Sous Vide: Recipes, Techniques & Equipment, 2012

[ChrisTaylor]

Some observations

- 56C vs 60C/48 hr short ribs. No contest. 56C wins. Amazing.

- a tiny tiny tiny (etc) dab of Vegemite in the bag (with more than one tiny rib, obviously--I just bagged all the ribs together given I was cooking for my self) is amazing, too.

[ChrisTaylor]

Rack of lamb. 56C/4 hours is vastly superior to the 60C/1 hour method in Blumenthal at Home.

[chefmd]

Sous vide is going mainstream. Got an email from Bed Bath and Beyond few days ago offering SousVide Supreme for sale. Good news: you can use 20% off coupon. Bad news: Sous Vide is not exclusive, mysterious, and cool any longer. Just kidding on the latter one.

[mgaretz]

I am cooking two large corned beef briskets today in my SVS and the combined water vapor of the two overcomes the ability of the rack to hold them under the water (and they won't fully submerge if I position them vertically due to their size). But I found a new use for this BBQ weight: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/jumbo-chefs-press/?pkey=coutdoor-grill-accessories

I slid it into the top slot of the rack and it works like a charm. (Also a half-way decent tool for what it's intended, but I never would have bought it if it wasn't on 25% off sale and I had a gift certificate.)

[PedroG]

Rack of lamb. 56C/4 hours is vastly superior to the 60C/1 hour method in Blumenthal at Home.

I agree. Rack of lamb is one of my favorite cuts. 3-4h/55°C according to thickness, searing the whole 8-bone-rack in smoking hot rice bran oil, then cutting into 2-bone-chops and searing the cutting surfaces. Cuts of less than about 450g are best, heavier cuts may be from older animals and slightly less tender.

[ScottyBoy]

Rillette pork or duck anyone? I have a French themed dinner Thursday and would love to have a little toast and rillette course.

[rotuts]

advice on chicken thighs: skinless bone in. i about to 'process' a ton, OK sl less, in various ways: Thai,Indian,Chinese, etc even USA Ck&dumplings flavors.

for turkey thighs Ive enjoyed 160 x 24.

similar for CkThighs?

they are 0.79 cents lbs this week so I might be eating as many varieties as I can think of for some time!

Edited September 18, 2012 by rotuts (log)

[philie]

Rillette pork or duck anyone? I have a French themed dinner Thursday and would love to have a little toast and rillette course.

Cant help sous vide themed with that but have you tried heston blumenthals pottet duck from heston at home?

would be more than interested how it works, should work perfect in a sous vide!

[philie]

hey guys,

i have a small question concerning cooking large numbers of chicken:

i am cooking for a hug crew and want to make sous vide chicken breast salad.

i prefer to cook with frozen chicken breasts due to the price ( is this a problem sous vide? )

also, my greatest concern is:

i need to prepare the food one day in advance, how can i cook the chicken and work with it without creating a threat due to bacteria?

also, is anyone having some advice about cooking times?

just to make it sure: the chicken the next day is supposed to be cold.

thanks in advance for you infos!

[paulpegg]

hey guys,

i have a small question concerning cooking large numbers of chicken:

i am cooking for a hug crew and want to make sous vide chicken breast salad.

i prefer to cook with frozen chicken breasts due to the price ( is this a problem sous vide? )

also, my greatest concern is:

i need to prepare the food one day in advance, how can i cook the chicken and work with it without creating a threat due to bacteria?

also, is anyone having some advice about cooking times?

just to make it sure: the chicken the next day is supposed to be cold.

thanks in advance for you infos!

I suggest that you separate the breasts, sprinkle them with salt & pepper plus whatever other seasoning you wish to use and put 4 to 6 in a single layer in each bag while still frozen. Put them in a 63.8C (147F) bath for 4 hours. Remove the bags and put them in a prepared ice bath for an hour to chill them down and refrigerate overnight. you will not have any bacterial action and your chicken will be ready for finishing the salad in the morning. You can sear them for a minute on each side in the morning for a little extra flavor if you wish.

[philie]

great!

thank you very much for the advice!

will follow it precisely!

one more question: if i had the idea of brining or marinating the chicken it would not work if they are still frozen right?

thanks!

[paulpegg]

great!

thank you very much for the advice!

will follow it precisely!

one more question: if i had the idea of brining or marinating the chicken it would not work if they are still frozen right?

thanks!

