TdeV

This is what the skin looked liked crisp. I have to say that I don't think much of the flavour. (I didn't put any spices on it). I cooked it for 40-60 minutes starting at 400F then down to 325F (I wasn't watching). Did I cook it too long?

I have separated the breast from the rest of the duck and vacuum-sealed it for sous vide tomorrow. The rest of the bird is in the oven in a Romertopf with a splash of pink wine. But I left the skin behind. How do I cook this to make it crisp? This is a stainless steel cookie sheet with the skin on it. Then a second sheet stacked on top to keep the skin flat. Will this work? How long? And at what temperature? I didn't scrape the skin clean of fat. Should I have?

This discussion reminds me that I have a jar of sour cherries in the pantry. And I have a just-thawed duck in the fridge. Yum, yum!

Here are Douglas Baldwin's "Sous Vide For the Home Cook" suggestions Loin roast Rare, unpasteurized 125F (50C) 2-2.5 hours Medium-rare 130F (55C) 3-3.5 hours Medium 140F (60C) 2-2.5 hours Loin, boneless Rare, unpasteurized 125F (50C) 1-1.5 hours Medium-rare 130F (55C) 2.5-3 hours Medium 140F (60C) 1.5-2 hours Leg, boneless Medium-rare 130F (55C) 24 hours Medium 140F (60C) 24 hours Me, I often have bone-in, so you need more time to make sure that the heat gets into the meat. You can find out a lot about sous vide lamb from this site, including the whys and wherefores of long cooking times (search in upper right).

Hi @bonkboo, Leg of lamb is a cut which benefits greatly from long slow cooking. I have had tremendous results with 3 days @ 145F. You don't have enough time to do that and get the dish ready for Christmas. Start the dish immediately!

Thanks @paulraphael, I have the SousVide Dash app but I don't have much experience using it. I see I'll have to do my homework! Tonight I heated the water to 118F. Added the bagged salmon and some boiling water. Thought that I added too much hot water, so I added some cold. Thought I added too much cold, so poured in some more hot. Temp settled down to about 116F, eventually getting back to 118F. Cooked the bag for 22 minutes. Just divine. Now I have some halibut to try. And some spot prawns. The halibut is over 1" thick so I'll have to adjust my ideas a bit. Any ideas about time and temp?

I like the idea of using a kettle to heat the water back up. I just did a several days long test of the controller which was quite accurate. I'm not sure about the 124F either!

When do you start counting the time in sous vide cooking? - when you first put the plastic bag into the heated water? Or, - when the heated water comes back to the desired temperature? I have a 7 quart slow cooker with an Auber instruments controller. There is nothing to circulate the water, but it has never proved to be a problem for me before. Sous vide fish is a new activity for me. After much research I planned 119F for 20 minutes, though in future I'll try one degree lower each time. My first experiment was salmon tail and it was the most delightful salmon I have ever eaten. Water heated to 119F. Added marinaded fish in a ziplock-type bag which had been removed from the fridge not long before, and I used the sous vide water to push the air out of the ziplock bag. Temp dropped enormously (but I don't recall exactly) and it took 15-20 minutes to get back up to 119F. Then I cooked for 20 further minutes. Second experiment was salmon tail and it was as boring as I usually find salmon. I took the marinaded fish out of the fridge 1 hour or 1 1/2 hour before it went into the sous vide pot. I used lukewarm water in bowl in sink to remove air from ziplock. When the fish was dropped in, the temp dropped to 113F. I was not as anxious watching the temp rise this time, so I didn't check it every few minutes. Somehow the water got up to 124F. In both these cases I used a soup bowl in the sous vide pot to hold the fish under water. So, short of buying some new sous vide equipment, could you advise me about things I could do to minimize the temperature drop and maximize my control over the fish.

@daveb, well, it was a lot of research over a year ago here on egullet; I could determine what it was if you really want to know. I started this cooking cycle with the conclusion I should do the leg at 131F for 30 hours, and then I looked at my notebook and upped it to 145F. In this case the meat came out fine (no off bacteria). Next time I've got a smaller piece of meat I'll try a lower temperature

@btbyrd, so how does this relate to the need to give large-slabs-of-meat-to-be-cooked-at-low-temp a dipping in boiling water to kill off surface bacteria?

