Sous Vide: Recipes, Techniques & Equipment, 2012

[valereee]

So I bet I'm not the first person to report cleaning out her freezer to experiment. Over the past three years I've bought two quarter-cows, and there are always cuts that end up pushed to the back of the freezer, so I've been digging around. I found a packet of short ribs that are three years old -- I've never done very well with short ribs -- and something called a "Round Wedge Roast" that is two years old. Probably pushed it to the back because I'm not sure what a "Round Wedge Roast" is. Ordinarily when I find outdated meat, I give them to a friend for her dogs, but I figure they're perfect for teaching myself to sous vide. Even if the quality has suffered from the long storage and we end up not eating them, I ought to learn something from cooking them.

Val

[Paul Bacino]

AS long as the meat has no freezer burn, Something like ribs will be fine. I wouldn't consider those scrap meat. Yummo.

Good luck.

Maybe 135F for 24 hrs, but I have done the 48 hr thing too, but @ a lower temp.

No need for probes here

Edited February 7, 2012 by Paul Bacino (log)

[valereee]

LOL! I would NEVER have thought I should put the tape on the bag and then poke through it! Thanks, pep and Paul!

Also, note that you really need a needle probe. Here is an example. Needle probes are normally sold as a non-standard accessory for type K thermometers. A standard thickness meat thermometer probe will be more prone to leakage, even with the proper tape.

More ways to spend money!

[Toufas]

Any advice on a chuck steak around 1 kilo? It's 25mm thick at its thickest point.

[Todd in Chicago]

I believe I cooked a mock tenderloin from Buther and Larder in Chicago - I just followed my normal for cooking tenderloin - 130 degrees F for 2 - 4 hours.

Your mileage may vary.

Todd in Chicago

Hmmm...thanks- I'm finding this all so confusing, since it really is from the shoulder and considered chuck, so I was thinking it might require 24 hours. Isn't tenderloin a much softer piece of meat to begin with so that it doesn't require the longer cooking times?

Looking further I've seen 12 hours at 131 degrees suggested for chuck tender steak (which is another name for mock tenders/shoulder tenders/petite fillet/fillet roast/kolichel).

Anyone else have suggestions for this cut?

Thanks!

Todd- glad I followed your advice. We tend to like it more on the pink and not quite as red, so I upped it to 133 and cooked it for 3 1/2 hours. I just used a simple dry spice rub (mostly garlic and onion powder). Cooked it whole and then sliced it thin and it was some of the best sliced steak we've ever had. Based on the thickness (about an inch and a half) I probably could have done it only for 3 hours, but one of the things that's so great is the extra half hour or so doesn't matter, and it makes coordinating everything so much easier.

Thanks again for your advice!

Hey! Sorry for the delayed reply. Glad it worked out for you and welcome to the uberkewl world of SV! Hey, you also asked about the VP112. It's a pretty large and heavy machine, I would LOVE to be able to leave it out on the countertop, but my significant other would never let that happen. As it turns out, I keep it in the laundry room covered with a towel so no dust gets in. I do my bagging in the kitchen and my sealing in the laundry room. I don't think I would be all that happy with having to move the VP112 around....alot. It's probably between 40 and 50 pounds.

Cheers....and have fun!

Todd in Chicago

[Todd in Chicago]

Ummmm....not so cheap, but try some duck!

We made duck breasts for a New Years Eve dinner party for 8, and they were great!

Cheers....

Todd in Chicago

[Neil Smith]

Hi, all! I'm new here -- got a sous vide cooker for Christmas and am trying it out. So happy to have found this forum!

Welcome!

If you've not tried duck leg confit, do it now. Your mouth will love you forever.

• Crush a couple of bay leaves into a bowl. Add a couple of teaspoons of dried thyme and a tablespoon of salt. Mix and rub into the legs, particularly into the meat. (Alternatively, use about ¼ teaspoon of five spice powder instead of the thyme and bay. You still need the salt.)
  
• Store in the fridge, covered, for 24 hours.
  
• Rinse thoroughly under cold water. You may need to remove the membrane from the meat if the herbs stick to it.
  
• Dry the legs thoroughly.
  
• Bag the legs, two to a bag. There's no need to add additional duck fat, but adding a tablespoon per leg won't hurt. (I don't bother.)
  
• Cook at 74⁰C for 20 hours.
  
• After cooking, remove the skin and shallow fry for a few minutes to crisp it up.
  
• Serve together with the shredded meat. Everything's edible apart from the bones and small bit of gristle.
  
• Reserve the liquid from the bags: it's more duck fat and gelatine/stock. Use it in soups or sauces.
  

Edited February 8, 2012 by Neil Smith (log)

[valereee]

Hi, all! I'm new here -- got a sous vide cooker for Christmas and am trying it out. So happy to have found this forum!

Welcome!

If you've not tried duck leg confit, do it now.

