This recipe for Sous Vide Picanha is dead easy if you have the tools. Cooking the Picanha steak Sous Vide makes it almost impossible to screw up. You get edge to edge medium rare perfection every time. Plus, you don't have to be a professional chef to do it.
Immersion Circulators have become so affordable in recent years that it is almost criminal not to have one. Dad always recommends steak as the first thing to try when learning to cook sous vide. Steak is the perfect food to show off the benefits of Sous Vide because cooking a steak the traditional way involves a lot of guessing.
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How to cook Sous Vide Picanha
Cut your picanha into steaks
Cut your picanha into 1.5/2 inch steaks. You want thicker steaks for sous vide cooking to give you the ability to sear them and not overcook the inside. Make sure to cut them with the grain.
The reason you are cutting them with the grain is so that when they are served the final cut by the person eating the steak will make a cut across the grain. This will make sure that the steak is tender when you eat it.
Season the picanha liberally
Season the picanha liberally with salt, garlic powder and onion powder. A sous video steak can take a lot of seasoning. Some of it will come off in the sous vide process and then some will be lost in the searing process. When in doubt go heavier than you think is needed.
Vacuum seal to prepare for sous vide
Seal the steaks in vacuum bags 1-2 per bag. If you do not have a vacuum sealer you can use the immersion technique and a freezer Ziploc bag like Dad showed in his sous vide ribeye recipe and video.
Set up for sous vide cooking
Set your immersion circulator according to the manufacturer's directions. Dad has an Anova precision cooker and it attaches to the side of a container using a clip. Find a container big enough to cover all of your steaks and have room around them for the water to circulate.
Once you are set up heat the water bath to 134 degrees using your immersion circulator. 134 is the temp you would cook at if you are looking for medium-rare. If you are looking to cook to a medium you would set it for 140 degrees and for well done (why, oh why) you would do 160 degrees.
Submerge your vacuum-sealed bags of picanha into the water bath. Cook "Sous Vide" at 134 degrees for 1.5 hours.
Dry the steaks well
Remove bags from water bath and pat steaks dry. This is a very important step. If you do not dry the surface of the steak you will never get a good sear or crust on the steak.
If there is moisture on the exterior the heat will be used to evaporate it instead of heating the surface. Once you have dried your steaks it is time to put that crust on them.
Sear over a charcoal grill
There are tons of ways to sear sous vide steak. One of Dad's favorites, when he has the time, is to use his Weber Kettle charcoal grill. The trick is to make sure you have it set up to burn as hot as possible.
You want to be flipping the steaks frequently until a nice brown crust forms. DO NOT take too long to do this or you will ruin your medium-rare.
The food is already cooked, you are just looking for nice color and texture. Dad would say 2-3 minutes MAX. The shorter the time the better. One trick Dad likes to use is to purposely induce a flare-up.
By drizzling a little bit of vegetable oil on the steaks it will cause a flare-up.
SOUS VIDE PICANHA - CHARCOAL SEARED
this amazing Brazilian steak? You will might find it labeled as Sirloin Cap.
Since this steak does not have a lot of intramuscular fat it is important to
cook it perfectly, and that is where Sous Vide shines! When you are done throw
it on a charcoal BBQ grill and you will have a steak that rivals the best churrasqueira!
#picanha #sousvidepicanha #charcoalgrilled #braiziliansteak
Equipment
- Immersion Circulator
- Charcoal Grill
Ingredients
- 1 Picanha 3-4 Pounds
- 1 GO (Garlic Powder/Onion Powder) In a Shaker 50/50 Mix Ratio
- 5 tablespoon Olive Oil Just enough to drizzle when grilling
- 4 tablespoon Coarse Salt This is an estimate. You can go as heavy or light as you like on the salt. Sous vide Picanha can take a lot of seasoning.
Instructions
- Cut picanha into 1.5/2 inch steaks (with the grain – see video).
- Season liberally with salt, garlic powder and onion powder.
- Seal in vacuum bags 1-2 per bag.
- Heat up your water bath to 134 degrees using your immersion circulator.
- Submerge your vacuum sealed bags of picanha into the water bath.
- Cook “Sous Vide” at 134 degrees for 1.5 hours.
- Remove bags from water bath.
- Pat steaks dry.
- Sear over an extremely hot charcoal grill flipping frequently until a nice brown crust forms. DO NOT take too long to do this or you will ruin your medium rare. It is already cooked, you are just looking for nice color and texture.
Video
Notes
Temps:
Medium Rare: 134 DegreesNutrition
Tried this recipe?Mention @DadGotThis or tag #DadGotThis!A little Knowledge on Sous Vide & Picanha.
What is sous vide?
If you are unaware of Sous Vide or new to it Dad will give you a quick rundown. Sous Vide means under vacuum. So many times you will hear people say they bought a Sous Vide Machine
, but that not actually correct. What they bought is an immersion circulator. Sous vide is the style of cooking, the immersion circulator is the cooking appliance.
The way Sous Vide cooking works is you seal food in a bag (you can season before you bag it if you want) and remove all of the air. Then you submerge that bag in a temperature-controlled water bath.
How does an immersion circulator work?
An immersion circulator moves the water around and heats it, maintaining a precise temperature. Think of it as a hot tub for food. By cooking the food at the exact temperature you want there is no way to overcook it. If you set your circulator to 134 degrees and put the food in the bath it is impossible for the food to reach more than 134 degrees.
Hence, you can't overcook it. Another added benefit is that by cooking the food in the bag all the juices that would normally drip or be boiled away are kept sealed in the bag, adding extra flavor.
Dad has a whole post and video on the basics of sous vide if you want to learn more.
What is picanha?
In America Picanha is sometimes labeled as Sirloin Cap. It may not be available at your grocery store but if they have a butcher you should certainly ask for it. The nice thing to Dad about this cut is it will generally be cheaper than a something like a NY Strip. Since the fat is a large-cap on the top not throughout you get more actual meat.
The cut of meat comes from the backside of the animal above the butt. Most American butchers will actually cut it up to make other cuts like round, rump or loin and that is why it can be hard to find in the United States.
Why picanha is a perfect candidate for sous vide cooking.
Since the cut does not have a lot of intramuscular fat it can dry out and become tough if not cooked to perfection. This is where the magic of Sous Vide comes into play. When cooked sous vide the Picanha comes out super tender and packed with beefy flavor.
Finishing the steak on a charcoal grill gives it authentic grilled flavor and is super easy to do.
If you don't have a charcoal grill you can always use a gas grill, pan sear it or even put it in the broiler of your oven. However, in Dad's opinion the charcoal grill is the way to go.
If you are going to pan sear or finish in the oven that Dad recommends you set the circulator to 131 instead of 134 to account for the longer sear and not ruin your perfect medium-rare.
Don't forget to go to Dad's youtube channel!
How about some Sous Vide Ribs?
Dad's Sous Vide Ribs are tender, moist and really easy to make. It doesn't matter if you cook them for 12 or 24 hours, they are delicious either way.
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