Quick sous vide question: reheating

[Greg Honeycutt]

With the holidays coming, and me having to cook multiple dinners, I hope to exploit the ease and security of sous vide with my prime rib and turkey. I've always cooked then served, and wanted to know if it's advised to cook, and refrigerate and reheat prior to service? If that's not acceptable, what steps could I take to have some of my work done prior to service? Thanks a ton, Greg

[ChrisTaylor]

It's acceptable. Indeed, it's one of the numerous advantages of cooking things sous vide. When I served turkey breasts to my family, for instance, I brined and cooked three turkey breasts a couple of weeks prior to the dinner. I served one straight away and put the other two in the freezer. I thawed them and then reheated them (well, let them come up to room temp and then deep-fried them) on the actual day. I didn't notice any difference in quality or texture. So. Yeah. Seal. Cook. Chill. Don't take the item out of the bag. Reheat however you like. You'll be fine.

[Greg Honeycutt]

Awesome, thank you. I hoped that was the case. I'm just trying to give myself some extra prep time. Thanks again.

[nickrey]

Don't just put it in the refrigerator or cool it in water with a few ice cubes. Make sure you use around 2/3 ice, 1/3 water. And leave it submerged in this mixture for a few hours to make sure it cools quickly and thoroughly.

[ChrisTaylor]

This. If you don't have an ice machine, place a large metal bowl of water in the freezer for a while. Take it out before it freezes soid, obviously, but it'll give you an ice slurry to which you can add extra ice cubes and etc.

[slschnur]

What temperature should the ice bath be?

[rotuts]

as cold as possible

to save on the ice, I initially have a sink full of cold tap water, let the bags sit in that for < 10 min, drain, and add water to cover and all the ice I have in my freezer which I make in rectangular plastic bowls, the kind you save food in, the day before. the second bath is mostly those large cubes and just enough cold water to barely cover all the stuff.

<10 on the initial cooling I think is safe. some may differ. it drops the temp of the bags quite a bit and makes the second stage more efficient.

[Greg Honeycutt]

Thanks all. I think I'll do the prime rib today and the turkey tomorrow.