EnriqueB

Going back to the original question about SV books. I teach Sous-Vide classes and try to evaluate all new publications on the topic. Lately there are a lot of new books but most of them look disappointing. The ones I've finally bought were, in fact, quite disappointing. I personally find that any SV book needs to explain some theory, in fact more theory that for most other cooking techniques. Safety is quite different from other techniques and how it does differ must be explained minimally, in my opinion. It should also empower minimally the reader to be able to cook SV without a recipe, i.e. it should explain how to determine the time/temperature profile for most foods. It just happens that almost no book does this properly, in my opinion, except for Baldwin and Modernist Cuisine. My perfect starter book would do that, although at an easier level that those already-classics, then have appealing recipes. I'm still searching for such a book.

In fact I own the book and find it quite uninteresting. Barely any theory, and recipes that don't call my attention.

Not at all (the chicken, I mean).

Glad to hear. Thank you!

I though my messages in this sense were largely ignored by the community here, so happy they are useful for someone Some recent research points out possible problems in the same vein as the ones highlighted in the post you link. The article Genetic determinants of heat resistance in Escherichia coli shows some strains of E. coli that survive core temperatures of 71ºC, which, extrapolated to our usual sous-vide core temperatures would imply much much longer times that Baldwin or SousVideDash tables currently provide. On the other hand, those bad news are somehow compensated with new research (don't have the links now with me) that suggests that many facultative anaerobic pathogenic bacteria die a bit faster inside the vacuum bag that they do when cooked exposed to air. Current tables assume the same die rate as has been studied without taking into account the vacuum, so that would be very good news.

As a tender cut, you just need to reach temperature at core and, if desired, add time for pasteurization. Given your water temperature and meat thickness, you would have needed just about 1:30 h according to SousVideDash, and about 2:30 h for pasteurization. Meat kept at a given temperature in the water bath is ok for a good amount of time, but your profile doubled the required pasteurization time, so that's likely the reason for bad texture, typical of too long cooking of tender cuts. If you salted the meat in advance that would not help neither. Never salt meat tender cuts before sous-viding unless you're looking for a kind of "cured" texture, do it after, just before searing.

Changed the color, and removed all equipment brands except Polyscience ones. Still there are generic circulating and non-circulating though, which should do the job. For a while both versions were available in the App Store, but SousVideDash was removed about a couple of months ago, which is a pity.

Normally I would add "Shape" to "Thickness". Most often the shape would be determined by the food type, but at times not, i.e. a beef tenderloin can be cooked whole, so its shape would be "cylinder" or cut into medallions so it would be "steak-like". The time to temperatue depends on both thickness & shape. Temperature is also not enough for me. I would track both water-temperature and target-core-temperature. They are almost equal if you use an equilibrium strategy, but different in Delta-T. Also, the cooking/safety strategy: either time-to-temperature, pasteurize-to-core, or pasteurize-surface, if you use the strategies defined by SousVideDash. Plus, what Tere has already said.

Too simple? No, that's exactly how an authentic paella must be. Most rices called "paellas" are not that, even in Spain and even in Valencia, and precisely overcrowding them is considered one of the worst mistakes. The star of any real paella is the rice and it must shine over any other ingredient.

I have used both, I own Anova PC and have worked with the Vac-Star for the Sous Vide classes I teach. Both are good units, but unless you absolutely need the higher capacity, I'll choose the Anova for home use. Smaller profile, which means both easier to store when not in use and can be used in smaller containers. And it is the unit best adapted to usage in different size containers, even small ones, which comes handy at home, something that cannot be done with the Vac-Star.

But it is targeted to home cooks, not 3-4 star restaurants.

That's exactly what I told them in Twitter. The main benefit I see is not forcing home users to use bags. The only talk "low temperature" and not "sous-vide" on their website, as if that would be less scary for home cooks. Of course they are the #1 restaurant in the world now and all the press is talking marvels about how they are bringing "their" incredible technique to the homes, saying they are the first to do such a thing. As if egullet, Baldwin, Modernist Cuisine, SVS, cheap circulators, etc had never existed. I started to teach sous vide classes to home (and sometimes professional) cooks in Spain some years ago precisely because there was none, but all of a sudden they have invented everything

In fact El Celler de Can Roca, fist restaurant of the world in some lists and well known for its work in sous-vide, has just launched a home appliance to cook "low temperature" (they always use that term instead of sous-vide in their site) that mimics Paragon: rocook.com Currently available only in Spain, I think. I am a bit surprised that they followed this type of equipment instead of a circulator. I think it is to foster the "low temperature" part of sous-vide allowing cooking in the pot at a given temp without necessarily using bags.

Hi, you may try Taberna Verdejo, Lakasa (currently moving, should re-open soon), El fogón de trifón, Askua barra. Cañadío, La Catapa, La Ardosa, La Caleta, or Sacha. All excellent restaurants or "barras de tapas". Not of the "fancy" types thoug some would not exactly fit the "family run" description neither. Try La Daniela or Casa Carola for great "Cocido Madrileño", the traditional Madrid stew. And go to El Corral de la Morería for excellent food and no-tourist-trap best flamenco show in the world.

My only issue with cooking in a sauce is that, if a low temperature is used (around <=65ºC), some water soluble proteins leak out of the meat, unlike in braises because at a high enough temperature those proteins are denatured fast enough and are no longer soluble. They are not very pretty and are usually removed by boiling and filtering the raft that forms. Also, the leaked juices are usually quite thin and lighten the sauce, which, to compensate, must be denser to begin with. Not big issues, just an additional step that must be taken into account. I think using temps above 70ºC this problem is avoided.

