Sous Vide: Recipes, Techniques & Equipment (Part 7)

PedroG · September 8, 2010

Sous Vide Thickness Ruler Version 2

blackp reported a scaling problem when printing Thickness ruler version 1 on a Mac, 70mm being printed as 73.5mm.

With my Win7-PC / Adobe Reader 9.3.4 it prints to 71mm.

Unfortunately, Excel allows line height adjustments only pixel by pixel. So I now made a cheat, reducing only 3 out of 30 lines from 10 to 9 pixels. Now "Thickness ruler version 2" prints 70mm exactly as 70mm, at least with Win7 / Adobe Reader.

Thickness ruler_v2.pdf

dougal · September 8, 2010

Sous Vide Thickness Ruler Version 2
...
blackp reported a scaling problem when printing Thickness ruler version 1 on a Mac, 70mm being printed as 73.5mm.
With my Win7-PC / Adobe Reader 9.3.4 it prints to 71mm.
Unfortunately, Excel allows line height adjustments only pixel by pixel. So I now made a cheat, reducing only 3 out of 30 lines from 10 to 9 pixels. Now "Thickness ruler version 2" prints 70mm exactly as 70mm, at least with Win7 / Adobe Reader.

Pedro, I think its probably as much to do with the printer as the computer.

FWIW my vintage Mac (10.4.11 & using Preview) prints v1 at 71.7 mm to the 70mm line -- printing to an HP2300 laser.

Changing the scaling (in 'Page Setup') from 100 to 98% takes it VERY close to 70 mm.

Honestly, I don't think there's any need for special versions - just a suggestion to check the measurements, and if necessary re-print with a slightly adjusted printing scale - which is very easily done, at least on a Mac!

KennethT · September 8, 2010

Try this again...anybody?
Hey guys,
When you cooked the duck skin on between silpats do you use any weight on top?
Whats the ratio for this glucose solution you speak of?
Thanks in advance!

When making the duck cracklin, put the silpat on a sheetpan... then put the duck skin on one side of the silpat, fold over the other side, so you have a duck and silpat sandwich, and cover with another sheetpan...

ScottyBoy · September 8, 2010

Oh thanks for the reply, time and temperatures?

e_monster · September 8, 2010

I have had excellent results precooking chicken for frying SV
Cook thighs and drumsticks for 1 hour plus at 60 degrees C.
Dip in buttermilk and dredge in seasoned flour.
Deep fat fry at 177 degrees C. until golden brown.
Chicken is very moist and crispy. I have had excellent reviews each time I have served it.
Phil
Has anyone tried this with Keller's Ad Hoc recipe? I like the idea of SVing the chicken first but it seems like with a recipe as precise as his that could lead to over cooking. Or do you bring the chicken to room temp or something beforehand?

I have done it a few times. It comes out well BUT when blind tasting was done of the sous-vide and non-sous-vide versions side-by-side the non-sous-vide version was the hands-down winner. The crust forms better on the non-sous-vide version -- it simply doesn't stick as well if the chicken is cooked sous-vide.

Don't get me wrong -- the sous-vide version was very good -- just not as good. And since it is a lot more work to do it sous-vide we now stick to doing it non-sous-vide. The one advantage to doing it sous-vide is that you could brine and then cook a lot of chicken parts and bag them in meal-sized lots and freeze them so that you could have them on-hand for cooking later.

paulraphael · September 10, 2010

Our steak dinner went off beautifully. Thanks everyone for the advice.

After some tests we ended up cooking at 54C for 2-1/2 hours. Steaks were salted and peppered, and bagged with beurre monté made with about 1/2 oz cultured butter, 2-1/2oz water, and salt. I used mounted butter because I was bagging in ziplocks and needed a volume of liquid to take up air space in the bag. If I'd had a vacuum machine, a lump of plain butter probably would have sufficed. Details and pics here.

ScottyBoy · September 10, 2010

That looks awesome, and some seriously gorgeous steaks! Did the monte end up breaking in the bag? Congrats on your success!

I'm trying my hand at the pork shoulder. I didn't spice it, just salt but cooked 48 hours at 143. Shredded and pressed, I think I'll try filling pasta with the cubes I cut.

paulraphael · September 10, 2010

Thanks so much! The butter didn't break at all. Stayed nicely emulsified. I ended up keeping the juices from the bags ... in the fridge the butter has separated. The stuff smells great but I don't know what to do with it. I couldn't put it in the sauce because it would have killed the clarity.

Edited September 10, 2010 by paulraphael (log)

ScottyBoy · September 10, 2010

Throw it in the blender with some more butter and roasted bone marrow for compound butter muhahha!

ScottyBoy · September 10, 2010

Pork shoulder agnolotti came out really nice with bacon nage, truffles and herbs.

Camano Chef · September 10, 2010

I took the chicken directly out of the SV bath and proceeded. I did not wait until it became room temp.

Phil

ScottyBoy · September 10, 2010

How long did you let the breading adhere for? Did the extra moisture after SV help the flour stick?

Wonderkitchen · September 12, 2010

Can anyone point me to ref for sous-vide fruits. Keller really doesn't talk about it specifically and besides whole pears, ignores the subject.

I've checked Baldwin as well and searched EG, but nothing specific.

I have a number of 1/4 inch apple slices vacuumed in different preps - anyone that has recommended times and temps ?

