paulraphael

The latter. A lot of the health concerns we attach to s.v. are really just about new-found awareness. I wonder if ramping up temperatures during smoking is about creating conditions that will get the smoke compounds to penetrate more effectively.

A probe is the most accurate way, but since you're talking about cyclinder shaped food, predictive models should work fine. MC has tables for cylinders, or you can use SV Dash and plug in the numbers. I don't know any specifics about charcuterie, but in general you want to get things up to temperature as fast as possible. Forcemeats can be presumed contaminated all the way through, so for safety you'd want to make sure the core spends as little time as possible between fridge temperatures and 54°C.. This would suggest putting it straight in the preheated bath, and making sure the diameter isn't too large.

Modernist Cuisine Vol. 1 and the following book say it reproduces up to 55°C: International Commission on Microbiological Specifications for Foods. 1996.bacillus cereus. 20-35. In Micro-Organisms in Foods. 5. Characteristics of Microbial Pathogens. Roberts, T.A., Baird Parker, A.C. and Tompkin, R.B. eds. Published by Blackie Academic & Professional, London. I don't know the source being used by MC, and have absolutely no idea how to evaluate these sources when they come to different conclusions. I'm happy to have the file you linked as another data point. It's possible that they're using different criteria or methods. Possibly even different strains of the bug. I'd love to hear from a biologist on this issue. Up til now I never payed attention to bacillus cereus, since no one seems to use it in their pasteurization calculations for s.v.

According to Modernist Cuisine, the upper limit for c. perfringens growth is 52°C, so it should be a non-issue. I would be concerned about cooking at 54C only if there was reason to think the interior of the meat was contaminated. Especially if it were a thick piece, which would lead to the interior spending a long time at dangerous temperatures. In other words, I would want meat from a trusted source, and it must be whole (not ground, not rolled, not cut and reassembled). I only worry about pasteurizing to the core if I'm doing cook/chill or if I'm serving immune-compromised guests. Lots of food served routinely at home and restaurants is unpasteurized ... any conventionally cooked medium rare meat, any fish that's still moist, etc... The only common pathogen that I can find that seems able to reproduce at 54C is bacillus cereus (its upper limit is 55C). I don't see this organism being considered in any of the SV pasteurization models, so I don't pay attention to it. Maybe someone else can say why cooking community is less worried about this one.

I don't hold it against you. It's a reasonable way to do things in the name of convenience, assuming you're cooking at a pasteurizing temperature. I don't use this method for tender cuts because I don't like the resulting texture and moisture loss. I suspect I would like it for less tender steak cuts, like hanger and skirt.

Dave Arnold makes sous-viding a whole turkey simple. Just set up two immersion circulators with cooking oil, one at 50C or so for the light meat, one at 60C or so for the dark; extract the leg bones of the bird and replace with an assembly of aluminum pipes (think of it as a couple of routine hip and knee replacement operations), immerse the bird in the lower temperature oil bath; pump oil from the higher temperature circulator through the leg pipes. Brown the bird by pour-over frying, using a stock pot of 200C oil and a ladle. Presto.

I think Keller has moved a long way from any kind of orthodoxy, just based on looking at the dishes and components he's most famous for. I don't see much orthodoxy in the restaurant world anywhere anymore, at least when it comes to sauces. There are so many different approaches, stock-based and not. Now we have whole new sets of options opened up with pressure-cooked and sous-vide stocks, which in many case cut the cooking and prep times down to a small fraction of what's traditional. I love stocks; over the last couple of years I've changed methods and now do everything in the pressure cooker or sous-vide. I keep veal stock, vegetable stock, and chicken stock in the freezer, all with aromatics, but none with such a strong complement of them that I can't bend them in any direction I want. Most of the sauces I make don't use stock ... I make pan sauces with wine (and sometimes water) and herbs and the pan fond, and with SV bag juices if I have them. But stocks are great for when I want them. Sometimes I use straight; for fancier sauces I'll use the stock as a base for a meat-specific coulis (like jus or demi-glace) which will then be the base of a more structured sauce. It's all good ... you just have to figure out what makes sense for the ways you like to work. The idea that adding aromatics at different times gives more depth of flavor sounds good, but I haven't seen (or done) and blind tests to support this. My experience with aromatics suggests that there's probably an ideal time to add each aromatic ingredient, and an ideal temperature and length of time for extraction. This would run counter to the idea that it's beneficial to add them at such different stages of cooking. The reason i do it is convenience. The aromatics in the original stock get muted by longer cooking an evaporation, but even so, they fill in the usual flavor holes a bit, so you don't have to be as thorough when seasoning the final sauce. If you don't happen to have fresh thyme or shallots around, you can get by. Some chefs (I believe Grant Achatz among them) consider aromatics in the stock to be a shortcut / compromise and don't do it. I find it helpful ... YMMV.

