pbear

I'd like to point out that spoilage at this temp is exceedingly rare. Rather, most of the reports are from temps much closer to the edge of the envelope for pasteurization of pathogenic bacteria, e.g., 55ºC/131ºF. daveb's report (thread linked above) was one of these. By contrast, I've done a couple hundred batches at 60ºC/140ºF and have run into the problem only once. At those odds, dunking isn't worth the effort to me. If I run into spoilage again, and doubtless I will eventually, I'll toss the batch. Which isn't a knock, of course, on those willing to invest in the precaution. Also, bear in mind it'll only be meaningfully effective for things like oxtails and short ribs if they're dunked outside the bag, as otherwise the interior surfaces (where the pieces abut) won't be pasteurized at all. I'm curious whether anyone knows what is standard operating procedure in commercial and restaurant kitchens.

There are several ways to do brine calculations, but the one I usually see for an equilibrium brine is that reflected in Smithy's ChefSteps link. Thus, combined weight of meat and water times desired concentration equals amount of salt needed. Or, for a given amount of salt, divide by combined weight to calculate concentration. Bear in mind the object is to determine how much salt will end up in the meat. I assume the reference to sodium was casual, i.e., that FeChef really meant salt. One could do the calculations based on sodium, of course, but then the desired concentration would be much less. For which it may be helpful to know salt is 38.33% sodium by weight. A better approach, in my humble opinion, would be to adjust non-salt sodium sources (e.g., soy sauce) to a salt equivalent. Here, where we're talking about a very small amount of MSG, I wouldn't bother even with that. Also, I will second ChefSteps' suggestion that the desirable concentration for roast beef is quite low. I'd say 1% or even 0.7%, whereas 1.5 to 2% would be more like corned beef (just not pink). Also, I agree it takes a heck of a long time, weeks not days, to equilibrium brine a large piece of meat by immersion. Halving the roast lengthwise as I suggested above would bring the curing time down to about a week, but if left whole it seems to me essential to use injection to achieve equilibrium in a safe time frame, which in my understanding is how this is normally done by commercial processors. Because of scale, they use machines that inject multiple sites simultaneously, but home cooks can get by using a single injector applied repeatedly. Hope that helps.

For what it's worth, here's a link to the FSIS compliance guidelines for conventional low temp roast beef. My understanding is that this is generally done in large steam ovens. Notice the long holding time AT temp for product in the low to mid 130s. Personally, I'd just split the roast lengthwise and cook in two bags.

Notably, it's the measurement catercorner which determines what size handled skillet or griddle will fit. I also rely on a countertop oven, a now-discontinued Cuisinart BRK-200 (12 by 12 interior), and can fit both the Lodge ten inch skillet and griddle. But, it's very tight and half-an-inch less might not make it. Another option, by the way, is carbon steel. Paderno makes a range of heavy-weight paella pans, which eliminates the handle issue entirely. They're a bit trickier to season because they're smooth, but very good once over that hump.

That's a great spatula. In fact, I got a spare for the inevitable day it finally wears out and, Murphy's law being what it is, has been discontinued. BTW, another great spatula, of standard width, is the HIC 10.5 inch. Have a spare for that one too.

Gotcha. Good luck in your research.

Have you seen the manual. Seems to me it answers some (but not all) of your questions.

Back to the OP. Do you have a Gastrovac? Access to one? Just curious?

Actually, cooking sous vide is not cooking under vacuum. It's a common misunderstanding, but that's precisely the point Nathan was making in the linked thread. Rather, "sous vide" is shorthand for packed under vacuum and cooked at low temperature, usually until pasteurized, but the cooking happens at standard pressure. Notably, one can get many of the advantages of this process without vacuum packaging, e.g., by using zip-top bags. What one loses is extended storage times, which was one of the main original purposes of the process. By contrast, the Gastrovac cooks under partial vacuum, which reduces the temperature at which water changes phase (to steam). This enables one (for the low, low price of almost six thousand bucks) to fry at low temp and to reduce liquids with less impact on flavor molecules. One can do neither of these things with sous vide. Indeed, I prefer to call the latter low temp in part to avoid this confusion.

I've never used one, but there was a bit of discussion in the original sous vide thread. See here. The short answer to your questions seems to be crisp yes, color no. BTW, vacuum reduction is discussed a few posts later on the same page.

