Sous Vide Porterhouse Steak, butter basted in a cast iron pan. A low-effort dinner for an amazing cut of beef. I cooked it straight from the freezer, but you don't have to - this recipe works with a fresh or frozen steak.
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Sous vide from the freezer is becoming my favorite “I’m too busy to cook” trick. My [local grocery store] had a sale on Certified Angus Beef porterhouse a month ago; they were so gorgeous that I bought two. One was dinner that night. The other I salted, vacuum sealed, and stored in the freezer for later.
Last Saturday was “later.” I was working on my blog redesign all day, and I didn’t have time for an elaborate dinner. At 4 PM I took a break from the keyboard. I filled my sous vide with water, dropped in the frozen porterhouse, and set the temp to 133°F. While I was in the kitchen, I put a few russet potatoes in the oven, along with my cast iron skillet, and set them to time bake. Five minutes, end to end, and I was back on the internet, fixing missing pages.
At 6:15, my wife asked if we were ever having dinner. I dragged my focus away from the laptop, stood up, and said dinner is at 6:30. That got me the “fifteen minutes? I’ve heard that one before” look.
I tossed a salad, pulled the potatoes out of the oven, and moved the preheated pan from the oven to the stove top. I patted the porterhouse dry while a couple of tablespoons of butter melted in the pan; A quick sear on each side, basting all the time, and the steak was ready.
Even better? The comments at the table. “Ohh…this steak is so good.” Twenty minutes of active cooking time and dinner earns raves.
Try a sous vide porterhouse. You’ll be a hero.
Equipment
- Sous vide machine (I use an [Anova Precision Cooker] and a [Lipavi Sous Vide Tank This post contains Amazon affiliate links and rack])
- Vacuum sealer (or a gallon sized zip-top bag with all the air squeezed out)
- Heavy skillet (I use a 10-inch or 12-inch [Lodge cast iron skillet])
Ingredients
- 1 thick-cut porterhouse steak (1½ inches thick, about 2 pounds)
- 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons of butter
How to Sous Vide Porterhouse Steak
Sous Vide the porterhouse
Sprinkle the porterhouse with the salt and pepper, put it in a large (gallon) vacuum pouch, and vacuum seal. (The vacuum sealed steak can be refrigerated for up to 3 days, or frozen for months.) Set the sous vide to 133°F/56°C for medium-rare plus, my preferred steak temperature. (Use 125°F/51.5°C for rare, 131°F/55°C for medium-rare, 136°F/58°C for medium, 141°F/60.5°C for medium well.) Drop the porterhouse in the sous vide water and cook for 1 ½ hours to 6 hours. (Cook for at least 2 hours if the steak is frozen.)
Sear and butter baste the porterhouse
When the steak is done cooking sous vide, preheat the pan over medium-high heat. (I preheated my cast iron pan in a 425°F oven for at least 20 minutes, then moved it to the stove top over medium-high heat.) Remove the porterhouse from the vacuum bag and pat dry with paper towels. Add the butter to the pan, and the moment it stops foaming, add the porterhouse. Sear the porterhouse until it is well browned, about 1 minute a side, constantly spooning the melted butter over the top side of the steak to give it even browning. Remove the porterhouse to a cutting board, carve, and serve. Enjoy!
Tips for the Best Sous Vide Porterhouse
Cook from fresh or frozen? Both work great.
The only difference between cooking a fresh and frozen steak is time. I give my steak an extra half hour if I am cooking from frozen, to make sure the steak comes up to temperature all the way through.
How long can I cook sous vide?
The reason the cooking time is so wide - 1.5 hours to 6 hours - is because we can't overcook a steak sous vide. The water bath is the exact temperature we want, and the steak will sit at that temperature (perfect medium-rare for me, thanks) forever. The only downside to longer sous vide cooking is eventually the meat will get soft. I use this to my advantage with tough cuts of meat like my [Sous Vide Chuck Steak (24 hours) recipe]. For tender steaks like porterhouse (which is a New York strip and a tenderloin on the bone), I don't want to go more than six hours.
That said, one of the big advantages of sous vide cooking is you can hold the meat at the right temperature for hours. If you don't know exactly when dinner is going to be, just leave the steak in the sous vide water bath, and pull it out when you need it.
Dry off the meat before searing
Make sure to dry the outside of the steak as much as possible before searing. A wet steak will steam, not brown, until all the liquid on the outside is boiled away.
Butter baste for even browning
The bone in the porterhouse can result in uneven browning – one side of the steak has good contact with the pan, the other does not. Use the butter basting to even out the browning, concentrating the butter on the less browned parts of the steak.
Don't sear for too long, and flip often
I try to sear my steak for a minute a side, and use the basting butter to even out the browning. If you want a more browned crust, keep flipping the steak every minute, constantly basting with the butter.
