Hey guys! Cold cuts, yeah! I love this stuff. Cold roast beef. Awesome. Top Sirloin makes a pretty damn good roast beef and.. add sous vide into the equation and you end up with super awesome. I’ve been meaning to do more sous vide cooking lately but I tend to get lazy.. the bag, the timing, this and that.. really all excuses. Cooking sous vide is extremely easy and pretty much hands-free.
Top sirloin seemed like the perfect candidate for a nice, long (not that long really) and gentle cooking approach. I shouldn’t use the term roast because really the meat was never roasted in the oven, but in some way, it is a roast of sorts. My cast iron skillet did a pretty good job of searing the outside. The water bath did a pretty amazing job at cooking it medium rare edge-to-edge and even helped tenderize it a bit. Top sirloin tends to be slightly chewier than tenderloin which is why 14 hours or so of cooking are required.
If you’re cooking tender cuts sous-vide, one useful trick is to cook a little piece of the meat in a skillet (before “sous-vide’ing” it) and get an idea of how tender it really is. Most tender cuts won’t require more than just a couple of hours (cook to core temperature) but others might be slightly chewier and require longer cooking times to break down that connective tissue if needed. It’s all a matter of taste and preference though so I will leave it up to you to decide how long to cook that top sirloin for but if you don’t wanna guess then try out this recipe here.
Very important.
In the photos, as I mentioned, the “roast” beef is cold out of the fridge, hence the peculiar dry appearance. But that’s because the collagen and the fats are in a solid estate. Apply a little heat from say, a panini press… unleash the juiciness One more thing I did was. I sliced the meat into about 3mm round, cut against the grain. Sprinkled it with salt and pepper, generously, and let it rest overnight in the fridge. The next day it was delicious, a bit on the saltier side, which is perfect in my opinion.
Ingredients:
1 Fresh Top Sirloin Roast, about 3-4 pounds
1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1/2 Tbsp Kosher Salt
1 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1/2 Tbsp garlic powder
1/2 Tbsp onion powder
1 Tbsp Chilli powder (chimayo chiles in my case, thanks Shanna)
To season the meat.
Place it in a ziplock bag with all the ingredients. Seal the bag. Shake it really well until the meat is more evenly coated. You could place it in the fridge overnight, which I would recommend. I decided to cook it right away and let it cook and season/brine at the same time. The problem here is that as it cooks, the beef jus is pushing out water as the muscle fibers tense up due to heat and the brine doesn’t really penetrate all that effectively. In my experience, seasoning/marinating/brining before cooking tends to work better. A solution to the issue mentioned above is “post brining”. Cooking the meat with the seasonings right away and then letting it sit in the fridge overnight allowing the salt permeate back into the meat. Then sear it. That works if you’re not pressed to serve the meat right away.
Searing the meat.
Remove the bag from the sous vide bath. You could place the baggie in an ice bath. Or just let it rest in the fridge or counter for about 30 minutes. Remove meat from the bag and dry it with paper towels. Pour juices into a shallow pan and reserve. On a cast iron pan stainless steel pan over high heat, heat up some clarified butter or any good quality high smoke point oil such as safflower. When the oil starts to ripple and its barely just started to release a little smoke, carefully place the meat, and sear on all sides until golden brown. Resist the temptation of cutting this thing up. Allow resting for at least 30 minutes.
Quick pan sauce.
Heat up the pan containing the meat jus, and make a pan glaze, add some more sugar, tamari, garlic powder or fresh garlic, shallots. Boil and reduce. Strain halfway there. Remove any solids, make sure to extract as much liquid from the solids as possible. Discard the solids. Return liquid to the pan. Taste. Adjust seasoning. Reduce until it is the consistency of a glaze. Allow cooling. Then using a pastry brush. Paint the roast beef evenly. Transfer to a dish and place in the fridge overnight. The next day, you can slice the meat cold. Or heat up the meat in the oven or sous vide bath and enjoy a juicy and tender roast beef.
Until the next post! If you’re interested in more sous vide cooking, just type sous vide in the search bar!
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40 comments
Your “roast” looks perfect, Paul. What great sandwiches you will make with your cold cuts! Oh yum! I bet you’ll be making your homemade garlic aioli as a spread? Also, love your shots of Stanley Park! 🙂
Thank you Patty! 🙂 I didn’t make the home made aioli but that sounds like a great idea! hahah … which reminds me… I want to make garlic confit at some point and post about it. So glad you enjoyed the pics at the park! Hope you’re having a great week!
Mmm…garlic confit…can’t wait to see that post! Yes, my week is going well so far! I hope the same is true for you! 🙂
Garlic confit, very simple. Whole head of garlic in a small sauce pan filled with oil… basically poach the garlic at very low temperature for about 40 minutes. Shouldn’t brown, the result… creamy garlic spread, without the kick… just sweetness 🙂
That sounds divine! Will have to make me some confit soon! Thanks, Paul. 🙂
of course! 🙂
So much wisdom! I bet it was worth the wait though. I just want to eat that with a little horseradish or pickles and rye bread for lunch!
I second you! pickles and rye with some roast beef, hell yeah! Thank you Becky!
No problem, now if you could just get that packaged up and sent this way……!
too late, maybe next time! 😉
Doh!