FWIW, if this comes up again, the low temp item I find generates the best first impression is chicken breast. And there are no weird color or temp issues to explain.

Don't see getting one of these anytime soon myself, but plan to put in my suggestions file for folks who might have a use. A few clarifications would be helpful, palo and andie. How much can they cook at a time? I'm guessing half a pound, but that's just a hunch. Relatedly, how much water does it take to cook that amount of pasta? Third, are you adding salt and, if so, when?

Reads the same way to me. Looks like you've found the answer to your question.

Modified atmosphere packaging is almost never mentioned in the ingredients list - and, indeed, it's not an ingredient - so that doesn't help answer the question. Also, let's bear in mind air is 78% nitrogen, so it's perfectly harmless in this application. Mind, I'm not saying these are packed in nitrogen; I don't know either way. Just pointing out something relevant to the conversation. And not fond of the product myself, but it's the texture I find a bit weird rather than the flavor. Don't begrudge 'em, though, to anyone who likes 'em.

Meats suitable for braising still have collagen even if ground, so there's an advantage to long cooking (or pressure cooking) dishes made from same. Conversely, there's an advantage to grinding your own meat for dishes that make sense to long-cook, e.g., chili, so you can be sure of employing collagen rich cuts. I've never used this trick for meatloaf, but I have for meatballs, which is why I posted. And SV would fit either strategy (cook-to-temp or cook-at-temp), for reasons which should be obvious if you think about it. As for A16, that's a restaurant here in SF (named for a highway in Italy) famous for its meatball special. Don't have a link handy, but the recipe was readily available by Google search the last time I looked.

IMHO, you're comparing apples to oranges. Cook-to-temp and cook-at-temp produce very different results. I suspect you did the same thing with meatballs. To be comparable, you would have to poach them a couple hours, which indeed is how the famous A16 meatball is done. For meatloaf, the comparable method would be to bake a couple hours in a very slow oven, say 250ºF. More time than the pressure cooker, obviously, but also less work.

I've not done corn, but I've done lots of this sort of thing because I generally dislike seeds and skins in cooked dishes. The main thing is to keep in mind the size of the holes you'll be using and chop accordingly. (I'd do corn by pulsing in a food processor.) Too little and your yield will suffer; too much and the skins will pass through the disk. Hope that helps.

If you're actually going to pickle them, sure. You'll lose the sterilization from pressure cooking by handling and packing. though, so even in the fridge will need acidity to get safe storage more than a week or so.

Okay, that makes sense.

Why not just cook on the stove? Easier to monitor.

Okanagancook, I suspect the thread you're remembering is this one, as you were the last person to post in it. But that thread is about keeping track of recipes in cookbooks. There is a somewhat older thread on your present topic, but it only went eighteen posts. There might be others, but those are the two I remember having seen at some point or another. The thing to understand about scanning your loose recipes is that it's not gonna do a lick about the indexing problem. You're still going to have to build a database (where you enter the data) or use some variation of the several-large-vats system, where you dump the scans into folders and call them filed.

Sorry, I don't remember, as this was years ago and I abandoned the strategy. Don't think it matters. Have done lots of low temp braises since then - for stews rather than steaks - and haven't noticed much effect from how the cut was prepped by the butcher, although different cuts certainly cook up differently. BTW, I have successfully low temp roasted cross rib. Eight hours at 55/131 works nicely. Never thought about cutting it for steaks (instead, sear whole), but maybe it would work.

FWIW, chris, my experience was the same trying to get steaks out of braising beef cuts. To me, they came out as curiously pink pot roast.

In the interest of completeness, it might be worth mentioning that there's such a thing as aluminized steel, which is frequently used in bakeware. Note this is a coating, not an alloy, nor is it used AFAICT for mixing bowls. And it's used for ordinary steel, not stainless, as an alternate strategy for corrosion resistance. Still, I suspect this may have been what cakewalk was channeling (subconsciously) when s/he made the original comment. It's a common cookware product where steel and aluminum appear together. And I only learned what I just mentioned when I looked it up to post in the thread.

In the thread Martin links, Pedro mentions an article he wrote addressing this very question: Thermometer calibration. If I'm reading correctly, he at one point observed a variance at cooking temp of 0.5ºC from straight line. And that's just one test