Edward Dekker

Yesterday I made a Roast chicken in the CSO. 1 4 pound chicken 1 pkg Tuscan Chicken Seasoning 1 Lemon The result looks good but did not taste as good as my first CSO Roast Chicken. I suspect that chicken was "better" . This chicken was a managers special at Market Basket for $0.69 per pound. The sodium content of this chicken was a quarter of the sodium of the first chicken. I am guessing that the first was brined or injected. Brining this chicken may have given an improvement.

The photos show the Lodge L2SP3 2-Quart Serving Pot It will fit in the CSO with the lid.

Looks like a hacksaw may solve the problem by trimming the tip of the handles. With the L8SKL on the shelf in the bottom position is there enough height for the cover? Has anyone tried the Lodge L8DD3 Double Dutch Oven in the CSO? This model appears similar to the L8SKL but has loop handles on both sides of the lid and base.

The GoSale.com site has reported good deals on the CSO over the last few weeks. An offer for a new oven for $173 just expired an hour ago. Gosale also alerted me to my unit on ebay ($132.49 including shipping. I added the Assurant 1 year service contract for another $7.49.) See https://www.gosale.com/5856938/cuisinart-cso-300n1-steam/

After reaading this thread I found a used CSO on eBay at a good price. I have a question for CSO owners. Does your CSO have a fan noise in convection mode lowder than the other modes? My CSO is just as quiet in convection as it is in bake. Tonight I made a roast chicken. I cooked it Steam Bake with Victoria Taylor Tuscon chicken spice mix and a lemon. It was one of if not the best roast chicken I have ever made. Next time I put all the spices under the skin to avoid the burned spices on top. Otherwise the chicken was perfect.

There is a product which may be close to the original KFC spice blend. Look at https://marionkay.com/product/chicken-seasoning-99-x/ The story is that in the 60s the owner of the Marion-Kay spice company was a friend of Col. Sanders. There was a time (60s or 70s) when Col, Sanders was fighting with the people who owned KFC. For a short time Col. Sanders urged all KFC restaurants to use 99-X in place of the KFC branded spice mix. (Violating their franchise agreement.) I have no idea if it is true. Chicken made with 99-x tasts good. I have not done a side by side test. I am not sure a side by side test woul tell much because I do not have a pressure fryer.

A basic part of Sous Vide cooking is the different effects of different temperatures. A good example of this for your students is eggs. With a few degrees of temperature change one can go from a raw (but pasteurized) egg to a soft egg to a custard-like egg, to a hardboiled egg. For something the students can do at home there is the simple Sous Vide technique for a tender steak. This technique is called "Hot Tubbing" on the Big Green Egg forum. Fill a cooler with hot water a few degrees above the target temperature and add the steaks (in ziplock or foodsaver bags). Maintain temperature for one to three hours by periodically adding hot water to return the temperature to the target temperature. Remove and sear the steak on a grill or cast iron pan. (This technique on the Big Green Egg forum was my introduction to Sous Vide.) This technique is a good one for the course since the tools and equipment are things your students have.

There is at least one vacuum chamber sealer close to your price. The Ary VacMaster VP-112. I have seen the VacMaster VP-112 as low as $670 including shipping (at www.qualitymatters.com). There is a VP-112 demo video on the Kodiak Health site (kodiakhealth.com). The other source for deals in chamber vacuum sealers is to watch for used units on ebay and craig's list. I purchased a large unit in perfect condition for less than 20% of the new price for an equivilent model from craig's list. (A Bizerba 350)

Does anyone know about a similar vender for wagyu beef in the Boston area (or Southern New Hampshire)?

