Sous Vide: Recipes, Techniques & Equipment, 2012

[rotuts]

use 144. you could stuff then with anything: I have two 22 lbs turkeys Ill 'process' soon: Ill stuff the breast with home made stuffing (cooked) in individual bags or bags for two.

the options are endless.

as you said: its the glass of wine in the middle of the week while the 'bulk' of your meal heats up that matters!

[Todd in Chicago]

use 144. you could stuff then with anything: I have two 22 lbs turkeys Ill 'process' soon: Ill stuff the breast with home made stuffing (cooked) in individual bags or bags for two.

the options are endless.

as you said: its the glass of wine in the middle of the week while the 'bulk' of your meal heats up that matters!

Rotuts....

Why do you think 144 made the chicken more juicy? I normally cook breasts at 140 myself.

Also, I always wonder about "stuffed" things with cheese. I always just figured the cheese would completely liquify and disappear into "nothing". How did that work out?

Thanks...

Todd in Chicago

[ChrisTaylor]

Rump 'roast'--as in a ~800g piece--for ~30 hours at 55c. Not a huge fan of the texture. It's too soft. I like the chew of rump.

[rotuts]

cant tell you why I prefered 144 over 140. the first test was at 140. the ckicken itself was a bit tough and a bit dry. Id never go back to a restaurant that served ck that way. so in doing the big batch after the first hour I thought Id learn something so for the last two it was 144: the chicken was more tender, and jucier, enough that Ill do it this way again.

baldwin says 140 - 145 then suggests 140 for their learner Rx. over 150 B. suggests the fibers contract and moisture is lost.

it would be well worth trying the higher temps for a small trial.

I did the stuffed items once w turkey breast; the cheese does melt but the bag keeps it all inside the Ck (mostly) there is a little cheese around the ck sometimes. but reheated its 99 % still in the bag.

I used to do stuffed beef w cheeze/italian cold cuts and braise it for a few hours: cheese was in the 'jus'

next time beef goes on sale Ill do the braciola type in the bag.

[rotuts]

a further thought on those CkBr SV: I did not brine the breast first, as Im trying to cut down on exogenous sodium. but I might try a 'lite' brine with some flavor added in sometime and see if they are jucier.

[ChrisTaylor]

Interesting. I had that very reaction to turkey breast at 140F. Will revisit turkey at a higher temperature now.

[PedroG]

A rationale for cooking poultry at 62-63°C rather than 60°C may be that at 60°C pasteurization times (Douglas Baldwin's table 4.1) are longer than heating times (Douglas Baldwin's table 2.2), whereas they are about equal at 62-63°C, keeping SV time as short as possible. My very most succulent chicken breasts were the ones I had injected ("larded") with coconut oil.

[rotuts]

looking back on my notes for turkey br. Id always used 145, at least for a long time. go figure!

this is both 'stuffed' and 'plain seasoned' ie 'roasts'

[Lord_Pall]

We've had some interesting results. Picked up a sidekic a few months ago, loving it so far. Paired with a foodsaver which use most of the time, or a i just do the water evac sealing thing with ziploc.

Big wins -

Modified Chicken tikka - http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/06/chicken-tikka-masala-for-the-grill-recipe.html

We used cut up boneless skinless chicken breasts. Mixed them in the marinade, replaced any garlic with garlic powder/granulated garlic, cooked for ~2-3 hours at 143, then mixed them with the sauce. Bigger chunks work better since that marinade is very salty. Once cooked, I drained the chicken into a sieve, shook off any major excess marinade and dumped it into the sauce. The salt ended up balancing out, moreso if you let it sit in the sauce for a bit. When reheating it, we did it on the stovetop to make sure the chicken didn't get overcooked.

48 hour short ribs (korean style) - http://www.youfedababychili.com/2010/06/09/48-hour-short-rib/

Unbelievable.

Pork Belly - http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/12/the-food-lab-deep-fried-sous-vide-36-hour-all-belly-porchetta.html

We sorta wingled it on the spices, but this was an astonishing result. We were fortunate that it wasn't a very big roast, otherwise my wife and I would've given ourselves pork belly poisoning.

Pork Shoulder (24 hours @175) - http://meandmytorch.com/recipes/sous-vide-pork-shoulder

Woke up with the sidekic sorta smoking since the water level dropped a lot. I use plastic wrap to minimize condensation now. The bacon was good, but the anise was a really amazing addition. I think I might've used some lemon juice instead of the meyer lemons, but this was a big hit.

Sorta Misses -

Fried Chicken Tenders - Tried to adapt the ad-hoc chicken recipe. Cooked the chicken at 140 after brining, double breaded them (buttermilk, breading, 20 minute rest, buttermilk, breading), fry at 375. The breading was gummy (double breading wasn't necessary), and the textures just didn't work. I think a little bit of toughness on the chicken would work better. I could see it being useful for bone-in fried chicken, since that tends to be a crapshoot.

All in all, I'm loving this as a tool. It feels like cheating, but some of these results are really amazing.