No sous vide water bath? No vacuum sealer?
Try [the bubba sous vide technique] with zip-top bags and a beer cooler full of hot water. The advantage to a sous vide water circulator is that it's less work and more precise, but if you don't have one, you can still sous vide your steak.
Print
Sous Vide Porterhouse (From Frozen) Recipe
- Total Time: 2 hours 5 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
Description
Sous Vide Porterhouse Steak, butter basted in a cast iron pan, is a low-effort dinner with an amazing cut of beef. And, I cooked it straight from the freezer. (But you don't have to, this recipe works with a fresh or frozen steak).
Inspired by: Jeffrey B. Rogers, Porterhouse Steak Using the Constant Flip/Hot Oil Method [youtube.com]
Ingredients
- 1 thick-cut porterhouse steak (1½ inches thick, about 2 pounds)
- 1½ teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons of butter
Instructions
- Sous vide the porterhouse: Sprinkle the porterhouse with the salt and pepper, put it in a large (gallon) vacuum pouch, and vacuum seal. (The vacuum sealed steak can be refrigerated for up to 3 days, or frozen for months.) Set the sous vide to 133°F/56°C for medium-rare plus, my preferred steak temperature. (Use 125°F/51.5°C for rare, 131°F/55°C for medium-rare, 136°F/58°C for medium, 141°F/60.5°C for medium well.) Drop the porterhouse in the sous vide water and cook for 1 ½ hours to 6 hours. (Cook for at least 2 hours if the steak is frozen.)
- Sear and butter baste the porterhouse: When the steak is done cooking sous vide, preheat the pan over medium-high heat. (I preheated my cast iron pan in a 425°F oven for at least 20 minutes, then moved it to the stove top over medium-high heat.) Remove the porterhouse from the vacuum bag and pat dry with paper towels. Add the butter to the pan, and the moment it stops foaming, add the porterhouse. Sear the porterhouse until it is well browned, about 1 minute a side, constantly spooning the melted butter over the top side of the steak to give it even browning. Remove the porterhouse to a cutting board, carve, and serve. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Category: Weeknight Dinner
- Method: Sous Vide
- Cuisine: American
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What do you think?
Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
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- Sous Vide Chuck Steak Recipe (24 hours to tenderness)
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- My Sous Vide Recipe Index
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Corinna says
Have you tried sous vide using an instant pot? Have you got any comments or recommendations on this?
Mike Vrobel says
Yes, I’ve tried it, and…it doesn’t work very well. It does not keep the temperature steady enough for Sous vide.
Tres Bradshaw says
Hey Mike:
Question.....you mentioned you "salted" the porterhouse before freezing. I purchase multiple steaks all the time when on sale and "foodsaver them"....but I have never heard of salting them before freezing?
What is the purpose of the technique? Does the salt do something with the moisture content and have a positive effect on the freezing? Or is is for flavor?
What kind of salt? Table, sea, kosher, seasoned?
Thanks!
Mike V says
I think salting the steak before freezing gives it a little bit of a dry brine effect. I haven't done a head to head comparison, but the steak does come out nicely seasoned.
I use kosher salt, like in the recipe. (Mainly because I always use kosher salt.)
F00 says
You may want to check those Celsius conversions 😉
Mike V says
Fixed. Thank you!
Dave N says
Thanks for the recipe. I reference your site and your first cookbook all the time!
I got a sous vide for Christmas, and I absolutely love cooking with it. However, whenever I put my cooked meat in the skillet for a quick sear, my house fills with smoke. (Thank goodness I let the batteries die in my smoke detector! JK)
It doesn't matter if I sous vide the meat with seasoning or without. Smoke gets in my eyes. And I live in MN where it's simply too cold right now to sear on my grill.
Any ideas?
Mike V says
I have the same issue. My
thermostatsmoke detector always hates when I sear steaks. I view smoke as the price I have to pay for a good sear.(To cut the smoke down, you can cut short the sear on the second side. Give it a minute on the first side, then 15 to 30 seconds on the second, basting all the while.)
Other options - how good is your broiler? Mine's awful, so I haven't tried it.
Or, look at my five food finds post earlier this week for the Searzall attachment for a blowtorch (When they're back in stock) If you're truly, truly dedicated to a good browned crust, that may be worth seeking out.
f00b4r says
You can always try deep frying the steak for thirty seconds at 225C.
I haven't tried this method myself but it is one of the Modernist Cuisine recommended techniques.
Christos Andrews says
Another solution is to get a torch. I don't have one, but am seriously considering one. Another benefit is that you can sear quickly without the risk of overcooking the middle. I've unfortunately overcooked my precious slow-cooked meat because I wanted a good brown. I've also had meat that was cooked perfectly, but lacked a nice crust because I didn't want to risk searing for too long.
Mike V says
That's a great idea!