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Simple Sous Vide Skirt Steak Recipe and How-To Guide
Skirt steak is thin and chewy, unless cut across the grain, but it is full of amazing flavor. The benefit of using sous vide on skirt steak is to cook it for long enough to tenderize it, this way you can enjoy the great flavor of a skirt steak without any of the chewiness. I often sous vide skirt steak for 12 to 24 hours, turning it into a tender, super flavorful steak.
Skirt steak is a very thin, relatively chewy piece of meat that is full of amazing flavor. It comes from the short plate primal located at the belly of the cow, which is where flank steak and hanger steak also come from.
Skirt steak is often used in fajitas or tacos and is a popular cut in many South American steakhouses. It is also usually sliced thinly against the grain to try and cut down on the toughness, though sous vide skirt steak is often tender enough to not worry about that.
The thinness of skirt steak leads to a few complications when using sous vide to cook it. If you are just going to heat skirt steak through, I generally recommend just cooking it in the traditional method because they are so thin.
Usually skirt steak is seared or grilled for a few minutes per side, which is enough time to fully cook it, making the sous vide process unnecessary, and perhaps detrimental due to the difficulty of searing it.
The benefit of using sous vide for skirt steak is to cook it for long enough to tenderize it. This way you can enjoy the great flavor of a skirt steak without any of the chewiness. I often sous vide skirt steak for 12 to 24 hours, turning it into a tender, super flavorful steak.
Once sous vided, I chill the skirt steak using step chilling, then I quickly sear it until the crust forms and it just heats through. It is now ready to be sliced and served.
As I mentioned, you can get away with just heating skirt steak through, though the real power comes from tenderizing it over time. To determine how long to cook skirt steak, you just need to figure out how tender you want it.
Heating it through results in a traditional skirt steak, chewy and flavorful, and you'd better cut it across the grain.
After 12 hours, the sous vide skirt steak has become much more tender. Cutting across the grain is still helpful, though you don't need to be nearly as careful. This is great when you still want some bite, but not a lot of chew. I love this in tacos or with chimichurri sauce on it.
After 24 hours, the skirt steak has become really tender, similar to a normal steak. It's lost most of its bite, while retaining all of the flavor. You can even sous vide skirt steak for longer, but it starts to become too tender for my taste.
Best Simple Sous Vide Skirt Steak Master Recipe
Skirt steak is thin and chewy, unless cut across the grain, but it is full of amazing flavor. The benefit of using sous vide on skirt steak is to cook it for long enough to tenderize it, this way you can enjoy the great flavor of a skirt steak without any of the chewiness. I often sous vide skirt steak for 12 to 24 hours, turning it into a tender, super flavorful steak. Using this simple sous vide skirt steak recipe you'll consistently be able to cook tender, juicy skirt steak every time!
Recipe Info
Published: 2021-09-30
Prep Time: 24 Minutes
Cooktime: Up To 24 Hours
Total Time: Up To 24 Hours
Serves: 4
Calories: 512 Calories
Tags: sous vide skirt steak, sous vide beef skirt steak, beef skirt steak, beef, sous vide, easy, simple
Ingredients Needed
For the Skirt Steak
2 pounds skirt steak
1 to 2 teaspoons salt
1/2 to 1 teaspoons spice rub or herbs (optional)
To Assemble
Sides (optional)
Sauces (optional)
Garnishes (optional)
Recipe Instructions
Preheating: Preheat a water bath to 131°F (55°C) or your desired temperature.
Season the beef: Trim off any fat and cut into portions if desired. Salt the skirt steak and add any seasoning rub or herbs you prefer.
Seal in a Bag: Place the skirt steak in a sous vide bag and seal it. You can use a silicon bag, Ziploc-brand freezer bag, or a heat safe vacuum bag or zip top bag.
Sous Vide the skirt steak: Add the bag to the preheated sous vide water bath. Let it cook until it is tenderized, up to 24 hours.
