Set the oven: Fill the water reservoir. Select Sous Vide mode, set the temperature to 130°F and steam to 100%. Let it fully preheat before the meat goes in. The steam has to be on or sous vide mode will not engage.

Season and rack them: Pat the steaks dry and season all sides with 2 teaspoons kosher salt and 1 teaspoons black pepper, coarsely ground. No bags, no vacuum sealer. Set them on a wire rack over a sheet pan with at least an inch of space between them so steam circulates on every side.

Place the probe: Slide the food probe horizontally through the side of the thickest steak so the tip lands dead center. Going in from the top on a one-inch steak will push the tip out the bottom and read the air instead of the meat. Set the probe target to 130°F.

Cook to probe temperature: Put the rack on a middle position and let it run. Expect roughly two hours for one-inch steaks, but the probe reading decides, not the timer. Steam moves heat more slowly than water does, so this takes longer than a bath would.

Preheat the skillet: When the probe is within a few degrees of target, put a cast iron skillet on the stove over high heat. Run the exhaust fan and open a window. Flick in a drop of water: it should skitter and vanish in a second.

Dry them thoroughly: Pull the steaks and pat every surface bone dry with paper towels, edges included. They come out of a 100 percent steam environment, so they will be genuinely wet. This step decides whether the sear works. A wet steak steams instead of browning.

Sear the first pair: Add half of 2 tablespoons neutral oil (grapeseed, avocado, or canola) to the skillet and swirl. Lay two steaks down away from you. Do not move them, do not poke them. Sixty to ninety seconds until a deep brown crust forms.

Flip and baste: Flip them. Add half of 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, half of 4 garlic cloves, smashed and half of 4 thyme sprigs, optional. Tilt the pan and spoon the foaming butter over the tops for another sixty to ninety seconds. Hold each steak on its fat edge with tongs for fifteen seconds. Move to a plate, tent loosely with foil.

Second pair: Wipe the pan, let it recover heat for a minute, then repeat with the remaining oil, butter, garlic and thyme for the other two steaks. Fresh butter matters here since the first round will have browned past pleasant.

Rest briefly and slice: Three minutes on a board is plenty. The interior is already at an even temperature, so a long rest gains nothing. Slice against the grain, meaning across the muscle fibers rather than along them, and spoon the pan butter over the top.