[Merkinz]

A quick question for those in the know: If I buy a SVS can I use ANY plastic container? Are there chemical leeching issues? Will any chemicals leeched out of a cheap plastic container penetrate a sous vide vac bag? Could they penetrate an eggshell and consequently an egg cooked in the bath without a bag?

I'm looking at a cheapo plastic tub down here in NZ as I can't seem to source those polycarbonate food containers everyone seems to use... well I found one but they were charging about $140 USD + shipping!

[Paul McMichael]

A beer cooler works for me - I have never had a problem with any tank.

[nickrey]

A quick question for those in the know: If I buy a SVS can I use ANY plastic container? Are there chemical leeching issues? Will any chemicals leeched out of a cheap plastic container penetrate a sous vide vac bag? Could they penetrate an eggshell and consequently an egg cooked in the bath without a bag?

I'm looking at a cheapo plastic tub down here in NZ as I can't seem to source those polycarbonate food containers everyone seems to use... well I found one but they were charging about $140 USD + shipping!

If you're worried, get yourself a stainless steel deep hotel pan. They are readily available at Kitchen supply stores. You should also be able to get a polycarbonate lid that you can cut a hole big enough for the circulator. Not sure if you meant Sous Vide Supreme as this is the Eades self contained cooker.

[Merkinz]

A quick question for those in the know: If I buy a SVS can I use ANY plastic container? Are there chemical leeching issues? Will any chemicals leeched out of a cheap plastic container penetrate a sous vide vac bag? Could they penetrate an eggshell and consequently an egg cooked in the bath without a bag?

I'm looking at a cheapo plastic tub down here in NZ as I can't seem to source those polycarbonate food containers everyone seems to use... well I found one but they were charging about $140 USD + shipping!

If you're worried, get yourself a stainless steel deep hotel pan. They are readily available at Kitchen supply stores. You should also be able to get a polycarbonate lid that you can cut a hole big enough for the circulator. Not sure if you meant Sous Vide Supreme as this is the Eades self contained cooker.

Thanks! I'll have another search. ... and I have no idea why I said SVS ... I meant the Polyscience one!

[m61376]

A quick question for those in the know: If I buy a SVS can I use ANY plastic container? Are there chemical leeching issues? Will any chemicals leeched out of a cheap plastic container penetrate a sous vide vac bag? Could they penetrate an eggshell and consequently an egg cooked in the bath without a bag?

I'm looking at a cheapo plastic tub down here in NZ as I can't seem to source those polycarbonate food containers everyone seems to use... well I found one but they were charging about $140 USD + shipping!

They're cheap in a rest. supply store. Got one free with my purchase from William-Sonoma, but they had the covers at my local Rest. Depot (and hubbbie just dremeled out a rectangle for the circulator- much cheaper than the custom cut cover on the Polyscience website). Also bought a 10 qt/ Lexan pan with handles and a snap on lid, which I use most of the time.

[lesliec]

Try Southern Hospitality, Merkinz. They have all sorts of interesting things.

[Merkinz]

I've tried their website with little luck... I've also tried a few other hospitality supplies websites but my lack of luck with these places made me wonder if I could just go down to Mitre 10 (local hardware store) and buy a 20 - 30 L plastic bin and use that? I know they have them, I know they are cheap and I know they will do the job but I just don't know if they are safe!

I'll have a look in my local Southern Hospitality store... maybe they have things in stock not listed on their website.

[nickrey]

I've tried their website with little luck... I've also tried a few other hospitality supplies websites but my lack of luck with these places made me wonder if I could just go down to Mitre 10 (local hardware store) and buy a 20 - 30 L plastic bin and use that? I know they have them, I know they are cheap and I know they will do the job but I just don't know if they are safe!

I'll have a look in my local Southern Hospitality store... maybe they have things in stock not listed on their website.

Try this one. At 150mm, it should be deep enough for your circulator.

Edited October 4, 2012 by nickrey (log)

[Merkinz]

Thanks nickrey thats a good option and I'll visit my local store to see if they have it in stock and what its like in the flesh.

This still a bit of a side step to my original question: Can I use any container? and what are the hazards with using a $15 plastic container from my local hardware store compared to something like this ($63)? Is there any benifit to the extra expense?

Cheers.

[nickrey]

Only that we know that polycarbonate is food safe and, most importantly, tolerates the temperatures used in sous vide cooking.

If cost is an issue, why not get something that can be used for other purposes, eg a 20 liter stock pot?

[rotuts]

insulated 'beer' cooler has a lot of advantages.

[paulpegg]

insulated 'beer' cooler has a lot of advantages.

Besides being inexpensive, the energy usage is much lower, bath temperature is much more stable, larger capacity affords more flexibility and they usually have wheels which makes them easier to move around. This is especially useful when you need to move the thing in the middle of a 72 hour cook.

[rotuts]

I'd call that poor planning!

[rotuts]

finished CkBr stuffed on the plate: N.B. green onions here count as Veg.

[Merkinz]

Thanks for all the advice everyone... I'm gonna sleep on this one.

rotuts: That looks DELICIOUS!

[m61376]

Has anyone checked out Modernist Cuisine at Home?