724 replies to this topic

[wijit01]

I promised the results of my experiments and here they are. I am using a Ranco controller and a Rival 5 quart slow cooker. My reference is a Thermopen instant thermometer.

With a set temperature of 120°F the system had a max temp of 123 ° and a min temp of 119°. The average was 121.7 ° over 6 hours. The over shoot does exist. I’m thinking that it can be compensated for. I will cook something over the weekend and report the result (perhaps a pork tenderloin, @145° target).

So far, for $100, just plug and play, I think that it will work fine. I will also evaluate it with a hot plate and a standard stock pot.

Edited by wijit01, 10 October 2007 - 07:27 PM.

[nathanm]

An on-off controller like the Ranco is bound to have some overshoot. In most cases this is not critical, beacues the tempertaure you cook at is not absolutely critical to within the tolerance.

The places where you need to be careful are things like salmon mi-cuit, or rare beef where there really is a difference in the outcome over a couple of degree range. However, for many things there isn't.

A PID controller would work a lot better. This is because in addition to on and off it will ramp the power up and down gradually.

There are many web sites on converting espresso machines to PID control - a similar procedure would allow you to change. Here or here are some examples. This is a bit more expensive, and of course a bit more electronically involved.

Note that the espresso machine kits ought to work as-is, but you can probably get by with a lower wattage/voltage solid state relay, depending on your slow cooker.

Pielle's PID stove top is a great idea - indeed it is a kitchen gadget that I don't have, which is pretty rare.

Somebody OUGHT to make a PID controller that you can just plug in, like the Ranco, but if they do, I don't know about it.

Edited by nathanm, 10 October 2007 - 07:59 PM.

[pounce]

Pielle linked to Auber Instruments. Looks like great stuff.

http://auberins.com/...1&products_id=1

If this doesn't have a plug on the back I am sure a person could call him and ask for the addition. It's only $45 plus a probe.

I use a Alfa FW9000 countertop steam table for my "tank" using a Julabo unit, but I've been wanting to play low tech. The steam table was only $100 and has a spigot for draining. Using the PID and just the steam table for heat might be enough.

I also thought of getting a Hydor Koralia #1 fish tank circulation pump just to see if it can handle the heat. I'm really curious.

Edited by pounce, 10 October 2007 - 09:29 PM.

[wijit01]

An on-off controller like the Ranco is bound to have some overshoot.  In most cases this is not critical, beacues the tempertaure you cook at is not absolutely critical to within the tolerance.

The places where you need to be careful are things like salmon mi-cuit, or rare beef where there really is a difference in the outcome over a couple of degree range.   However, for many things there isn't.

A PID controller would work a lot better.  This is because in addition to on and off it will ramp the power up and down gradually.

There are many web sites on converting espresso machines to PID control - a similar procedure would allow you to change.   Here or here are some examples.   This is a bit more expensive, and of course a bit more electronically involved. 

Note that the espresso machine kits ought to work as-is, but you can probably get by with a lower wattage/voltage solid state relay, depending on your slow cooker.

Pielle's PID stove top is a great idea - indeed it is a kitchen gadget that I don't have, which is pretty rare.

Somebody OUGHT to make a PID controller that you can just plug in, like the Ranco, but if they do, I don't know about it.

Nathan, thanks for all your great work on this thread. You have taught me a lot.

Oh yes, a PID will work better and I’m working on that too. Pielle's excellent explanation and links have lead me to make a hand held PID controller. I have the parts that Pielle used (about $50 from his source, really fast shipping!) and instead of wiring them to a stove burner, I’ll use the two ends of a short 16 gauge extension cord and a project box. I think I’ll convert the thermocouple to a plug-in style so it’s not flopping around. It will be like PID version of the Ranco controller. A bit more esoteric to program and rather larger as the relay on mine will be mounted inside the box but it should work fine. I’ll write up the results (with all credit to Pielle for the original work) when done.

Right now I’m calibrating the Ranco to run a Proctor Silex hot plate to keep a stock pot at 125°. Not bad, some overshoot early on (2°), gonna let it stabilize for a while. It seems to get better as time passes.

Edited by wijit01, 11 October 2007 - 03:09 PM.

[wijit01]

Report on Ranco control of Proctor Silex Fifth Burner Hot plate.

Set temp was 125°F. Thermopen monitored the temperature. I used an AllClad eight quart stock pot, filled with 115° tap water. I set the hot plate to HI.