Thoroughly Dry the skirt steak: Remove the sous vide bag from the water bath. Take out the beef and dry it off well. You can use paper towels or dish cloths, both work well.
Sear the skirt steak: Quickly sear the beef for 1 to 2 minutes per side, until just browned, then remove it from the heat.
Time to Plate: Cut the meat into portions if desired. Add to a plate with any sides or sauces then serve.
Simple Sous Vide Carne Asada Recipe
Carne asada is traditionally a grilled and sliced skirt steak, though other types of steak can be used. It is usually marinated before grilling and cooked long enough to develop a nice char. I love to make sous vide carne asada because you can fully tenderize the meat before grilling it, making it even more delicious.
There are many variations on carne asada, but my favorite is using sous vide skirt steak and a citrus herb marinade, sous vided until tender and then finished on a hot grill.
The marinade is very important for transmitting the flavors in carne asada. I like to use a combination of lime juice, garlic, orange juice, cilantro (leave out if you don't like it), jalapeno, and olive oil. Before I add the steak, I'll usually set some aside to use as a sauce when I'm serving it.
Then I'll add the skirt steak and marinate it overnight. I usually will remove it from the marinade, seal it in a sous vide bag, and cook it for 12 to 24 hours, though some people prefer to sous vide it in the marinade.
At that point I'll fully chill it using the step chilling process. When I am ready to eat, I'll take the steaks from the bags and dry them off thoroughly. Then I'll fire up a grill to high heat, brush a little canola oil onto the steak, and toss it on the grill. After 30 seconds I'll flip it, and repeat until a crust has formed and it has just heated through, being careful not to overcook it.
Then it's ready to slice and serve with some of the reserved citrus marinade sprinkled over the top!
You can serve this by itself, in tacos or fajitas, or with a side of rice, beans, and grilled vegetables...or my favorite, just eating it straight off the serving platter with my fingers!
The skirt steak is extracted from the flank region of the cow. Flank is a primal cut found on the underside of the cow's belly area. The short loin and sirloin primal cuts are just above the flank. Though this primal cut produces a tough slab of meat, it is still coveted for its delicious beefy flavor.
The skirt steak is a fan-shaped cut that is lean and long. It is divided into two types- inside and outside. The inside skirt steak is found in the middle of the belly while the outside skirt steak is made up of the diaphragm. The inside skirt steak is perfect for making fajitas because it doesn't have any membrane (a thick white membrane is removed from the outside skirt steak).
You will find that the outside skirt steak weights around 2 pounds while the inside skirt steak weights around 3 pounds. Once the trimmings are removed from the inside skirt steak, it weights around 1 pound.
Because of the tough nature of this meat, it is hard not to overcook the skirt steak or it will become dry and tough to chew. The best method for cooking a skirt steak is sous vide. This allows for a long enough cooking time to make the steak very tender and keeps it moist.
The skirt steak's biggest advantage is that it is loose in texture so it absorbs seasoning thoroughly. This makes your steak flavorful and rich in bold seasoning.
Sometimes this cut is confused with flank steak but both are different cuts.
Northern Mexican Arrachera, Sauce, Cornish, Grilled Skirt Steak, and Chinese Stir-fry
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What is the Best Sous Vide Skirt Steak Temperatures and Times?
Skirt steak is thin and chewy, unless cut across the grain, but it is full of amazing flavor. The benefit of using sous vide on skirt steak is to cook it for long enough to tenderize it, often 12 to 24 hours.
My Cuban Style Sous Vide Beef Bowl is a filling grain bowl that pops with flavor. The rich and beefy skirt steak is cut by the sour mojo sauce, and the mango and plantains add bursts of sweetness. The spelt and black beans bulk it out. I love the all-natural sweetness added with the fried plantain and the mango, but you can omit them if you want to reduce the sugar in the recipe.
Sous Vide Skirt Steak Comments
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