Sous Vide: Recipes, Techniques & Equipment (Part 8)

[rotuts]

there is some CTissue in the loin, and this really takes care of the stuff you dont cut out first.

Loin. not tender-loin.

it also allows time for pasteurization. it keeps for a while in a cold refrg sealed and is great at room temp sliced thin across the grain for sandwiches.

Edited May 14, 2013 by rotuts (log)

[cookalong]

there is some CTissue in the loin, and this really takes care of the stuff you dont cut out first.

Loin. not tender-loin.

it also allows time for pasteurization. it keeps for a while in a cold refrg sealed and is great at room temp sliced thin across the grain for sandwiches.

Thanks for the input! Is there any chance of the meat getting ruined? Sometimes I don't like the meat when it's been in the bath for too long. I haven't seen many loins in my SV books, except for Heston who cooks it to 52C in a 60C bath.

Pasteurization is not an issue in this case (will eat it immediatly, and the meat is of great quality).

[rotuts]

I dont think you will have a problem with 4hrs. most of my issues have been > 36 hrs. but give it a good prep for knarlly Bits.

you could try it with supermarket pork first and see: I use that all the time for sandwiches, it wont go to waste.

Edited May 14, 2013 by rotuts (log)

[rotuts]

youve inspired me to do the complete butter-fly bone-out and put the chicken on one Rx of stuffing and maybe even do it on the Weber!

many thanks!

[nickrey]

Finishing Sous Vide Duck Confit

I made 80 duck leg and thigh confit sous vide for a function and experimented with ways of browning them for service. What I wound up doing was heating them in a sous vide bath in order to remelt the fats and juices, opened the bags (there were six in each) and drained the juices into a containeer to capture both the jelly and the fat for later use. I then put them skin side up on baking paper on a metal tray. We then used a salamander to brown them. This process was very effective and warmed them through without turning. We then just kept them warm for service. I far preferred this to using a pan to do the browning as the soft sous vide skin often sticks.

[KennethT]

I agree - the salamander, or careful torch use is much better for crisping confit duck... I find that the pan is problematic not just because of the skin sticking (but that does happen), but also of uneven browning - the part that contacts the pan is very brown, but other parts get almost no browning at all.

[ChrisZ]

I thought I'd share the technique I've been using to cook scallops SV. When I first searched for info on scallops here a few years there wasn't much, but I found a few tips on other sites. We eat fresh fish at least once a week and when I'm at the fishmonger I sometimes get a 'handful' of scallops at the same time if I feel like a treat.

A few weeks ago I tried cooking scallops normally - ie. just pan frying them - to compare them against sous vide. The sous vide scallops were much, much softer. I also brine the scallops before cooking them and I'm not sure if it's the brining or the SV, but when I sear the SV scallops they caramelise much much quicker than ones that haven't been brined and SV'd first.

I use an equilibrium brine, with the ratios from MC for a basic seafood brine.

When I'm ready to cook them, the trick is to roll them up in cling film first...

...then bag them as usual.

I've been cooking them at 50C for about 30 minutes, I haven't noticed if higher or lower temperatures make much difference. I want them to be cooked through - that's the point of the SV step - but these temperatures are too low to pasteurise so I have to be mindful of safety. 30 minutes seems to work well. I read one blog that suggested scallops cooked at 35C gave them an amazing custard-like texture, but I like mine hotter (I'm the same with fish - I tried Tetsuya's ocean trout at 42C but it just didn't feel right to me). Today I tried 45C and didn't notice any difference from cooking them at 50C - I thought I'd try a lower temp than 50C as searing them afterwards bumps up the temperature so they don't 'feel' cold.

When they're done I take them out the bag and pat them dry, this helps them to caramelise.

Finally I heat a frying pan with olive oil and quickly sear them to get some colour and crust. They're already cooked so the frying pan can be smoking hot as all I'm after is colour. As noted above, I find that SV scallops colour up very quickly, much quicker than raw scallops.

As a snack, I like mine dipped in a locally produced caramelised fig balsamic. Delicious!

[Mofassah]

When I'm ready to cook them, the trick is to roll them up in cling film first...

Why do you wrap them in cling film first?

[cookalong]

When I'm ready to cook them, the trick is to roll them up in cling film first...

Why do you wrap them in cling film first?

I assume it is to give them a nice round shape, and to keep that shape when vac-packing them.