Sous Vide Turkey Breast is one of my favorites. I buy Turkeys around Thanksgiving, when they are cheap. Last November I processed 8 Turkeys which will last the year. I will process more Turkeys in November. I bone the bird and make stock from the bones. I use the oven method. I brown the bones in a 350 F oven, place the bones, onions, and vegetables in my stock pot, add water and put the stock pot in the oven which I reset to 200F. I will add vegetables depending what I have including carrots, bell pepper, hot peppers, and celery. I let the stock simmer in the oven for 12 to 20 hours and strain it. It is great for gravy, stuffing and soup. The stock is frozen in 3 cup packages. I bag the breast (boneless, skin on with a couple tablespoons of turkey (or duck) fat, Bells Poultry Seasoning, Meat Magic and a couple tablespoons of turkey stock and freeze until I am ready to cook it. I cook at 136F or 141F (using Douglas Baldwin's time table). (The thickness will depend on the size of the bird.) When it comes out of the bag I slightly brown the skin with a propane torch. I find that browning the skin on the breast improves the flavor of the meat. The bag juices are used to make the gravy, supplemented with some stock. Some of the Turkey Thighs will be bagged in the same way as the breasts, but most are used for ground Turkey. I use the ground turkey for many things including Turkey meatloaf, and Ma Po Bean Curd made with Ground Turkey in place of Ground Pork.

I have had mixed results. One of the best zero effort meals I have found is a chicken sandwich which is made by cooking one of the Purdue Boneless Skinless Chicken breasts individually bagged with Italian Style marinade by Purdue. I cook at 141 F (or 146 F if I am in more of a hurry) timed by Douglas Baldwin's tables. Each bag contain one thin chicken breast and is perfect for a sandwich. I serve the chicken on a bun (toasted or warmed with melted butted and garlic ). The other extreme I had was some beef from Allen Brothers. I defrosted a frozen package of beef in my circulator (with the temperature set below room temperature). The bag leaked.

Rebecca, why chill the steaks if you will finish and serve them tonight? When reheating the chilled steaks on the grill to the desired temperature in the center you risk overcooking the meat near the surface. I sous vide my steaks, unbag, sear and serve.

Yeh I got the impression that it wasn't very good quality... what a waste of about $60. I'm tempted to get one of these, maybe with their calibration certificate too: http://www.burntechshop.com/easyview-type-dual-input-thermometer-with-dual-readings-p-204.html?osCsid=8510db0eb482f5f4a7e60a62d0088025 I have an Extech multimeter which includes a temperature probe. (A Minitech 26) It is well made and a good value as a multimeter. I would not use the Extech probe for liquid or for food. The probe I have appears to be the same bead probe included with the EA10 you linked. These bead probes are intended to measure air temperature not liquid temperature (or even contact temperature). The probe is not sealed to liquid and can not be cleaned. It is not a sealed probe like the Thermoworks probes (http://www.thermoworks.com/products/probe/index.html You could use a sealed type K probe (like the Thermoworks) with the Extech meter or just use a Thermoworks meter and probe. Looking at the Extech web site I see they have optional penetration and immersion probes too. http://www.extech.com/instruments/categories.asp?catid=68 Ed

