lordratner

I only freeze food I need to store long term. If you are planning to freeze everything you sous vide as a matter of procedure, I'd say you may be over complicating the method. Pre-searing: I agree with the video that under those circumstances, pre searing will help minimize over cooking, but that's one reason I don't like that method of finishing. I find the pan (even a thick skillet, which didn't look as hot in the video as it should have been) doesn't store enough heat to sear fast enough. It's why I either use a torch or deep fry to sear. The torch has plenty of heat to sear fast, and the large quantity of oil in the deep fryer can maintain temp much better than a thin layer of oil in a skillet. BUT, if you find that pre searing produces a product you like better, do it's that's really the whole point, after all. I just don't find the benefits worth the extra work. Let us know what you think after trying it. Cheers

Ditto on searing at the end, always. For exceptionally long times, such as three day short ribs, pre searing can impart odd flavors, or so says MCaH. I've never seen a benefit, so I never pre sear. As far as cooking from frozen, I do it all the time. It's one of the best things about sous vide as far as I'm concerned... No thawing. I noticed you plan to reheat 1 degree lower. I personally drop the temp more. I've noticed texture changes that result from longer cooking time, and with meats you get more moisture loss with higher temps. Think of it this way. If I cook a roast sous vide and it takes two hours to reach temp, leaving it in for another hour will not overcook it, but it will result in more melting of connective tissue (good or bad depending on the application) and more moisture loss (rarely good). The higher the temp, the more pronounced. So if I have something cooked to where I want it and have to reheat it later, I only heat it to the temp I have to for serving. This can end up being one degree, or 10 degrees lower, depending on the food (or 20, or 15, you get the point). I want to see almost zero moisture loss from the reheating. As a bonus, the lower temp means my searing (especially when using the deep fry method) will have less of an effect on the interior.

I did the risotto (broccoli and gruyere variation) yesterday. It was delicious, and super easy, with, one exception. After cooking the rice it calls for 70g of EVOO to be mixed in with the broccoli purée, but I found that with all the oil that came out of the chorizo, there was no way to incorporate that much additional oil. I poured it in anyways, mixed it up as best I could, and then drained off the excess oil, which amounted to around 100g or so. The risotto was super rich and creamy, I certainly didn't miss the extra oil. Next time I am going to half the amount of chorizo. It adds great flavor, but there was so much it overpowered the rice in both taste and texture. The bites without any chorizo were much more "risotto-y" for lack of a better term. Going to try the butternut squash variation next. Still an overall thumbs up on the broccoli variation, and using a pressure cooker for risotto is great.

Do you have hard water? When I moved to the UK and got the hard water that comes with living in the country, I noticed the same white flakes you speak of. They are most likely flakes coming off the heating element from the hard water. Lime scale. Expose the flakes to vinegar and see if they dissolve. I dump a bunch of vinegar in my bath every month or so to clear it out (my sous vide bath is integrated with the heater). The smells, as others have noted, sometimes seep through the bags. Other times you really do have a leak.

I tried making Creme Brulee the Baldwin way forever, and it never came out right, always just a bit grainy, not that amazing creaminess that makes it such a great dessert. But MCAH calls for using the sous vide bath as a bain marie, and it works amazing. The custard isn't churned from being in a bag, but by setting the water to 82 or 83 celsius, it still cant overcook and curdle. Its an interesing hybrid between the "old" way and sous vide, but it's really just taking the entire concept behind a bain marie and going to the logical extreme.

FYI, I fill up my tank (I built my sous vide with an inegrated bath) with 10 - 25% vinegar and all that lime goes away. I'm also using a heating element from a household appliance (RV hot water tank), and the lime buildup can get out of control.

