torolover

I'm making the Momfuku Bo Ssam instead of Turkey for Thanksgiving. After the dry salt/sugar cure, should I rinse this off before cooking for 6 hours? Or should I leave it on? I'm worried about it being too salty. I saids to roast Pork Boston Butt for 6 hours at 300F. Is there an ideal final internal temp I should be looking for? 190F or 200F? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

I just bought a whole duck which has a label from Crescent farms. It's labeled fresh duck, but is it really fresh or do supermarkets previously freeze these? Has anyone tasted the difference between fresh duck and previously frozen duck? Inside the duck comes a packet of duck heart and liver. If it was previously frozen, is it OK to eat the heart and liver medium rare? Thanks!

I just bought a whole duck. Inside the duck has a package of heart and liver. Is it OK to cook this medium rare as well? I assume duck Offal is "safer" to eat medium rare then chicken Offal. Thanks!

Now I'm more confused!! I cook and eat my beef medium rare, I eat my pork medium rare to medium. I don't eat chicken breast medium rare unless I sous vide and pasteurize it. So do I need to pasteurize the chicken liver or other innards for medium rare? Or I can just pan sear to medium rare?

I'm starting to cook Offal and lots of recipes recommend cooking chicken liver, heart, and gizzard medium rare. I buy the whole chicken and inside the chicken has a packet of the heart and liver. Why is it OK to cook chicken liver or the innards medium rare, but not for the chicken breasts? I understand there are dangers of Salmonella but doesn't that exist in the innards of the chicken? Also what is the shelf life of innards in the fridge? Is it the same as for the chicken breast? Thanks!

(This comment was moved, as it was originally posted in a topic specifically addressing the use of the searzall on poultry skin.) How does the searzall work for other things like steak, burgers, and pork chops?

I decided to start cooking Offal! I just bough a whole chicken. Inside the chicken there is a package with the heart and liver. Is it OK to cook this heart and liver medium rare? What about Salmonella? Is it OK to use the chicken heart and liver that comes with the whole chicken or should I buy chicken heart and liver separately?

Thomas Keller said that you only need to cook veggies in water for 45 min to get the maximum flavor for veggie broth. He saids that its best used right away or a couple days in the fridge because if you freeze it, the veggie flavor goes away. Other chefs have said the same thing. So why add veggies at all when you make chicken broth, if your going to add veggies later when reducing this chicken stock for a sauce or soup? Does cooking the veggies twice in broth really make it more complex or better? Why not always add veggies to broth ONLY when you are going to finish a dish, and cook for only 45 min like many chefs suggest? It's weird because even though Keller saids to cook veggies for 45 min. for veggie broth, he cooks his with veggies for over 5 hours in his veal/beef broth!

Wow thanks for all the great tips guys! This is why I LOVE EGULLET! I did translate the Italian blog from Franci with Google Translate and the blog has some great tips! By the way if you read my second paragraph in my original post I did use a little butter and olive oil "Yes I do the whole flipping the pasta with cheese and pasta water in the pan, and sometimes I even add a little butter and olive oil to help emulsify it, but I'm still not satisfied with the results" I've been experimenting with emulsifying the cheese and pasta water with a blender and will let you know my results soon!

Yes, I turn off the heat when I add the freshly grated pecorino. Yes I use lots of cheese, about 1 ounce of cheese for every 3 ounce of pasta. Yes, if my sauce looks too thin, I add a little more pasta water. Yes I use the best quality aged cheese. Yes I cook about 4 ounces of pasta for 2 quarts of salted water. Shalmanese, Cooks illustrated idea of whisking cheese into a separate bowl of pasta water is similar to my idea of putting the sauce into a blender. I'm not crazy about the cream idea because I think cream may dull the flavor a little bit. Italians would say it's sacrilegious to add cream. Anyone know the temperature when cheese "breaks" and turns oily? I'm curious what temperature I should keep the sauce on a low burner, or perhaps even in my sous vide, to keep it from breaking.

