FeChef

If you do decide to try the sous vide method, you might want to try 145F instead of 140F if you dont want any pink. I might even go 147F just to be safe. This may or may not affect shrinkage though.

You should consider drybagsteak bags. I was skeptic when i first read about the bags but they really do work. If you keep your fridge below 37F your in business. Ive even turned cheap "select" grade NY strip, ribeye, and filet mignon into so really good tender, beefy steaks. Seriously try it.

I read your blog and while i understand $7-$10/lb is cheaper then $25-$70 for better cuts of the same grade. I can not see how a $7-$10 chuck is going to turn out better then a $7-$10 choice grade ribeye cooked the same way. Most likely needing less cooking time aswell.

How are you cooking these? I shape the patties and freeze them. Once frozen i sous vide them at 140F for 2 hours. There is barely any shrinkage and the patties are firm and can be quickly charred on the grill. By far the best method for perfect burgers.

What did they smell like? I get not wanting to waist food but i had instance where the meat for some reason came out smelling like baby poo. I had came to the conclusion it may have been mishandled during packaging at the grocery store. I wasnt eating something that smelled like poo so in the trash they went.

Dry? Not at all.

This is interesting. I have been buying "beef back ribs" for $2.58/lb and smoking them till they reach 155F and then going into the sous vide for 24 hours @ 155F. They have been turning out amazing. I even thought to myself i could cut the meat off the bones and skip the smoking part and it would make for amazing steak. Its just that only about 4 bones in the whole rack have a decent amount of meat on them to justify removing the bones.

I have never considered this. The reason i went with boneless was because all the bone in i could find had less then an inch of meat on them. The boneless were almost 2 inch by 2 inch by 4 inch. Is there any tell tale signs that your buying faux short ribs?

I have never seen cheek anywhere. Even local family owned farms/butchers dont sell cheeks. If they do it sell quick. Its hard to even get tounge. Its sad that i have to go to walmart to buy beef tounge. They sell some vac packed rumba brand. Its actually really good, but its walmart...lol.

I never salt or use any sort of marinade pre sous vide. All seasoning is dont post. With the exception of searing. I pre sear while frozen. This gives me a nice crust with literally no grey, period...period. Ive tested this method on all types of cuts from ribeye to ny strip and filet. The only cut i truely have trouble with is short rib. 4 out of 6 times it was dry and still medium rare. Chaulky texture in my mouth. It seems all the blood had expelled out of the meat and into the bag it was cooked in. This was 48 hours at 136.5F. I had tried 133F for 24 hours and that time it was juicy but still tough to chew. Im in the same boat as the OP. Short rib is so expensive its not worth testing anymore. I would love to experience this short rib bliss everyone speaks of but its just not worth the cost.

Ive only had bad results with boneless short ribs. 48 hours @ 136.5F the short rib was pink but dry. I practically choked trying to swallow a bite. It was chaulky mouth feel. Its hard to describe. Ive never experienced such a thing before. I have made lots of cuts of beef before this and never had a problem. I suppose my source/s for short ribs may be alot different from you and others that seem to have success with long low temp cook times but i have not. To this day i have still not been pleased with short ribs at various times/temps. I am using wet aged vac packed choice boneless short ribs $9.95/lb. If you are using "prime grade" then it would not be worth it to me when i can buy alot cheaper cuts with better results. Oxtail, beef shank, and beef tounge turn out way better at 1/2 the cost of short ribs. I do not understand the hype to be honest. /rant

I suppose we have a different opinion of what "delicious" taste like. Pork butts at 145F for 24-30 hours is the most juicy, tender "sliceable" pork roast. Pork butts at 155F for 33 hours is the most juicy tender "pulled" pork ive ever had. Shreds easy and does not have a mushy texture. I can not imagine how mushy 56 hours would do to a pork butt.

I have to disagree with you on the "steak like texture" 72-100 hours your eating pink/redish saw dust mush. I wont ever go more then 36 hours even on the toughest of cuts for this exact reason.

When i have dried bay leaves in the pantry i use it in chili, soups, and stocks. I dont think i ever notice with or without. To tell you the truth, I could not even tell you what bay leaf taste like. Obviously it taste like bay leaf, but i dont know what that is..lol. I picked up a bottle of this dried turkish bay leaf a few months ago at bargain store for $1usd. I priced this same bottle at a grocery store and it was $6.97usd. Thats crazy, especially when i dont even notice a difference.

stewed tomatoes?

Oh and i prefer me so easy.....i mean miso & easy. It really easy.

That brand is way too strong. Almost burnt smelling. I prefer a brand called international collection. The smell is very mild.

My best results were 160F for 24-30 hours. Made a killer open faced pot roast with it. Also, over top extra wide egg noodles for a really good stroganoff.

I took a meat cleaver and a hammer and chopped it into 4 ounce portions. It was still frozen solid. I Vacuum packed them immediately and put them back in the deep freezer. All is good. But, now i have 500g of green flying fish roe frozen that need to figure out how to portion out while frozen... Im thinking it would be nice if i could thaw it out and spread it really thin between plastic wrap and refreeze and cut into strips the length of a sushi roll. But not sure how well that would work out? Any opinions/suggestions?

What would be the best approach to portion out a large chunk of frozen sushi grade tuna. It was very expensive and i only want to use small amounts for sushi rolls. I really dont know why i bought this. I could probably go out to a sushi bar/buffet 4x for what i payed. Damn impulse buy i guess. I suppose the fact that i live 40+ miles away from the nearest market that sells "sushi grade" had alot to do with it. Anyway, I was thinking i could closely watch it partially thaw in the fridge just till its soft enough to chop it into small portions. I am sure as long as the fridge temp is below 40F and i dont let it get to thawed it will be safe to eat raw. But what about the texture going from frozen, to partially frozen, and back to frozen? Will the texture change alot if its was still kept in a semi frozen state? Also, we dont prepare it in thick strips in the rolls. We slice it very thin (shaved) and it gets wrapped over top the rolls. So i wonder how noticeable texture change would be. Has anyone tried this? If so, what are your thoughts?

If its a prime loin roast then 3-4 days will turn out like mushy saw dust. Even pork butt/shoulder roast i never cook for more then 30 hours @ 145F for tender slicing and 33 hours @ 155F for the most tender/juicy pulled pork. I would do a loin no more then 12 hours @ 135-140F.

Most of MC stuff is for "hipsters" but the reason for using sodium citrate is so the cheese doesnt turn back into a hard solid cheese, or seperate when you add milk or cream..ect..ect. Basicly its like using a cheese sauce you buy in the jar, without all the processed crap tht comes in them.

Some types of cheese will give you that sour/bitter taste aswell. A good way to determine is to use a mild cheese like mozzarella. I have made mozzerella cheese sauce using the amounts i mentioned and not notice any sour taste. Another thing to consider is if you have the temp too high and burn the milk or cheese, you will get a sour taste.

I never buy tomato sauce. Its way too acidic. If im not using fresh, i will use tomato paste and add water till i reach desired consistency. Sometimes i will skip water completely and use cream and vodka, for a vodka cream sauce.

Im throwing a monkey wrench into this subject by mentioning on the label of just about every US tomato sauce can it will say ingredients are tomato paste, water and some preservative.