FeChef

Good to know that 1 minute is a safe temp for very thin chicken. I think a torch would either burn or over cook the chicken. I think flash freezing and frying for another minute will solve the browning issue without over cooking the chicken. Thanks for sharing your personal experience with cooking thin chicken.

Ok, but the dish calls for crispy thin chicken with a lightly breaded crust with breading bits. Not going to get those results in a pan. Maybe a super hot wok with oil, but thats pretty much the same thing as deep frying.

So let me get this straight...Your going camping and you want to sous vide some steaks instead of throwing them puppies on an open flame camp fire?

Im not using breadcrumbs. Im using flour breading bits. But I was thinking maybe deep fry for 1 minute, then freeze and fry again for another minute? Thoughts? Do you think its safe?

I am shocked i could not find any info online on how long to deep fry very thin chicken breast strips/pieces. We are talking 1/8 inch, breaded and deep fried in 350F oil. I have digital thermometers but its hard to get a temp on a piece of meat so thin and breaded. In my own experience 4 minutes results in rubber chicken, One minute produces very tender, juicy chicken but the breading is still white and im not sure if the chicken is cooked to a safe temp in that amount of time. Thoughts? Would like to mention that the chicken is sliced partially frozen to 1/8 inch. During the cooking process the chicken plumps up to 1/4 inch.

I need some advice for a lump crab meat terrine. I make a dish where i pile lump crab meat ontop a beef filet. The problem is the crab meat usually just falls off when cutting into the filet. I thought of making a terrine to add some structure, but i dont know what would be the best approach. I dont want to stray away from the main ingredient being crab, and i dont want this to be served cold either. I though of just folding egg whites into the lump crab pressing it into a mold and sous vide, but not sure the best approach and time/temp to use? I dont want it rubbery or too stiff.

I also find that leaner cuts have a "meatier" texture/taste. Sometimes I crave a lean medium done steak with A-1 but, I do however, mostly prefer a well marbled cut done medium rare with some nice Char on the grill.

I would be more concerned about the effect on your hands/wrist , then a steel blade..lol

Your better off using vegetable oil to float on the surface to prevent evaporation. Those ping pong balls are just pointless. There is spaces inbetween every ball that let all the water evaporate. What a gimmick.

I must have missed something. Why, and who uses ping pong balls as a cover? Does this have something to do with looking cool, and all gastronomical? There is absolutely no way this is going to prevent evaporation.

Thats a really nice char you have on that skirt. Do you have a internal picture of the doneness? I find anything over med rare is useless for this cut. If its on the med done side, you may aswell eat bottom round london broil. In my area cuts like skirt, and flat iron are expensive compared to NY strip, Tbone, Porter, and Ribeye. All can be had for under $6/lb, where skirt. flank, and flat iron cost $8-$10/lb. They almost never go on sale.

LoL no the burner isnt on.Must be some weird glare from the camera flash. The perforated SS pan is to protect any bagged food items from touching the heating element underneath it. The heating element rest about 1 inch above the bottom of the plastic container. Its a rather big setup, which is why it goes across the entire cooktop. I can SV full racks and about 4 8lb pork butts at a time. Thats a 8lb pork butt you see in the picture. The first bag was a gallon size (butt barely fit) the second bag filled with water is a two gallon. (ziplock brand is crap)

Weirdest thing happen after overnight after being in the SV all day. I woke up to find one of the bags filled with water. At first i thought it was air, and got imediately thought of bacteria gasses..lol Its weird because I really dont understand how it filled up like a ballon as if it was pumped in there. The ziplock seems to be still sealed aswell. Lucky I double bagged it. Stangely the water inside is still crystal clear so the second bag must be sealed good.

So I finally got some of the chicken without sauce. I also found an interesting method for adding crunchy "bits" to breading. Basicly you mix some of your breading flour with water to make a batter. You add that batter to a squeeze bottle and squirt it into your breaading while wisking it to make little bits. Then dredge your chicken in one single coat to get that texture. Anyway heres a pic of the chicken without sauce. Later i will have some results of my own aswell.

