Rant: Sous vide steaks are OVERRATED and I'm tired of the hype.

Last week at work, a new guy brought in a sous vide machine and acted like it was magic. I tried it and the steak was SOFT but had NO real flavor from the sear. My boss now wants EVERY dish to use this method, and I think it's killing the art of cooking. Good cooking should be about skill, not gadgets. Change my mind.

3 comments

3 Comments

seth_park1mo ago

Okay but hear me out (and trust me, my own cooking is usually a crime against food). Maybe that soft, no-sear-flavor steak is perfect for guys like me who somehow always turn a good cut into a leather boot. Sous vide feels like cheating for the skill-less, which is why the hype bugs real cooks like you. That missing crust is the whole point of a steak, right? It just proves your point that the gadget can't replace the actual skill of getting a proper sear.

viola_cooper121mo ago

Wait, but doesn't that make the skill about the sear and not the cook? If the gadget handles the doneness perfectly every time, then the only real skill left is getting that crust right. So maybe it just changes which basic step you have to actually be good at.

the_joel1mo ago

What gets lost is the feel of the cook, you know? You don't smell the meat changing or feel the give of it in the pan. That gadget just turns the whole thing into a sterile waiting game.