You know, I've never even -purchased- duck for cooking. Had it in restaurants, of course, but never tried cooking it myself. I'm picking something else up at the butcher's today, though, so I'll see if they have any duck. I doubt it will be fresh, of course, but I can get fresh duck at the farmers' market next summer if it's all that.

Thanks, Neil!

Val

[nickrey]

If you can, get a whole duck, take off the legs for confit but also take off the breasts. Use the rest for duck stock.

To cook the breasts, pre-heat your oven to 180C, put the duck skin side down in a cold pan and turn to medium-high heat. When the duck starts sizzling, time four minutes on that side. Then flip for a further one minute on the non skin side. Put duck in oven for 10 minutes. Rest, then serve. While I'm resting the meat, I'll often cold smoke the duck in tea smoke (tea leaves mixed with ground rice) or, conversely, skip the oven stage and hot smoke it in the tea smoke at around 180C for the 10 minutes. Duck is easy to prepare and a delight to eat.

Don't forget to collect any rendered duck fat for cooking potatoes.

[jmolinari]

The other day i had some leftover meat from the shank portion of a Mangalitza pig leg after i butchered it for curing purposes, and i figured, why not sous vide it!

Put it in a bag with just salt and a touch of peanut oil. Cooked at 140 for 48 hours. Removed from bag, picked from bone and broiled for a couple minutes to just give it some color.

I had a good amount of liquid in the bag, which i microwaved to a boil to solidify the proteins which i was planning to strain. Then i realized if i strained the flotsam out i wouldn't have much sauce left, plus the coagulated proteins had a lot of flavor! So i added a pinch of xanthan and blended it with a handheld blender. It turned into a super porky delicious rich sauce.

Served over grits which had some of the rendered mangalitza fat added to them...

[valereee]

The other day i had some leftover meat from the shank portion of a Mangalitza pig leg after i butchered it for curing purposes, and i figured, why not sous vide it!

Put it in a bag with just salt and a touch of peanut oil. Cooked at 140 for 48 hours. Removed from bag, picked from bone and broiled for a couple minutes to just give it some color.

What a good idea! I would have probably just stuck it in the freezer for making stock, but this way you actually get all the meat. I'm going to remember this trick!

[jmolinari]

The other day i had some leftover meat from the shank portion of a Mangalitza pig leg after i butchered it for curing purposes, and i figured, why not sous vide it!

Put it in a bag with just salt and a touch of peanut oil. Cooked at 140 for 48 hours. Removed from bag, picked from bone and broiled for a couple minutes to just give it some color.

What a good idea! I would have probably just stuck it in the freezer for making stock, but this way you actually get all the meat. I'm going to remember this trick!

I ALMOST threw it away! Crazy me

[FoodMan]

Sous Vide Systems IC

As far as I can tell through various searches here, we have not discussed this machine before (sorry if we I missed it). So, I might need a new IC or other rig soonish since I think my old eBay IC might be ready to choke. I sure hope not, because I promised my dear wife that no expensive crap will be bought this year since getting MC. Anyways, a little research couldn't hurt though. So, anyone has this particular model or heard anything about it? What do you guys think? Is it worth buying this and saving about $300 over a Polyscience model? It does bug me a bit that they only give me a 6 mth warranty. OTOH, I would not mind supporting a small mom and pop operation if it's a good product.

I actually mentioned this new device back on page 10 of this thread. I contacted them and did not find their device satisfactory for my needs. In particular it only hold temperature to within 1 degree and no cage is available. There is also no way to switch between C and F which is not a big deal but still a nice convenience. Lastly a 6 month warranty is not long enough for a product like this.

Looks like these guys re-branded their product. I wonder why...I still think they are in a sort of a no man's land. Not cheap enough to go with them over Polyscience for what you get and too expensive compared to the FMM or now possibly the SideKIC.

[Toufas]

I did the chuck steak at 60c for 24h. It's nice and beefy but nothing exciting

[jmolinari]

Does anyone know the name of the clamp type used to hang circulators off the edge of vats? I have a used Lauda MS, but no clamp. I see bolt holes in teh base where it appears a clamp would go....

[paulpegg]

I have seen lots of posts here about how to keep the bags from floating and thought I would share my solution. I obtained a few feet of 1/2" diameter solid stainless steel rod and cut it into 6" pieces. I filed the cut edges smooth to prevent them from cutting the bags. One or two of these are sufficient to hold down anything that might float.

If the cooking time is short I simply roll a bar or two up in the end of the bag, fold over the ends and clip them so the bars don't fall out.

For longer cooking time I double bag the meat and put a few bars in the second bag. I adjust their position as close to the seal as possible to keep the meat from sitting on the bottom of the cooker.

Here are four boneless legs of lamb in my beer cooler version that I started last night. They will cook for 24 hours at 55C and will be perfectly medium rare. I will take two out and cook the remaining two for another 6 hours at 60C for those who prefer their lamb a bit less rare. This is in preparation for our Valentine's party on Saturday. It is part of a seven course meal my men's cooking club is preparing.

