Sous Vide: Recipes, Techniques & Equipment, 2011

[rotuts]

SV veg: your thoughts on how long they keep or freeze

Im working my way though SV meats and Im astonished at the flavor of 72 hrs of various Chuck cuts etc.

Im dealing with the beef fat issues as I very little beef and have lost my ability to enjoy excess beef fat

a long time ago, on the grill those crusty char'd beef fat bits were mighty delicious!

I will soon try various veg.

how do they hold up after SV? the tubers (various potatoes) the green ones etc.

does the residual water in these prevent freezing?

another of my personal goals is to save as much energy as I can with SV, and in the Coleman Beer cooler set-ups I have after they reach temp (130) the system uses minimal energy.

many thanks!

[DaveJes1979]

Has anyone tried making clotted cream sous vide? I was thinking about trying to just dump some unpasteurized cream into a ziplock bag and set a Sous Vide Supreme to 180. Or perhaps use a mason jar instead of a bag.

Any thoughts?

[nathanm]

There is a sous vide clotted cream recipe in Modernist Cuisine, but I don't have it handy at the moment.

[PedroG]

Anyone in or near Surrey, UK, fancing fixing my PID waterbath??

Can you specify what equipment you have? What's the problem?

[DaveJes1979]

Shoot, I should have just checked the MC index, it does indeed have a clotted cream recipe. Its silly that I didn't think to check.

[JBailey]

For anyone considering a SousVide Supreme, this is a superb company to deal with. I bought one of their initial machines when they were first offered. From time to time, I noted that it would cycle changing the temp by a degree or two then coming back to the original set temperature.

The first time this happened, I emailed their customer care address and very shortly I got a call from Doug. He recommended making certain the bags and product did not block the bottom plate and allow the water to convect without much interference. They recommend always using the provided rack.

This week I was doing 72 hour brisket and the cycling problem again happened. My machine is well over a year old and well out of warranty. I again called SVS and left a message. Doug called me back from the road yet that day. As I explained the issue, he immediately offered to send a brand new SousVide Supreme. I tried to assure him I was not seeking a replacement and merely wanted to ascertain if I was doing anything incorrectly. After an exchange of some photos, he called and said their original position stood and they would send a new SVS at no cost. Doug was much more aggressive in insisting that they make certain the machines they have in customer hands work as intened.

It is so nice doing business with a company that cares. Money is important for anyone today and I fully understand why the decision to buy a sous vide machine of this price point means saving for the purchase. It is not an impulse item. Please take my recommendation and if you are thinking about a SousVide Supreme you will be happy with your decision. The product works and the company stands behind their product!

[ishkabibble]

Does anyone have any guidelines for heating a fully cooked ham? I have a 12 lb shank end half ham. I have a Polyscience Sous Vide Professional and a 32 quart stock pot.

[Anna N]

Just wanted to share this observation about sous-vide cooking. Right now meals are a hit and miss affair for me for reasons that are not food-related. But the Demi I have works as a fast food machine. I can find a few minutes in the day to toss a hunk of beast into a vacuum-sealed bag, cook it, quickly chill it and throw it in the fridge. When I see a window of opportunity to grab a meal it goes back into the Demi for 1/2 an hour, a quick sear and I am good to go. Faster than pizza delivery, better, and cheaper. I have neither the time nor the ambition to experiment at this point in time so I keep it simple but I see a real future for almost ready-to-eat complete meals in the future.

[Chris Amirault]

Anna, I couldn't agree more. I'll add that, for parents, it's a great way to get proteins into young bodies. I usually make a batch of chicken wings for my 6 year old for lunch: I cook them in 8-10 wing bags in the SVS, chill them, then broil them as needed. Also, I often have a blander kid protein ready to go when I decide to make a spicier version for the adults.

[Merridith]

Anna, I couldn't agree more. I'll add that, for parents, it's a great way to get proteins into young bodies. I usually make a batch of chicken wings for my 6 year old for lunch: I cook them in 8-10 wing bags in the SVS, chill them, then broil them as needed. Also, I often have a blander kid protein ready to go when I decide to make a spicier version for the adults.