[weinoo]

I thought I'd share the technique I've been using to cook scallops SV. When I first searched for info on scallops here a few years there wasn't much, but I found a few tips on other sites. We eat fresh fish at least once a week and when I'm at the fishmonger I sometimes get a 'handful' of scallops at the same time if I feel like a treat.

A few weeks ago I tried cooking scallops normally - ie. just pan frying them - to compare them against sous vide. The sous vide scallops were much, much softer. I also brine the scallops before cooking them and I'm not sure if it's the brining or the SV, but when I sear the SV scallops they caramelise much much quicker than ones that haven't been brined and SV'd first.

I use an equilibrium brine, with the ratios from MC for a basic seafood brine.

I think the only problem I have with this is the brine. The scallops I get are so sweet and delicate that I can't see wanting to muck that real flavor up with a brine.

[ChrisZ]

Cookalong is right, the cling wrap keeps them nice and tight and round. If you drop them randomly into a foodsaver bag they can get squashed - which wouldn't affect the flavour, but can make them more difficult to sear.

Weinoo - I envy you. I'm not buying premium scallops. The juicy fresh local ones are quite expensive and generally out of my league, so I'm picking up the bulk, imported frozen ones a handful at a time. Brining does make a difference to them, though, you can visibly see them plump up. Next time I'll weigh them before and after to see what the difference is.

[Paul Kierstead]

This process is very close (well, essentially identical) to the Idea in Food's Twice Cooked Scallops, right down to the cling film.

[weinoo]

Weinoo - I envy you. I'm not buying premium scallops. The juicy fresh local ones are quite expensive and generally out of my league, so I'm picking up the bulk, imported frozen ones a handful at a time. Brining does make a difference to them, though, you can visibly see them plump up. Next time I'll weigh them before and after to see what the difference is.

Yeah, we're pretty lucky here with the greenmarkets and the fisherman selling great product there. I mean, you can see the quality of stuff just by checking out SobaAddict70's blog.

In any case, if those scallops of yours are noticeably plumping up, they may have been treated before freezing, and then when they defrost all the liquids are released.

Just a suggestion, but maybe buy scallops half as often but buy the local ones!

[dcarch]

I thought I'd share the technique I've been using to cook scallops SV. When I first searched for info on scallops here a few years there wasn't much, but I found a few tips on other sites. We eat fresh fish at least once a week and when I'm at the fishmonger I sometimes get a 'handful' of scallops at the same time if I feel like a treat.

A few weeks ago I tried cooking scallops normally - ie. just pan frying them - to compare them against sous vide. The sous vide scallops were much, much softer. I also brine the scallops before cooking them and I'm not sure if it's the brining or the SV, but when I sear the SV scallops they caramelise much much quicker than ones that haven't been brined and SV'd first.

I use an equilibrium brine, with the ratios from MC for a basic seafood brine.

I think the only problem I have with this is the brine. The scallops I get are so sweet and delicate that I can't see wanting to muck that real flavor up with a brine.

Scallops come from the salty ocean, therefore they are already brined. No?

dcarch

[rotuts]

interesting point, but not necessarily. marine 'muscle' may not be at equilibrium with the salt in sea water.

[scubadoo97]

This process is very close (well, essentially identical) to the Idea in Food's Twice Cooked Scallops, right down to the cling film.

Very close indeed. I tried the method outlined in Ideas in Food and don't recall the use of a brine

It did firm them up and they lost some water which made them easier to sear with less splatter. Taste wise I don't think it did much. I did not note an intensity in flavor

[ChrisZ]

his process is very close (well, essentially identical) to the Idea in Food's Twice Cooked Scallops, right down to the cling film.

I'm not claiming credit for the technique, as I said before I've found more info on scallops on other websites than eGullet, so I thought I'd take some photos to share with the members here to expand the knowledge base and prompt discussion.

I did google around to try and find the original site that got me onto the cling film step, and it wasn't the Ideas In Food one - which as far as I can see doesn't mention rolling them up in cling film. The problem with reading so many websites, blogs and books on food is that I tend to lose track of what I read and where. I do know that the website / blog that suggested rolling up the scallops in cling film definitely suggested cooking them at 35C (actually maybe the site I'm thinking of rolled them in proscuitto too at the same time? memory is playing tricks on me...) Maybe I found a blog of someone who had read the Ideas In Food post and posted their own attempts...

If I do find it again I'll post the link...

