FeChef

I cook mine @ 132F for 24-26 hours. It comes out tender with the texture of a good prime rib. I use choice grade chuck roast. That is the sweet spot for my SV setup. I found anything over 26 hours and it starts to go from tender to mushy. I would imagine 48 hours in my setup would turn to mush.

This holds true, especially in a sandwich with multiple flavors. Layering meats in specific order can change taste just by what flavor hits your tastebuds first. But i guess thats just my mind tricking me aswell.

There is too many variables in that article. Im using a more tender, but less beefy flavored cut of meat. Im also using a thicker cut of 2" and cooking for a longer duration. Im also not using any herbs or spices, just natural flavorings from the charred fat and the natural juices. A blind person with no taste buds could tell the difference.

The starches inside the potatoes dont help crisp. They convert to sugar and promote browning. If you leave the starch in them, they will turn very dark brown before they crisp up. To get them crispy you have to leach out as much starch as you can, and double fry them. You wont find a crispier homemade all natural fry any other way. You could try par boiling them and then dredging in corn starch but i find that to be an off flavor and not natural.

I mainly pre sear steaks. I find that little bit of charred fat adds a bold flavor to the meat while cooking. It also gives the steak a nice color straight out of the bag, and sometimes i find no need to post sear. To each their own, but i swear by pre searing. I use a blow torch to do my searing. Pre searing takes 30 seconds per side and has no effect on outer ring color. Steaks come out med rare all the way through with no grey ring at all. Check out this post on Serious Eats. As far as I have seen when people run experiments with blind tasting there is no difference between pre-searing + post-searing and post-searing alone. I read that article over a year ago, and do not agree. I can definitely taste the difference between a 2 inch thick filet mignon that has been pre charred and cooked for 4 hours vs one that has not been pre charred. Anybody that know how to cook will tell you the best part of a sauce or gravy is the brown bits that get deglazed in the pan, when you char a steak and vacuum seal it, your basicly letting the steaks natural juices mix with those charred bits and marinate the steak as it cooks.

I mainly pre sear steaks. I find that little bit of charred fat adds a bold flavor to the meat while cooking. It also gives the steak a nice color straight out of the bag, and sometimes i find no need to post sear. To each their own, but i swear by pre searing. I use a blow torch to do my searing. Pre searing takes 30 seconds per side and has no effect on outer ring color. Steaks come out med rare all the way through with no grey ring at all.

If you want a crispy crust, soak fresh cut fries in ice water for 15-30 minutes. Pat dry with paper towels. Deep fry for 5 minutes. Let them rest in basket for 5-10 minutes. Deep fry again for 4-6 minutes until golden brown. You will get a really nice color and very crispy crust.

I do alot of pre and post searing of meats when i SV. I find myself waisting alot of vacuum bags when i have to thaw them and cut them open to pre sear then re bag to cook. Im debating if it would be a good idea to pre sear, then quickly chill and freeze. This way i could just thaw and cook, or maybe even just go straight from fozen to cook and add an additional hour or two? Just looking for some thoughts on this if its safe. I see alot of food come frozen that are partially cooked, or flash fried but still raw inside.

Your supposed to remove as much starch as possible to prevent over browning. The starch turns to sugar, which in turn causes fries to turn dark brown instead of that golden light brown color fries should be.

(1) most of the vacuum packed meats have a solution of natural juices and preservatives in them, extending the shelf life. Once you let oxygen into them you reduce that shelf life date.

I dont have pictures yet, but my 2013 breakfast of champions is eggs benedict with a twist, Instead of ham, I use butterfly pan seared smoked sausage ontop a english muffin, layed on a bed of sauteed potatoes and fried onions topped with a dippy egg and hollandaise sauce served with buttered white/wheat/rye toast of your choice.

I use dry bags from drybagsteak and they work great. I was just going to mention it until i saw Jbailey and syzygies post. I wonder would it would produce if you were to use a dry bag with your meat of choice and fill it in with curing salt? Heres a beef tenderloin i did a few months ago, it aged for 3 weeks in my fridge.

