You can hack a slow cooker for this style of cooking as well, Huffington Post reports, but not without spending extra money and doing your own wiring. Why go to any trouble or spend an extra penny when the dishwasher under your counter is ready for double duty?
The magic of sous vide cooking is accomplished by putting meat with spices inside a vacuum-sealed bag and then immersing the bag in water held at a continuous temperature. The meat cooks slowly but won’t overcook and spices don’t get lost or evaporate in the airtight bag. The meat won’t dry out nor will it be charred on the surface. For more information on the advantages of sous vide cooking, see Digital Trends’ explanation here.
The redneck dishwasher steak method, which you can use while the appliance washes your dishes, doesn’t even require that you provide a vacuum bag. Put the steak on the top rack in the sealed plastic packaging from the grocery store or butcher. The dishwasher in the demonstration video has user-selectable water temperature and washing time. If your dishwasher lacks those settings, it could get trickier and take a few cycles.
Sous vide cooking doesn’t sear surfaces with even the fanciest, special purpose appliances, so, just like cooks with those purpose-built cookers, you’ll want to sear the cooked steak in a frying ban with oil and baste it with butter. The end result is evenly cooked steak with clean dishes to serve it on.