I found a Bizerba 350 on Craig's list for $1100 plus shipping. It is huge with an 18 x 18 x6.5 (inches) chamber. This sealer is also sold as the Berkel 350 and the Sipromac 350. It is a fantastic unit and I was lucky to find it at the price. It takes up a large work table in my kitchen and honestly I rarely use a bag larger than 12 x 16, with most of my Sous Vide in 6 x 8.5 or 8 x 12 bags. As a single engineer (a geek) it is fantastic to have for vacuum packaging all sorts of things which realistically don't need to be vacuum packed like my old blue jeans I am selling on eBay, or bags of parts kitted for one project or another. It is big enough there would be a problem if I was married. Remember that for Sous Vide you will cut the larger cuts of meat to be less than 3 inches thick before bagging. (Douglas Baldwin recommends 2 3/4 inches as a maximum thickness.) I have found that several smaller bags are far more convenient than a single large bag, I considered an Ary VacMaster VP210 (now $900-$1400) or VP-215C (now under $1600). I probably would have purchased one of these if I did not find the 350 at basically the same price. With an 11 x 15 x 5 chamber it is big enough for Sous Vide. The difference between these two machines is the vacuum pump. The VP215 has an oil filled pump and the VP210 has a dry rocker pump. If you are going to experiment with vacuum drying, the rocker pump has an advantage. When evaporating large amounts of water from the chamber the oil will absorb more moisture than it will release and the oil will require periodic changing. This is not a problem for Sous Vide. For Sous Vide the faster pumping, lower noise levels and longer pump life of an oil filled pump are an advantage. In the year I have had mine I have noticed no build up in the oil. Cabela's and Sam's Club have the VP210 ( http://www.cabelas.com http://samsclub.com). Sam's Club seems to have the low price at the moment, $926 including shipping. Pleasant Hill Grain http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/vacuum_packaging_machine_ary_vacmaster_food_vac_system.aspx has many chamber vacuums under $2000 and 20 models under $5000. My advice is to watch eBay and Craig's list. Good values in chamber sealers do come up and you are more likely to get a big unit at a good price than a small unit. Fewer people are willing to have a big box like the 350 in their kitchen compared to a far smaller Ary VacMaster. If you want to buy new the Ary Vacmaster you have a lot of retailers to buy from. If you want a larger chamber there are still options at around $2000 for an 18 x 18 chamber. (See the comparison tables on the Pleasant Hill Grain web page.)

I use tables 2.3 and 2.4 from Douglas Baldwin's "A Practical Guide to Sous Vide Cooking"to determine how much extra water bath time is needed. Table 2.3 gives cooking times for 41 F food and Table 2.4 gives cooking times for 0 F meat. The difference between the two tables is an estimate of heating time from 0 to 41 F. I think it is conservative. I measured thicknesses of various meats after the defrost time and the center was always well above 41 F.

I routinely do exactly this. I have bagged chicken, turkey, pork or beef with seasoning and frozen the sealed bag with good results. This time of year, while turkey is cheap, I buy several. (I processed 7 this year. My freezer is packed to the gills.) I bone them out and make stock with the bones and broth with the wings. The boneless turkey breast halves are bagged with seasoning (Bell's poultry seasoning, black pepper, a little of Meat Magic), 2 TBL Turkey broth, and 2 TBL Duck or turkey fat. I add fresh sage if I have it but I don't find it necessary. These are cooked in the bag directly from the freezer and come out great. The fat in the bag after cooking is reserved for gravy or frozen for future bags of turkey. I buy Chicken Breasts with bones and skin on. They are seasoned with Meat Magic Spice blend (Paul Prudhomme's Magic Brand Seasoning), and fresh ground black pepper and go into a bag with a little water (ice cube), a spoonful of chicken demi-glaze concentrate (More Than Gourmet Jus De Poulet Lie Gold® Roasted Chicken Demi-glace) and a pat of butter. After cooking, the skin is browned with a propane torch and the bag drippings are reduced and thickened a little with Wondra Flour. I buy chicken thighs, bone them, season them, and freeze in individual bags. I drop the bags into the water bath for cooking directly from the freezer. (The bones are made into chicken stock which also gets frozen.) I use several seasonings including Tsang Thai Peanut sauce, Mad Dog Wing Sauce, and an Italian seasoning. My Italian seasoning is made from several packets of Good Seasons Italian Dressing mix, Several tablespoons Italian seasoning (from The Spice House), 1/2 Tsp Xanthin Gum, Cayenne pepper, Vinegar and oil. The chicken thighs make fantastic chicken sandwiches. I usually throw the thigh into a skillet and reduce the bag drippings and soak a bun with the reduced bag dripping to make the sandwich even better. I have used several different seasonings and many contain salt. I notice no curing effect if the bag goes into the freezer. I have tested chicken thighs frozen with my Italian seasoning 14 months before consumption and did not detect a problem. I expect that the vinegar and salt would make this an extreme test. In the refrigerator compartment, I do see the curing from the salt in a few days. I noticed the cured meat effect from the chicken demi-glaze chicken breast after only two or three days in the refrigerator. The bottom line is I have not noticed a problem if I freeze the bag after sealing.

