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Host's note: this delicious topic is continued from What Are You Cooking Sous Vide Today? (Part 2) Duck breast, 57C for 90 min, pre and post sous-vide sear. So the texture was not significantly different from what I get with my usual technique, which is grilling over charcoal. But it's more uniformly pink, and there are no slightly overdone spots. I am pleased with the results even though searing in the house means a ton of smoke and duck fat everywhere! (I did it on the stove in a cast iron skillet, next time I will place the skillet in the oven)

This stuff has popped up on my radar recently, and I don't see any discussion on it here. IT seems that chickpea canning liquid plus a good beating turns into a air filled protein matrix that does the job of egg white meringue in a lot of applications. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kExpx2BzIOQ Anybody here done anything cool with it?

Hi, I have just bought a chamber vacuum sealer for my kitchen. The thing is very programmable with vacuum adjustable to 99 seconds. My question is; often on recipes it says something like 'seal to 95% vacuum' etc. does this refer to 95% of the 99 seconds? As it seems to reach max vacuum by about 60 seconds in any case. Thanks Karl

This is the first i have heard of this new piece of equipment, but I still can't find out what makes it better than Anova. It looks very similar. Does anyone else know? It's called Joule. http://blog.chefsteps.com/tag/joule/ ETA It doesn't look like it needs a clip. Does it attach to the base of the pot?

I'd like to try making a whole pork butt (about 14 pounds) using sous vide per Serious Eats. My vacuum sealer is a budget unit from FoodSaver, and (a) there are no bags large enough; and (b) the sealing has become undependable, especially over long cooks. After a little research, I've decided to try bathing this monster in its original cryovac packaging. However, this route seems like it might suffer from not having a rub as it soaks. So here's my question: Is there a way to inject through the plastic and tape the hole shut without the tape coming off over the 18-24 hours the butt will be under water? I'll rub and then smoke it afterward anyway, but if this would work, why would I not do that? FYI, I have the requisite needles, syringes and even a "Meat Pump". Has anyone tried this? Thanks

Im a big fan of SV. once the bag is in the bath , time and temp give you what want , over and over again. I have an inclination to lower temps , longer . thus keeping ' jus ' that might be in the bag in the meat. at what temp , with of course long enough times would you get the ' beginning ' of ' pull apart ' w the usual two folks.? probably not @ 145 F.? so Im thinking , early pull apart , at the lowest possible temp as time is not a variable bye of issue. and Im thinking Pork as the meat. and 145 F might be a good temp to try initially.

Hi all, I bought vacuum packed roast beef and kind of pork, see in the attached photo. The size is about 15 cm x 10 cm and the height is about 6 to 7 cm, with weight 785 grams (from the package). Anyone can suggest the timing and the temperature for sous vide if I want to have "medium" for the beef and "well-done" for the pork? I have never sous vide this size of meat before My plan is to sous vide it first on their own vacuum sealed package, probably 1 day before. Then simply sear it before serving to get browned. Thanks!

I'm interested in getting my feet wet with sous vide. I want to do so without spending a fortune. Although I am planning a kitchen upgrade in the next year or so, for the moment, counter and storage space is at a major premium. I have looked on the forums quite a bit, and to be honest, I am more than a little overwhelmed. I have a couple of slow cookers, so I was considering the following: A slow cooker that I already have with the SousVideMagic 1500D Controller For a vacuum sealer, Best Vac from minipack®-america. (http://www.dougcare.com/foodstorage/homeequip.htm#bestvac). Chamber sealers are more $$ than I want to spend. So, for similar or less money, can I so better? Thanks! Jess

I know there was a thread on this a few years ago, however it seems these scales are no longer made or newer better models are available. As I've become more serious about my baking, I've decided to get a kitchen scale. I'm debating between the My Weigh KD-8000 http://www.amazon.com/My-Weigh-Digital-Weighing-Scale/dp/B001NE0FU2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1297958394&sr=8-1 or the EatSmart Precision Pro Digital Scale. http://www.amazon.com/EatSmart-Precision-Digital-Kitchen-Scale/dp/B001N0D7GA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1297958443&sr=1-1 Originally I wanted the Taylor Salter High Capacity Scale because it looked cool, but I've noticed it received many mixed reviews. http://www.amazon.com/Taylor-Salter-Aquatronics-Capacity-Kitchen/dp/B004BIOMGU/ref=sr_1_24?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1297958465&sr=1-24 Here are my requirments: -Minimum capacity of 11 lbs -Minimum resolution of 1 g -Measure in Kg, lb, oz, g -Tare feature -Preferably have seamless buttons I want to get a nice scale. I don't want to get a scale with minimum features only to find in two years that I do enough baking/cooking that requires me to have something more sophisticated. Here are a few other questions: 1. How important is it to have a scale measure fluid ounces? 2. What about measuring lbs. oz (for example 6 lbs and 4.2 ounces) 3. Is it important to have a scale measure in bakers %? I'd like to learn how to do these and have a cookbook that shows them next to the measurements. I'm not sure if this is something most people can figure out on their own or it would be handy to have them on a scale. The MW KD-8000 does this. The only problem with the MW-KD-8000 is it appears to be big and bulky and I don't have a lot of counter space so I'd probably keep it stored most of the time. The Eat Smart just seems to minimal. The Salter seems like an expensive scale for what it offers and somewhat of a risk. Thanks for any help in helping me choose the right scale. I do not know why this is becoming a chore to purchase! I just want to make sure I choose the right one right off the bat.