After 10 minutes, the bath was at 128°. I turned the plate down to MED-LO. I checked the system every 15 minutes or so. After resetting the control, the temperature never got above 126° and never got below 124°. It averaged 125.4° for 3 hours.
It’s clear from the data that a lower source heat setting reduces overshoot. Once the system was at temperature, at low heat, it cycled more often but for shorter periods. I did not see significant temperature variation within the pot. The frequent cycling may provide the necessary convection. Long term control within 1° or 2° looks possible.

I will continue to experiment, this time with a rack of lamb (131° set point, for 12 hours, with a finish sear) and report how it goes.

[Anna Friedman Herlihy]

Apologies if someone has asked a similar question (well...several questions) on this very long thread (I skimmed and searched and didn't find anything).

First question (well..two questions): I'm thinking of cooking ox heart sous vide, since it works so well for tough muscles that are typically braised. What would my cooking time and temperature be for something like this? Also should I pre-slice it into the serving sizes or wait until it's done to cut it up?

Second question: I was rendering lard the other day, and was reading the recent sous-vide-style chicken broth thread, and wondered if sous-vide would be a good way to render lard and other fats? Theoretically the fat would just melt off of the skin, membrane, etc. Less clean up, no watching that it doesn't burn, more consistent temp... Although one wouldn't get the cracklings, but I rarely end up using many of them anyway before they go bad (too rich to eat very many of them).

I love my vacuum sealer for all sorts of things and have been beginning to dabble with sous-vide here and there.

Thanks much for any thoughts. Very interesting thread.

[nathanm]

First question (well..two questions): I'm thinking of cooking ox heart sous vide, since it works so well for tough muscles that are typically braised. What would my cooking time and temperature be for something like this? Also should I pre-slice it into the serving sizes or wait until it's done to cut it up?

Heart muscles is TOUGH because it is constantly in use. I would try 180F/82C for 8 hours. This ought to be enough, but you may need to take it longer. This will create a texture similar to a traditional braise, which is probably what you are familiar with.

I would cut it into serving portion and bag each separately.

You could cook it down to 140F/60C but then it would require days and that may not be what you are looking for.

Some experimentation will be necessary to get the results you want.

[nathanm]

Second question: I was rendering lard the other day, and was reading the recent sous-vide-style chicken broth thread, and wondered if sous-vide would be a good way to render lard and other fats? Theoretically the fat would just melt off of the skin, membrane, etc. Less clean up, no watching that it doesn't burn, more consistent temp... Although one wouldn't get the cracklings, but I rarely end up using many of them anyway before they go bad (too rich to eat very many of them).

This is a great idea! I have done this in a way when I make pork confit or pork belly, but have not done it only for the fat output. Sous vide is a great way to do this.

There are multiple processes for rendering fat. Here are some suggestions.

The traditional method for home use is to cook chucks of fat on the stove at low temperature.

If you cook confit style sous vide (i.e. meat with some oil in a bag at 160F/71C to 180F/82C), then rendering will occur.

However if you really want to render the fat well you must grind or homogenize the fat with water first. Put the fat to render in a blender with water (nearly to cover). Blend it until it is very fine and smooth. The best fat rendering always involved grinding to very fine pieces - it dramatically increases yield. A food processor would also work.

Or you could put through a meat grinder but yield will be better if you pass through a blender or food processor after the meat grinder. This will eliminate the cracklings, but will get you much better fat yield.

Once you have the blended fat and water (a fat-shake), you need to heat it.

Here are various methods:

1. In a pan, in the oven, at 225F/110C for 8 - 12 hours.

2. In a covered pot on a set up like Pielle's PID stovetop, or a laboratory hot plate with a temperture control, or a hot plate or slow cooker with the Ranco themostat. The thermostat should be set at 180F/82C. Let it go for 8-12 hours.

3. Put the fat-shake mixture in a pressure cooker at 250C/121F (1 bar or 15 lbs pressure) for 30 min.

4. Seal the fat-shake mix in a sous vide bag and cook in a water bath or other method at 180F/82C for 12 hours. The fat can be poured off the top. If you clip the top corner off the bag, you can pour the fat off pretty well.

[DocDougherty]

Seal the fat-shake mix in a sous vide bag and cook in a water bath or other method at 180F/82C for 12 hours.  The fat can be poured off the top.  If you clip the top corner off the bag, you can pour the fat off pretty well.