Chef Rubber has fondant, Glucose and Isomalt. Chef Rubber

Is it safe to eat chicken cooked for half an hour at 150F ?

Richard's blog on the Bravo web site answers this question:

It looked like NY Strip to me and that is how the Bravo Recipe page identifies the steak. I did a google search and the recaps I found which mention the cut of meat Carla used all stated it was NY Strip. The recipe for the steak on the Bravo recipe page omits the Sous Vide cooking.

The pump power will not control the ultimate vacuum. The difference in power will directly control the time needed to pump the chamber down to a particular vacuum. Some sealers like mine have a larger chamber and need a larger motor to pump the air out of its chamber in the same time a smaller sealer can pump down a small chamber with a small pump. Some units are built to a price point by putting in a tiny pump. It is possible that these units may not reach the same vacuum as most chamber sealers. For example the VacMaster VP-210 with a small chamber and a small (or tiny) pump can take 55 seconds to pump down the chamber for one bag. My sealer with a large chamber and large pump can pump down the chamber in 30 seconds. (The VP-210 unit has one advantage over the other chamber sealers. It uses a dry pump so it does not need the periodic oil changes. ) The equivilant model VP-215 with an oil filled pump cuts 20 seconds off the cycle time. If I am sealing one bag for dinner the cycle time is not important. If I am packaging portion controlled bags of food after a shopping trip (or an afternoon of sausage making) the cycle time can be very important. This is one reason I found the long sealing bar to be a big advantage. I could seal two bags in each machine cycle, doubling the throughput. The portion control of Sous Vide cooking is one of the most important aspects for me. I am on a diet and need to be careful with what I eat. (I am down 240 pounds and don't want to let my weight go back up.) With my chamber sealer there is a physical limit on the vacuum which can be achieved with wet food. The vacuum is low enough that the boiling point of water is below room temperature. The contents of the bag are in a full rolling boil as the bag is sealed. Lowering the pressure further would simply increase the boiling of the water in the bag. (Some of the water vapor dissolves in the pump oil causing the contamination which requires pump oil changes.) In addition to looking at the type of pump look at the maker of the pump. Many of the major makers use Busch Pumps which is a high quality brand, with repair and rebuild parts available from many sources. Other makers will not identify the pump maker, this pump may not be reparable if it fails, and may not even be replaceable if it is not a standard pump.

It sounds like you had a defective sealer. I have owned several FoodSavers and I've never had a problem (other than pilot error -- i.e. me making a mistake) with getting an air-tight seal. I mention this so that people that are trying to figure out what equipment to buy don't think that they need to be a chamber sealer to get good results. The FoodSaver isn't strong enough to compress/fruits and vegetables but other than that does a great job--especially the models with pulse mode and removable drip trays. ← The Foodsaver (model V835) did have the drip tray but not the pulse mode. The sealed bag would leak immediately if there was any (the slightest amount) moisture or fat in the seal area. This made the drip tray useless. If there was any drippage in the drip tray the seal area was also contaminated and no seal would be made. I needed to clean the inside of the bags between filling and sealing to have any hope of a good seal. Because of this history I may be excessive about cleaning the seal area of the bags with my chamber sealer.