Edited February 10, 2012 by paulpegg (log)

[jrshaul]

Can anyone recommend a cheap vendor of vacuum bags? I've heard some of the cheaper bags won't seal properly when used with a low-rent device like my Foodsaver.

Also, has anyone experimented with low-priced circulators? I've seen some small pumps on eBay that aren't particularly expensive, but I'm not sure how well they'd hold up for 48 hours of use.

[jmolinari]

Can anyone recommend a cheap vendor of vacuum bags? I've heard some of the cheaper bags won't seal properly when used with a low-rent device like my Foodsaver.

Also, has anyone experimented with low-priced circulators? I've seen some small pumps on eBay that aren't particularly expensive, but I'm not sure how well they'd hold up for 48 hours of use.

I get my bags on ebay...haven't had problems.

[jrshaul]

Can anyone recommend a cheap vendor of vacuum bags? I've heard some of the cheaper bags won't seal properly when used with a low-rent device like my Foodsaver.

Also, has anyone experimented with low-priced circulators? I've seen some small pumps on eBay that aren't particularly expensive, but I'm not sure how well they'd hold up for 48 hours of use.

I get my bags on ebay...haven't had problems.

Seller?

[Paul Kierstead]

Can anyone recommend a cheap vendor of vacuum bags? I've heard some of the cheaper bags won't seal properly when used with a low-rent device like my Foodsaver.

It would likely be the type of bag that did people in. A foodsaver requires the bags with a 'textured' interior; if someone bought the (generally much cheaper) plain bags, they will not work in a food saver.

[mgaretz]

Can anyone recommend a cheap vendor of vacuum bags? I've heard some of the cheaper bags won't seal properly when used with a low-rent device like my Foodsaver.

My Foodsaver, admittedly one of the pricier ones (about $130), makes an excellent seal. It even seals effectively if the seal area has some liquid present.

I've owned many commercial sealers and the seal on the Foodsaver is every bit as good as the best commercial units I have owned.

[jrshaul]

Can anyone recommend a cheap vendor of vacuum bags? I've heard some of the cheaper bags won't seal properly when used with a low-rent device like my Foodsaver.

My Foodsaver, admittedly one of the pricier ones (about $130), makes an excellent seal. It even seals effectively if the seal area has some liquid present.

I've owned many commercial sealers and the seal on the Foodsaver is every bit as good as the best commercial units I have owned.

Mine is somewhat elderly, and the gasket is a DIY hack. What model is yours?

[Neil Smith]

Also, has anyone experimented with low-priced circulators? I've seen some small pumps on eBay that aren't particularly expensive, but I'm not sure how well they'd hold up for 48 hours of use.

I've tried a few for my DIY kit, but not had a good experience. Most of the pumps aren't rated for sous vide temperatures and have a habit of failing after just a few hours. Those that can cope with the temperature aren't submersible or self-priming, so you'd have to faff around with filling the pumps with water before you can turn them on.

I've settled on a P-38B 12V DC Submersible Water Pump, available from China via eBay. It requires an additional 12V supply; I use a cheap TV/Monitor one as it can provide more than enough power.

[valereee]

Has anyone made chili sous vide? I'm making chili for a chili cookoff party (not an official competition) and I'm experimenting with competition-style chili (no beans) which I haven't made before. I made it last night according to a competition-style recipe, which called for browning chili-grind chuck, draining the grease, adding 15 oz stock, 15 oz water, 8 oz tomato sauce, and cooking it at a low boil for 2 hours during which you make three spice dumps. It's delicious, but the meat is tough after all that boiling and I was thinking maybe of browning the meat, then putting it into a reclosable bag with just the stock and tomato sauce since no moisture will get boiled off and opening it to add the spice dumps at the appropriate points in the cooking process. Anyone done anything like this, or have pointers? It'll eventually go into a crockpot (to go to the party) which I can set as low as ~180. Would I be better off just making it in the crockpot?

Edited: whoops, sorry, expanded my search to the rest of the forums and looked just at posts and found that at least Chris has -- so it looks like you browned on the stove, then stuck it into the bag and sous vided, then returned it to the stove for a couple hours. Did you use less water/stock than you normally would, or if not, did you find it was soupier than you'd been aiming for (and perhaps that's why the return to the stovetop for a couple hours?)

Edited February 11, 2012 by valereee (log)

[rotuts]

Im keen to see how this turns out. i plan a 'bolognese' sauce with turkey soon. My idea is to then have various 'bags' ready in the freezer.

Id first decide how you want the meat: rare, med, etc. if you get chuck and trim it yourself you can trim off the fat you do not want. then do a coarse 'grind' in the cuisinart.

Id use less water as 'on the boil' it boils away. Id cook the 'sauce' in the crock and add the meat and the meat juice to that at the last minute.

nobody I bet has had 'fork tender "prime rib" rare chuck' chili! 48 hours at 131 or maybe less as its ground. you can do the meat in advance and chill and reheat to 131

im very interested in what you do and how it turns out.