Mikels

Fried eggs in chicken fat. But then, my grandmother would put on bread or a matza. Before saving it, I usually clean it by boiling with some water to remove stuff from the soup. I then cool it, remove from the water and heat it to drive off the liquid. Then, you can freeze it, although it will keep for a week or two in the refrigerator.

A simple solution is to fold the bag back on itself, similar to filling a pipeing bag.

You can try a table top roaster. The temperature control takes a bit of trial and error to get it right. I have found (using a PID to control the temperature) that there is good uniformity throughout the container. Once you get a PID controller, you can achieve 1 degree F (about 0.5 degree C) control. Have fun.

You have a food moth infestation. I had the same problem; they get everywhere. I took the way the UK addresses foot and mouth, mad cow..... I got rid of them by throwing out anything they would eat not in a closed container. Then, I washed down my cabinets and any place a dead moth was found. Draconian? You betcha! This was the only way to get rid of them Any time I brought home anything, into a closed container it would go. By the way, a closed container must be solid, they will eat through paper. If they return, they will be contained.

Thanks, Joe; I kind of suspected as much. ← While I have not used an induction system, I have used a simple hotplate with the PID controller and a 16qt stockpot / bubblier. It held uniform temperatures from 135F to 175F with no trouble.

Ok so I don't have a chamber machine but I think I still have the answers (edited out my very wrong answer, Douglas replied below with a much better answer) The standard vacuum is basically as strong as your machine will go , you basically compress veggies at the same pressure you just seal whatever, you want to get as much air out for two reasons a) prevent/minimize gas expansion b) reduce oxidation for longer cook times. On modern machines this is close to a full vacuum, 20 millibars, about 29.33" of Mercury or .59" depending on the way you count em. ← Since the meat produces liquid, I reduce any liquid by 1/3 to 2/3, then freeze it. I have bags of wine, stock... in my freezer. If you can get Japanese ice cube trays, the cubes are 1 T.

Start with a salad. How about a mushroom keish for a starter. Either use a diffent mushroom or use contrasting spices. Sort like an overture, a hint of things to come. Finish off with a quince compote.

I have made it with generic stew meat (trimmed). I have used 142F for 18 hours. The question I was asked was what cut of steak did I use? I have found that with dishes of this type, I use a 2/3 wine reduction and cooked vegetables, although celery should have the strings removed. I did not use and additional liquid other than 2Tbs of the reduced wine. It resulted in a thin, rich sauce which consisyed of the wine and liquid from the meat. I plan to experiment with a low temp thickener such as arrowroot frozen with the wine. By the way, I found Japanese ice cube trays with 1 Tbs cubes.

Nathan - just a quick question about the simulation. We know that the meat loses water as it cooks. Is there a difference between the specific heat of cooked vs raw meat? If so, would its magnitude effect the simulation?

No matter which recipe I use, I usually cut the roast, layer it and cover with the liquid. Wait a day and it will be twice as good. I sometimes make a pot roast with prunes. In that case, I find reheating two or even three times, holding it at 200F for an hour each time totally changes the character of the roast - for the better.

When I want to freeze food quickly I use dry ice. With a temperature of -109.3F (-78.5C ), things freeze rather quickly. If you want things to freeze faster, use liquid nitrogen −321F (−196C), but I doubt if the cost is worth it.

Maybe a summer squash casserole. Knife skills: cutting the squash, chopping onion, slicing mushrooms and grating cheese. You can use canned soup or make either a cream of mushroom or cheese soup/sauce. Making the soup/sauce teaches the use of a roux, whisking while adding the liquid and cooking something that can burn. You can point out that she can now make gravy etc. In addition, you can discuss the extension of the techniques to a wide variety of dishes.

I haven't had anything come out dried out when seasoning either. BUT, I have had some things come out much juicier than others. I think you have to cook both ways -- with similar pieces of meat -- and A/B them and see if there is a difference. My seasoned briskets didn't come out dry but the unseasoned briskets came out juicier. As I said, it is possible that the difference wasn't due to the seasoning -- I haven't been scientific enough -- but the difference has been consistent so far for me. I would be curious to know if anyone has experimented in this arena. ← The only experience I have had with meat that was heavily brined was to cook SV a corned brisket 135F for 48hrs. It was nothing like a brisket done the same way. But then, the pickling may have denatured the meat. The flavor was something else, much more intense than boiling it. It was just a bit saltier, tho.

I think that the difference is easy to explain. At 135, you have medium rare brisket, while at 147, it is medium to medium well done. With the connective tissue reduced to gelatin in both cases, the tenderness is a function of internal temperature. If you think about it, we are used to brisket being well done.

