FeChef

Cabella's brand vacuum seal rolls and pouches seal really well. I havent had a leak yet. Im using a foodsaver vacuum sealer with them. Ironicly Ive had the foodsaver brand pouches leak on me many times. You can get a good deal if you buy the 6 roll box from cabella's. You get an extra 2 ft per roll then foodsaver brand. Cabella's rolls say right on them "Boil, Freeze, Store"

If you pre sear with a blow torch, you will get a nice crust and will firm the ouside so it doesnt deform when you vacuum seal it. That is generally the idea begind dipping it in haot water, but i would advice against that esepcially diffing the cling wrap log as it will fill with water.

I will agree on the awesome platters, but feeding an Army? Maybe an Army of rabbits, those platters would definitely leave me hungry.

+1: I definitely remember they did a blog where they concluded that the best result was had from pre- plus post-searing. +2 I remember reading that aswell. I always pre sear and sometimes i dont even bother to post sear depending on if i using a wine reduction and topping with delicate toppings like boursin cheese and crab meat. You want that color and bold flavor but not the hard crust you get from post searing.

I had to respond to this. I live in the east coast and we also eat pork on new years day for moving forward. It is also bad luck to eat chicken on new years day because chickens scratch backwards..lol. Here in dutch country we eat our pork with sauerkraut and apples and a touch of brown sugar along side mashed potatoes with pork gravy.

You can get choice grade at any supermarket. It will always say "choice" on the package. I get mine at wegmans since its always 3.69/lb there and they come vacuum packed. There boneless chicken breast are always 1.99/lb and come 12 portions individualy vacuum packed. There pork butts are always 1.29/lb....love that place. Now there more popular beef cuts are kinda pricey.

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.