[Sous Vide: Recipes, Techniques & Equipment (Part 6)]

When I was in the supermarket the other day I also bought a whole guinea fowl, and some quite small joints of smoked gammon.

Could anyone recommend some lovely recipes for either of these, and whether the gammon should be brined first, or that would ruin its smoked flavour?

Also, as vacuum sealer recommendations go, how is the Foodsaver V2860?

Many thanks!

[Sous Vide: Recipes, Techniques & Equipment (Part 6)]

The thing is, I'm quite sure that in the recipe he slices off the browned outer layer after the 24 hours in the oven. He then portions them into steaks, and pan fries them (for quite a long time according to his tv show In Search of Perfection - 2 mins each side I seem to recall), which would develop the crust.

Also that I read somewhere in the thread that actually above 47 or 49C all bacteria apart from one strand will be destroyed, and only that strand has only been seen to survive in a laboratory due to the "Phoenix Phenomenom". I think that is what Douglas Baldwin mentioned. Therefore I would have thought that if you can accurately get 50C, or maybe 51-52C for a margin of error, then you would be ok.

[Sous Vide: Recipes, Techniques & Equipment (Part 6)]

Hey e_monster, thanks for your reply! Having read 110 pages of this thread, I have already realised what a friendly and helpful person you are! I guess you are right about the intact muscle thing... to be honest a rolled rib roast is quite a pain in the **** to sous vide since it doesnt really hold its shape well, so I had to wrap it in cling film first. Then after, it will still kinda unravel, which isn't particularly attractive. I would like to try a fore rib of beef, on the bone, as Heston does.

I really think the texture would be so much better at 50C.

I really wanted to try sous vide at this temperature for maximum flavour and juiciness, but if indeed 50C is not safe in sous vide, is it actually safer in an oven? If so, how about putting the beef in one of those roasting bags, to help prevent it from drying out?

Thanks for the help!

[Sous Vide: Recipes, Techniques & Equipment (Part 6)]

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A few days ago I cooked a rolled prime rib of beef for 24 hours at 55C. Seared with a blow torch first. Then cut down the middle and then the two steaks were seared in a hot griddle afterwards. This was inspired by Heston Blumenthal's perfect steak. I chose to do it at 55C after reading so much about potential bacteria growth etc. The meat was a perfect medium-rare. However next time, I will do it at the same temperature as Heston which is 50C. The flavour and texture was really nice. I finished it off with some melted smoked butter, and sprinkle of smoked salt.

Comment by PedroG: 24h / 50°C is definitely dangerous. You might try 53°C if you can keep your bath stable at 53°C ± 0.1°C controlled by a NIST- or ISO-calibrated high precision thermometer. With an unstirred bath and without a calibrated reference thermometer you should rather stay at 55°C.

Your bags seem to float horizontally, which makes temperature uniformity and heat transmission in an unstirred bath even worse. You might try to suspend your bags on a skewer (see ) and eventually clamp a table cloth weight (this idea is from Bob Jueneman) to the bottom rim of the bag:

Covering the bath with ping-pong-balls reduces heat loss and water evaporation, and a simple indoor fountain pump (mine supported 59°C without problem) may substantially enhance water circulation and temperature uniformity, see

Thank you for your advice and suggestions. The bath is unstirred but has heating elements on three sides and the bottom, and is double insulated (two layers . It also has a lid (which I didnt photograph) which fits nicely on top and prevents much of the temperature fluctuation. The bath is pretty good at holding a steady temperature (albeit according to its thermometer in unstirred water, but apparently the design of the heaters is such that it promotes convection currents).

To quote it's manual "The Tank of the bath is made of seamless corrosion resistant stainless steel for a longer life time and easy cleaning. By means of the smooth surfaces of the tank, the risk of contamination is minimised. The sheet heaters are placed on 3 sides outside of the tank, the use of a PID control system and triple insulation consisting of glasswool, an aluminum layer layer and an air gap, gives this water bath an excellent temperature uniformity and stability."

