By far the best way to cook a steak.

[sir pball]

I own a circulator. I like my circulator. I use my circulator regularly.

And the best way I've ever found, in 22 years of professional cooking, to make a steak, is in a 1200 degree broiler. You can bag, chill and reverse-sear all you want, but nothing beats the Fires of Hell!

[becca da bakkah]

1. Where Do I Get One? I Checked on Amazon....

....but I only found circulating fans, sous vide, or immersion circulators. Is this something that is built in to the stove? Or is it free-standing? Gas or electric? Thanks

[Major Nikon]

2. I think this is a reference to an immersion circulator

... and then sear in a broiler.

I use my sous vide setup and then sear on a cast iron pan pre-heated in the oven.

[becca da bakkah]

3. Thanks. I Don't Have a Sous Vide.....

.....but I do sear a steak the same way, in a sizzling hot CI skillet on the stovetop, then pop it in the oven. Sometimes though, it's hit or miss, if it comes out right. Usually it's tough, even expensive rib-eyes. Does the sous vide eliminate that? Thanks

[Major Nikon]

4. The short answer is yes

Let’s say you want your steak medium rare, which is a final internal temp of about 135F. With sous vide you vacuum seal the food in a bag and set your water bath temp to 135F. The bag goes in the water bath long enough to equalize at 135F or longer. Since you are cooking to temp rather than time you can leave it in all day. Naturally there’s no sear, so after you take it out you generally want to sear it by the fastest method. This leaves you with a narrow sear and a wide medium rare in the middle.

Sometimes steaks are just tough no matter how you cook them, but sous vide increases your chance of success or at least helps against over cooking.

[becca da bakkah]

5. Sounds Like What I'm Looking For.....

.....and Christmas is just around the corner.

I agree, sometimes steaks are just tough. That's true of our local supermarket, here in Southern California. If I buy rib-eyes from them already cut, invariably they'll be tough and chewy. But, if I buy a rib-eye roast, and cut the steaks myself, they're always tender.

Any particular brand or feature you'd recommend?

[Major Nikon]

6. Mine is several years old

It has no circulator and is basically just a precise temp controller designed to work with something like a crock pot. Today there’s lots of other options like relatively cheap circulators and I think even some instant pots have the capability.

If I were buying one today I’d probably get a circulator, but I couldn’t tell you which one.

[stopwastingmymoney]

8. We bought one recently

The brand is Anova and I got the older model for 90 bucks.

We’ve used it only about haf a dozen times, best ribs ever. I’d recommend it.

[spinbaby]

7. That's what I do

Perfect steak every time. I’m very grateful I have a good vent fan.

[sir pball]

9. No, it's a commercial broiler

About 1200° F on the deck, red meat is best done completely under the burners. No need to bag it, the heat is so intense it barely penetrates before a deep, thick char develops. Takes a good rest period and a quick reflash, but it's the single best way I've found yet.

Home version, for outdoor use only! https://www.amazon.com/Original-OverFire-Radiant-Stainless-Delivered/dp/B06WLMNTL7

[Major Nikon]

10. Never heard those called a circulator

[sir pball]

11. It's not, I don't circulate steaks.

I was saying that the best way IMO to.cook a hunk of cow is in an infrared broiler.

Now, circulator carnitas in the other hand..