pbear

I don't doubt there's a time effect, but it's much smaller than the temp effect. Take a common scenario, e.g., the beef chuck you just mentioned. You could cook at 130F/54.4C or 150F/65.6C. To achieve the same tenderness, you would cook much longer at the lower temp, about twice as long, but the meat will be much juicier. Or, I would say, somewhat flabby. IOW, yes, at either temp, juiciness declines with time, but temp has a much greater impact..

On first read, that seemed pretty dramatic. On reflection, though, maybe not so much. Look at it this way. Take one factor first, say tenderness. We all know, from experience, that one can get to pretty much the same place with any given cut of meat by cooking longer at a lower temp or less at a higher one. We also know, from experience, that the higher the temp, the greater the amount of liquid which will be extracted. The upshot of which, as a practical matter, is that a cut cooked just above pasteurization will be much juicer than one cooked to the same level of tenderness at a higher one. The question then becomes which texture one prefers. I prefer the latter, others the former. IMHO, that's as close being able to optimize for both tenderness and juiciness as anyone needs. And certainly SV/LT offers a greater range of outcomes than conventional braising.

Frankly, Dana, the odds of your getting published are remote in the extreme. Instead, this seems like a worthy blog project.

To my knowledge, no such study has been done, which may expain why Dave Arnold was so vague. But, again, if you're only looking to hold for a week, existing food handling protocols say that's okay, so long as the temp stays below 41F. See FDA Food Code, § 3‑501.17(A)(1) (scroll down the page about two-thirds of the way). Whether your fridge actually holds this temp is the bigger issue. I monitor mine with a thermometer.

Baldwin gives cook-chill times up to 90 days for very cold storage, presumably for vacuum bags though it's not expressly stated. Indeed, in my understanding, this was one of the main advantages of sous vide when first developed as a commercial process. Anyhoo, circling back to the OP, if you're only looking to hold for a week, I think even Nathan would agree ziplocs are okay. And, gfweb, as for your question to dcarch, bear in mind that pressure from the water will evacuate the air, just as when loading ziplocs. So long as the food stays below the water line, there's no way for the air above to get at it.

FYI, this is predominantly an ingredient in West African cuisine, where it is used both as a general cooking fat and as the main flavoring of things like Palm Oil Chop. A similar product, dendé oil, is used in Brazil, e.g., in Vatapá. FWIW, I've tried many varieties of both over the years and one you got is the best I've found so far.

Notice that Dave Arnold says, towards the bottom of the linked article, that one of the disadvantages of ziplocs is that they don't permit the same extended storage as vacuum bags. Frustratingly, he never says how long he thinks ziplocs are okay for cook-chill, so the advice isn't very useful. Personally I'd hesitate to rely on ziplocs for holding any longer than open leftovers (three days to a week, depending on fridge temp). My experience with ziplocs when used for general storage (don't do cook-chill) is that they allow in air rather easily over a period of days even without the seal failing.

This is a bit strange. Although sold out on their own website, the Sansaire is now being offered at Sur la Table. Saw it today, at least half a dozen units on the table and who knows how many in the stock room.

Of course. Bumbles I no longer recall why I call these bumbles but the name stuck. They make a great party snack and are good with soup. As mentioned, they're simply American-style biscuits done bite-sized. 4 c all purpose flour 4 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 2/3 c lard and/or vegetable shortening 1-1/2 c buttermilk (or sour milk) 2 tbsp whole milk (or buttermilk) Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture has texture of cornmeal. Add buttermilk all at once; stir quickly just until dough follows fork around bowl. Knead dough gently, 10 to 12 strokes. Roll out 1/2 inch thick; cut into 3/4 inch squares and roll into balls; place on parchment lined or lightly greased baking sheet. Brush with whole milk. Bake in 425 degree oven until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. May be frozen; thaw, then reheat 5 to 10 minutes in a 325 degree oven. Variations: With the buttermilk, add 2 c grated cheddar (8 oz) (reduce shortening to 1/2 c) and/or 8 slices bacon (8 oz) (chopped, sauteed and drained) or 8 oz breakfast sausage (crumbled, sauteed and drained). Or, add 2 tbsp caraway seeds or 4 tbsp chopped fresh sage, thyme or other herb.

I suggest bumbles, which is my term for small, bite-sized biscuits. Easy to make, easy to store and easy to reheat. Can be as simple or complex as you wish. Complex meaning incorporating herbs, bacon, cheese, etc.

In addition to the heat transfer factor, consider that the cage protects the bags from physical damage by the circulator.

Bear in mind that the "vegetable protein stabilizer" probably is soy based. Indeed, if it isn't, I don't see how they can get away with labeling the product as soy sauce. Whether it's "real" soy sauce is a different issue. My understanding, based on an article I read a few years ago but couldn't locate just now in a quick Google search, is that U.S. regulators draw the line at soy-based rather than naturally fermented vs. hydrolyzed.

With respect, no. You might as well object, as perhaps you do, to the American usage of entrée. Personally, I prefer the term low temp over sous vide. See Post #16. But, the latter is common usage and calling it wrong is, well, wrong,.

