Can you make Sous Vide Steak in a Pressure Cooker

pressure-cookersous-videsteak

I have been reading about sous vide cooking and it seems like sous vide cooking is done under pressure. I want to try cooking a steak sous vide in a pressure cooker and then searing it to create a nice crispy edge at the end. Is this possible with a pressure cooker? What specific temperature and time frame should I consider for beef steak? Are there any weight graphs available to determine the time required?

Best Answer

I'm afraid you have gotten something wrong.

Sous-vide and pressure cooking are, as far as food physics is concerned, on the opposite ends of the scale.

  • Pressure cooking allows you to increase the boiling point of water, thus reducing the cooking time. (Bad idea for a tender steak, btw., as soon as you exceed a certain temperature, the proteins in the meat change irreversibly and the meat gets tough.)

  • Sous-vide uses temperatures way below the boiling point, combined with a very extended cooking time. This means you can safely and slowly bring your steak to the desired core temperature without the risk of overcooking and thus toughening the meat. A final sear is just a finishing touch, not technically a necessity for cooking the meat. (But don't skip it, it's for flavour and eye appeal!)

So no, we can't give you a temperature / time chart for steak in a pressure cooker - because the results would be very unsatisfactory.