I live in a household of beer snobs - craft beer snobs to be precise. So there's been some pressure here for me to create beer chocolates. I completed experiment #1 yesterday and want to share for feedback and / or thoughts. I based my ganache recipe off how you'd do a fruit puree-based ganache. However, instead of adding a fruit puree, I created a "liquid" beer gel from a liquid port gel recipe I found on a molecular cooking site. Simply, this combined beer and agar agar. The gel was cooled and then pureed with an immersion blender. I had to add about twice as much beer as the recipe called for because upon pureeing, the gel broke into teensy tiny little balls of gelified beer. Not good. I had to heat/reheat and keep blending and adding beer until I got a more or less pudding like beer gel. Not terribly scientific, but the beer retained most of its flavor (I used a Founders barrel aged ale - so very strong and flavorul beer to start with). I added the beer gel to a ganache that had cream and butter and a 38% milk chocolate base. The ganache recipe I was working from also calle for glucose and invert sugar, which I'd rather leave out if using milk chocolate because the gananche turned out too sweet IMO. However, it has a nice beer flavor and is smooth. I think the beer flavor should be stronger. Next version I'll either omit or reduce the sugar and/or use a 58%ish chocolate base. Maybe also add more of the beer gel (then add more butter?). I have another experiment I'll be working on as well this weekend, and it will involve actually infusing the cream with the ingredients we'd normally use to brew a stout (chocolate malt, roasted barley, hops, etc.). It may end up tasting like a delicious bread truffle, since I can't ferment the ganache! :-) Would love to hear others' experiences or ideas. Cheers!

The previous section of the ongoing Chamber Vacuum Sealers discussion reached the 20-page mark (after which point topics cause the site to slow significantly whenever they load), so we've split the discussion, which continues, here.

Does anyone know anything about this? It looks like an interesting app but the Apple store does not seem to have any info on who created it. Neither are there any reviews. I'm a new sous vide user who needs all the help she can get and am wondering if this app would be helpful. Thank you!

Hi Folks, I have been using the sous vide technique for about 2 years and I have consistently had an issue with cooking chuck steak/roast. A few days ago I cooked a 3 lb chuck roast, 135F for 48 hours, rubbed with dry rub reminiscent of one used for smoking (salt, paprika, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, and small amount of brown sugar). I ended up with a beautifully tender piece of meat that rivals prime rib, but the resulting flavor profile is distinctly sour. It doesn't seem to matter how the beef is spiced, it always seems to come out this way. The interior of the meat has a decent beefy flavor, but the liquid is very "tart". Has anyone else run across this issue? Is this just a super concentrated intense beef essence? I'm not calling it a "problem" per se, but I don't feel that I can use the runoff liquid as au jus because the flavor is so strong, and I'm at a loss as to what else to do with it because a reduction would only intensify it. Can anyone recommend a possibly solution? Any guidance would be appreciated.

HOST'S NOTE: This post and those that follow were split off from the pre-release discussion of Modernist Bread. ***** Figured I don't need to dump all this into the contest thread - so I'll post here. My journey to making my first MC loaf. Her's the poolish after >12 hours: Not pictured - water with yeast in it below the bread flour and poolish That went into the mixer and not long later I had a shaggy mass: That rested for a while - then mixed until medium gluten formation - a window pane that was both opaque and translucent (no picture for that slightly messy part) Folded and rested, folded and rested, I think this is 1/2 the mass now ready to rest one final time. Proofed it in the oven - I have a picture of that but it's just foggy window oven Then it went into the oven, here it is at max temp - 450 with steam turned on. Completed loaf: \ And the crumb - this is awesome bread:

I have tried Glad, and a generic plastic wrap at 800W and Premium Saran at 500W for the Microwave Parsley recipe. In all cases the wrap melted through, at 800W much faster than 500W. While I have been successful using parchment paper and a careful eye, the plastic wrap would be much easier. In a brief look at commercial wraps, none seemed suited for the microwave. Any suggestions on a wrap? The generic wrap description in MCAH hasn't been sufficient. -Steve

Has anyone tried it with success? It is very simple, but I cannot make it work. After two hours in 80C sous vide, the paste is a hard, reddish in color hard paste that cannot be mixed. I searched in the errata but didn't find anything. Any help? Thanks.

