastic bag, add the chives and garlic, and seal using the water method (see here).
4. When the water is at the right temperature, unlatch the pot’s lid and open the cooker. Use kitchen tongs to lower each bag with its steak into the cooker; use the handles of the trivet to hold them down onto it. The bags must not touch; they must have enough room between them that convection currents can circulate between them, as well as between the bags and the insert’s sides. Latch the lid onto the cooker again. Cook for 10 hours, paying careful attention to the water level in the pot (here).
5. When the steaks are ready, keep them in the water bath and set a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until smoking or brush the grill grates clean and prepare the grill for high-heat cooking (about 500°F). Unlatch the lid and open the cooker. Use kitchen tongs to get the bags out of the cooker. Open them and remove the steaks. Discard the chives and garlic, as well as the plastic bags.
6. Blot the steaks dry, then set them in the skillet or on the grate directly over the heat source. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, turning once, for a good crust. Serve at once.