Sous Vide New York Strip: Temperature and Time

Sous vide New York strip cooks at 131°F (55°C) for medium-rare. A strip steak 1.5 in (3.8 cm) thick needs at least 2 hr 15 min in the bath, is at its best between 2 hr 15 min and 3 hr 15 min, and should come out by 4 hr.

The bath sets the doneness of the meat. The fat cap along one edge is finished in the pan afterward. Every time on this page comes from the calculator.

New York strip, strip steak, Kansas City strip

These are names for one cut. The beef industry's cut guide lists it as strip steak, cut from the strip loin in the loin primal, and gives New York strip, Kansas City strip, top loin steak, club steak, shell steak, hotel cut and ambassador steak as other names.

Wikipedia's entry on strip steak says the cut comes from the short loin and is the longissimus, a muscle that does little work, which is why the meat is tender. It is sold with or without the bone. With the bone and a piece of tenderloin attached, it is a T-bone or a porterhouse. The tenderloin on its own is the cut in the filet mignon guide.

A ribeye is mostly the same muscle, cut from the rib, and the ribeye guide covers it.

Strip steak temperature and doneness

The default is 131°F (55°C), medium-rare. Choose 140°F (60°C) for a medium steak that is pink throughout, firmer and still juicy.

Sources place the strip differently on fat. J. Kenji López-Alt's strip steak recipe for Anova groups a grain-finished Prime strip with ribeye as a highly marbled cut. He cooks both a few degrees Fahrenheit higher than lean tenderloin and prefers them medium-rare to medium, around 129 to 135°F (53.9 to 57.2°C).

The beef industry's cut guide classes strip steak as lean and lists 6 g of fat in a 3 oz cooked serving, against 10 g for ribeye. That figure is for the lean with the visible fat trimmed off, and López-Alt is describing Prime-grade beef. By his reasoning, a heavily marbled strip suits the upper part of that range better than a lean one does. The calculator's settings on either side of it are 131°F (55°C) and 140°F (60°C).

At 150°F (65.6°C) the steak is faintly pink, firm and drying out, with a grainy texture. At 160°F (71.1°C) it has no pink and is firm and dry. Rare, at 125°F (51.7°C), is bright red and very soft, and it has a time limit covered in the safety section.

How long to sous vide New York strip, by thickness

Lay the steak flat and measure through the thickest part, including the bone if there is one. The calculator's New York strip setting covers bone-in and boneless steaks from 0.5 to 2.5 in (1.3 to 6.4 cm).

At 131°F (55°C) the minimum is the heat-through time. A 1 in (2.5 cm) strip needs 1 hr 15 min and a 1.5 in strip needs 2 hr 15 min. Both have a 4 hr maximum.

The López-Alt recipe prints 1 to 4 hours for medium-rare steaks 1.5 to 2 in thick, and 40 minutes for steaks 1 in or less. The calculator's minimums are longer. They are built on Douglas Baldwin's heating tables, which time the center to within 1°F (0.5°C) of the bath, and a thicker steak takes longer for the center to get there.

A 2 in (5.1 cm) strip needs 3 hr 45 min, with a maximum of 4 hr 45 min. At 2.5 in (6.4 cm) the minimum is 6 hr, which is the pasteurization time.

The general steak guide explains how the maximums are set and what happens to a steak left in too long.

Medium strip steak

At 140°F (60°C) a 1 in strip needs 1 hr 30 min and a 1.5 in strip needs 2 hr 30 min. Both are pasteurized at those times. How long to sous vide steak explains why thickness sets the time, and the steak temperature chart sets the strip next to the other cuts.

The fat cap

A strip steak can carry a layer of fat on its outside edge. America's Test Kitchen's recipe for pan-seared thick-cut strip steaks calls it an external fat cap and treats a strip without one as a lean strip steak.

The bath does not brown the cap. Baldwin's guide puts good browning and a roasted flavor at surface temperatures around 300°F (149°C), far above any bath temperature. A steak seared only on its two faces leaves the cap unbrowned.

To brown it, sear both faces first. Then pick the steak up with tongs, stand it on the fat edge so the cap is flat against the pan, and hold it there until the cap is browned.

The López-Alt recipe allows about 45 seconds in total for the edges after the faces are done. America's Test Kitchen, searing two steaks held together on their sides, takes about a minute and a half.

For a strip with no fat cap, the test kitchen's pan-searing recipe adds an extra tablespoon of oil to the pan.

How to sous vide New York strip

1. Heat the bath. Set it to 131°F (55°C), or to 140°F (60°C) for medium.
2. Season. Salt and pepper on both faces and the edges.
3. Bag in a single layer. Use a vacuum sealer, or a zipper-lock bag sealed with the water displacement method.
4. Cook for the time that matches the thickness. Keep the bags in a single layer, fully under the water, and not overlapping. Crowded or overlapping bags heat more slowly, and the times shown will be too short for them.
5. Dry the steak. Pat it dry on both faces and along the fat cap.
6. Sear the faces. The López-Alt recipe heats 1 tablespoon of oil in a heavy skillet until it smokes and flips the steak every 15 to 30 seconds, about a minute and a half in total.
7. Sear the fat cap and edges, then serve. The recipe says a sous vide steak does not need to rest.

Cooking New York strip from frozen

At 131°F (55°C) a frozen 1 in strip needs at least 2 hr, with the same 4 hr maximum. A frozen 1.5 in strip needs 3 hr 30 min, with a maximum of 4 hr 30 min.

The frozen heat-through time is 1.55 times the thawed time. Freeze the steaks in a single flat layer so the thickness is the same as when thawed. The frozen steak guide has the method in full.

Safety

The USDA safe minimum internal temperature for steak is 145°F (62.8°C) followed by a 3 minute rest, as listed on FoodSafety.gov. The rare, medium-rare and medium settings are below that.

At 131°F (55°C) a strip steak is heated through at the minimum time but not pasteurized. That is normal for a whole, intact cut of beef cooked to this doneness. To pasteurize a 1.5 in strip at this temperature, cook it for at least 3 hr 45 min. A 1 in strip needs 3 hr.

Use that longer time, or a higher temperature, when cooking for pregnant women, children under 5, adults 65 and older, or anyone with a weakened immune system. Use it as well if the label says mechanically tenderized or blade tenderized, or the meat has been injected.

At 140°F (60°C) a strip 1 in thick or more is pasteurized at the minimum time. That lower temperature pasteurizes the steak only because it is held for the full minimum time shown, so do not shorten it.

A rare strip 1 in thick needs 1 hr 15 min and a 1.5 in strip needs 2 hr 15 min. Rare is recommended only up to 1.5 in (3.8 cm), and from frozen only up to 1 in. At 1.75 in the center needs 3 hr to warm through, which is longer than the 2 hr 30 min limit for food cooked at 130°F (54.4°C) and below. For a thicker strip, choose a temperature of 131°F (55°C) or higher, or use a thinner piece. The sous vide safety guide explains that limit.

If the steak is firm and dry

The bath was too hot. Above 140 to 150°F (60 to 66°C), Baldwin describes muscle fibers shrinking along their length and losing a substantial amount of water. Use 131°F (55°C) or 140°F (60°C).