It gives you a foundation of brighter flavors, so you don't have to add a full complement of aromatics with each sauce. When making a sauce I like being able to add just some basics, like shallot, and maybe some parsley to brighten it up at the end, or something that will be an accent flavor (thyme, etc.).

I posted it. Look at the screen grabs I posted from SV dash. The difference in time between the core reaching temperature and Lysteria reaching 6.5D reduction is what you're looking for. At 140F it's 20 minutes; at 150F, you don't need any additional hold time. If you're seeing different answers looking at tables, it's because people base tables on different fudge factors to keep things simple. In some cases it may be that they're using different theoretical models of pathogen behavior, or different standards of pasteurization (most people use 6.5D reduction, but I AlaMoi mentioned 10D reduction, which may a different standard). All of this is modeling, which means it's just estimation.

At 150F / 65.5C, the core will be pasteurized before it reaches final temperature. There's no required hold time. This is with a water bath temp. of 66.5C:

There's no lysteria on the interior of the meat. Pasteurizing to the core is a good idea for cook/chill or if you're serving anyone who's immune compromised, but I wouldn't bother if eating right away. If you need to pasteurize the core at 140F you have to hold for 20 minutes. Here's a graph from SV dash (water bath temp. 61C). I arbitrarily chose 20mm for the thickness.

You can safely hold it that long at that temperature, but not deliciously. It will be losing moisture to the bag the whole time ... a slow leak. Pink and pasteurized, but dry. For tender cuts, in general, I try not to hold more than an hour or so beyond cooking time. Less if I can get away with it. The drying process is continuous. If your cooking temperature is below 55C / 131F, you also have to be concerned about pathogen growth, because you're below the range where pasteurization is guaranteed. General guidelines are to keep the refrigerator to table (or fridge to fridge) times under four hours if you're cooking below pasteurization, but this is quite conservative. If you include another step that pre-pasteurizes the surface of an intact piece of meat (dipping the bag in boiling water for 2 minutes, etc.) you can go longer safely. But you still need to be concerned about dryness.

The way to guarantee safety with horizontal cuts is hold the onion with your hand flat on the top. That way if you're overzealous and the knife goes all the way through, you won't be in its path. It's also good technique-wise to use a long, drawing slice, which will allow you to use very little pressure. If you have to push hard even when drawing the blade, it's too dull to use safely.

Sorry, if that was something shot for this discussion I didn't realize. It looked like one of the many technique videos from the web, and I thought it was just being linked.

Videos like that are impressive on first glance because of the speed. It's when you pause them and take a look at the aftermath you can see the skills of the person. It doesn't take much to machete a vegetable into a million chunks of completely different sizes and shapes. There's nothing wrong with this if you're doing something that requires little precision, like putting the onions into a stock or sauce... but it makes for a lousy technique demo. If you want to show a skill, show it slowly. Then show it fast if you want to impress, but be honest and zoom in on the result (which is what prep is actually about).

The science of this is pretty complex and depends in large part on the size of the molecules in question. Salt molecules are very small and diffuse easily through cell membranes. Fat molecules are large and don't seem to do so at all. This is why brining works as advertised, but confit does not. There's no difference in taste between something cooked in flavorful fat and something with the fat slathered on afterwards.