Yes I understand that Cacio e pepe should be only made with black pepper, Pecorino Romano cheese, pasta, and pasta water. When I make it sometimes the cheese get clumpy or oily. Yes I do the whole flipping the pasta with cheese and pasta water in the pan, and sometimes I even add a little butter and olive oil to help emulsify it, but I'm still not satisfied with the results. Anyone think about putting the hot pasta water, the Pecorino/Parmesan Cheese, into a blender to emulsify it? Or better yet adding a little butter too. What temperature does cheese "break" and get oily? Is it like Beurre Blanc, where it can't be too hot and too cold? If I know the temperature, I can keep the sauce in my sous vide so it won't break while I boil the pasta. Any thoughts about this?

Great discussion about Stocks guys! Makes sense Shalmanese! I'm curious about this because I've been reading high end Cookbooks like French Laundry. Thomas Keller's stocks often have onions, carrots, leeks, thyme and parsley in them. Lots of his recipes say to add stock over meat, add new onions, garlic, carrots, leeks, thyme and parsley, and braise or reduce to make a sauce. I was wondering if there was a purpose of boiling the same aromatics twice since it seems repetitive. Thomas Keller is meticulous about his instructions and a master, so I'm just curious. I'm also thinking of making a big batch of stock with just chicken and water. That way if I decide to make Asian food, I can simply boil the stock with Asian aromatics. If I make French Food, I will use French aromatics. I won't need to make a separate French Chicken stock or Asian Chicken stock in the beginning. In Ivan Ramen's recipe for his famous soup, he uses chicken stock from just water and chicken, and then he adds Sofrito right before eating. This is interesting to me because he doesn't even boil aromatics for his soup! I guess the sofrito has enough flavor to make the soup interesting.

Why do you need to add aromatics, such as onion, carrots, leeks, when making the first Chicken Stock, if your going to add aromatics later for a recipe anyway? For example for braising meats, recipes will ask you to pour stock over the meat, add MORE aromatics, and braise for 3 or 4 hours. Why does the first stock need aromatics then? Another example is for making a sauce, recipes will ask a stock to be boiled with wine and MORE aromatics until it gets thick. Is there any benefit to adding aromatics when making a first stock?

Im curious for about your thoughts for example sous vide Beef Bourguignon. Let's say I sous vide short ribs for 48 hours with nothing in the bag and then chill it and leave in the fridge. The next day I add Bourguignon sauce to the cold short ribs in the bag and leave it in the fridge for a few hours. Then I reheat the whole thing for 30 min. Will this taste just as good as short ribs that's sous vide with Bourguignon sauce to begin with for 48 hours? Won't it be harder for the Bourguignon sauce to penetrate the meat since the meat is cold in the fridge?

Thanks for the tips everyone! Really appreciate it! I cook chicken breast almost every day before work, so I don't have time to wait 50-60 min at 140F for a thick breast to get pasteurized. On the other hand I don't want to cook my breasts to 165F in boiling water either because it will be too dry. I'm looking for a happy medium. I figured if I put my chicken breast into boiling water and take off the lid, it probably will take around 10 min. for the core to get to 140F or 150F. Once it hits 140F or 150F, I just need to hold that temp for the appropriate time to make sure it's safe to eat. I usually put cold water to bring down the temp once the cores hit 140F or 150F. I think I will stick to 150F, which only takes 5 min to pasteurize. Since it takes about 10 min with boiling water to get the core to 150F, I only need a total time of 15 min. to cook it safely. Keep in mind once the core hits 150F, I COOL DOWN the water to 151 or 152F. It I try to cook it to 140F, it would take me 30 min or more to cook it safely. 10 min in boiling water, then another 20min hold temp of 140F to eat it safely. I know the breast won't be completely 150F or 140F like a true sous vide breast, but it will still be a lot better then cooking it to 165F! Thanks again!

I did. This is why it's confusing. FSIS saids at 140F, it takes 12 minutes. However in Modernist Cuisine at Home is saids to hold for minimum of 20 min.! Which one is right? and to make it more confusing the original Modernist Cuisine saids to hold at 12 min. at 140F! Also the FSIS is a table for Salmonella, what about Listeria? Is the Salmonella table all I have to be concerned about to eat my chicken safely?