You answered your own question. I would hold off on marinating chicken until you have a good grasp of what you get with just salt, pepper and whatever other seasonings you put on the surface. I personally don't find that brining or marinating chicken breast does much for them.

Edited September 23, 2012 by paulpegg (log)

[ChrisTaylor]

Not sous vide but I am using my PID controller and slow cooker: pork picadillo set to simmer at 94C. I put the probe inside an unsealed zip lock bag.

[pep.]

I think you are going to have to place them in increasingly concentrated sucrose solutions.

I don't think that's actually necessary, as long as there is enough sugar to reach the desired concentration for the total amount of liquid (initial syrup and nuts). It should be similar to equilibrium brining.

However, packing the nuts into jars will probably leave too little space for the syrup. Probably better to pack everything in a bag and fill the glass jars after the candying is done.

The question is, what should be the final sugar concentration in the nuts?

Most candied fruit are around 65 Brix.

To follow up on the candying nuts in the sous-vide bag, I've had mixed results. I packed the nuts with a syrup that had 65 percent sugar for the amount of nuts + water combined. I let the syrup cool to room temperature before vacuum packing.

I cooked the nuts for approximately 10 hours at 85 °C, then let them cool and put the bag into the fridge for a week or two. After that time, I compared them to the traditionally candied nuts from last years harvest. The dimpled (top-most) nut is the sous-vide one:

Inside they look pretty much the same (the sous-vide nut is on the bottom here):

Tastewise, the sous-vide nuts are not very interesting at the moment. However, I think I'll have to compare them again in a few months - some time to mature might help in that department.

The biggest surprise was what happened to my sous-vide bath. While I've long known that certain flavor compounds may leach through the bags, this is the first time I've seen an actual color leach. The bag was NOT damaged!

Edit: The whole writeup for the experiment can be found on my blog if you read German.

Edited September 25, 2012 by pep. (log)

[Todd in Chicago]

Folks....

This may seem silly, but has anyone done au gratin potato sousvide? I don't know.......I have "visions" of frozen pouches of au gratin servings for two in which I simply pop 'em in my SVS for 30 mins to warm and spoon them into two ramekins and finsih under the broiler for 3 mins....is that nuts? I really didn't find any info on sousvide scalloped or au gratin potatoes.

Interested in thoughts....

Cheers...

Todd in Chicago

[ChrisTaylor]

I decided to try cooking (farmed) pheasant sous vide. I guess I was lucky in that most of the recipes I found online were essentially the same. Either this reflects how incestuous the internet is, particularly when it comes to cooking blogs, or it suggests that multiple people in multiple places all arrived at pretty much the same place after experiments and/or happy accidents.

The breasts were bagged with a little bit of truffled salt, some black pepper and some olive oil. 30 minutes at 62C then chilled and seared. The legs were cooked at 75C for 5 hours with a 'fair bit' of olive oil in the bag. I guess I was shooting for a confit-like texture, although the goal was hazy. I didn't cure the legs like most pheasant confit recipes called for, though. The random off-cuts such as the neck (I gave the head to one of the cats) and wings, as well as the main body of the carcass, were given a short roast (20 minutes, 190C) and then bagged with a little bit of water. I also cooked these at 75C for 5 hours. The intent was to make a simple pan sauce. A sous vide gravy, if you will. What surprised me, opening the bag several hours later, was that there was very little liquid. Very little. If you tried to reduce it, which was my original plan, you'd end up with a dry pan. The pheasant was served with roasted vegetables (beetroot, sweet potato, carrot, onion and Jerusalem artichokes).

Thoughts:

• The skin on the breasts probably didn't crisp up enough. Next time I think I'd remove it, whether or not I intended to crisp it up some other way (deep-frying, et al). Was happy with the texture of the flesh, tho'.
  
• The legs were a little dry. Not overly so. But maybe needed a little more oil. Or, say, duck fat or lard. Either/or would be better than the ev olive oil I used.
  
• Instead of trying to make a 'pan' sauce in a bag I think I'd throw the pheasant carcass, along with some chicken wings, in the pressure cooker, make a stock and then reduce that. Maybe throw in a little white wine. Granted, the sauce did have a nice flavour to it. Too, if you happened to have an ice cube or two of frozen chicken (or, say, actual pheasant) stock on hand, you could throw that in the bag in place of water. Possibilities.
  

