[What Are You Cooking Sous Vide Today? (Part 3)]

1 hour ago, kayb said:

I have found that the same mix of peppers/spices I’d use in a stovetop prep come out a little muted when used sous vide. I compensate by adding additional seasonings when I finish stovetop or in the oven.

 

ETA: I have never cooked, nor have any desire to cook, lengua, so I can’t testify to membrane removal.

Yes I also used more seasonings compared to what I might have used if braising. I wonder if braising allows the meat to more easily absorb seasonings because it's not compressed by the vacuum or because of the higher heat involved.

[Hello from the US-Texas!]

I wanted to thank everyone for the welcome and advice. I was able to cook my lengua and I thought it came out alright, although I would like to improve it. Much to learn! I posted it the the "What Are You Cooking Sous Vide Today?" thread.

[What Are You Cooking Sous Vide Today? (Part 3)]

I sous vide a beef tongue at 150 deg F for 40 hours and finished it on the stove, I used cooked garlic, various peppers (poblano, guajillo, puya, chile pequin) , and other spices. I am by no means a professional, but I thought it came out ok. However, I really would have liked for the peppers to have a stronger flavor. When I sampled it immediately after the sous vide phase, the flavors were a bit mild. I was able to increase the flavors by adding the sous vide juices when pan frying. I don't know what others experiences have been, but I am wondering if it would be worth removing the membrane prior to cooking even if that means losing some meat. Any thoughts? Thanks! 🙂

 

[Hello from the US-Texas!]

3 hours ago, TdeV said:

Ha ha, Kim. So sorry. So, someone (heretofore misidentified as Kim) did tongue 48 hours at 158°F. I have marked the note "Nope!" so I don't quote you again. 🙃

 

Well I searched around again for cooking times...

Serious Eats suggests cooking at 170°F for 24 to 48 hours.

Anova suggests 158°F for 36 hours.

Amazing Food Made Easy actually has a discrepancy in their article on sous vide cooking beef tongue. The author states the ideal cooking time is 48 hours at 140° F for a braise-like quality, but then later states they usually do 150°F for 24 to 48 hours for braise-like quality. They did list a whole table of cooking times with expected results for each though. I think I will go with 150°F for 24 to 48 hours and see what happens. Fine Dining Lovers state in their smoked beef tongue recipe that the internal temperature is expected to be 150°F after all.

 

It seems unorthodox, but I am seriously thinking of breaking the seal during cooking to rub garlic infused with peppers. I am going to prepare it as a garlic confit. Since the garlic will be cooked, I am hoping it will have a nice garlic flavor along with the various peppers I am thinking about. I cannot see a safety reason against breaking the seal then repackaging. Lol. I might do it. I am just concerned the garlic and pepper flavors won't hold up well for the full cooking time. I'm still thinking about it. I have a temp probe I can insert directly into the meat to monitor the temperature to ensure it doesn't drop too much. I have sous vid tape as well. Much to learn still!

 

[Hello from the US-Texas!]

3 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

Welcome to eG, Richard!  I think you'll find lots of interesting people and content here.  The best thing about eG is the support that you will find from others - people who are so generous with their help and expertise.  And I'm not sure who @TdeV got the tongue info from, but it was definitely not me.  I have never in my life cooked one.  I still haven't built up the courage to even order a tongue taco from our local truck! 😂

Yes people really do seem very generous!

[Hello from the US-Texas!]

5 hours ago, ElsieD said:

Welcome to the forum, @xDraug, it's a great place.

Thank you!

[Hello from the US-Texas!]

33 minutes ago, TdeV said:

Hello Richard. My notebook shows beef tongue at 147°F for 48 hours; I have notes that @Kim Shook has used higher temperatures. I tend not to use any aromatics or spices in a very long sous vide cook because I find the herbs don't hold up and some spices develop off flavours.

 

When you have time to do some reading, perhaps check out the links below. I've found that reading the posts in sequence has given me a better understanding of what people are saying.

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/147224-what-are-you-cooking-sous-vide-today-part-1/

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/151649-what-are-you-cooking-sous-vide-today-part-2/

https://forums.egullet.org/topic/154537-what-are-you-cooking-sous-vide-today-part-3/

 

Welcome to eGullet! You're sure to make some great friends.

 

That's interesting. I was going to use 170 degF for 24 to 48 hours as given by serious eats. I wonder if 170 degF might be too high.

 

Ive heard about aromatics not holding ip well on long cooks. Ive even looked for a book or website where they might give details on that. Id be using mostly garlic and peppers. Has anyone seen if disrupting the cooking to rub aromatics on it then repackaging it would affect it poorly? It would take a bit more time, but maybe its an option? Lots of questions!

 

ill take a look at those links. Thank you!

[Hello from the US-Texas!]

19 minutes ago, kayb said:

Welcome, @xDraug. Tell us some of your favorite things to cook, please?

Well just this past weekend I made Chicken Fricassée which I absolutely loved. I made the chicken stock so that might have made a difference. I'm currently planning to cook lengua this week. I'm adapting a few recipes and want to sous vide the tongue instead of braising. I'm starting to experiment with sous vide. I found when I cooked a pork tenderloin in sous vide with spicy oregano, the meat ended up having "hot spots" of the oregano flavor where I had put the leaves. I'm going to try making a kind of paste by first making a garlic confit infused with various peppers. I'm going to smash and rub the garlic along with salt and pepper uniformly around the meat and see how it turns out. Just an experiment.. I hope it works.

[Hello from the US-Texas!]

9 minutes ago, Alex said:

Way to go, Richard! And welcome from someone who probably should have been an engineer but wound up being a psychologist. Go figure.

 

As you may already have discovered, there's not just a ton, but several tons of information on the website -- much of which are in long-inactive forums, which of course don't show up in the View New Content feed. Be patient with the Search feature. Browse the archived forums in the Fridge, at the bottom of the Forums page. Feel free to ask questions. 

 

And I have one: What did you made that your sons liked so much?

Yeah there definitely appears to be a lot of information. I'm still trying to figure out how to really navigate through the website.

 

I have a 3yo and a 17yo. They both can have different tastes. My 3yo can be happy with just basic roasted thighs. My oldest really likes egg drop soup. I think the last dish I made that they both seemed to like was when I oil poached halibut. I liked it too!

[Hello from the US-Texas!]

18 minutes ago, Darienne said:

Welcome to the forum, xDraug.  And welcome to the cooking life.  And I have to admit that I was 67 years old before it ever hit me, so you have such a headstart on my learning curve.  

Thank you. I guess it just happens when it happens. I'm still not sure why I didn't have an interest earlier. Something just clicked.

[Hello from the US-Texas!]

Hello everyone. I had to learn how to cook about two years ago because I only knew how to cook an embarrassingly short list of dishes and I didn't want my son's to tire of having the same things every week. I had never really cooked too much in my life and I'm 47 now. When I did, I would steer well clear of recipes that had long lists of ingredients and "too many steps" lol.

 

Well something happened... I discovered I have a real interest in cooking. I really enjoy it. I love it especially when my sons clear they're plates. It means more to me than actual compliments.

 

I actually regret not starting to cook earlier. All those wasted years! Lol. I seriously think I might actually have considered a culinary career instead of engineering. Who knows? I say consider because I've seen the way professional Chefs move in the kitchen and I've seen their creativity. I don't know if I really had the talent for that, but I plan to enjoy what I can.

 

Thanks for having me!

 

Richard