Have you tried it without all the extra steps? I cook the steaks sous vide (to whatever temp is appropriate for the cut), pat dry, then drop in the deep fryer for 30-45 seconds. Salt right after sticks to the residual oil. The steak cooks from the oil to a depth of 1/8 - 1/4 inch. Since I generally try to keep my steaks at 1 1/2 inches or greater (then cut them in half for more realistic servings), thats not too deep to affect the overall quality of the sous vide steak. I'd be interested to see how much of a difference there is. I usually torch my steaks, but when I'm cooking to impress or for a special occasion, nothing makes a better maillard crust than the deep fry.

It's not worth it for a single steak IMO, but if you ever decide to try frying, jump right ahead to deep frying. 425F for 30 seconds. Never in my life have I seen a more beautiful piece of meat. Credit goes to MCAH.

As others here have stated, 76C is high. Like, way, way, way high. I'll go that high if I want to cook chicken thighs in a shorter amount of time, but for beef I think it's up there. I think the inconsistency you're experiencing is due to how much moisture beef loses at those temps, especially over 2 days. I read somewhere years back that connective tissue starts to break down around 55C. In my experience that is true, though its mild, and only the softest tissues will melt, even over a couple days. 60C is a whole different story, and most tough cuts of beef I've cooked get very tender after 1-2 days at this temp. I use between 60-65C for ribs, both beef and pork, and the balance between moisture and tenderness can be varied quite a bit using those temps and variable timing. For example, 62C for 18 hours produces ribs that are juicy and tender, but closer to what a skilled BBQist could produce with a slow braise (still better and juicier IMO, but the texture is closer to conventional methods). Increase the time to 3 days and the rib bones can be slid out of the meat, which will be fork tender. For brisket, I'd start at 65C, since you're already somewhat happy with 76C. Give it a shot, and then go lower. Then lower. Lower again until you find the lowest temp that gives you the texture you want. Many here have said 60ish, which I like, but some people like a drier brisket, so the extra 5 degrees should squeeze out a good bit of juice over 2 days. Also, your "finishing" plans will change the temps. On big flat cuts like brisket, I'll lay it on a baking sheet (after seasoning) and slide it under the broiler (top rack, only as low as needed to ensure even heat) for a couple minutes on each side to get a nice reddish brown outside (maillard). But because this cooks it a bit more, I'll use a degree or two lower temp in the bath. If I'm planning to just shred it up and don't need a nice crust on it, I'll use a slightly higher temp. I got into sous vide because it was a more scientific, precise way of cooking, but after 4 or so years, I've found there's no escaping art in cooking, even if the canvas looks a lot different. Good luck!

Thanks for the info. I'll have to try finding other types of potatoes. For a country that has french fries on nearly every dish you can order, there aren't many types to choose from, at least in the region I live in.

I moved to england, where there are no readily available Yukon Golds, so I've tried "new" and "baking" potatoes. Ive been cutting them into one inch blocks, which if I recall is what the recipe says to do (I dont have the book with me right now).

Amazing, I may have been one of the first people to receive the book, and I never knew this site was here. First post, so please be gentle. I'm having an issue with the potato puree that is probably more of a general cooking question than Modernist Cuisine, but here it goes: I cant seem to get the potatoes tender enough to pass through a ricer. I tried bringing to a boil and simmering for the allotted time, and I actually destroyed a ricer squeezing too hard. Ok, obviously not enough time, so then I tried increasing the time to the point I could easily pass a skewer through the potato. Instead of 25 mins, it was about 45 mins. A bit better with the ricer, but still bending the handle (had to buy a new one). Next attempt, full boil for 45 mins. Still a hard time with the ricer, and the result was not smooth at all. delicious, but not smooth. On the last attempt I even tried cutting all the potatoes to exactly 1 inch cubes to get the most even cooking. I know crummy stoves (and mine is definitely not one to brag about) can affect cooking times, but boiling water is, for the most part, boiling water, and I'm at sea level. What am I missing here? I also tried the recipe with sweet potatoes, but in the amount of time I had too cook them to pass through a ricer, they had absorbed so much water it was more of a soup. Help! Seth