This looks great- I’ve never made anything like this before, but it really looks worth it to try out 🙂
The roast looks gorgeous. The cold cut version of it makes me dream of a delicious sandwich. Beautiful. Stunning pics too. Spring is finally on its way!
thank you Amanda! we had delicious sandwiches at work, I brought it in, pre sliced.. didn’t last long! Yeah, spring is here definitely, it almost feels like summer, it’s warm and sunny, haven’t needed a jacket or umbrella in a couple of days 🙂
Lucky you. Today is beautiful in NYC, but last night I got caught in torrential downpours (see latest post on absolute lack of foresight). Today of course I wore rain boots. You brought this wonderful meat into work???! Jealous!
Looks fantastic Paul as does the whole of your blog (I need to explore it some more). I love cooking eye of round SV for cold cuts. That -in addition to Bresaola and tartar- is probably the only good use for that particular cut. It does make fantastic sandwiches after being brined, seared, spiced and cooked SV.
Thank you for your nice comment! I’m really glad you’re liking the content! I wish I had more time to post more often, but sometimes is difficult! 🙂 I want to make bresaola at home at some point!
Believe me I understand about finding time to post. I’d be lucky to get one post up in a month these days.
hahahah yeah, same here! I cook very frequently, but its usually quick dinners, or whatever I can find in the fridge… leftovers, cheese, hard boiling eggs, some bread and mayo hahah, very frequent in the week night menu… stuff that isn’t too fun to photograph or write about 🙂
Great post, Paul! (Great photos at the end, too.) It’s also on my list of experiments to try whether it makes a difference to cure first and then cook or to cure and cook at the same time. I usually don’t bother with curing first, but I am curious as many sous-vide recipes prescribe this. This may also be a nice cut to try some warm aging, if it hasn’t been dry-aged already that is.
Thanks Stefan! I have to try your warm aging method, I remember reading about it not long ago and being very intrigued! 🙂
Paul, what an amazingly delicious post. We love roast beef and have never contemplated making it on our own. Why not? It looks like it is well worth. I can imagine myself snacking on the roasted, spicy sirloin all week long – salads, sandwiches, dipped in aioli… 🙂 I’ll let you know when we try this. Greg loves any sort of roasted beef on a sandwich (he’s eaten them twice this week at Zingermann’s!). Take care of yourself.
Thanks Shanna, as you can see, making your own is super simple, and if you’re not comfortable cooking sous vide, you can still make it happen in the good ole oven, is even simpler. I used your chile blend btw! Have a great weekend 🙂
I read about the chile blend, Paul. Always read your posts in full! 🙂 Oh, my, you might need another chile shipment soon. If I mail it now, it will arrive in 2020! 🙂 I don’t have a sous vide machine. Stefan writes on his blog that I could simmer the meat (contained in a plastic bag) in water, but it looks like it might not work with this recipe (too long to watch the water temp.)? Are there oven instructions in your post? Maybe I missed that. Have the best weekend ever in awesome Vancouver!!!!
hahahah yes, 2020 sounds about right 🙂 yeah, I’ve watched over food cooking without an immersion circulator for as long as 6 hours, but anything above that, you really need one. Oven instructions, well… most ovens operate at temperatures above 150F, you could par cook. Which means, you can do it in 2 stages, cook for say, 6 hours, refrigerated it and then cook for another 6 hours the next day or so. I’d keep the oven door open, so you really aren’t cooking at 150F but slightly lower temperature, It’s tricky but doable, and if you’re dealing with really good quality tenderloin, then 6 hours is probably all you really need. After that, you can sear the meat in a skillet and enjoy a a nice gently cooked roast beef.
This is a very chefy response! How do you know all of this?! I’m impressed. 🙂
🙂 Thank you, Shanna, I think I experiment in the kitchen frequently, not just cook, I have some bandwidth in the evenings thankfully, and I’ve obsessed for sometime about cooking, a few books, not recipe books which I also have a few, but technique books and food science related stuff. I really love this cooking thing I guess 🙂 The learning process never stops, which I think is what makes it attractive. Otherwise it would be boring hahah. I started the blog a year after I started learning how to cook, so, about 3 years ago, is when I started gathering books and practicing. Before that, cooking was very secondary in my life for no reason, because I’ve always loved it. Have a great day Shanna!
You’ve only been cooking THREE years?! That is talent and drive. I love to cook, but you sense of adventure, dedication and culinary precision is something to be admired.
🙂 yes, about 3 or 4 years. Hope you’re weekend is going great!!!
I could live on roast beef- rare that is. My fave sandwich is with mayo, horseradish cream and red pepper jelly.
Your roast looks perfect!
Thank you Wendy! definitely this cook be cooked rare, is just a couple of degrees below, and would be pretty awesome 🙂 I love your pairing suggestions, good eats!
Can’t wait to visit! Looks amazing!!!
Visit soon, it’s gonna be fun!
Yummy! It looks so nice!
Gracias! Siguiendote tambien! 🙂
This looks amazing- love the simplicity! Roast beef is my favourite- so good! 🙂
Thank you Jess!!! yeah, it is super straight forward!
Hi Paul! You’ve been at it again with the sous vide! I haven’t had the guts to try it yet because for me its like doing something in a lab. Ok cooking is like being in a lab but different. Even though I had studied pharmacy, mixing things in a lab was always hard… Am loving the photos of the ducks!
Hi Sofia! it’s been a while! Hope you’re doing well. Cooking sous vide is a bit weird at first, not weirder than a pressure cooker, or a microwave really… just a fancy water heater, and a plastic bag. The results are worth the adventure. I’m glad you enjoyed the pics around stanley park, it is a beautiful place.
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