Montreal

Yup... Actually I think so too. I also did some Red Deer 1 cm thick loin and they were so awsome seared that I dont think that it was worth it to sous vide. Thaks for the reply

Another puzzle. So far all my test were on red meat. I tried some scallops at 49 Celcius... They were awfull. Any recommendation Tks

I agree with Nathanm.The statement that the calogen is not reacting or very little over 70 C is a myth as I did several experiment on Beef and Pork on temperature ranging from 74 c to 82 C and their was tons of Collagen reaction. The best meat texture that I had so far are actually on Pork cheek for 12 Hours at 74 Celcius. This is why I might actually like the 68 C for 18 hours on Veal. We shall see Ultimately converting all the calongen into gelatin might NOT be the Ideal meat texture and taste that someone is looking for. Personal preferences are hard to judge and consequently I think that part of the difficulty with sous vide is that their is so many variable to play with and everyone has it s own opinion on how they like their meat not only from a doness perspective but taste, texture etc... I so far find that if I convert the most possible Calogen into gelatin in Cheek, the meat is very tender but also stringy and loose. Braising in a pressure cooker would actually give me the same results in a much faster time with similar meat texture. This is why experimenting is so much fun, as I am looking for the same tenderness of braising with a completely different texture and Doneness As I am using sous vide: I am in constant search of a texture and taste that I could not duplicate any other way. Thanks for sharing.

Yes all the Veal Cheek are all from the same farm. Now that I start looking at the book they suggest that( Veal Cheek) should be done at 68 Celcius for 18 hours... There we go, another test in the pipeline. Stay tune.

Some more results from the lab. Veal cheek again at 135F for 24 hours. Good texture but still a fair amount of Callogen. Next test at 135 F for 36 hours and 48 hours. Just got the book Sous Vide from Joan Roca and Salvador Brugués. Cannot wait to explore the book over the weekend. I will keep you posted on the next results

Awsome, Glad to see that I am not alone that this scenario of the guey stuff( is the Collagen) happen to. Cannot wait to see the reply. I actually wonder if it could be the nature of the callogen in Veal that makes it that way. A friend of mine did some veal cheek in a pressure cooker and also had residual callogen that was not completely transformed in gelatin. Let's keep thinking here

Thank you for your post. Here is the results of my experimenting: Pork cheeks: 74 C for 12 hours... Fantastic structure but I will try at lower temperature to see more tender meat Beef Checks: 74 C for 31 hours.. The least tasty meat. Texture was okay, but I could not see the difference in the texture of the meat of sous vide and braised. However the meat was pink as oppose to be well done. Veal Cheeks: 84C for 8 hours. By far the best tasting cheek of the 3. However the job was not completely done as the tendon/fat was kind of guey... Not sure why but I did not like that. I think that if I go lower temp for longer the transformation will be more complete and this guey stuff will be more in Gelatin form. I might be wrong but I have a feeling that I did not cook for long enough.... 8 hours was too short. Any comment would be appreciated. Tks again

Thank you so much for your reply. However I guess I am confuse with part of your comment. You are saying: Cooking at temperatures between 60-70°C is of no value, as collagen has not been enzymatically degraded and will start shrinking at 60°C, squeezing juice out of the meat. Are you assuming that the ultimate tenderness and juice out of a meat is better found in Rare to Medium rare ? or below 60 Celcius Therefore If I understand correctly, all my cheeks should be done in the 55 to 60 range for the best tenderness. Your recommended range from 24 to 72 hours is huge. How to I establish the ideal time? trial and error? Is their some kind of ratio that I can refer to, for example, if I have a 100 gram cheek it should be 30 hours, if it is 150 gram it should be 40 hours etc... Thanks again for your help. I love to experiment but their is not point to try to re invent the wheel if someone already has the knowledge out there. Dan

I posted this on another tread by accident. Here was my post if anyyone can help: Hi Everyone. It is kind of nice to see that so many people are willing to share their passion on the net. Might sound like a silly question but I am wondering if all cheek are equals. What I mean by this is, Can I cook all my cheek at the same temp for the same time and get similar results. In other words. If I cook my Pork Cheeks at 74 Celcius for 12 hours, would I get the same tenderness in all 3 type of meat ? Also in Thomas keller Book he does his Veal Cheek at 84 Celcius for 8 Hours. Is their such thing as a matrix that shows that if you increase your temp by 1 degree your cooking time is reduced by how much? Or the temp is more for how you want your meat and the time is optimal. For instance I am assuming that if Thomas keller cook his cheek at 84 degrees it is because trial an error showed him that cheek as the best texture that he is looking for at that temp and they are perfectly cooked after 8 hours? Iphone has an APP for sous vide. I tried their recommandation for fois gras and it was right on the money. However, they recommend beef cheek for 2 days at 74 degree... mine came apart after 20 hours. OOPS Hope I am making sense, if not I will try again Thanks in advance and I am curious what the reponse will b

Hi Everyone. It is kind of nice to see that so many people are willing to share their passion on the net. Might sound like a silly question but I am wondering if all cheek are equals. What I mean by this is, Can I cook all my cheek at the same temp for the same time and get similar results. In other words. If I cook my Pork Cheeks at 74 Celcius for 12 hours, would I get the same tenderness in all 3 type of meat ? Also in Thomas keller Book he does his Veal Cheek at 84 Celcius for 8 Hours. Is their such thing as a matrix that shows that if you increase your temp by 1 degree your cooking time is reduced by how much? Or the temp is more for how you want your meat and the time is optimal. For instance I am assuming that if Thomas keller cook his cheek at 84 degrees it is because trial an error showed him that cheek as the best texture that he is looking for at that temp and they are perfectly cooked after 8 hours? Iphone has an APP for sous vide. I tried their recommandation for fois gras and it was right on the money. However, they recommend beef cheek for 2 days at 74 degree... mine came apart after 20 hours. OOPS Hope I am making sense, if not I will try again Thanks in advance and I am curious what the reponse will be.