[Toufas]

Guys I still can't find a proper recipe for medium to medium rare tough cuts of animals. For example medium lamb shoulder, short ribs, pork etc.

[ChrisTaylor]

Short ribs. 56C for 48 hours. Altho' a friend tells me I need to try 54C/72 hours.

[PedroG]

Guys I still can't find a proper recipe for medium to medium rare tough cuts of animals. For example medium lamb shoulder, short ribs, pork etc.

See the sous vide index and the sous vide page in wikiGullet.

In my experience 55-56°C / 48h is fine for most tough cuts like brisket or short ribs.

[Toufas]

Thank you both.

I have a mangalitsa shoulder in my freezer and I would like to give it a try and treat it like a steak.

[m61376]

I like 140 degrees (60C) for 48 hours for short ribs- absolutely remarkable! Great just marinated or pre-smoked if you have a smoker, and then a quick sear afterwards.

If you are using a marinade and zip locks (wish I had room for a chamber sealer) I'd rec. rebagging the zip loc using a vacuum sealer because with the long cooks I find that a bag or two tends to seep a little into the outer bag.

Like to hear others' opinions on medium lamb shoulder....

[rotuts]

Today's SV: boneless chicken breast stuffed with cooked mushrooms/mortadella/quality salami/swiss cheese. Seasoned with Sauer's Prime Rib Rub ( a local favorite ):

CkBr tied, not yet seasoned

CkBr seasoned,bagged, labeled

Packets in water bath, 'beer cooler' sealed with tape

Cozy Blankets on top (this cooler's top never got filled with foam ...)

tested last night: 3 hrs at 140 seem fine. I brown the ones I use, the rest get rapid chill and refrig or froven, make gravy (tonight from Minor's base mix... much tweaked. Mash Potatoes, something green ..

top L of first photo is Cat's dinner. He prefers chicken crudo. thats the trimmings from all the ck breast.

I love doing things like this. plenty to heat up later!

[Todd in Chicago]

Today's SV: boneless chicken breast stuffed with cooked mushrooms/mortadella/quality salami/swiss cheese. Seasoned with Sauer's Prime Rib Rub ( a local favorite ):

CkBr tied, not yet seasoned

CkBr seasoned,bagged, labeled

Packets in water bath, 'beer cooler' sealed with tape

Cozy Blankets on top (this cooler's top never got filled with foam ...)

tested last night: 3 hrs at 140 seem fine. I brown the ones I use, the rest get rapid chill and refrig or froven, make gravy (tonight from Minor's base mix... much tweaked. Mash Potatoes, something green ..

top L of first photo is Cat's dinner. He prefers chicken crudo. thats the trimmings from all the ck breast.

I love doing things like this. plenty to heat up later!

Looks great....I never tried stuff chix in the SV, I'll have to give it a whirl.

I do eschew your priciple of "making things in bulk". That's exactly my MO; I just love a fully stocked freezer of perfect meals ready-to-go!

Todd in Chicago

[rotuts]

I can't quite make out your statement: you do make in bulk or you dont. My freezer is a tasty place after I re-heat.

I didnt take a pic of the plate: I was too hungry.

I did crank up the system to 144. the chicken was much better: more tender and the little bit of jus went on the potatoes.

does chopped green onions on everything count as 'greens? thats what I had

in the future for me: white meat ck and turks: 144. 3 hours.

Edited September 30, 2012 by rotuts (log)

[Todd in Chicago]

I can't quite make out your statement: you do make in bulk or you dont. My freezer is a tasty place after I re-heat.

I didnt take a pic of the plate: I was too hungry.

I did crank up the system to 144. the chicken was much better: more tender and the little bit of jus went on the potatoes.

does chopped green onions on everything count as 'greens? thats what I had

in the future for me: white meat ck and turks: 144. 3 hours.

Doh! unning between my computer and watching the Ryder Cup on tv! Sorry, I have NO IDEA WHATSEVER why I used "eschew"!

Yes, I almost always make things in bulk, usually end up freezing most, if not all, for a later time. I just love being able to come home from work, plop a few bags from the freezer into my rig, pour a glass of wine, and in about 30 mins or so finish up the items for serving. That is one of the coolest things (IMHO) about sousvide and freezing for later; the ability to re-heat and serve perfect food consistantly, in my household we eat mostly sousvide prepared items.

I will have to try those stuff chicken breasts though - sound great!

Cheers...

Todd in Chicago