Thanks for the tips paulrafael! I bought the SV dash and looked at your chart. I understand that at a 150F water bath you don't need any additional time because by the time the core reaches 150F, it's already pasteurized. The thing is I'm not cooking in a water bath at 150F for 30 or 40 minutes. I'm cooking in a pot of hot water of 180F- 190F for only about 10 minutes. In about 10 minutes my chicken breast will reach a core of 150F. Keep in mind after 10 minutes, the water will have cooled off to around 155F or 160F. So once my chicken has reached a core of 150F, I'm only concerned with how long to keep the water temp at 150F to pasteurize the chicken. Are you saying my chicken breast is safe to eat right after the core hits 150F and I don't I need a hold time? This is why I'm so interested in trying to find HOLD times for chicken at 150F and 140F.

Thanks for the tips everyone! I'm NOT looking for the TOTAL time of cooking the chicken, I'm simply looking for the HOLD TIME to pasteurize it once it reaches the core temp. I'm looking for the HOLD TIME, because I often cook chicken breasts in hot water(190F) and try to rapidly get the core temp to 140F or 150F. I can probably get the core temp to 140F in less then 5 minutes. Then I add cold water to keep the water temp around 140F. So do I only need another 11min 34 seconds to pasteurize it or 20 min? Seems like it's very hard to find this online and Modernist Cuisine and MC at home has conflicting numbers.

I'm still confused how long to hold the temp to pasteurize chicken. According to Modern Cuisine's Extended and Simplified Table, once the core reaches 150F, it only takes only 1 min 10 seconds, to pasteurize. Is this good enough to eat safely? What about pasteurizing for Listeria? At 140F the table saids it only takes 11 min. 34 seconds to pasteurize. When I read the recipe from MC at Home, it saids, at 140F, to hold for 20 minutes to pasteurize chicken. The original Modernist Cuisine table saids only 11 min 34 seconds. Which one is correct? I want to make sure I'm eating my chicken breasts safely! Thanks!

Anyone with thoughts about this? 11 min 34 seconds and 20 min is a big difference! For 150F MC saids 1 minute 10 seconds and then MCH said 5 min. What is the correct time to make sure it's pasteurized?

What is the pasteurization hold time for chicken breast? According to Modern Cuisine's Extended and Simplified Table, at 150F it's only 1 min 10 seconds, and at 140F it's 11 min. 34 seconds. Does this mean that once i get the center of my chicken breast to 150F, and I hold it at 150F or slightly higher for 1 min. 10 seconds, its pasteurized? Why does my Modern Cuisine at Home say once you reach a core temp of 140F, you need to hold from 20 min. to pasteurize? The original Modern Cuisine say at 140F, you only 11 min. 34 seconds to pasteurize? Which one is correct?

Why would a marinade not penetrate the surface of an already cooked steak in the fridge? Still curious why would marinading raw meat in the fridge be different then marinading already sous vide cooked meat IN THE FRIDGE? Another question, for tough cuts, would marinading DURING 24 hour sous vide be different then marinading POST cooked 24 hour sous vide IN THE FRIDGE?

I like to sous vide large batches of tough cuts such as pork belly and short ribs for 12-48 hours and then freeze them. I usually cook them without marinade. This way, depending on my mood, I can change the marinade/flavor any time I take them out of the freezer. Do marinades penetrate the meat differently when they are raw vs cooked meat? Any disadvantages of marinading after I sous vide? Thanks!

185F for double the recipe time? So you mean 185F for 1 hour and half instead of the usually recommended 45 min? I get confused because books such as Thomas keller says to simmer veggies for 45 min. What is the temp of a simmer? 200F? If I added double the veggies, could I cut the cooking time in half? I already thinly slice my veggies.

I have two questions. Anyone know the best exact temperature of water to get the best flavor out of veggies such as carrots, onion, garlic, leeks for SOUP? Second question: If the stock recipe calls for 2 ounces of thinly sliced veggies( carrots, onions etc) simmered in 2 cups water for 45 min., could I cut the simmering time in half if I added 4 ounces of veggies instead of 2 ounces? I assume more veggies will extract more flavor to the water faster. Is that correct? For ex. lots of books recommend simmering the water with veggies for 45 min. If I add twice the amount of veggies, could I cut the cooking time in half to 25 min to get the same flavor extraction as cooking for 45 min in the original recipe? I'm asking this because I have made lots of Chicken broth for Ramen that has no other ingredients then water and chicken. I now want add veggies to the chicken broth to get the veggie flavor and want to know what temperature I should cook it at. Also I'm wondering if I triple the amount of veggies in my recipe, if I can cut the cooking time to 10 min. instead of 45. Thanks!