joesan

Thanks Dave. Seems like the general opinion is that it really does help the preservation of frozen items. I wonder what the improvement is for fridge storage. It stands to reason that since the items are not exposed to the air that there should be some benefit for fridge storage but I wonder if it is quantifiable?

Thanks Jason, Marlene this generally is the kind of thing I was thinking about. But I always struggle with knowing how much longer does the Vacuum packaging extend the life? For example if something I know lasts for three days in the fridge - does that mean I could get 5 days when vacuum packed? And how would you know it remains safe to eat? Has anyone done empirical tests?

I've been thinking about buying a Vacuum sealing machine in order to do Sous Vide cooking but I am wondering whether it is worth it. It's a given that it will be helpful for Sous Vide but what about its other uses? The general opinion seems to be that items can be stored longer when vacuum packed but is this the case practically? Can anyone give me examples of foods that keep longer when vacuum packed or any other benefits that vacuum packing produces, aside from it's use in Sous Vide?

How many times could you safely use something like that?

I've never smoked salmon myself (but I have plans, I have plans!) but for me, here in the UK good smoked salmon is synonymous with Oak smoking. Interesting that people are recommending other woods. I would definitely like to try the other woods for comparison. As an aside the best smoked salmon I ever tried was from a guy in a little place between the borders of Scotland and England. When we called in to buy some he wasn't there initially - he was out fishing for the salmon itself. We did get to buy some and it was incomparable. Wild salmon smoked artisanally in small batches over oak from a hut in his back garden. Fantastic and an abiding food memory.

Alex - sounds terrific - my mouth is watering at the thought of it. I'd recommend trying it on some grilled sourdough bread (homemade or Poilane or similar). Just grill the bread,I use a ridged cast iron pan for additional smokiness. Let the toast cool down and add some fine butter. You don't want the butter to melt. Top with your salmon, squeeze of lemon and grind of pepper. You'll really find the flavour of your salmon shines through. I love bagels too but you'll be surprised just how good the salmon is on the grilled bread. PS - How is the Bradley? Is it expensive to run?

I think the bottom line is that it is more chinese "influenced" than authentic. In that respect it's like a lot of the food I've had in Australia - it's very much their own take on the cuisines of their ancestors - not for the scholars of authenticity but enoyable and served with a generousity of spirit that I like and enjoyed greatly.

I am having a big pizza party this weekend and want to make some nice Antipasti for my guests to nibble on while we prepare the pizzas. I only have one oven so of necessity can only do one pizza at a time. So this is a call for ideas for some nice antipasti recipes that I'll prepare ahead of time. I'd prefer authentic Italian dishes but any modern takes on traditional dishes would also be welcome.

James - I used the Mario Batali recipe and it is really worth doing. One word of caution - I used too fine a salt and the end product was a little too salty. This can be fixed, I think, by quickly immersing the Guanciale in boiling water but I think the best thing is not to let it get too salty in the first place. I'd recommend using a larger flake salt. You'll really enjoy the guanciale!

I quite like her recipes. But one series of her shows, not sure if it is this particular one, has the most annoying soundtrack music. It is really intrusive saxophone based stuff. I love music but find it disturbing when producers add it to cooking programmes to make them more "lifestyle".

Jason - you no doubt know more about this than I do but as regards trichinea I think I remember reading that freezing the pork to some extent will kill it. I also seem to remember that trichinea was much less common these days than before.

I've got one of these units and they are fantastic - especially for the price. The only problem I have found with these is that they do tend to switch off (overheating control) if you are using full power into a large pot for a long period of time. For bringing stuff quickly to the boil and then maintaining a simmer they are unbeatable. Also great for melting chocolate etc. The timer function is surprisingly useful. One point I've been meaning to clarify (and now that I am posting this it's an ideal opportunity) is with regard to the pots and pans that one can use. Some people maintain that you need particularly flat pans to work on induction hobs - this is categorically not the case. In fact if you think about it there's already a gap between the induction coil and the pan caused by the magnetically inert glass top.

El Bulli - you lucky man! I hope you are going to post on your time there. Can't wait to read all about it from your perspective. Thanks for the guidance on temperatures I am going to go for the cheaper alternative of the less precise controller just to get things going. I will post a picture of the setup so that others can try it if they want. Thinking about it I have had very good results just approximating the sous vide temperatures in my oven so it makes sense that +-1 degree should not be too terrible. Can't wait until the equipment arrives.

No not all - I just realised that Nathan started the thread asking for recipes and maybe the equipment posts should go elsewhere but I put my posts here because it seems to be the most active for sous vide. I like a mix but maybe some egulleteers don't. Anyway for sure I will post the finished setup when I put it all together.

Nathan - I was hoping you could find time to comment - you're the sous vide guru I hope I haven't set this thread off on the wrong direction. It was the most active of the sous vide threads so I posted here. My apologies if I have. Nathan as regard 0.1 accuracy - on your charts you give some temperatures to 0.X precision. If I do not have the capability to maintain a temperature with this accuracy I am understanding that there shouldn't be too much of a problem. I reckon I can comfortably get to plus or minus 0.5 F or C. That's not such a big factor of error is it? On the circulation - I am planning on cooking primarily 2kg joints of meat that are approximately 140mm thick and say 180mm long. There will only ever be one of these joints in there at a time, and this is in a domestic setting. Sounds like I may have to find some way of agitating the water? Or perhaps if I use a very large pan the temperature will be more stable (thermal inertia of the water and all that) Ireally don't know if that last sentence makes sense from a physics point of view.

Jason - yes PID is definitely the way to go. I quite like the idea of being able to use different size pots - you know one size when doing the joint of beef another when preparing potatoes for Heston's mash etc. I'll post a picture of the setup when I'm done. Bryanz - I see that you've got some really nice results with your waterbath (you got it from eBay I seem to recall). I'm interested in your comments that I don't need the 0.1 and the circulation. Can you elaborate a bit on your experiences? I can get a more accurate PID but they are more than double the price.