Egg yolks do not contain microbial spores, the main factor limiting storage time of sous vide cooked food. Unless you introduce the spores in the yolk separation & bagging process, your only concern should be salmonella. So, it is likely that sous-vide pasteurized egg yolks can be safely kept for weeks, but this really depends on fast chilling and your fridge temperature. Under 5ºC I would keep for a month, if temperature is higher I would reduce that time.

You don't need to sterilize for botulinum spores for safe storage, which are the treatments that are being suggested here. A heat treatment of 90ºC/10 min is considered enough for fridge storage of food under vacuum below 8ºC(http://acmsf.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/mnt/drupal_data/sources/files/multimedia/pdfs/acm777annex.pdf). And the juices will not be under vacuum after the initial SV cooking, so it would be even safer. So just boil the juices for 10 minutes, make them cold fast and keep in the fridge as cold as possible. But take into account that with that treatment spoilage will arrive earlier than any botulism hazard, so in any case I suggest you freeze the juices after boiling them.

Nice to know. I've never had a chance to compare them side by side but always thought TMX was a better blender. As a side note, FWIW, I should say that here in Spain most high-end restaurants have TMX in their kitchens, and they are constantly used.

That has nothing to do, from a safety point of view, with the question raised by the original poster. Here you are re-pasteurizing your stock (in fact boiling it, which gives a level of pasteurization much higher than normally used in sous-vide cooking of meats) between each freeze-thaw cycle, which ensures safety. Whereas the original question was about several freeze-thaw cycles without any cooking/pasteurization between cycles, if I understood it correctly.

Weight, stir/blend, and heat, that's it. Weighting just makes using it and following recipes easier. Blending: it is one of the most powerful blenders on the market, likely better than the Vitamix, Blendtec etc. and you can regulate the speed at will. For stirring, it moves the blades counter-clockwise so that no cutting is done and the food is gently stirred. You can also use it to knead or whip eggs or cream. As a blender, it is likely the best you can find, as a kneader or beater it is somehow behind machines like the kitchenaid. Heating, allows you to set the temperature in 10ºC increments (the old model, not sure about the new one). Good but not very exact, it tends to fluctuate about 5/10º C around the target temperature (old model). Also has an accessory that you put on top of the glass and allows you to use the steam produced by the liquid in the glass to cook some proteins or vegetables. I find it is a machine that excels in any blending task and in preparations where simultaneous controlled heating and stirring/blending is required, such as some sauces (e.g. béchamel, tomato) and desserts (e.g. crème anglaise). And for many other preparations it is likely not the absolute best tool, but makes quite a good job with low effort, making it globally a good multi-purpose machine. Recipes are easy to replicate due to the fixed geometry and parameters, integrated weighting and heat control, thus a very good machine for novices or to simplify preparation of many meals. Expert cooks, on the other hand, are more likely to use it mainly for the things it excels in.

I think there are reasons for faster growth of bacteria in cooked foods after thawing (lack of competing microflora that limits bacteria growth after cooking, and maybe some others). This happens when entering the growth zone of each bacteria. Given that often foods are thawed at room temperature (or even fridge temperatures but at temperatures that allow slow growth of some pathogenic bacteria, i.e. above -1ºC), the recommendation makes sense for the general public as pasteurized food does not mean that all vegetative forms of bacteria were killed, and likely spores were not killed at all. On the other hand, if the thawing was done safely at very low temperatures, so that pathogens does not have a chance to start growth, it has been found that repetitive freeze-thaw cycles are indeed a safety measure as they can reduce bacteria counts.

Refute. Just at both extremes of time/temperature profiles for moist cooking. Depending on the produce, result I am looking for, and available time I have, I will move from a lower temperature (SV) to 100ºC (boiling) to up to 120ºC (PC) in a continuous fashion.

The selection by NYT is quite good: Asturianos, Sacha, Arzábal or Laredo are all very good. I'd add Askua Barra and Viavelez to the list.

No home chamber vacuum sealer was, to my knowledge, available in Europe. SousVideSupreme offered a rebranded VP112 for a while, but I think they stopped selling it. SousVideTools.com has just launched a new dry piston unit that is, as far as I know, the most affordable chamber unit around here, at 504 EUR. I am thinking about getting one.

Alabaster is one of my favorite restaurants in Madrid. Kind of traditional "renewed" with excellent produce and top waiters & wine service. It goes just after DiverXO, SantCeloni and Álbora in my personal list. La Cabra and La Tasquería are good very both. I would suggest also Lakasa, Triciclo, Taberna Pedraza and La Buena Vida as excellent choices. For "non-just-spanish" restaurants but also great options, I would visit Kabuki Wellington, Sudestada, PuntoMX (or its "street-food" version Salón Cascabel, close to StreetXO), Nakeima (queue system, no reservations) or Umiko. Another excellent choice is Corral de la Morería. It has a top gastronomic menu which can be paired with some of the best Spanish sherries wines offer to be found in Madrid, and afterwards a Flamenco show which is not "just for tourists" but rather the best flamenco you can see in Spain (and I am not much of a flamenco lover, but it has been quite impressive in all of my visits). The gastronomic dinner room is pretty small and usually full on weekends, better go tuesday to friday and book quite in advance.