What temperature and time do you use for the wings? Do you sauce them in the bag? Thanks

[Genkinaonna]

I used my SVS for the first time today to make chicken breasts. The children wouldn't eat them ...but they made a lovely chicken salad sandwich for me. I wanted to shake them and say, "There's two whole threads on this cooking method on Egullet! You should like this!" But I didn't. Tomorrow night they can make their own damn dinner.

[Kerry Beal]

Just wanted to share this observation about sous-vide cooking. Right now meals are a hit and miss affair for me for reasons that are not food-related. But the Demi I have works as a fast food machine. I can find a few minutes in the day to toss a hunk of beast into a vacuum-sealed bag, cook it, quickly chill it and throw it in the fridge. When I see a window of opportunity to grab a meal it goes back into the Demi for 1/2 an hour, a quick sear and I am good to go. Faster than pizza delivery, better, and cheaper. I have neither the time nor the ambition to experiment at this point in time so I keep it simple but I see a real future for almost ready-to-eat complete meals in the future.

Had my 94 year old dad over for dinner the other night - served sirloin that had been done sous vide for 2 hours at 54ºC then quickly browned on the Big Green Egg. Dad was very taken by it and decided he should start cooking sous vide. Explained what was involved - and he decided - that for now I could pre cook him some stuff sous vide and he'd do the last minute grilling.

So a couple of days ago I took him over 4 nice sirloins, precooked and frozen that he can hot tub for an hour or so from frozen then pop on the grill.

[Chris Amirault]

Kerry, that's a great story. Got me thinking about my parents....

I usually make a batch of chicken wings for my 6 year old for lunch: I cook them in 8-10 wing bags in the SVS, chill them, then broil them as needed.

What temperature and time do you use for the wings? Do you sauce them in the bag?

Usually just 60C for, what, 1-2h. That seems to do the trick. As for seasoning, the 6 year old likes salt, pepper, and thyme, so....

[slkinsey]

Yea, SV technology can be a great time-saver. I've already written in these forums about how I make my own "lunch meat" by cooking a chuck roast or turkey breast or pork loin (etc.) SV, then chilling and slicing to order. But it also works great for lots of other things as a time-saver. For example, I have a bunch of hangar steaks I trimmed up, browned with a blowtorch, bagged with a little fat and seasoning and chucked into the deep freezer. Whenever I want a steak (like tonight!) I simply have to fire up the circulator and chuck one of these in for a couple of hours. Or, taking the opposite approach, I bought a dozen 3.5 pound chickens which I spatchcocked, removed the breast and thigh bones, bagged with seasonings and cooked to 60C in the circulator. These were then chilled and stacked up in the deep freezer. Now if I want chicken for dinner, all I have to do is toss one of these bags into a sink full of warm water for 30 minutes or so and run it under the broiler long enough to crisp the skin. I've done similar things with "confit style" chicken thighs, etc. Poultry seems to do especially well being cooked first, then frozen, then reheated and crisped. And an added bonus is that I pull out the bones before bagging and add that to my supply of poultry bones and scraps for making stock.

[rotuts]

SV isnt just a time saver, which it really is

its also a BIG energy saver:

when i find the particular cuts of meat on sale I like, I get anywhere from 12 - 14 lbs.

I trim them ( and they can be different cuts tender and tough: Kudos to Pedo for this tip) and place them in a bag that serves 2 or 4. I vary the seasonings as experiment. then i SV the whole lot in a 32 qt very well insulated coleman cooler with a modified internally insulated top (injected with canned non-expandable foam insulation ) ( a several ply woolen or synthetic blanket works well also )

i SV at 130. I pull the meat based on the cut: 24, 48, 72 and chill. then perhaps freeze.

I thaw overnight in the refirg and reheat in a small SV

Ive used my Kill-a-Watt to check and once the water is at temp along with the meat it takes very little electricity to maintain due to the insulation. Ive also made a small cut for the 'plumbing' to come out of the cooler so it says closed completely: no evaporative loss of any significance for 72 hours.

cant think of a more energy efficiently way to cook. also i expect will work equally well in the hot summer!

save $$$ ( that goes for the Wine!)

save time

save energy

eat much much better, including as above (slkinsey Kudos) make sandwich cuts at 2.99 rather than 10 $ plus!

