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Hey guys. I have been looking at some of the modern gelling agents to see if anything would give me anything in terms of thickening sauces and condiments. I tried xanthan and Guar gum and found that they were quite sticky in mouthfeel. What would be a good next try if I am going for a creamy and not so slimy sticky kind of thickener?

I have given up on sous vide dash becoming available on Anroid any time soon. Can anyone recommend a good Android alternative?

So I looking now, at the vacmaster.vp112,and anova pro,would love to get them both but I'm not able,so the question is,get the vp112 sealer and cheapo immersion circulator,or get whatever sealer sins you can even cook food sous vide in Ziploc bags,and get the Anova Pro circulator? What makes more sens in your opinion guys?

Can frozen raw meat be defrosted more quickly in a water bath? Is it safe to do that? What time and temperature are recommended? Thanks! (I did a search and couldn't quickly find anything on this subject, but if there is, feel free to point me towards it)

I purchased transglutaminase - Moo Gloo TI from modernistpantry.com - twice, and I have failed to get any adhesion at all from it. They have been extremely understanding both times and refunded my money, but I really just want to get it to work. I am using TI because I keep strictly kosher - I understand that it doesn't bond as wide a range as RM. I have tested the TG multiple times by taking fresh chicken cutlets and attempting to bind them with varying amounts of powder, and even with a slurry. I have either wrapped them tightly in plastic wrap (torchon) or vacuum sealed them with a chamber sealer. I left the tests to bond for 24 hours in the refrigerator. It appears that the only result is drawing water out of the meat, but that might be the vacuum. The pieces do not bond at all. Is there something I am missing here? I know someone who is having success with Moo Gloo TI & kosher meat, so I don't think that is the problem. FWIW, I don't detect any "wet dog" odor when I rub the TG into a piece of chicken, but the people at modernistpantry.com say that they have found that to be an unreliable test, with many people not being able to smell anything. Thanks, SJW

I am hoping to get started with sous vide this weekend, and have a general question about preparing and sealing meals in advance. Is it OK to go ahead and put the meat and seasoning in a bag, vacuum seal it, and store in in the fridge for ~24 hours before actually cooking it sous vide? For instance, Sunday evening I buy some salmon filets, put them in bag with salt, pepper, and a slice of lemon. Seal bag. Then cook it Monday evening. Would that work, or does storing the meat for ~24 hours sealed with salt + pepper + lemon harm the meat? Any advice appreciated.

I have this sauce, or more like a stock. It is not a demiglace, it is just made on bones, meat and vegetables that have been browned. Varmed, it is the nicest rich sauce. Cold, it stands very stiff and hard. I would like to serve it in the jelly-like state, in cubes, but I would like it to be 50-60C when served, at which point it would melt again. I have been playing with, and reading about gels alot here lately and came to think.. Maybe I can create a synergy between gelatin and another gelling agent that would make it heat-stable up to this temperature. Google-searches gave nothing yet, so did anyone try something like this?

Hello, I'd like to get some steaks done SV and am trying to work out the timing in my head. I'd like to get food on the table within half an hour of getting home from work, which leaves me with a couple of options 1) use a cut of meat (blade steak, round steak, etc) that requires 10ish hours, and start it before I leave in the morning 2) use a tender cut (ribeye, t-bone, etc) and start it in the morning 3) use a tender cut and cook it for the prescribed minimum time the night before, then reheat when I get home 1 is certainly viable but I'm not familiar enough with these types of steaks to do this with utmost confidence 2 (according to internet lore) will result in mushy steak 3 I guess I would cook the steak ahead of time, leave it in the bag, then put it back in the water as soon as I get home to bring back up to temperature. How are the results with this type of thing? When I think "reheat" my brain goes to microwaved steak. All would be seared before consumption of course. Any suggestions?

Anyone have a good time and temp for sous vide chicken thighs? I'm looking for really tender meat, but still juicy and not mealy. I have tried 156f for 3 hours and 6 hours which is pretty good, but looking for more opinions. How about Sous vide duck legs time and temps? Thanks!

Simmer at moderate heat? Cook at a low simmer for 20 minutes? What does this mean? Ever dreamt of a way of controlling your hot plate to perfect temperature? Look no further. Simply put the temperature probe into your pot and let the controller do the rest with your existing kitchen range. Think sous vide without buying the expensive circulator. Perfect poached eggs. Slow cooking without the fuss. Use chef-created recipes to control your own range with precision. Thanks to eGullet member Vengroff and his team for this new innovation. You may know him from Sous Vide Dash. I have no proprietal interest in the technology but am one of the first backers. Check out the new kickstarter for Meld. The first 250 backers get the $149 product for $99. Other backers get it for $129.

I have a glut of round roasts in my freezer so I've cut one of them up into steaks to see if I can make edible. I did one today, it was 21 hours at 137.5f, nothing in the bag but steak and a dash of black pepper. It was tender, it was the right doneness, it had good flavor, but it was dry. There had been a bit of fat along the edge, and that part was nice. The rest was almost flakey. So here's what I think... 1) cooked too long, try it for 10-15 hours next time 2) should've added some fat to the bag, some oil or a strip of bacon maybe? 3) that's just as good as round roast gets. Any recommendations for my next attempt?