[Paul Kierstead]

The version in the book uses cling film (and it is a great tip) and a brine, thought not an equalization brine; they use an (approximately) 5% brine for 10 minutes. In short theirs is remove muscle, brine in 5% for 10 minutes, wrap in cling film (sort of torchon style), vac pac, cook @ 50 C for 30 min, chill, heat OO in pan till smoking, add scallops, when browned turn over, add butter, baste for a bit, rest 5 min, serve. I've done it many times and it makes a lovely, tasty reliable scallop. In the chill stage you can hold for 2 days (their time, i've done a bit longer), which is very handy.

[ChrisZ]

Great to know, thanks! Basting in butter sounds like a great step, I'll try that next. I have tried searing them in butter but it burns too easily. But I love the taste of butter and it should also promote the maillard reactions that brown the scallops - I once tried dusting the chilled scallops in powdered milk before searing them to see if that helped them caramelise (after seeing Heston do it with chicken wings) but it didn't seem to do much. Basting in butter after they've been seared sounds like the best of all worlds...

[nickrey]

Great to know, thanks! Basting in butter sounds like a great step, I'll try that next. I have tried searing them in butter but it burns too easily. But I love the taste of butter and it should also promote the maillard reactions that brown the scallops - I once tried dusting the chilled scallops in powdered milk before searing them to see if that helped them caramelise (after seeing Heston do it with chicken wings) but it didn't seem to do much. Basting in butter after they've been seared sounds like the best of all worlds...

Try clarified butter. It won't burn.

[EnriqueB]

(...) In the chill stage you can hold for 2 days (their time, i've done a bit longer), which is very handy.

Given the profile (50ºC for 30 minutes), they are not pasteurized and should be considered equivalent to raw. If I understand correctly, most safety guidelines would claim this to be apt only for inmediate consumption?

[Mofassah]

The problem with frozen seafood, is that it releases it's juice when it thaws, but I have a way of poaching frozen cod that saves the succulence and which may very well be worth a try with scallops too. I will vacuum seal them when they are still frozen, and dunk the bag in boiling water for 10 seconds before putting them in the sous vide bath. This technique is often used to kill off bacterias on the surface of meat before long time cooking, but it also kinda seals off the outer layer of cells, and help the delicate scallop to hold it's juice.

(Yeah, I know many people say that searing wont help a steak hold on to it's juice, but my taste buds are not lying to me, it does help my fish to stay juicy).

[EnriqueB]

The problem with frozen seafood, is that it releases it's juice when it thaws, but I have a way of poaching frozen cod that saves the succulence and which may very well be worth a try with scallops too. I will vacuum seal them when they are still frozen, and dunk the bag in boiling water for 10 seconds before putting them in the sous vide bath. This technique is often used to kill off bacterias on the surface of meat before long time cooking, but it also kinda seals off the outer layer of cells, and help the delicate scallop to hold it's juice.

(Yeah, I know many people say that searing wont help a steak hold on to it's juice, but my taste buds are not lying to me, it does help my fish to stay juicy).

That's a good technique, but take into account that killing bacteria requires the surface to achieve a given temperature for a given time. Dunking for 10 seconds is usually recommended when starting from fridge temperature, I hesitate that pasteurization is achieved using the same short time when you start from frozen...

About the other part, enough to say that my blog is titled "Dorar no sella los jugos", which means "searing does not seal in juices" in Spanish...

[nickrey]

The problem with frozen seafood, is that it releases it's juice when it thaws, but I have a way of poaching frozen cod that saves the succulence and which may very well be worth a try with scallops too. I will vacuum seal them when they are still frozen, and dunk the bag in boiling water for 10 seconds before putting them in the sous vide bath. This technique is often used to kill off bacterias on the surface of meat before long time cooking, but it also kinda seals off the outer layer of cells, and help the delicate scallop to hold it's juice.

(Yeah, I know many people say that searing wont help a steak hold on to it's juice, but my taste buds are not lying to me, it does help my fish to stay juicy).

That's a good technique, but take into account that killing bacteria requires the surface to achieve a given temperature for a given time. Dunking for 10 seconds is usually recommended when starting from fridge temperature, I hesitate that pasteurization is achieved using the same short time when you start from frozen...

About the other part, enough to say that my blog is titled "Dorar no sella los jugos", which means "searing does not seal in juices" in Spanish...

And I hope you are using vacuum bags that are specifically made for boiling. Most of the bags are only rated to 90C.

[rotuts]

are mylar bags rated over 100 ? these are used in chamber vacs as they have no 'textured' single surface for a reg. vacuum system to channel the air out. there is a trick that allows you to used them in a plain vacuum sealer though.