Will the 70 second dunking (after 2.5 hours sous vide) kill all those bugs?

@Anna N, I was wondering about that . . .

Much messier this way. But done (dunked). Thanks for the quick response.

7.4 lbs leg of lamb with partial bone has for 2 days been in brine. Rinsed off, dried and vacuum sealed. It's been in the water bath for 2.5 hours. I forgot to dip the package into boiling water for 60 seconds. Is there any point to my dipping the package into boiling water now? Temp= 142F. Planning for Thursday dinner (~30 hours)

The notable differences between the two lamb shanks were: i) smell (one good, one "bad") ii) gelatinous pale red stuff all over the "off" one. The congealed stuff was the colour of a good dark vin gris. That's what made me think of blood. How long does one dip the vacuum sealed packet into boiling water (in order to kill off bacteria)?? Thanks. As for consequences, we don't know yet.

I've just cooked two lamb shanks sous vide for 72 hours at 141F in separate bags. When I opened the first bag, the shank looked and smelled great. The second bag, however, smelled bad (to me). The shank was covered in gelatinous red stuff. My husband is less smell-impaired than I, so he ate that one. The two shanks were purchased from the meat market associated with the Department of Animal Sciences at the local university where the students will have butchered the animals. I'm wondering if what's possible is that one of the shanks did not have all the blood drained out. And that the smell which I've associated with "bad" is actually the smell of blood.

I see I was misreading Douglas Baldwin who says bottom round steak or round roast should be at 130⁰F (140⁰F for medium) for 48-72 hours. I suppose there's no trouble if I put the left overs in the slow cooker? I have a second packet of cut up meat cubes which was cooked along with the first. So I should I cook it for an additional 48 hours, or, start the count from the beginning a cook it for 72 hours? Next time, I should buy different meat? Which cut do you recommend?

Had an excellent, tender, verrrrry slow cooked beef stew recently, so I thought I'd make it better. Bought bottom round. Cut pieces quite large (1 1/2" x 2 1/2"). Seared them in hot grapeseed oil. Sous vide at 132⁰F for 28 hours. Was tough and chewy. What'd I do wrong?

A shrink wrapped package in my freezer was badly labelled, so I guessed it was pork shoulder and cooked it sous vide for 3 days at 135 ⁰F. It tasted okay but it fell apart like crumbs and it's a bit dry. (It was a pork loin roast probably). I was thinking of grinding it up with some whipping cream (food processor) and making a pâté (based on Julia Child's suggestion about salmon mousse). Should I add anything else to the mix? What condiments? Or should I do something else with it? I've got 1.5 - 2 lbs of it.

I'm saute-ing a 1 1/4 inch piece of sea bass. I'd like to know what temperature to shoot for. Thanks.

Pedro, this is a much larger setup than mine. My pot is 7.5 liters (7.5 quarts) with a 380 watt heater.

Evernote, for me. Actually, it was to document my recipes (before moving thousands of miles) that I got Evernote in the first place. And a sheet fed scanner.

Because of stckciv, I found this most excellent write up: http://www.chowhound.com/post/info-immersion-blenders-810839 It does seem like Dynamic International is worth looking into!

After not too long, the top part separated from the body part of my immersion blender. It's a KitchenAid Model KHB1231CU0. From their website, this model looks like a 2 speed blender. KitchenAid says there's no warranty. Prior to the "accident" I thought the top part of the blender was a tad loose. But what "did it" for this blender was mashing a mixture of potato and sweet potato. Lots of suction power, I didn't a ton of water. I'm looking for an immersion blender which will hold together. Recommendations? TIA.

I have a 7 quart slow cooker to which is plugged into a PID Temperature Controller from Auber Instruments. I have been using this setup for more than three years. Per Douglas Baldwin's instructions, I gave the fish a salt bath in the fridge before putting in the cooker. Maybe next time I should start with the water at a higher temp (140?) before adding the fish. We'll see about the side effects. I'll let you know.