I've done a lot of online research but can't find any recipe that uses both smoking and sous vide. I've recently added a vertical box smoker to my arsenal and would love to incorporate it with my sous vide methods. In other words, meat in a smoker generally only takes on smoke for the first hour, so what would be the harm in smoking something like a tri tip for an hour, immediately vaccuum sealing it and placing it into a bath at 132 or so? It seems like an ideal way to get the best of both worlds. A good idea? Bad idea? Why aren't there more recipes using this combination? I'm aware of incorporating liquid smoke into pouches, but this seems like a pefect way to achieve both smoke and tenderness. Thoughts?

I'm looking for a way to whip milk into a whipped cream-like topping perhaps stabilized with carrageenan in my isi whipper. Has anyone done this? Any ideas or recipes? I can't seem to find anything on the web. Any help would be appreciated.

Another take on constant temperature cooking: http://www.kitchenaid.com/shop/-[KSM1CBL]-408088/KSM1CBL/# Thanks to Kerry, who posted the picture from France, I now have one of these things on order. From what I have read the temperature control is not precise enough for sous vide cookery, however it should be more than acceptable for, say, ice cream. I understand the temperature setting is in two degree increments Fahrenheit. The Precise Heat Mixing Bowl has an adjustment range from 70 to 222 deg F (21 to 105.5 deg C). The unit may be used as a standalone slow cooker (or I guess not so slow), as well as being used as a mixing bowl with certain model KitchenAid stand mixers. I really hope the bowl fits my KitchenAid KSM5OP. It may be an excuse to get the KSM5OP out of the living room.

Help! I'm trying to make an Onion Sugar. Its Onion Juice, glucose, and sugar (or isomalt for a reduced sweetness). Chris Hennes tried this back in 2012 and got the same results I did: very dark, slightly burnt, still slightly sticky and impossible to grind back into powder. Has anyone tried this with success? The sugar needs to reach the hard crack stage so it can be ground back into a powder, but basically remain as clear and un-carmelized as possible. Help me Gods of Glucose, Sultans of Sucrose, Kings of Caramel, Masters of... whatever. Any ideas? Thanks! Seth

I have purchased an Anova circulator. My interest in sous vide is based upon needing to prepare chicken and pork dishes that remain more moist than other cooking methods I have used. This is based upon needing more moistness for my wife. After her bariactric surgery she became sensitive to meat that is not still very moist. I would like recommendations for some threads to read through to help get me started.

Hi all, I am rather stupmed at what happened in my circulation bath this week and would like to share and maybe get to the bottom of what exactly might have caused this. Quick background: I am a German chef having learned at a 2* Michelin restaurant and now CEO of a burger chain in Germany. I have a passion for biochemistry and approach virtually all cooking endeavours with an analytic mindset. As I prepared a lasagna based on braised oxtail last weekend I was left with about 1300g of oxtail chunks that didn't fit into my pressure cooker. Whilst braising I browsed my copy of MC searching for an interesting idea for said left over produce and stumbled across the 100 h @60C preparation. I scaled the recipe to the required amount of stock and boiled it up quickly as to reduce any possible pathogens. I then filled the sous vide bag with the raw, unseasoned and chilled (4C) oxtail, added the cooled stock (13C) and sealed in a chamber vaccum to -1 bar. I then introduced the bag into the water bath at 60.0C, sealed the bath with cling film and checked througout the following days. For the duration of the cook the bag stayed at the bottom of the bath and temperature fluctuations were at a maxiumum of 0,1C. Yesterday morning (thursday, I started the cook on sunday at around lunchtime) I saw that a small bubble of bombage had formed over night. Weary as to the cause, I was even more suprised to find the entire bag bloated and floating at the top of the surface when I came home last night. Unsuprisingly the smell after opeing the bag was horrible and had obviously spoiled. I am asbolutely flabbergasted as to what might possibly have caused this. Shouldn't any possible pathogen have been killed of after at least 80h @ 60C with no sign of bacterial activity? A couple of chefs I work with are equally as stumped as I and I would love, if someone on this brilliant forum could possibly offer some insight. So thanks for your feedback which I would love to incorporate into the next try; after all: failure is not an option! ;-) All the Best, Johannes

Anyone tried it? It weighs 14lbs and is 4 1/2 inches thick at the highest point but is mostly 4 inches in height. I would like to cook this to 132F but i am concerned about getting it up to pastuerized temperatures quick enough. I have always followed Baldwins guide to pastuerization but i believe his charts only go up to 2 and 3/4 inch thickness. Is there a safe approach using Sous vide method with such a large piece of meat? Should i combine cooking techniques like quickly submerging in boiling water? It is still in the cryovac bag in the fridge but i need to decide on a method soon. I know i could roast it in the oven but i want it med rare thoughout. Need some good advice here. With how high beef prices has gone up lately, a 14lb hunk of beef is expensive. Cant afford to mess this up.