It is also stated to have:

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Tank Volume, liters 9.5

Useful Volume, liters 7

Temperature Range Ambient Temperature +5ºC / 99.9ºC

Temperature Sensor Fe-Const

Control System Programmable PID Microprocessor

Temperature Set and Display Sensitivity 0.1 ºC

Temperature Uniformity <40ºC ±0.2ºC

Temperature Stability ±0.1ºC

Timer 99.9 hours + Hold position

Delayed Start Timer 1 min. to 99.9 hours

Internal Material 304 Stainless Steel

External Material Epoxy-Polyester Powder Coated Steel

Power Supply 230V, 50/60 Hz

Power Consumption 800 W

Internal Dimensions (WxDXH) mm 240x300x150

ALTHOUGH IT ONLY ALLOWS ME TO COOK UP TO 80C!

I agree with the floating issue, however that photo was of the beef, which wasnt actually floating, its just horizontal coz thats the only way it would fit in. The bath is more shallow than I would like. As I am currently using ziploc bags, i do try immersing them in cold water first to help get rid of the air inside and then sealing, but there is still always some. I have tried a skewer through the top above the seal to keep them vertical, which does help.

I was quite annoyed that there was a really cheap chamber vacuum machine for sale on ebay today, but I missed it due to my gf hassling me!!! So I have been considering getting this Food Saver. What are your thoughts please?

Food Saver V2860

Once again I really appreciate your feedback!

[Sous Vide: Recipes, Techniques & Equipment (Part 6)]

Hello everyone!

This is my first post on the eG Forums! I would like to thank everyone on this thread for providing me so much inspiration! It has taken me a few weeks, but I have read through the entire 110 pages!

I've been so inspired that I purchased a laboratory waterbath (unstirred) which has a 7-9 litre capacity (ok for most usage), but unfortunately only goes up to 80C.

My first experiment was with chicken breasts wrapped in smoked pancetta with some butter and smoked salt and pepper. Also tried chicken breast with some duck fat and lemon juice and a slice of lemon for experimentation . I put them in at 60C for about 2 hours. Some of the best chicken I have ever tasted! Wonderful soft texture, and really juicy and full of flavour. Actually both were really popular with my housemates. I served them with a sauce recipe I found in this thread which was made from sauteed mushrooms and cream.

I then skinned and brined two duck breasts with salt, sugar, star anise, cinnamon, camomile tea, lapsang souchong tea, bay leaf, clove, 1 garlic clove, juniper berries, black peppercorns, for 12 hours. Then bagged with some duck fat and salt and pepper at 55C for about 5 hours (will try lower and longer next time as a comparison next time:) ) I then seared afterwards and served with crispy duck skin that I cooked in the oven separately, and a reduction of apple juice, orange juice, chicken stock, vintage port, stoned cherries, and blueberries. Also with some smoked garlic confit, sauteed spinach, and some glazed carrots and asparagus.

I made salmon mi-cuit. Cooked in vanilla oil with some more seasoning for 15min at 45C. It was really nice, but next time I will try 40C for about 40mins as I have seen that temperature/time combination elsewhere.

A few days ago I cooked a rolled prime rib of beef for 24 hours at 55C. Seared with a blow torch first. Then cut down the middle and then the two steaks were seared in a hot griddle afterwards. This was inspired by Heston Blumenthal's perfect steak. I chose to do it at 55C after reading so much about potential bacteria growth etc. The meat was a perfect medium-rare. However next time, I will do it at the same temperature as Heston which is 50C. The flavour and texture was really nice. I finished it off with some melted smoked butter, and sprinkle of smoked salt.

As I said before, my waterbath only goes up to 80C. So I'm trying to confit some duck legs as we speak at 80C... I guess at this temperature I will probably let them go for 12 hours. Any comments? I've seen Nathan said that he does his at around 82C for 8-12hours, I'm guessing 2C wont make too much difference, so I will just up the time to the upper boundary of his suggestion.

Unfortunately I'm just using my iPhone 3G to take the photos, so the quality isn't that great...