I recently stepped into the world if sous vide cooking and man oh man am I a believer...the quality and consistency of the steaks, chicken, and pork that have come of my new setup have exceeded my expectations.

I'm hosting a party coming up this weekend and have been asked to prepare my fajitas; my go-to recipe is based on the standard Pappasito's marinade which we've seen floating around on this forum for quite some time now. However, this is my first opportunity to possibly use the sous vide method to cook them. Do you guys have any advice on how to best go about doing that? Or should I just stick with my standard approach until I've tried it a few times? A few specific questions that come to mind are: 1) Do I need to marinate the meat prior to bagging it and placing in the water bath? 2) If they should be marinated first, then should I just bag the meat alone or put some of the marinade in with the meat during the cook? 3) Does a target temperature of 130F sound about right (I generally cook them to medium rare)? 4) Any recommended limits on how long the meat should stay in the bath prior to being seared on the grill?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

I wholeheartedly agree with HTown. I love to sous vide lots of stuff. There is no way fajitas make the cut. Effort to Reward ratio is WAY too high.

However, to answer your questions and not just be a debbie downer...

My opinions:

1) Yes
2) I would bag alone after
3) I think the temp is about right assuming you are going to quickly throw on the grill afterwards (which I would recommend). If you are not, I would raise temp for fajitas. People aren't used to MR fajitas and are going to find it weird.
4) Won't take long given the thickness of the meat. I'd stick 1-2 hours and no more unless you want mush for fajitas.

I guess my overall recommendation would be that if people are ASKING you to prepare your fajitas because they've been good in the past (non-sous vide), why would you change that up? Experiment on your own at a different time.

Got it...very much appreciate the honest appraisals as I'm still looking for new ways to invoke sous vide. I'll stick to my usual method for the fajitas...

Whether this is frowned upon or not, ive tried it. Ive bought pre marinated chicken fajitas at HEB and just threw the pack into the Sous Vide then finished it on the grill. Was nice and juicy/tender.

If you want to sous vide Mexican, do carnitas.

If you're doing full skirt steaks, sous vide is the way to go. If you're doing arachera/thin cut fajitas, do them on the grill. I' do skirts at 136 for 2hrs+ and then cast iron sear in pan size pieces and they are insanely good.

Simple solution - don't buy pre-marinated fajitas and just cook the damned things right. It's simple, easy and quick. No need to make something simple into something complicated. At least not in my world, I get enough of that at work and have no desire to do it at home.

It's not complicated, at all.

HTownAg98 said:

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I also think You are wasting time doing sous vide for fajitas.

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fIfy

For fajitas, it is complicated, time consuming and simply pointless.

schmellba99 said:

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For fajitas, it is complicated, time consuming and simply pointless.

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Yep. Butterfly a skirt steak, season with Bolner's, grill to med rare over a mesquite fire, cut across the grain and throw into a tortilla with some rajas and a little guac.

If there's one dish i really want to taste the fire, it's fajitas.

I'm with everybody else. Cook them normally.

But post that pappasitos recipe, please. I've been looking on Texags for month trying to find it.

3:2:1 of pineapple juice:soy:water i believe

TennAg is correct: the base I use is 3 : 2 : 1 --> pineapple juice : soy sauce : water and sometimes add other fresh and/or dried herbs/spices to that if I'm feelin' foxy.

As others on previous threads have noted, the two biggest factors I've observed in achieving consistency is 1) investing the time to properly trim whatever cut of meat you ultimately use (I usually use skirt or loin flap) and 2) to not over-marinate (3-4 hours is plenty in my experience). When showtime arrives, pull those bad boys from the marinade, pat dry, dust with whatever other spices you're in the mood for (no need for more salt, though!), and blast them for 2-3 minutes per side over blue-flaming mesquite coals to medium rare, depending on thickness. After the fact, a cigarette and pillow talk remain optional - but highly recommended.

Also, thanks to all for the interesting sous vide discussion. If the consensus had to been to give it try, I was planning to do a test run with a small batch one night this week before the party. But after seeing the responses, it sounds like it would be a waste of time. I have heard others say that Pappasito's does something sous vide-like with their fajitas (vacuum tumbling, maybe?), but if that's true, perhaps that has more to do with preparation volume and make-readiness than anything else?

Vacuum tumbling is a way to speed up the marinade process (nothing to do with cooking the meat).

I guess if you are going to marinate the meat, sous vide isn't going to be that much extra work and the meat is marinading while its cooking. Cook to rare and then finish on the grill.

willie wonka said:

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But post that pappasitos recipe, please. I've been looking on Texags for month trying to find it.

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Here ya go

If you have a Costco, the loin flap is the closest thing you will find to the meat they use

If you ever have trouble finding that thread, just search google or duckduckgo for "pappasito's fajita recipe". It's the first result.

I bought an Anova a year or so ago. Tried steaks, chicken and pork chops. Did the serious eats recommended temps and times. It was always tender and moist, but the texture was always off. Not really mushy but just too soft.

Am I doing something wrong or it that just the way it is?

I agree with others and don't see the point in sous vide fajitas.

Boiled fajitas......... geezus

rilloaggie said:

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Willful ignorance

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schmelba99 is a troll on the sous vide issue. I thought for a long time he just didn't understand but he is promoting it right down the board from here. "I know what I'm doing but tell you you're an idiot" = troll.

https://texags.com/forums/67/topics/2860324/last#last

I wouldn't sous vide fajitas. But we do have a sous vide carne asada with chimichurri recipe that calls for skirt steak and it's amazing.

I'm certainly interested in your recipe if you're willing share...

Believe it's just salt, pepper, and cumin. Cook at 131 for an hour then to the cast iron skillet. But I'll double check when I have a chance.