So I have this recipe from the modernist cuisine, the pork tenderloin in juniper brine. The juniper brine has 500gr of water and of course salt and juniper. Then it also has some other things in very very small quantities. For example, malt 2gr, hops 0.8gr, allspice 0.25gr etc. My question is, if I do a blind test with a batch that contains all the ingredients and one batch without the malt, allspice and hops, will anyone get it? It seems high unlikely, that someone will say: "this here has a more malty flavor". Of course, I am not an experienced cook, I am a very bad cook with very little experience, but still, we are talking about 0.8 grams in a 500 gr water solution, which will be mostly thrown away.

I'm attempting ChefSteps' braised pork belly recipe here: http://www.chefsteps.com/activities/braised-pork-belly The pork is has been in the brine (equilibrium version) for a bit over 24 hours, but as I look over the math again I'm a bit worried about the final salt concentration - if my calculations are correct it should equilibrate at around 2.5%, which seems very high for a brine (my copy of MC seems to agree). Has anyone attempted this before? Is my math off or does that seem high to anyone else? I suspect maybe the idea is to serve this in small portions as an accent rather than as a main protein... Assuming I'm not out to lunch...to salvage I'm thinking I might be best to take it out after 48 hours, soak in a few changes of fresh water for 2 hours (per MC, roughly following the high-concentration brine method, though at a lower salt concentration and for less brining time...), then re-seal for 24 hours to let the salt concentration even out in the meat. Last thing I want to do is oversalt and ruin this nice piece of meat, and it needs to be ready to cook by Thursday morning...any advice (or even words of encouragement) would be greatly appreciated!

GE is entering the SV field in an innovative way. They are doing a crowdfunding approach through one of their Innovation technology centers. The device itself is also innovative in that it uses a Inductive cooktop for the heating element with a wireless temperature sensor. It's also unique in that it does not include any type of water circulation. Here's a link to the crowdfunding site: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/paragon-induction-cooktop/ What does everybody think about this entry into the field? If nothing else it certainly shows that SV has gotten the attention of major appliance makers. A few weeks ago GE also announced that one of their new lines of stoves will have the same type of temperature control as this device uses so you can do SV on your stovetop.

Good morning folks, I currently possess Modernist Pizza and am wanting to make so many of the creations but I am only equipped with a home oven that only goes up to 500. For those in the same scenario or with experience, would you have any recommendations on how to modify the cooking times/temps to make it work? Thanks so much!

I am looking for Thierry Marx's liquid quiche recipe. Anyone? Thanks!

I only need one more item to complete my sous-vide setup: some food safe closed cell foam tape. I haven't been able to find an Australian supplier and the cheapest US supplier wanted USD$60.00 to post a small quantity of tape. I am happy to order from anywhere in the world if the total price is even close to reasonable.

Hi there.Does anyone have any knowledge on storing their spheres (from spherification) for long(ish) periods of time? i have read that you can put them in a solution of the same flavour and they will maintain their state. i would like to know whether it would be possible to put these in a jar and pasteurise them by bringing them to 72c since alginate gels are supposedly non-thermoreversible so they shouldn't melt. or possibly i might make the spheres using another gelling agent like pectin or gellan gum, both of which are also unaffected by reasonably high heat sources. if anyone has any thought on this i would be very appreciative such as whether this idea would work and if so, how long i might be able to keep them and whether they would need to be refrigerated.the sugar concentration in the spheres and the solution would be relatively high which i would imagine would also aid in the preservation. ideally i would like to be able to store them unrefrigerated. thanks.

Just seen this, I'd love your thoughts on a few things: http://www.odditycentral.com/foods/this-japanese-water-cake-looks-and-tastes-unlike-any-sweet-youve-tried-before.html — anyone tasted it? Flavour? Mouth feel? — recipe that's tried n tested? — best to serve with? — honestly, I'm asking... which course would you serve it? As a sweet course? — does it melt 'to a puddle' or just compress and weep? Looks great though

In Modern Cuisine, after pressure cooking tough meat, they suggest to let the meat rest in it's liquid to absorb some of it's lost juice. In traditional cooking, Chefs suggest letting braised meats cool down and rest in it's liquid to absorb some of it's lost juice. Do you need to do this if you sous vide meats for long times? For example, after I Sous Vide pork belly at 171F for 10 hours, should I let it rest at room temperature for 15 min.? Then when it cools, plunge it into an ice bath? In the Fat Duck cookbook, Blumenthal suggest to let the Sous Vide meat rest for 15 min at room temperature. Then he suggest to let the meat rest for 15 min. in room temperature WATER. Then finally he suggests to cool it in an ice water bath. The Manresa cookbook also suggests this. Any new data to show wether this is necessary or not?