Thanks

JJ

Chris Amirault · September 13, 2010

Keller does mention fruit: in the chart in the back there are fourteen different preparations. The one that seems most appropriate for you are the Granny Smith apples (p 148 of UP), which he poaches in a white-wine liquid at 85C for 30 minutes. I think they're 18 mm balls, so your slices are quite a bit thinner.

PedroG · September 13, 2010

Sous Vide Thickness Ruler Version 2
blackp reported a scaling problem when printing Thickness ruler version 1 on a Mac, 70mm being printed as 73.5mm.
With my Win7-PC / Adobe Reader 9.3.4 it prints to 71mm.
Unfortunately, Excel allows line height adjustments only pixel by pixel. So I now made a cheat, reducing only 3 out of 30 lines from 10 to 9 pixels. Now "Thickness ruler version 2" prints 70mm exactly as 70mm, at least with Win7 / Adobe Reader.
Thickness ruler_v2.pdf

If your setup does not print the scale exactly as 70mm, you may use PDF-XChange-Viewer instead of Adobe Reader, it allows print scaling in 0.1% steps.

DouglasBaldwin · September 13, 2010

I have a recipe for apples in my cookbook: 185F (85C) for 30--40 min. The exact time depends on the acidity of your apples --- high acid apples soften faster than low acid apples. For more details, you can always see my book --- though I only discuss fruits and vegetables briefly since I rarely cook them in sous vide in my own home.

therippa · September 14, 2010

Does anyone here own a copy of Under Pressure? I've been debating getting it for months but always read that most of the recipes/techniques require a chamber vacuum sealer. Is this the case?

dcarch · September 14, 2010

New to this SV cooking concept. I am trying to build myself a setup.

I apologize for asking stupid questions:

Is it correct to call it ” Vacuum packed” ?

Water boils in room temperature under vacuum. Shouldn’t it be called “airless” instead?

I don’t remember this, but I think there will be 14 lbs/ sq. in. of pressure on the food if it is under vacuum. Wouldn’t that squeeze all the juice out of food?

Thanks for your patience.

dcarch

Ruth · September 14, 2010

Most of the recipes in "Under Pressure" can be adapted for a Foodsaver or similar vacuum sealer. I have a Foodsaver and have made many of the recipes from that book

slkinsey · September 14, 2010

New to this SV cooking concept. I am trying to build myself a setup.
I apologize for asking stupid questions:
Is it correct to call it ” Vacuum packed” ?
Water boils in room temperature under vacuum. Shouldn’t it be called “airless” instead?
I don’t remember this, but I think there will be 14 lbs/ sq. in. of pressure on the food if it is under vacuum. Wouldn’t that squeeze all the juice out of food?

This is discussed somewhat extensively upthread, but the long and short of it is this:

The contents of a flexible pouch are under normal atmospheric pressure (~14.7 PSI), or perhaps a bit higher when under the water due to the added weight of the water.

If ~14.7 PSI would squeeze the juices our of food when cooked, then this would be a big problem for all cooking. So, no.

The only way to create a lower-than-normal pressure condition is to have a rigid container and evacuate gas from the container.

ScottyBoy · September 14, 2010

+1 on Under Pressure. All the recipes I've tried with my Food Saver have been great. The only one's you won't able to do involve compressing things like watermelon. And I steer clear of the all liquid recipes, just to much of a hassle to bag properly, I'm lazy.

Buy it!

therippa · September 15, 2010

Has anyone here sous vide'd abalone? My friend dives for fresh ones and we were thinking of doing it. I read in McGee's book that abalone are tough because they use collagen as their energy source.

I was thinking of jaccarding one and letting it cook at 140F for 24 hours like you would a tougher piece of meat. Do you think this time is too long? I know I'm only supposed to cook shellfish like lobster and scallops for like 30-40 minutes. I figured after that give it a quick pan sear and it *should* be the most tender abalone ever.

I don't want to mess it up/waste it though, these might be the last ones he gets this season. Any thoughts?

dougal · September 15, 2010

Most of the recipes in "Under Pressure" can be adapted for a Foodsaver or similar vacuum sealer. I have a Foodsaver and have made many of the recipes from that book

Indeed, but its worth adding the comment that handling liquids/sauces in the bag is MUCH simpler and easier if your 'foodsaver-type' machine has (at least) some manual control capability.

If its full-auto-only, then things get quite tricky and you'll find you have to resort to freezing before bagging.

Ziploc bags, part-immersed to evacuate the air (see this thread), are a better bet than a full-auto-only machine.

KennethT · September 15, 2010

Has anyone here sous vide'd abalone? My friend dives for fresh ones and we were thinking of doing it. I read in McGee's book that abalone are tough because they use collagen as their energy source.
I was thinking of jaccarding one and letting it cook at 140F for 24 hours like you would a tougher piece of meat. Do you think this time is too long? I know I'm only supposed to cook shellfish like lobster and scallops for like 30-40 minutes. I figured after that give it a quick pan sear and it *should* be the most tender abalone ever.
I don't want to mess it up/waste it though, these might be the last ones he gets this season. Any thoughts?

I would love to do abalone SV, but for me, getting them is really expensive (the only source I know of is in San Diego and the shipping to me in NY is really expensive, aside from the abalone being already expensive!)... so I haven't taken the plunge in bringing them in as an experiment. If you do an experiment with one, please please post your results! Also, I wonder if you could take one, and cut it into quarters and use different temps/times? I know it's a lot of work though...