Yes! I found it a couple of hours after making that post. Haven't put it to the test yet. I tried another one published by a New Zealand organization, but it seemed mostly relevant to fish available in that corner of the world. The NOAA has probably the most comprehensive site. I wrote to them; they said they're working on an ap.

I'm guessing it's an east coast cultural thing. Other stuff in NYC has always leaned toward chi-chi, but we've been a Gimme a Cup a Cawfee, paper-cup-on-the-street blue-colar-Joe town for a long time. It also took a long time for decent beer to show up.

After many trips to Stumptown, Joe, Intelligentsia, and the various 9th Streets, I think it's safe to say NYC coffee has arrived. A decade or so behind the west coast, but some things are worth waiting for. I'm suspicious of anyone's adamant favorite from among these places. The variation from week to week or batch to batch at any one of them seems greater to me than the variation from one shop to the next. They're all at that level.

I've been making the rounds over the last couple of months, and Lobster Place at Chelsea Market is the big winner. The quality is as high as Wild Edibles several years ago, but more consistent and a bigger selection. And the prices are great. I'm really impressed. Usually I buy whole fish when possible. But the steaks and fillets at LP all look extremely fresh and well taken care of. I'll be back a lot. I just wish they used the same sustainability tags that Wild Edibles uses. I try to make an effort to pay attention to that. Maybe there's a phone ap with up to date info. My last couple of trips to Wild Edibles has revealed more of the same. The place is completely down the tubes. Eataly also has some impressivel looking fish. I haven't bought any because the price is very high.

I use a regular propane torch from the hardware store, mostly for touching up the browning on roasts, and occasionally on desserts (browning meringue icing, caramelizing stuff, etc.). This startup by the cooking issues guys has a great product called the searzall. It converts much more of the flame's energy into radiant heat (which is what we use), and spreads it over a larger area. I haven't seen or used this thing. But I trust these guys, and looks like it removes many of the difficulties of using a plain torch. I'd suggest getting the torch they recommend in their FAQ. It's a somewhat more powerful one than the cheaper hardware store versions like mine. They demonstrate that it works much better with their product. That way if you ever decide to get a searzall, you'll already have an ideal torch for it. At the very least, get a torch with a regulator, so it will work when you tilt it upside down. Ones without regulators stop working when tipped after the cylinder is about half empty. And you'll almost always be tipping it to use it.

If you're doing a smoking step after SV, it's recommended to dry the meat in a warm oven before smoking. Smoke compounds cling best to a meat surface that's just moist enough to be tacky to the touch. Dryer than this and they don't stick. Wetter than this (likely after SV) and the compounds will go into solution in liquids that will just drip off. I think that whatever you do, to preserve the bark at least some of the reheat time would have to be in a dry oven. This kind of thing begs for a combi oven. But one of those requires a lot of begging.

It's going to be 100% humidity in there no matter what you do.

If you're talking tomato sauce, the trick is to find a brand of canned tomato that you like. A lot of us like Cento and Muir Glen tomatoes, which are pretty easy to find most places. You can get them whole or crushed, depending on the texture you like. The most basic sauce involves dicing an onion, sweating it in some olive oil, and then throwing in the canned tomato. Add fresh herbs if you have them and simmer briefly. Season with pepper (you probably won't need salt ... there's usually enough in the can). This is simple and delicious. It can be embellished any way you like. I usually add a bit of red wine, which I don't think is traditional, but I like the added tartness and complexity. Start to finish, a sauce like this is a 15 minute operation and you can piles of it easily.

I'm a fan of this brand partly because they're one of the few to use BPA-free cans. I think in general BPA is way-overhyped issue (you'll have to pry my polycarbonate nalgene bottles from my cold dead hands). But in canned foods, especially acidic ones like tomatoes, there's a chance for the levels of the chemical to get really high. They're also available at my local store, and as Weedy says, they're tasty.