Sous Vide Beef Tenderloin

You can use a small ice chest or a large stock pot. Pretty much anything that will fit the loin and enough water.

If you are willing to spend a few bucks buy a 12qt Cambro Container with a lid and be done with it.

Cut it in half?

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Two hours is fine but 135 is too high. 128 with a good sear gets you to medium rare at thickest point and medium elsewhere.

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128 is too high to pull for the sear. Pull that shite at 115-120 and then pull from the sear at 125-130.

Perfect. That’s the answer I was looking for. Even if I put this thing in a 5 gallon tub, it’ll still be curled around and smashed in the water bath.

No, I’m only doing the center cut.

I had the butcher ground the rest for me for another dish.

Did this for Christmas Day. Seasoned very liberally with salt and pepper and popped in a vacuum seal bag. I have seen others pre sear but I elected not to. My tenderloin was about 5lbs and was a choice cut from a local store.

I let it sit overnight in the fridge. I needed this, along with two rib roasts, to be ready mid day last Friday. I was worried putting it in that morning wasn’t going to be enough time given it was whole. I put it in at 131 degrees for what ended up being about 10 hours. I am usually a rare guy and would probably do a singular steak at a lower temp.

Here is where it got squirly but I post this part to show the flexibility you have. I took it out and let it rest. Admittedly I needed to raise the temp on one of the rib roast to let it come up just a bit higher.

Before I was ready to finish it I actually threw it in some cold water for about 5 mins. From there, took it out of the bag and cut it into steak sized portions. I debated searing it off whole but figured the individual portions being seared would present better.

Got a black stone screaming hot and seared each steak for no more than 30-40 seconds on each side. Removed from heat and served.

I didn’t take pictures but 131 was plenty rare enough. Even with the sear it came out looking like a rare+ or medium rare at the absolute most. The meat was unbelievably tender and it was gone immediately. I will no doubt do this again.

As long as it is about the pasteurization zone you are fine. I agree it felt long. I basically put it in there Christmas Eve when I went to bed and took it out in the morning.

Like another poster said doing it lower may work but that temp <129 has to max out at 4 hours.

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10 hours seems crazy long to sit at temp in the water bath

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With Sous Vide, the time doesn't cook the meat any more, it just holds it. Now everything will break down more with extended time, but that's probably just a preference.

I made this exact one years ago, and is great for larger cuts of meat and large qty's of meat. Its called the Sous Vide Cooler and was a neat DIY project.

I would cut in half. Cook at your desired temp (130 for me) for 2-3 hours max. Finish on a screaming hot grill.

Cutting it in half won't impact the cooking but it will increase the surface area that's seared...the best part. If you slice it for presentation you'll now get 4 ends instead of 2, including 2 thicker cuts.

I've done it many times. I get my Egg up to around 600 degrees and it's enough to get a good sear and a little charring. If you want less charring go for about 500 and raise it up a little above the flames.