Brining, I do it with all my poultry when roasting. Does anyone have experience doing it with SV? I didn't see anything about this in earlier posts, but I have been known to have missed things. Oh, to have a search function....

I did a trimmed brisket at 135F for two days. When I served it, people asked what kind of steak did I use, it was that tender. I seemes to me that cooking it at 131F - 135F keep the meat medium rare while converting the connective tissue to gelatin.

A quick comment about vacuum equipment. This week for individual portions of dark meat chicken, I compared FS with a handheld system that uses a modified ziplock bag. There was no difference in the final product both were great. With the 1 quart bags, it was more convenient and they required less space. I expected leakage, but a bag with dry couscous in it showed no sign of moisture getting in.

When I need to make large quantities in a hurry, I cheat. A little, no more than 5ml, of liquid lecithin will act as an emulsifier. Once the emulsion starts, it goes smoothly. And, there is less tendency for it to break.

Maybe I can ask a naive question. Once you remove enough air from the FS bag, does it matter if a higher vacuum is used? Does it change the way you cook?

A while ago I tried it with an apple as well as a few vegetables. It didn't compress the fruit. Having never been able to try it, I wonder if it removes air or water. I don't have the equipment to perform a simple experiment. Weigh the fruit before employing the vacuum. Then, weigh the fruit after. If it is air, there should be no measurable change, unless you have a very sensitive scale. If it water, then there should be a difference. If it is water, then the vacuum must be strong enough to allow the water to be evaporate quickly or boil at room temperature.

Some of these I discovered early on; I usually cook the vegetables, then deglaze the pan with whatever cooking liquid and concentrate the result to about ¼ the initial volume; the juices from the meat bring it up to a reasonable strength. In my opinion, the meat cooking with this reduction over a long period enhances the flavor at the end. I must admit, I had not thought about the coagulation of proteins I like your idea of two bags. I guess the best way to do this is to cook the “dish” using scraps to obtain the liquid, I like it. That way, you can adjust it beforehand. That would mean that you use sort of a sort of dry rub with the spices and cooked aromatics to add flavor, then cook using sous vide. Or, better yet is your idea to cook it beforehand, then use the water bath to keep it at serving temperature. One thing I haven’t worked on is the transformation of connective tissue to gelatin. What relationship is there, if any, between the temperature at which it is cooked and the texture of the meat? Is the gelatin less likely to dissolve at lower temperatures? I guess I must experiment with the effect of holding at 130F +. I will need to see if the further cooking affects the texture of the meat.

I am talking about sous vide cooking with various amounts of liquid, depending on the dish, in the bag together with meat, fruit, vegetables. etc. You may wonder why I am doing this. Many times I have people over when it is little or impossible to cook shortly before the meal. For a number of years I have experimented with different techniques to make more interesting food. Sous vide has proved to be quite powerful. I was led to sous vide because of the inadequacy of crock pots. For a few years I cooked in a controlled crock pot, but wanted to make more complex dishes where more control of the environment is necessary. I had used sealed bags to keep things warm, and then wondered if I could cook in them. To keep them submersed, I used my handy Foodsaver. Needless to say it worked, although the temperatures were quite high (165F). Then, I heard on the radio mention of sous vide in passing on a show on energy conservation. Research on the Net led me here; I don’t like reinventing the wheel. I am self-taught; otherwise I would have known about sous vide and saved a year of experiments.

Long term (18+ hours) cooking or cook and hold. I am interested in slow cooked dishes: braising or stewing. While this is not conventional sous vide, it raises an interesting question: what effect does the composition of the braising liquid have on the dish; does it behave like a marinade, where the osmotic difference between the liquid and the meat either increases or decreases the water content of the meat? Aside from freezing any liquid used, are there any other techniques that may help? I have read about brisket in earlier posts. Two temperatures are mentioned: 131F and 145F. This raises the question: is it less likely the gelatin remains in place at the higher temperature.

I think it is important that the food has the greatest contact with the water. Because there is a vacuum, atmospheric pressure plus any water pressure pushes the bag so there is no air to insulate the food. However, if you filled the container completely full, you would have the same effect. No vacuum would be necessary. The liquid in the food would have the same temperature as the water, thus having the same effect as in a bag.

There is a difference. A crock pot is an open system, whereas in sous vide we have a closed system. In one experiment, I cooked my test dish three ways: traditional, crock pot and sous vide. The prep was used in all three cooking methods. The sous vide was not only better than the crock pot, but better than the traditional treatment. I attribute this to the fact that by cooking it longer and in a sealed bag, the flavors are enhanced. When the recipe was adjusted, it was vastly better.