Hello,
I have been studying the first book in depth over the last few months and I have a few questions regarding the safety of cooking sous vide (as well as a few other issues).
Firstly I wanted to ask a couple of questions on the table on page 193-1 "Extended & Simplified 6.5D Salmonella Reduction Table";
This table is referring to the killing of salmonella in different meats. I wanted to know if using these time and temperatures for all farmed meats would successfully eliminate ALL pathogens that we need to be concerned with, thus rendering it "safe" to serve to a customer? You have also stated that the interior of meat, so long as it's not punctured, should be sterile. I got the impression that this is not the case for chicken, and that chicken needs to be cooked to the times listed in the table. So why would the interior of chicken be inherently different to other animals? Not that I would want to serve chicken raw, I am just curious as to why this would be different to searing the outside, and eating a raw interior, as you can with beef etc?
I understand that wild game is a little different, as you are more concerned with parasites and the like, which shall bring me on to my next question;
I have seen restaurants serving Venison carpaccio, and I would love to make a venison tartare, but would that be foolish considering this animal is classed as "Wild Game"? It is served raw all over the country, so I am interested to learn how this differs to farmed beef for e.g.?
Next, I would like to learn a little about the reheating or "regenerating" of meat. If, for e.g., I was cooking chicken sous vide, and I cooked it at 54ºC for 2h17m to achieve a 6.5D reduction, could I then chill in an ice bath and reheat it to order? In the UK, legislation states that cooked meats need to be reheated to 86ºC to be safe. Now obviously this would ruin a chicken. A restaurant that I know cooks Venison at 55ºC, chills it and then "regenerates" it at 50ºC to order. Is that safe? I am interested in cooking/reheating options.
And finally, the last question I have is regarding fish. Now I understand that if I cook fish to the time/temp listed in the chart on 193-1, I will likely result in fish that is overcooked to most peoples liking. However if I freeze it to the suitable time/temp, that renders it safe to serve raw, correct? Now using the current freezer I have, which sits at about -20ºC, I think that freezing in this way will be of detriment to the quality and texture of the flesh. Is that a fair comment? And how could I bypass this stage? Is that just a risk that restaurants take and, much like serving raw salad, occasionally someone might get sick from it?
Apologies for the length of this text, and I hope the questions I ask are interesting for you to answer.
I look forward to hearing back from you.
Thanks very much advance.
Iain
