When to blowtorch your steak

[Rudi]

For the chef's among us...

Buying a sous vide cooker (immersion circulator)? Grab these things too...

With traditional cooking methods, the browned exterior of cooked meat comes at the same time the protein is cooked. But when cooking sous vide, the browning process comes separately. Without the help of a blow torch, sous vide steaks, pork chops, and ribs look like sad blobs of mushy meat.

[Claude]

you're better off getting a cooking thermometer which allows you to control / keep track of the exact amount of cooking of your steak

[HansV]

A cooking thermometer won't help to get a brown crust on your steak if you're cooking it sous-vide...

(But one pr9obably shouldn't cook a steak sous-vide at all...)

[Leif]

What's wrong with a good old steak tartare? No cooking, browning, crisping, burning, thermometers or blow torches needed!

[HansV]

Nothing at all (except if you're pregnant or have a weak immune system), but it's a completely different dish...