I really like the method, and it should work for duck fat as well as for lard. But just for safety reasons I might be tempted to chill the vacuum bag in ice water before trying to pour off the fat, but the fat is likely to congeal non-uniformly in ice water so maybe it would be better to actually refrigerate the bag until the fat is completely solid. Then it should be possible to cut off the bottom of the bag, drain the water, remove and dry off the fat, then trim off any residual gunk.

Doc

[Anna Friedman Herlihy]

First question (well..two questions): I'm thinking of cooking ox heart sous vide, since it works so well for tough muscles that are typically braised. What would my cooking time and temperature be for something like this? Also should I pre-slice it into the serving sizes or wait until it's done to cut it up?

Heart muscles is TOUGH because it is constantly in use. I would try 180F/82C for 8 hours. This ought to be enough, but you may need to take it longer. This will create a texture similar to a traditional braise, which is probably what you are familiar with.

I would cut it into serving portion and bag each separately.

You could cook it down to 140F/60C but then it would require days and that may not be what you are looking for.

Some experimentation will be necessary to get the results you want.

Thanks much--that gives me a ballpark. I've braised hearts in liquid on the stovetop at a bare simmer for about 4 hours to good result, so doubling that seems reasonable at a slightly lower temp.
Happy to report back with the results (will be eaten on Sunday).

[Anna Friedman Herlihy]

Seal the fat-shake mix in a sous vide bag and cook in a water bath or other method at 180F/82C for 12 hours.  The fat can be poured off the top.  If you clip the top corner off the bag, you can pour the fat off pretty well.

I really like the method, and it should work for duck fat as well as for lard. But just for safety reasons I might be tempted to chill the vacuum bag in ice water before trying to pour off the fat, but the fat is likely to congeal non-uniformly in ice water so maybe it would be better to actually refrigerate the bag until the fat is completely solid. Then it should be possible to cut off the bottom of the bag, drain the water, remove and dry off the fat, then trim off any residual gunk.

Doc

I am definitely going to experiment with this now the next time I need to render fat! I'm pretty done with both the stovetop and oven methods, for all the reasons I mentioned above that the sous vide would eliminate.
I'm thinking that if one were to leave a big enough margin above one of the sealed ends (easier to do with the non-vacuum end), that might give a big enough handle to be able to hold the warm bag of fat and snip and pour it from one corner without risk of burning oneself.

[wijit01]

Report on Ranco control of Proctor Silex Fifth Burner Hot plate.

Set temp was 125°F. Thermopen monitored the temperature. I used an AllClad eight quart stock pot, filled with 115° tap water. I set the hot plate to HI.

After 10 minutes, the bath was at 128°. I turned the plate down to MED-LO. I checked the system every 15 minutes or so. After resetting the control, the temperature never got above 126° and never got below 124°. It averaged 125.4° for 3 hours.
It’s clear from the data that a lower source heat setting reduces overshoot. Once the system was at temperature, at low heat, it cycled more often but for shorter periods. I did not see significant temperature variation within the pot. The frequent cycling may provide the necessary convection. Long term control within  1° or 2° looks possible.

I will continue to experiment, this time with a rack of lamb (131° set point, for 12 hours, with a finish sear) and report how it goes.

Ahem........ I annoys me that several persons on this thread have taken the effort to invent a time machine, go back in time and post messages that obviously rip-off my idea of pork confit using sous vide.

I would appreciate it that in the future/past that all will/would refrain from doing such things.

I’m stealing ideas as fast as I can.

BTW, re: Rack o’ Lamb ala Sous Vide...........Eh. I’ve had better. The Ranco unit did just fine though.

[alwang]

I will continue to experiment, this time with a rack of lamb (131° set point, for 12 hours, with a finish sear) and report how it goes.

BTW, re: Rack o’ Lamb ala Sous Vide...........Eh. I’ve had better. The Ranco unit did just fine though.

Keep trying with the rack: I've had several people tell me after I served this CSV that it was the best lamb they've ever had. 131F sounds a little high: I did it at 127F for a medium-rare after the sear.

[wijit01]

I think 127° is a good suggestion, maybe even 125°. The 131° was part of a recipe I found elsewhere.

I think that I will also reduce the cook time to just get it up to temperature. I don’t think that the really long time at heat did it any good.

I’ve done steak to the lower temp, in a 140° bath, relatively fast and it was great.

Ya cook, ya eat, ya learn.

[Anna Friedman Herlihy]

Just wanted to report that the ox heart cooked sous vide (per NathanM's 180F/82C for 8 hours suggestion) came out fabulous. The heart was sliced into about 1/2" thick slices. I kept it real simple, just s/p and some frozen cubes of stock. I cooked it the day before, then chilled and reheated just before serving with an orange-cognac gastrique and a mizuna salad with mandarins and crispy pig's ear (see below for more info on that).