I havent yet figured out how to dump flour, water, yeast,salt in a bag and come up with SourDough bread though

Edited April 22, 2011 by rotuts (log)

[KennethT]

It also makes prepping for a large party really convenient... I've been mentioning on the cooking w/ MC thread about my prep for a party for 12 people tomorrow... With no helpers, I'll be serving 3 dishes, all of which are multi-component.. for example, the pork dish is a pulled pork patty with sliced belly, chorizo french toast, maple bacon dashi and puffed skin chip garnish. Without SV (and it's ability to start cooking things a week in advance) I'd never be able to pull this off.

[HannyHindi]

Does anybody have advice for cooking rabbit legs sous vide? (I'm preparing the saddles separately.) Times and temps I've seen online have been all over the place. Should I treat them like chicken thighs (150F for 90 minutes)?

Thanks in advance.

[JBailey]

Yesterday, Costco has some corn on the cob which came 8 to a pack. I am going to do several ears for dinner. Usually, I put in a knob of butter with some other seasonings, seal them and drop them directly into my SVS or SVP at 185F. The other ears I was going to merely seal up to prolong their freshness for another meal. However, that got me to wondering. If I were to prep all the ears and seal them, could I do some for the table today and the others put back in the refrigerator uncooked then putting a pack in the sous vide later? What would happen if I seal them with my butter and spices and they were not cooked for two or three days? Does this cause a safety issue or would the ingredients become too strong in the corn? Would you sous vide all ears now and cool them down, refrigerate them and then pop them back in the sous vide to bring back to temp?

Maybe another way to ask the question, other than for marination, but rather for convenience what vegetables and meats can you season, hold and sous vide at another time?

[paulpegg]

Does anybody have advice for cooking rabbit legs sous vide? (I'm preparing the saddles separately.) Times and temps I've seen online have been all over the place. Should I treat them like chicken thighs (150F for 90 minutes)?

Thanks in advance.

I would treat them the same as chicken legs. Yesterday I cooked four skinless chicken legs at 72C (161.6F) for 4-1/2 hours and they came out perfect. My wife complained that chicken leg joints cooked at 150F were too bloody looking and the meat was too soft. I have to agree with her after this one. There was no red flesh and the meat was firm, juicy and delicious. I generously salted and peppered them prior to bagging and seared in a very hot cast iron pan with a little oil for two minutes on each side after sous vide. I made a variation of Jason Logsdon's Lime-Curry Butter (Beginning Sous Vide) to put on at plating. Try higher temperatures and longer times if you don't like to see red at the joints.

[pbleic]

As someone new to sous vide, I read a good deal about the various issues with vacuum sealers here and elsewhere. I came up with a combined method I haven't seen described, and wanted to share it. It seems to work well for the home cook:

Start with the Ziploc Vacuum system (they say "sous vide" on the bag). Starting at $3.29 on Amazon. Zip the bag and use the hand pump to create a fairly effective vacuum.

Put a single piece of scotch tape over the pump hole.

Use an impulse thermal sealer (16" variety, $49 on Amazon), and seal the bag below the "zipper."

This seems to last without leaking for a substantial period. It gets around some of the issues of fluid and the pumps, and concerns about leaking through the one way ziploc valve or zipper.

[Anna N]

As someone new to sous vide, I read a good deal about the various issues with vacuum sealers here and elsewhere. I came up with a combined method I haven't seen described, and wanted to share it. It seems to work well for the home cook:

Start with the Ziploc Vacuum system (they say "sous vide" on the bag). Starting at $3.29 on Amazon. Zip the bag and use the hand pump to create a fairly effective vacuum.

Put a single piece of scotch tape over the pump hole.

Use an impulse thermal sealer (16" variety, $49 on Amazon), and seal the bag below the "zipper."

This seems to last without leaking for a substantial period. It gets around some of the issues of fluid and the pumps, and concerns about leaking through the one way ziploc valve or zipper.

Sounds ingenious. I wonder if you can edge seal it below the vacuum hole and thus avoid the need for tape.

Edited because I can't spell.

Edited April 24, 2011 by Anna N (log)

[pbleic]

I wonder if you can edge seal it below the vacuum hole and thus avoid the need for tape.

Yes, that is what I shoot for. It depends how much you have put in the bag. The scotch tape is a pretty minimal step, though. The Ziploc system makes a pretty effective vacuum, and the whole system is certainly as good as a Food Saver, and probably easier to do for each bag.