Ruth - the entire setup should cost about $120. For that you get basically identical performance to the Julabo, maybe a little less accuracy plus no circulator. It's a worthwhile saving I feel. Plus you get the (dubious) joy of doing-it-yourself. The other plus is I think I can build it to look a lot less like something out of a laboratory Jason - Your always one (or more!!) steps ahead of me. But I am going to use a PID so maybe I can claw back some kudos there. Digijam - That is indeed a factor to consider. I can't eat in the same room as my ice cream machine. I can imagine that a circulating pump might be just as bad.

Well first of all I'll answer my own question - I cooked the trout at 60C just until the internal temperature got to 39C (8 minutes or so - more or less what the book said) and the result was perfect. I'd recommend the dish to anyone. And now on to more important matters... I am making my own Sous Vide appliance. I will be doing this using a Microprocessor controlled Temperature regulator, a precision thermocouple, a Solid State Relay and a hotplate. This will cost many times less than a Laboratory bath and will have the advantage that I can use any of my own pans to cook with. It might well also be safer than buying a second hand one on eBay - no nasty chemicals! But first I'd like some advice from the eGullet sousvideratti. I have two potential problems that I'd like your opinion on. 1. To keep the budget low the controller I will be using is only capable of maintaining to whole numbers i.e. One degree C or one degree F. No numbers after the decimal point. Controllers with greater resolution are available but they cost more. Would it be too restrictive to only be able to hold to only whole numbers? 2. The more expensive water baths and heating units have some kind of circulation method to move the water and presumably maintain a more stable temperature. I considered having something like an aquarium fish pump in the water bath but I think the temperature (55C/131F?) would be too great for the pump. Do you think I need to circulate the water or do you think it wouldn't adversely affect the cooking process not to have moving water?

Recently I was given a bottle of the most delicious tasting liqueur I've had for some time. It was made from wild Blackberries (harvested from the Tuscan hedgerows - I know that part will be hard to replicate!!). Does anyone have a family recipe to make this? I've tried googling it obviously but only came up with one or two recipes that didn't seem to ring true.

Nathanm - thanks for the detailed help. Your generous reply is great as ever. I still don't have a lab bath yet so I am going to have to stick to the oven at the moment. Actually I've checked the oven with a high accuracy thermometer and it is pretty reliable - no more than a degree out. Here's the thing Mr Wakuda strikes me as an honest man so I think I can trust that a low heat in the oven for 6-7 minutes will produce the correct result. In the book he says the lowest temperature possible in the oven, with the door open, for 6-7 minutes and no more than 10. The question is - what is the lowest temperature - Some people report cooking the Trout at 100C others at 50C-60C. What's the consensus?

Thanks for the guidance, Shalmanese. Your fish didn't look as red or raw as the one in the Tetsuya book - or is that just the photo?

Tetsuya Wakuda has a great recipe for confit of Ocean Trout but with maddeningly imprecise instructions - 'turn the oven to the lowest it can go and cook for 6-7 minutes'. The end result as in just about all Tetsuya recipes is brilliant however. The trout is cooked sous-vide style in oil at a very low temperature and the fish comes out looking almost completely raw, bright red but cooked. My question to the low-tempeature boys here is - what internal temperature should I shoot for and for how long should I cook. The lowest my oven can go is 50C. (This is a bit of a cross posting from the thread "Emergency court-bouillon: no wine in the house, ''fumet de poisson'': poaching salmon" but there are so many LTLT experts here I thought I might try here also)

Shalmanese, or anyone that's cooked trout the Tetsuya method - please help. My oven goes down to 50C and doesn't seem to operate with the door open, so 50C it is. I can see that the fish above cooked for 20 minutes at 50C isn't as red as Tetsuya's. Do you think I can cook it less at 50C for a 'rawer' look? I love the Tetsuya book but the instruction to 'turn the oven to the lowest it can go and cook for 6-7 minutes' is madness. Some people ovens might start at 50, some at 120C so it is very imprecise.

Food kept in a closed well-insulated freezer is likely not to have reached an un-safe temperature in that space of time. (Google for the unsafe temperature - I can't quite remember what it is). It is actually possibly to re-freeze thawed chicken - it just has to have been thawed in a very controlled way. A closed freezer, even though switched off, is such a way. I would say that you can safely use it. But if you want to err on the side of caution don't. Personally I would use it.

I have to agree with Chris. Induction hobs are widely regarded as being one of the most efficient cooking methods. From the Michigan Tech website - "According to CEG Electric Glass Company, a producer of induction cooktops, "power savings of 40-70% are realistically achievable in comparison to conventional cooktops." The following statistics are taken from CookTek Online. For the reasons discussed above, it is not surprising that induction heating results in the highest efficiency. Table 1: Efficiency of Cooking Methods Cooking Method Efficiency Induction 90% Halogen 58% Electric 47% Gas 40% This shows that using an induction cooktop can result in greatly reduced power bills. Other tests show that induction cooking is faster than using gas, halogen, or a microwave. As mentioned above, the induction cooktop is extremely safe. There is no risk of fire if food or grease overflows from the pan, no risk of burns from touching the cooktop surface, and no worry about dangerous fumes from gas or other cooking fuels. The ceramic glass surface can be cleaned by simply wiping off the surface with a damp towel. Although induction ranges are currently more expensive than their electric or gas counterparts, when all of these advantages are taken into account, the induction cooktop will definitely pay for itself. " Also it is not correct to say that the pans need to be magnetic they simply need to have enough ferric metal content for a magnet to be able to stick to them.