Can You Cook a Steak in the Dishwasher?

Few meals are more luxurious than a perfectly cooked steak, and achieving that golden-brown crust with a juicy, medium-rare interior is a skill I’m still honing. For many chefs and home cooks alike, one technique makes this task a bit easier: sous vide.

The primary advantage of sous vide is that temperature can be monitored with remarkable precision, enabling even cooking without inconsistencies. This is especially crucial for something like steak, which rides a fine line between being undercooked, overcooked, or just right.

So what if you want to leverage the power of the sous vide cooking method for your next steak night, but don’t have the necessary tools? I’d argue that you’d be perfectly fine with a classic cast iron skillet, but some cooking-focused content creators are presenting another solution to their viewers online — the dishwasher.

Videos featuring beautifully cooked, medium-rare steaks that start in the dishwasher have easily racked up millions of views, and given the shock value of this technique — meat? in the dishwasher? — it’s no surprise they've gone viral. But if you don’t own a traditional sous vide setup and are looking to use your dishwasher instead, there are a few important things to know first.

What is sous vide?

Sous vide refers to both a cooking method and the appliance used to carry it out, often called a “sous vide machine” colloquially or, to be more precise, an “immersion circulator.”

The strategy behind sous vide focuses on accuracy and consistency. Food is placed in an airtight container (usually vacuum-sealed in food-grade plastic) and submerged in a water bath. The water temperature is meticulously maintained by the immersion circulator, ensuring the food cooks evenly and slowly throughout.

Sous vide is particularly useful for preparing proteins, resulting in meats that are tender, moist, and cooked to the exact desired temperature. However, a sous vide will not sear or brown your meat. After taking a steak out of the water and its airtight packaging, you’ll notice it appears slightly grey and definitely not crisp.

This is primarily because the low temperature of the sous vide technique doesn’t trigger the Maillard reaction that creates a steak’s beautifully browned crust. As a result, a sous vide steak depends on a reverse sear method — searing the meat after it has been cooked with the immersion circulator — to develop that crisp exterior.

Can you sous vide a steak in the dishwasher?

The theory behind sous vide-ing a steak in the dishwasher does actually make sense. During its cleaning cycle, hot water rushes through your dishwasher, and this water should be between 120 and 150℉. (Depending on the cut of meat, you’ll likely be aiming for a temperature between 129–144℉ for a medium-rare to medium steak.) So the temperature for sous vide cooking falls within the range that a typical dishwasher cycle will likely reach. 

However, several issues are likely to arise when trying to cook a steak in the dishwasher. First, even if you have checked the temperature of your dishwasher, you cannot guarantee that it will maintain that exact temperature throughout its entire cycle.

A sous vide machine is effective because it’s designed to maintain water at a precise temperature for an extended period of time, whereas a dishwasher is intended to heat water sufficiently to clean your dishes. The latter can easily fluctuate in temperature by a few degrees.

In the same vein, submerging a steak in water for sous vide ensures it is surrounded by a consistent temperature on all sides. However, in a dishwasher, water is sprayed and rushes around the dishes intermittently. This can lead to uneven heat and cooking, resulting in a steak that is overdone and rubbery or too rare in the center.

Finally, the drying cycle of a dishwasher is often hotter than the washing cycle, which can result in an overcooked steak — unless you keep an eye on it and remove the steak just before the drying cycle begins.

Could this method work out and produce a steak that’s successfully cooked to your liking? It’s possible. Is it a guarantee? Not at all.

If you do decide to attempt sous vide cooking a steak in the dishwasher — which we do not recommend — make sure the meat is vacuum-sealed, just as you would with a traditional immersion circulator. Also, contrary to what some users online may suggest, avoid cooking the steak in the vacuum-sealed packaging it comes in from the grocery store. There’s no guarantee that this plastic is heat-safe or can withstand the temperatures inside your dishwasher.