I agree PolySci Immersion Circulator is a no brainer. I use it a lot and I am very happy that I had one. It is very versatile and can be fitted to everything from a stock pot to a full size cooler. I use it all the time and consider getting a second one for just keeping the food, soup and sauces warm during a multi-courses dinner party at home. However, the chamber vacuum sealer is a different story. They are many different brand and model available and a great variance of price ranges. There are really no great discussions of the various model. I opt for the one that TK recommended in his book Under Pressure - Koch Model 225. It is suppose to be a tabletop model but frankly it is way too big to sit on the table top. I just received it last week and I am trying to return it back to Koch - they are kind enough to authorize the return. However, because of the size and weight (120lb) sending it back is a task in itself. We are still trying to figure out how to do it. That prompt me to write this post. May be others can share their experience with various chamber vacuum sealers. I will share mine with Koch even though I had not used it yet but I do have the unit to look at and be able to give the following observations: 1. It is way too big for counter top. It will not fit on a standard 24" counter (it is 27inches in width) and the top clearence is the biggest problem. If you have any type of shelving on top of your kitchen counter with clearing of again 24 inches, it is too short for the machine to open ( it requires at least 30 inches of clearance). 2. To put oil in the amchine and to check the oil level, you need to open the machine by flipping it completely over the front of the machine and let the top hang over the counter (if you have one that is big enough and can clear the flip and have space for it to "hang out" over the edge. It take quite an effort to open the machine as it was fitted very tightly to to base, it take 2 persons to do this task . 3. The chamber is nice and big but if you spill. It is not easy to clean. You probably have to remove the seal bar to clean and may even need to take the chamber out. 4. According to the manuel , it is shipped without oil but according to the saleman it does have oil in it. However, I cannot fipped the top over because all I can do is open the top on the floor and so I cannot see the oil level glass located in the front of the machine. It is probably a great machine when it is working but I do not had the chance to use it. I would like to hear from others who had a chamber vacuum sealer and let us know what is your likes and dislikes about your particular sealer. Thank you ← I started experimenting with Sous Vide nine months ago when I discovered this thread. In the months that followed I bought an immersion circulator from eBay (it was great as a tester for circuit breaker performance - not otherwise useful, the purchase price was refunded when I emailed the seller a photograph of the do not use tag on the unit dated in 1997 ). I was frustrated and ordered a new PolyScience immersion circulator. I had a bottom of the line Foodsaver clamp type vacuum sealer stored in the basement years ago, not long after I purchased it. I was frustrated by the poor seal it produced (I almost never got an air tight bag using the roll of material - even with a double seal on each end ). I could usually get a passible seal with the premade bags by sealing the top two or three times. I looked into replacing the Foodsaver with a better model or getting a chamber sealer. I decided that the chamber sealer was the better choice. I looked at the specs and prices of new units from all the major labels. I say labels because several companies sell the same units with different names e.g. Bizerba, Berkel and Spiromatic sell the same units under their own names. I also searched for used units and found a Bizerba 350 in great condition for a low price ($1200), about the same as the small Chinese or Indian made machines (which I assume may be or may soon become unrepairable). The 350 is a bit larger than your Kotch 225 and has a lot more mass. (The Sipromatic data sheet lists the weight as 242 pounds.) The chamber is huge (18 x 18 x 6.5). I usually run with some plastic filler slabs in the chamber to reduce the volume of the chamber. The seal bar is 17 inches so I have the flexibility to seal two bags at once. Like the Koch 225 it has a 1.25 HP vacuum pump. For comparison the MVS 31 has a 0.25 HP pump. On the Bizerba 350 the sight glass is visible in the back. I have not needed to change the oil. The oil visible in the site glass is crystal clear. It does not appear to be difficult but it does look like there will be some amount of oil spilled (like a car oil change). There is a cover bar which is removed by 4 screws to expose the pump and plumbing. I did not have counter space for the unit so I bought a stainless rolling cart/table from Sams Club. It lives on the Breakfast room side of the kitchen counter. The Bizerba chamber is easy to clean. The only cleaning problem is some tape adhesive residue on the cover. I have not used a solvent or abrasive cleaner since I don't want to cloud the plastic. I ordered chamber sealer bags from Pleasant Hill Grain Bags Page.

I have used the Brother TZ labels and they do need to be removed before putting the bag in the water bath. I find it easier to label the bags with a sharpie pen.

Cut the top and bottom off a 2 L. plastic soda bottle. Stick the plastic cylinder in the bag and drop the food through the cylinder. This works for the medium size bags (8 by 12 inch and larger). Cutting the bottom out of a plastic take-out soup container from the neighborhood Chinese restrauarant is another option. A 20 oz. soda (or Water) bottle works for the small bags (6 by 9 inch). I fold back the top of the large bags.