Beautiful rose-pink color, fork tender. Although one of my dinner guests who is a big heart lover said it was maybe too tender--that he missed the chewiness. However another guest said you could have served it to anyone without telling them it was heart and they would have had no idea!

In the future I might do a duo--one piece done sous-vide and the other marinated and grilled to get a contrast between the tender and the chewy.

I also sous-vided the pig ear confit at the same time as the heart (put it in for an extra two hours beyond that for the heart), and that also came out great (then cut them up and deep fried them after they were done).

So thanks for the guidelines for a newbie at this!

Edited by Anna Friedman Herlihy, 17 October 2007 - 05:23 PM.

[Peter the eater]

Those are encouraging words for us other SV noobs, thanks AFH!

Did you take any pictures?

[nathanm]

I'm not sure that I buy the "spatially uniform" bit.  The reason lab heaters circulate the water is to maintain all the water at the same temperature.  For something like a crock pot, I have my doubts as to whether it could maintain the temperature with any precision and uniformity.  For one, I think the very nature of the way the heating element works would likely cause the temperature to overshoot with some frequency, and the temperature would likely swing with a range of several degrees.  Now, your friend may not think that temperature accuracy of +/- 5C is a big deal, but it can make a really big deal on what you're cooking when you're trying to take advantage of the technology's full power.


I'd also be curious if you could ask your friend what features, exactly, a recirculating water bath heater would have that would not be used in sous-vide cooking.  My Lauda has settings for temperature and fail-safe cutoff temperature, and it recirculates the water (mine is a stand-alone heater that I can clip on to any water vessel, rather than an all-in-one water bath).  That's pretty much all it does, and it's accurate to 0.1 degrees C.  All of these features I'd say are used in sous-vide cooking.

I agree with the above quotes quite strongly.

Baths without circulation pumps do work, but they are prone to temperature stratification, and even worse, dead space between food items.

One way to get a non-circulating pump is take a crock pot, rice cooker or hot-plate with a pot and add thermostatic control (PID or On-Off) such as Ranco, or the new sous vide conversion unit that was briefly posted to this thread, then disappeared.

However, there are also laboratory water baths that lack a circulating pump - the most common brand is Precision (but other brands make them). They are a bit cheaper than a circulating pump water bath. They are sometimes called "utility water baths". In a lab they are NOT used for precise temperture control.

If you have one bag of product is the middle of a large crock-pot or non-pumped lab water bath it is probably going to be OK. This is particularly true if you are cooking at 170F or above because at those tempertatures there is substantial convection in the water (i.e. what we normally call simmering).

But if you are cooking at lower temp (rare beef, barely cooked salmon) or if you put a bunch of bags in at the same time the circulation can be a BIG help. If you are working in a restaurant, or you cook in quantity, then a circulating water bath is cheaper than a non-circulating one when you consider how much more you can load it. It may look big but you can't really pack it as full as you could with a circulator.

If on the other hand you are experimenting at home, are on a budget, or are doing just one or two bags at at a time, then a modified crock pot / rice cooker or non-circulating water bath may work out just fine.

Edited by nathanm, 17 October 2007 - 08:06 PM.

[Anna Friedman Herlihy]

Did you take any pictures?

There's a pic of the finished plate as well as one of the sous-vide pig's ear after being sliced in my post about the dinner I served them at: http://forums.egulle...howtopic=108479

[pounce]

I'm picking up a pid unit that is designed for sv early next month and will be doing some testing. I'm going to be using a steam table for the heating source along with the pid and thermistor probe.

One thing I mentioned earlier in the thread is how I might try an inexpensive aquarium circulator. I’m curious if they can handle the temps.

I'm also thinking trying a simple aquarium air pump as the circulator. The air pump will be external to the bath and would not be affected by the water temp where a submerged motor could suffer. The idea is to set an aquarium style bubble wand in the bottom of the bath under a Cambro drain shelf and just let the air pump percolate the water from below. Sort of a low temp boil. My theory is that the bubbles will circulate the water enough to keep the temp consistent. I imagine that the air will act to also cool the water which I think may actually help to correct any overshot of the temp. I’m getting this theory from the design of my current circulator that has a cold water system designed to be used in tandem with the heating element to stabilize the temp of the bath quicker.

