How to Cook Healthy Food for Kids : Make Tender Medium Rare Steak With Anova Immersion Circulator

 

One of the great dilemmas of healthy cooking is how to cut out saturated fat but keep meat flavorful and tender at the same time. Lean cuts of steak like round, flank, hanger, and flat iron can also be tough. Tenderizing lean cuts of steak manually or chemically with marinades can help, but I still often find myself really working my jaw muscles to break down tough meat further.

One way to tenderize tough meat is to cook it on low heat for a long period of time. A slow cooker is a great tool to cook low and slow. However, one problem with slow cookers is they can cook food unevenly, tending to overcook foods closest to the heating element. Another problem with slow cookers is they are not good devices for cooking your steak medium rare, which is the way I like it.

To achieve a medium rare center, the optimal cooking temperature is 130-140 degrees fahrenheit. While slow cookers can cook at a low temperature, typical low settings heat to temperatures in the range of 175-200 degrees fahrenheit.

Enter sous-vide cooking. Perhaps you have heard of sous vide cooking while watching popular cooking shows like Top Chef. You may have even eaten sous vide cooked food in restaurants without even knowing it.

Sous vide means "under vacuum". Food is sealed in a plastic bag, then cooked in a water bath low and slow. For instance, a typical controlled water bath temperature for cooking meats sous vide is between 131-140 degrees Fahrenheit. This makes sous vide cooking ideal for cooking medium rare, tender steaks.

Sous vide cooking is no longer just for professional chefs. For instance, I recently purchased an Anova immersion circulator. The Anova immersion circulator instantly transforms an ordinary pot into a precision water bath at a relatively affordable price point. I used my Anova immersion circulator to make a velvety soft medium rare hanger steak with chimchurri sauce.

http://youtu.be/NxEPY9GS7r4

References

http://www.beefitswhatsfordinner.com/CMDocs/BIWFD/FactSheets/Many_Of_Americas_Favorite_Cuts_Are_Lean.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_cooker

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperature_%28meat%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sous-vide