FWIW, I raised a similar concern a few days ago in the Anova thread. JoNorvelleWalker posted that she has tested between clumped bags and found the water stays at the set temp. Meanwhile, in another thread, KennethT reports that he tested temp below bags resting on the bottom of a water bath and again found no problem. In other words, it seems we're making much ado about nothing. Circulation and the naturally efficient heat transfer of water does the trick. If you want to be absolutely certain, put a flat rack in the bottom of the bath and use a vertical rack or other procedure (e.g., the one gfweb suggests) to keep the bags separated and away from the sides. I do this because I can, easily, but it isn't necessary and isn't standard practice in commercial kitchens.

Thanks, all, for the responses. Your test, Jo, is particularly illuminating and probably explains why I've seen no discussion of the issue.

If you want to pursue stove-top low temp cooking, I'd strongly recommend you get a heat diffuser. You want the two-layer type, e.g., this one available from Amazon, which dissipates heat, as opposed to the thick single-layer type which merely spreads it out. With a two-layer heat diffuser, you're creating a stable heat-in, heat-out environment which doesn't depend on retaining heat as does the cooler method. Also, it's small, cheap and useful for general simmering (which, indeed, is its original purpose).

Got my Anova about a month ago. This is my third low temp unit, so the Anova hasn’t gotten as much of a workout as it would if it were my first. (The other two are an Auber PID-controller I use with a 6 qt slow cooker and a Sous Vide Supreme, both of which are still going strong.) I will say I’m seriously impressed with the design and engineering of the Anova. Solid construction, easy to set up and use, reasonably quiet, and holds the set temp perfectly (according to my Thermapen). That said, I’ve noticed something which bugs me. To be fair, this may have little or nothing to do with the Anova as such but rather be a characteristic of circulators in general. What I notice is that, depending on buoyancy, bags tend to do one of two things: sink to the bottom of the bath or cluster against the sleeve (which, of course, is the intake for the circulator). ISTM the effect of either tendency should be to reduce the efficiency of heat transfer. That is, bags on the bottom will be heating mostly from the top side only, whereas clustered bags will be insulating each other and/or impeding the flow of water around them. By contrast, the SVS uses a rack system which keeps the bags off the bottom and separated from each other. Even without a circulator, the SVS system seems to me more efficient.. (The issue doesn’t arise with the PID controller, as I use that only for large pieces of meat in one piece and place a silicone hotpad with ridges in the slow cooker to act as a sort of bottom rack.) So, I have several questions. First, do others observe the same phenomena with the Anova and other circulators? Second, do you worry about it and, if not, why not? Third, is there some trick to set-up that I’m overlooking? I’ve tried the Anova in a 12 qt stockpot, a 16 qt and even the SVS (used as just a bath). I’ve tried every configuration I can think of for directing the circulator output. No matter what I do, I get sinking or clustering. Suggestions? Fourth, is the solution to replicate the SVS rack system? It’s the only thing I’ve found that works. As it happens, the 16 qt stockpot is also my water bath canner, so I have a bottom rack for it. Also, I have an extra SVS vertical rack which I use for handling bags on the counter. Using both with the Anova works but seems a bit kludgy, especially as I’ve not seen any authorities (e.g., Douglas or Nathan) recommending such measures. Nor does the Anova manual. Thoughts?

If it's any consolation, argie916, you're not the only one who feels this way. I've been doing sous vide for more than five years and have tried steaks many times, a couple dozen at least. In my experience, there's simply no way to give a sous vide steak the same flavor as one cooked conventionally. You have to decide which is more important to you, texture or flavor. Personally, I opt for the latter. Sounds like you're inclined the same direction. That's okay. There's no law that says one must prefer sous vide in all situations where it can be used.

This is a reasonable question. The short answer is that the "danger zone" guidelines were designed with a significant margin for error. If you don't have access to Modernist Cuisine (nor do I), you might take a look at Douglas Baldwin's Practical Guide to Sous Vide Cooking, especially the section on Food Safety.

They grow the pear in the bottle. See, e.g., here, here and here. FWIW, I didn't figure this out either. Rather, I saw the answer in a cooking magazine several years ago, before I had ever really thought about the question.

I'm not surprised. Garlic in oil has very low available water.

chefessay, that looks like a creditable list. Not definitive, of course - no lists are. And, of course, the list is skewed by the criteria you chose - all lists are. Most importantly, ISTM an eminently suitable list for purposes of your class assignment.

I had in mind, in particular, Table 3 of the CDC's report on U.S. botulism cases from 1990 to 2000, which identifies just two cases involving garlic in oil, affecting a total of four people.(in a nation of 300 million). Moreover, a couple months ago, I went through the annual surveillance reports (this is one of the links nickrey posted yesterday) for every year from 2001 to 2011 (the latest available) and found no other cases linked to garlic.

Gotcha. And thanks for the link.

Well, if you liked the bite, there's no reason for you to reduce the gluten. Based on your feedback, I'll try the recipe as written first and with less gluten second. As for rolls, I use a very soft roll for veggie burgers, basically a souffle batter baked into pancakes. Mind, all this is something I do to accommodate vegetarian friends, as I'm not a vegetarian myself. The objection to beef base was based on this alone. Obviously, if one isn't a vegetarian, this isn't an issue.