If the air pump bubbles circulate enough water and an all-in-one PID solution with probe is under $100 I’d imagine using a crock pot or rice cooker would be a practical alternative to a lab unit.

Edited by pounce, 17 October 2007 - 09:21 PM.

[DocDougherty]

I'm picking up a pid unit that is designed for sv early next month and will be doing some testing. I'm going to be using a steam table for the heating source along with the pid and thermistor probe.

One thing I mentioned earlier in the thread is how I might try an inexpensive aquarium circulator. I’m curious if they can handle the temps.

I'm also thinking trying a simple aquarium air pump as the circulator.

Another solution to consider might be a small swamp cooler circulating pump (which costs less than $20) in which the motor drives the pump impeller through a fairly long (maybe 10") vertical shaft. In a swamp cooler the pump impeller housing sits on the bottom of the sump and pumps water at a constant rate over shreaded aspen pads. The motor sits up out of the water. For sous vide you might have to arrange to suspend the pump in some way to keep it stable with the motor safely out of the water. For a shallow pan you could let the impeller housing sit on the bottom, and on a deep pan you could suspend the pump at the top of the pan and put a tube on the pump output that would send the water to the bottom of the pot (or anywhere you want it). Since all of these pumps are nearly constant speed and move a lot of water, you might want to add a speed control to throttle it back.

I thought about the aquarium pump and had the same question about their ability to stand the temperature. I decided that I didn't want to do that test with a 120v power cord immersed in hot water. I think the air pump might work, but will probably allow air to collect under the bag(s) and float them, or trap air between them. I wouldn't worry too much about cooling the water with that little air. It certainly is less effective at cooling than taking the lid off.

Let us all know how your experiments come out.

Doc

[pounce]

Doc, Thanks for the swamp cooler pump reference. Looks like a good solution for a dedicated bath that has some room. The concept is the same as my lab unit. Do you think you can add a rheostat on a motor like this? Even the small ones say something like 2500 To 5500 CFM. Wow.

Aquarium pumps and circulators are low voltage. Nobody would use them if they were 120 AC. Ornamental fish are expesive ;)

[DocDougherty]

Do you think you can add a rheostat on a motor like this? Even the small ones say something like 2500 To 5500 CFM. Wow.

Pounce,
The 2500-5500 cfm would indeed be a lot of water (19,000 - 41,000 gal per minute), but it is actually the air flow rating through the swamp cooler rather than the volume of water that goes through the pump. The smallest size is all you are likely to need as it still will move a lot of water. Here is a link to a typical pump (Swamp Cooler Pump). Since they are designed for only about 36" of head, even a small flow restriction will drop the volume substantially. A section of small diameter tubing would be enough if you can find compatible fittings to step down the diameter - then you can trim it back until you get enough flow; or you could put an end cap on and drill it out to a size that works.

As for a rheostat to control the speed of the pump? I don't know. It depends on how the motor is wound. I would just use a flow restriction and not worry about an electronic solution. Besides the electronic control engineers learned most of they know from their mechanically inclined forefathers - and there is usually a cheap mechanical analog if you can just figure out what you need and find the right parts at the hardware store.

My Lauda (E100 I think) has three speeds on the circulation pump, but I rarely use the highest speed in the 6" steam pan that I use for a sous vide tank.

Doc

Edited by DocDougherty, 19 October 2007 - 10:08 PM.

[adey73]

For me this is the post topic ever, I have learnt a great deal from Nathanm and others.
But has anyone experimented with cooking times with green veg?

Vac sealed asparagus and sous vide cooked, brined before hand?

Confit of tomato cooked in oil and garlic?

Or Spinach that doesn't loose it's vibrant green colour?

Edited by adey73, 20 October 2007 - 04:28 AM.

[nathanm]

I'm glad you like the thread - sous vide is an interesting and powerful cooking techinque.

Vegetables tend to get less focus than proteins in sous vide generally speaking.

The main reason for this is that protein products have very delicate transition temperatures - which give you a narrow range between underdone and overdone. That is where sous vide has a larges advantage over conventional cooking techniques.

In many cases vegetable cooking is about softening the cell walls of plants. This tends to require relatively higher heat than protein products - you need to get fairly close to the boiling point of water, say 180F/82C to 200F/93C. In some cases you are better off just steaming the vegetables.

The difference in temperature requirements means that it can be difficult to cook meat and vegetables together. If you put veges in the bag with meat you cook at 130F/55C - even for days - they will stay crisp. You need to pre-cook the vegetables to the desired state prior to putting in the bag.