Thanks. I aged it myself. Believe it or not it was Choice grade and onsale for 10.99/lb

Dry aged filet mignon with dollop of toasted boursin cheese ontop with a merlot wine reduction sauce and pan seared scallops w/tomatoes and pesto sauce.

I just dont trust that low of a temp for this application because once you cut the meat up and reform it its no longer one solid sterile chunk of muscle.

I picked 150F because @ 155F for 30 hours, the pork butts i do just fall apart Here is a video i took shredding one of the pork butts. http://youtu.be/YysV1l4X83s I find 150F for 12-16 hours works great for slicing very thin and still being juicy and tender, and not working about getting anyone sick with lower temperatures. Im not sure i would trust eating pork below 135F.The slicer I use i got from cabellas in their bargain cave for $50.It normally cost $130 Heres a link. http://www.cabelas.com/slicers-cabelas-heavy-duty-slicer.shtml?WT.tsrc=CSE&WT.mc_id=shopping&WT.z_mc_id1=746810&rid=40&mr:referralID=830122a5-55ec-11e2-97b3-001b2166becc

Yes I built the controller and the air circulator is just copper tubing bent into the shape of the tank and i used a drill press to drill very tiny pin holes down the entire copper tubing, and then plugged the end.

Thanks i appreciate your kind words. The cubes are just a really heavy pork stock with fresh herbs and italian seasonings. You SV the bags to re-therm the meat and the stock cubes melt and hydrate the meat while re-therming. Then you build your sandwich and pour the juices ontop.

I think it would hold up just fine. After it sets, it bonds the meat is if it was one big solid piece of meat. But i would probably SV the meat to atleast 135F for 12 hours before finishing off in the smoker.

Here you go.

Sorry, the blocks you see are the pork stock frozen into ice cubes. The seasonings settle to the bottom of the cubes.

Thanks, and your welcome. I got the Moo Gloo off amazon, i believe it was from modern pantry i think the company was called. It cost $14 shipped for a 25g package. My heat source is a heating element from a masterbuilt butterball turkey fryer. Its i believe 1650w. I use the turkey fryer as my everyday SV but drop the element into my 35 gal Igloo cooler for larger meats. Ive done four 8lb pork butts in it once for a family picnic this past summer. The pump is submersible. I believe it was a 200gph i bought from harbor frieght for $9.99. Ive used it a few times for 30+ hours straight @ 155F and it hasnt failed yet. I use a air circulator i built for temps above 155F like 185F for vegetables but that i built into the turkey fryer tank. Im not sure what you mean by little blocks. The meat was cut into strips and chunks then formed into a log. so your seeing the chunks of meat glued together. Unless your talking about a few spots there was a few tiny air pockets.

These bags can be reused if light duty like 132F steaks for a few hours. I dont know if they would hold up for 2+ day baths though.

Its was very moist, tender, and flavorful. I have a million more pics of the stock, cheese, greens...ect but i'll keep it simple and get to the end product.

A few months ago i bought this stuff called "Moo Gloo"(aka Transglutaminase). Its basicly a synthetic enzyme that bonds proteins together. It is used in just about every deli lunch meat you buy at your local super market. Since im obsessed with Italian roast pork sandwiches I thought i would give this stuff a try by taking a boston butt pork shoulder, removing the bone, connective tissue, and cutting it into chunks. Then rubbing Italian dressing season mix, ground black pepper, and celery seed. I let that sit in the fridge for 1 hour. Then mixed in 0.75% of total weight of Moo Gloo which equaled roughly 15g for 4/lb pork. I then formed a tight round log by using lots of plastic wrap. After wraping I let it rest in the fridge overnight to let the Moo Gloo set. Next morning i sealed the log in a ziplock bag and gave it a 16 hour water bath @ 150F. During this time, amazingly it barely leaked any juices. After the water bath it went into the fridge overnight to slice the following day.