At a local culinary store I have a hobby/job helping local Chef's do cooking demonstrations, prepping for catered events and all kinds of other things that let me play with new toys and other peoples food. I've been asked to prepare a Sous Vide Demo meal to stimulate interest in SV and modern technique - and hopefully sell some SV units. Menu to be Mi Cuit Salmon (104F from Chef Steps), Asparagus Salad w poached egg, 72 hr Short Ribs w Cauliflower puree and a Poached Pear desert.

I plan to infuse cubes of watermelon, pineapple and cucumber with cocktail mixes (mojito, pina colada and gin tonic respectively) using vacuum chamber sealer and serve them as cocktails on a stick. How long ahead can I do it? I am concerned that at some point the fruit may get an off putting texture. I have to make 150ish of those so time is critical. Any advice is highly appreciated!

In my thread about liquid smoke, someone posted smoke chicken recipe from ChefSteps: http://www.chefsteps.com/activities/smokerless-smoked-chicken I am thinking to use sous vide instead of low-temperature-oven (90C), because I don't trust my oven can hold the temperature stable. So, here is the plan: - Cut the whole chicken into 2 parts half-chicken - Make smokey brine: water + liquid smoke + salt - Brine the half-chicken (overnight???) - Bag the chicken prepare for sous vide - Sous vide the chicken ... After sous vide finished: - Pat dry the chicken - Glaze with some BBQ sauce (add liquid smoke as needed) - Broil under very hot oven (395F / 202C) to brown and crisp the skin My question, what would be the temperature and time to sous vide half chiken? Chicken breast usually at 150F / 65C for about 1 hour. Chicken thigh usually at 165F / 74C for about 1 hour. I am thinking, for half-chicken is at the average of that 158F / 70C for let say 1,5 hour. And the brining time, overnight is not too much? I don't want too much smoke flavor What do you think?

So I was having company for the opening Football season. One of the local food store had Hamburger patties on sale. So, I opted to use them 85/15 chuck. They were only probably 3/4 " thick. When I got them home.. that seemed like a wimpy thickness. So , Idea Lets fuse 2 patties using Activa -RM-- so I treated one side ( dusted like a chicken breast ) - put together, and place them in frig for about 2 hrs.. to meld Took them out about 45 min prior to cook. Then off to my flat top to cook.. usually these thick burgers 1 1/2 icnches, get a big blood bubble in the middle, even if you dent them prior to cooking. What I notice with the Activa-Rm barrier in the middle , this really didn't happen. thick the meat juice collected just under, that in-side half. So i flipped and cooked side two. Really was amazed how uniform they cook and how the juices real stayed inside. No pictures as the game was on. Just thought I would share. PB

Anyone has done that? I did once in the past, using time and temperature from David Chang Momofuku, which was 82C for 3 hours. And it was still though. I didn't put anything in the bag, just abalone. The abalone was not fresh, but frozen raw abalone, about 10 cm lengthwise, and it was defrosted overnight in the fridge. Going to do this again soon, so I thought if anyone has done it please share your results. I am thinking to do at 82C for 6 hours, and put a little bit of olive oil in the bag. Note: I searched this forum for abalone, but it seems it's not that popular ingredients. Few posted about sous-vide, but without end result reports.

I made creme brulee using sous vide for the first time, and I am not quite satisfied with the result. Recipe that I used: - 2 cups of single cream (I cannot find double cream) - 4 large egg yolks - 4 tbsp white sugar - 1 tsp vanilla extract I was using small "Weck jar" (160 ml) as container, which I can submerge it in the sous vide pan. I warmed up the cream a little bit. And I used blender to blend all the ingredients. Then I strained it into the jars. Anova set to 82C and I sous vide for 45 minutes. Store in the refrigerator for 12 hours. The result, the custard was properly set, but to me it's not as "firm" as creme brulee that I had in many restaurants. It's kind of too soft. Although, it taste delicious!! So, is this "texture" normal for sous vide creme brulee? Or something can be improved on my recipe or technique? Is it because of the single cream instead of double cream? Is it because the recipe needs more egg yolk? I saw some recipes with 5 or 6 yolks, with the same amount of cream. Is it because of the blender? Probably too long. Is it the temperature and timing? I saw many different temperature and timing, like ChefSteps 80C for 1 hour. Searched here, and found one with the same issue. Unfortunately, no feedback from other users: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/148235-modernist-cuisine-sous-vide-custards-not-settingfirming

I just watched this Aussie Chicken recipe : https://youtu.be/yHnWgiQDKcc Basically, it's roasted chicken breast with bacon, sautéed mushrooms, honey mustard sauce and topped crispy cheese. But I am thinking of better method instead of guessing the roasting time. I have never done this before and I don't like overcooked roast chicken breast. Ok, sous vide would help. Here is my idea of better method : Sous vide chicken breast together with few pieces of bacon at 150F (65C) for 1 hour. Then sear with oil and a bit of butter to brown it. And finally, arrange it in baking tray. "Glaze" with the honey mustard sauce. Put some sautéed mushrooms, topped with cheese. Broil it under very hot oven (240C) "just" to melt the cheese. Serve with more honey mustard sauce and crispy bacon. Sounds good? My concern is with the last broiling step, if that will dry up the seared chicken breast. But I don't have any other ideas.