The best cases for sous vide vegetables are where you need delicate control of temperature. Sweet corn is a great example - 150F/65C for 10 minutes is wonderful. Fresh garden peas are another good example.

A second area where sous vide is very useful is for items like endive or artichokes which tend to turn brown when cut. Cooking in a vacuum helps a lot in these cases.

So, by all means experiment with vegetables sous vide!

[adey73]

I just did Nathan.


I removed the skin of some tomatoes in boiling water and put them in vac bag with extra virgin, garlic and lemon thyme and S&P. Sat them next to larder trimmed striploin for the final 2hrs of the 24hr process you recommend. Sweet mama! they had soaked up all those flavours, so vertically sliced the top of the tom and placed a crispy piece of bacon. Result. 24hr Chateaubriand, bearnaise sauce with thrice cooked chips (or fries as you call 'em). Heaven.

[Peter the eater]

SV is a lot of fun to experiment with, over 1000 posts here bear that out.

Question: Whats on your top ten list of foods that benefit from this technique?

I had SV scallops the other day and quite frankly, I'd rather have them raw or warmed up a bit with butter or with a bit of acid (citric not lysergic). But lamb shanks is another story. What do you industry experts and home experimenters (like me) think?

[jmolinari]

short ribs, pork belly, chicken breast

[syoung68]

I am stupid! First there were the two years of "I am not going to boil-in-a-bag cook". Then came the months of "maybe there is some validity to this". Lately it has been, "When I get a food saver..." Finally, Saturday night, I broke down and just put some food in a double lock ziplock and plopped it into some water and waited.

I repeat, I am stupid.

Before I let you brilliant people know what I cooked, let me say WOW! I should have done this 3 years ago. There is not a lot of sous vide going on in New Orleans, at least it is not advertised on menus, so I was not sure I had ever had properly cooked sous vide. Now, in hind sight, I can remember one meal in particular that I had marveled at the texture of the veal - it HAD to be cooked this way.

So here it goes, in the spirit of an Alinea description...

PORK TENDERLOIN: Apple, Onion, Sweet Potato

First I sauteed apples and onion together, then pureed, let cool, and put into a bag. Added the pork and it all went in the fridge while I figured out my water bath. I used a stockpot and a digital thermometer and had to adjust the burner more frequently than I would have liked, but I figured out how to maintain 140F +/- 2 degrees. The pork went in for 3 hours.

In the meantime I wilted spring onion and roasted some diced sweet potato.

When the pork came out, it was not pretty but I expected the color so I was not put off. After a brief rest, I quickly seared it in the residual oil that I had wilted the onions in. Upon slicing, the meat was beautiful. When I took my first bite - the chef's taste - I nearly wet myself. Pork. Glorious pork. This is how a tenderloin should taste.

I plated with with a cane syrup butter, the onions and the potato, and dressed the plate with balsamic reduction and a green salt I made with some of the onion tops.

Needless to say, my guests were floored. One commented that it tasted like bacon with out fat.

So I am turned. Like a Vampire after his first kill.

I may never grill anything again. Ok, that is a lie, but a food saver will be ordered soon, and I am keeping my eye out for a good deal on a circulator. The only real question is "What to do next?"

[DocDougherty]

SV is a lot of fun to experiment with, over 1000 posts here bear that out.

Question: Whats on your top ten list of foods that benefit from this technique?

In no particular order:
Chicken breasts
Salmon
Black cod
Scallops
Lobster tails
Tri-tip
Turkey thighs
Lamb shanks
Turkey breast tenderloins
Pork tenderloins

[Digijam]

Vegetables tend to get less focus than proteins in sous vide generally speaking. 

The main reason for this is that protein products have very delicate transition temperatures - which give you a narrow range between underdone and overdone.  That is where sous vide has a larges advantage over conventional cooking techniques.

In many cases vegetable cooking is about softening the cell walls of plants.  This tends to require relatively higher heat than protein products - you need to get fairly close to the boiling point of water, say 180F/82C to 200F/93C.   In some cases you are better off just steaming the vegetables.

What he said . Though just to add that if you have access to a vacuum chamber rather than a vacuum sealer type machine, then some things won't even require cooking. The pressure, in combination with some freezing, will crush the cell walls of veg like asparagus - hit 'em with too much compression and they can even taste overcooked.

Check out eG regulars like Sean Brock, Alex and Aki at Ideasinfood, and Shola at Studiokitchen for compressed fruit and veg cleverness.

Edited by Digijam, 23 October 2007 - 09:10 AM.