You are welcome furzzy. I hope you let me and others know of your opinion on proper double searing. If done correctly, the flavors are very deep/robust. And safer for long cooks aswell.Help me out with "proper double searing" to give me a head start. How much on the first sear? I'll probably not SV, so how much if any) of the actual cooking goes with the first sear? Then is the second sear mainly for adding the depth & warming it up? I'd like to start this with the knowledge you've already accumulated, rather than re-inventing the wheel. The more I think about it, the more I'm getting into this idea. In my experiences, if using a blow torch, you can get some nice browning on a steak in 30 seconds per side. With a chuck roast or larger roast your looking at around a minute per side, but you kind of have to go by eye. I always go straight from sear to ziplock bag, then right into some ice water to stop carry over, then into the SV for whatever time/temp. After SV I either chill/freeze, or throw on the Infrared grill searing burner for a minute per side and serve immediately.

You are welcome furzzy. I hope you let me and others know of your opinion on proper double searing. If done correctly, the flavors are very deep/robust. And safer for long cooks aswell.

After looking at the pictures posted, I have to ask.....Would you like a little bit of beef with your fat?

You caught right, I did not mention in my original post about double searing, mainly because I am/was freezing after pasteurization. The second sear would come after "rethermalization" before serving.

I prefer to sear first, then SV, then sear again after because it develops a better crust and more robust flavors. Its my opinion and nobody will ever change that. That said, sometimes i want to vacuum pack and freeze so its more convienent to sear first, SV, then chill/vac/freeze. Thanks for the opinions on food safety. Im more inclined to side with furzzy on this mainly because ive been doing it for so long with no ill results. Actually I had one bad incident with SV raw frozen short ribs for 48 hours at 132F. There must have been some bacteria on the short ribs before they were frozen and it grew during that 48 hour bath. If i would have thawed, and seared them first, I probably would have killed that bacteria and it never would have been spoiled after those 48 hours. Another reason i sear first.

Thats funny, Im not a fan of raisins in food, but my favorite cereal is Kellog's 2 scoops raisin bran. Its in fact the only raisin and bran flake cereal brand i like. Also, the raisins in Kellog's are always soft and chewy. Maybe the raisins you had were out of date.

I agree that thai beef salad does look good. Reminds me of those teriyaki beef sticks you get at chinese restaurants, ive eaten leftovers cold and they were still good. To be honest I wouldnt even consider a salad a "salad" without lettuce, so yeah, if its a salad without lettuce, I probably would enjoy it.

I guess im in the minority here, but im not a huge salad fan. Chicken cesar salad and ham in a chef's salad is about as far as i go with meat in a salad. One problem i have with using a good cut like ribeye is, cold steak isnt something i enjoy eating, Secondly, warm foods will make the lettuce wilt, which totally ruins a salad for me. Anywhay to each his/her own, sorry to stir the pot.

I agree with the fajita's, but please dont waist such a good cut of meat on a salad. Salad should be reserved for cheap $1.99/lb chicken breast (healthy) for chicken ceasar salads. You could also let them ribeye strips cool and slice very thin for steak/cheese steak sandwiches, hell if you made fajita's and have leftover green peppers and onions, you could take some provolone cheese and make philly cheese steaks.

rotuts, with pork and chicken, a few hours in a 4% salt water brine does wonders with the sous vide method. Generally people say not to salt meats like beef since the salt draws juices out of it. But people dont normally brine beef, and when you brine pork or chicken its does the opposite and retains the juices. If you worried about being salty, 4% is on the lower side of most brines, but if your concerned, just rinse the ribs off good after you remove them from the brine.

I would like to know how long activa RM last if immediately opened and vacuum packed and deep frozen. I still have like 50g of it in my freezer from like 3-4 months ago. I hate to waste it, yet i would hate to ruin a bunch of meat if the meat glue doesnt set.