Links:

Grizzly Impulse Thermal Sealer

(this is a heavy, substantial piece of equipment)

Ziploc Vacuum Starter Kit

(the Ziploc bag refills after the starter kit come in quart and gallon)

Edited April 24, 2011 by pbleic (log)

[dougal]

As someone new to sous vide, I read a good deal about the various issues with vacuum sealers here and elsewhere. ...

... The Ziploc system makes a pretty effective vacuum, and the whole system is certainly as good as a Food Saver, and probably easier to do for each bag. ...

Various issues?

"Fully-automatic" machines like the basic FoodSaver models (and the machine bizarrely offered by SVS) are unsuitable for bagging liquids and sauces -- you need to freeze them before bagging.

However, with manual control models its really no problem to evacuate/seal bags with liquids or sauces.

With a "pump-while-I-press" button (called a 'Pulse' function by FoodSaver) and a "just-seal-it" button, and used carefully with mechanical sympathy, I can happily report that I've had no issues ... so far, at least!

I do also make use of the variable pump speed - set to low speed - which my machine (a V2860 bought new but obsolete for the same price as the SVS model is now offered over here) fortuitously happens to offer.

It cost a fraction of the price, and takes up a fraction of the real estate, of a chamber sealer. Mine can't do compression effects, but I can happily live without them.

And the bags (from a catering supplier) are much cheaper than those Ziplocs ...

[pervis]

this is geared more towards the functionality of sous vide in the restaurant in regards to reheating and serving.

We have been getting used to our new circulator by reading, researching, testing, but mainly so far just cooking eggs and different veggies. I am starting to feel a little more comfortable on my temps and times with proteins, especially after reading the section here. But we have Baldwins paper, under pressure and a ton of other notes. I guess my question is, now what.

Say i am doing chicken/cornish hen, i have circulated the breast , legs seperate. chilled, then i want to fry the legs and sear the breast for the final plate. It would defeat the purpose to not reheat the breast in a bath right? To pull the chilled breast out of a bag then roast it to temp woud be defeating the purpose? I would want to drop the breast til warm thru at a lower temp than i cooked them at, then sear or torch? correct? Is there a standard temp that chefs turn the circulators on to reheat, 133? or so? i thought i read that?

what about eggs. If i drop eggs at 143.5 for 45 minutes then lower to 140 will they keep their consistency of 143.5 since i dropped the temp?

How do different chefs work with their circulators in their kitchens, eggs, proteins for service, picking up dishes with bagged components?

Basically i am just looking for a few tips. Never studied under anyone that used SV but does not seem hard with the proper research and practice. Just looking for a few logistical pointers.

Thanks in advance, this is my first post and am a huge fan of the site. thanks for any feedback you can give me

danny

[PedroG]

The vacuum level dilemma with chamber sealers for sous vide cooking

Edge sealers suck all air out of the bag before sealing, tightly fitting the bag to the food; so even with low vacuum levels, there is virtually no air left in the bag, except for some surface irregularities of the food to which the plastic may not have been snugly fitted. Maximum vacuum levels achieved by edge sealers (80-90%) will not damage food by cold boiling and/or compression (see Dave Arnold's "Boring but useful technical post: vacuum machines affect the texture of your meat" and Modernist Cuisine page 2•213 "Boiling not Crushing").

In contrast, chamber sealers suck the air out of the bag and its surrounding, then seal, and the bag will only be fitted tightly to the food after releasing the vacuum from the chamber. To fit the bag snugly to the food, vacuum levels of 99% to 99.9% are applied. These vacuum levels may damage delicate food like fish or poultry. Reducing the vacuum level in a chamber sealer to e.g. 80% may leave some air in the bag causing floating and poor heat transmission: if the initial air volume between food and bag was e.g. 200ml, after sealing in an 80% vacuum there will be 40ml of air (that’s a jigger!) left in the bag.

If there is no edge sealer at hand for sealing delicate food, a Ziploc bag may be preferable to the chamber sealer.

A way out with a chamber sealer might be using a sealed bag of water to weigh down the bag to be sealed and eventually a second sealed bag of water below the bag to be sealed, thus displacing as much air as possible out of the bag before sealing.