Sous Vide: Recipes, Techniques & Equipment, 2012

[Merkinz]

Thanks everyone for the advice! It is incredibly helpful and most appreciated. I'll be sure to use all this advice when cooking, packing, and buying... I can't wait to get my own sealer!

[Ranz]

Ranz: I'm an export from Pretoria so I'll also be happy when you get the RWC back!!!

Nice, a fellow Saffer Hope you got what you needed in terms of answers here..

[Ranz]

... any other suggestions? Note that I don't have a vac sealer but I believe I can get my butcher to vac seal fresh cuts. Thanks.

As you suggested beef short ribs are a great meat that can highlight the capabilities of sous vide cooking. My personal favoritie cut to cook sous vide is pork belly (1 day brine/1 day rest + 72 hours/140 F). It really will yield a melt in your mouth texture no other cooking technique can achieve.

I'll probably be attempting this soon, I've read through the thread and see some people have problems with crisping the skin, what do you do, if you don't mind me asking?

[Merkinz]

... any other suggestions? Note that I don't have a vac sealer but I believe I can get my butcher to vac seal fresh cuts. Thanks.

As you suggested beef short ribs are a great meat that can highlight the capabilities of sous vide cooking. My personal favoritie cut to cook sous vide is pork belly (1 day brine/1 day rest + 72 hours/140 F). It really will yield a melt in your mouth texture no other cooking technique can achieve.

I'll probably be attempting this soon, I've read through the thread and see some people have problems with crisping the skin, what do you do, if you don't mind me asking?

I definitely got the answers ... and then some!

I read a tip about crisping salmon skin in MC the other day. They say to NOT wipe / wash the 'slime' (for lack of a better word) off the salmon skin as this 'slime' contains carbohydrates (if I recall correctly) that crisp up like glass. That might help, but I rarely cook salmon so am not much use otherwise.

[Baselerd]

My personal favoritie cut to cook sous vide is pork belly (1 day brine/1 day rest + 72 hours/140 F). It really will yield a melt in your mouth texture no other cooking technique can achieve.

I'll probably be attempting this soon, I've read through the thread and see some people have problems with crisping the skin, what do you do, if you don't mind me asking?

I've tried quite a few ways of crisping the skin, two options that worked well for me:

Deep Frying

1. Pat the belly dry

2. Toss to coat in corn starch

3. Deep fry at 375F until well browned (2-3 minutes)

4. Drain off excess oil on towel, and pat off excess oil with paper towels.

At this point the meat should be nice and crispy. If you want to really elevate it, here's even more ridiculousness (adapted from Uchi Cookbook):

5. Make a sugar-based reduction (gastrique). My go to glaze is simple: caramelize some sugar, add fish sauce, garlic, onions, ginger, and soy sauce to deglaze. Reduce to a thick syrupy glaze consistency.

6. Brush an even coat of the glaze on the fried belly

7. Throw in the broiler on high for 2-3 minutes, until the glaze is crisp

I promise you will not be dissapointed with this deep fried pork belly - its delicious without a glaze as well.

Pan Searing

1. Pat belly dry

2. Heat a skillet or pan on med-high with some neutral oil for 2 minutes (until just smoking)

3. Throw on the belly skin side down, turn the heat to medium, and weigh the belly down with a heavy weight (I use a large ceramic bread pan). You need to get good even contact between the skin and the pan surface. Any spot not touching will not be crisped.

4. Cook until skin is fully golden and the fat has rendered from the skin (about 3-4 minutes).

Below is a picture of the 2nd method. Even here you can tell the right side of the cut wasn't touching as well as the left. Another note: the liquid exuded from the pork belly in the SV bag is liquid gold - don't dump it! The Momofuku cookbook reccomends using it for ramen broth. I've used it as a base for pork jus and it works wonders.

Edited November 20, 2012 by Baselerd (log)

[rotuts]

you talked me into your method for the two pork bellies I recently have from Chinatown.

about the brine: Ive chosen to limit my exogenous sodium intake, for no other reason than why not now?

how do you think the bellies my be with/out the brine? since I don't have a lot, and don't need to eat a ton at a time,

Im willing to do it.

many thanks!

[Merkinz]

Ooops, I don't know why I was thinking of salmon skin when you were talking about pork skin

[Baselerd]

you talked me into your method for the two pork bellies I recently have from Chinatown.

about the brine: Ive chosen to limit my exogenous sodium intake, for no other reason than why not now?

how do you think the bellies my be with/out the brine? since I don't have a lot, and don't need to eat a ton at a time,

Im willing to do it.

many thanks!

To be honest I've never made pork belly without the brine. My guess would be that it will be less flavorful and less juicy/succulent, since those are the reasons we brine meat.

[KennethT]

I've done pork belly without brine and it still came out amazing. I did 158F for 36 hours (I think ScottyBoy did this a long time ago, and it looked great) - meat went into the bag completely unseasoned, skin on. I did it cook/chill - then wound up keeping in the fridge for a week or so... When getting ready for service, I cut into pieces, took the skin off, seasoned with salt, then fat side down on a medium-high cast iron griddle until nice and golden, then flipped just until heated through (not long). Both the meat and fat were so silky, juicy and porky, it was ridiculous. Served with a chorizo puree (chorizo broth turned into a agar/xanthan fluid gel) so barely salting the belly was fine since the puree had plenty of flavor/salt already.

[Ranz]

@Merkinz - Haha, you had me confused for a moment there..

@Baselerd - Thanks a bunch, will be pan searing it. Both your food and photography look amazing Will try the brine method since I'm in no rush.

[philie]

hey,

i once again have a small question.

i want to sou vide a whole suckling pig, 18kg ( 36 pounds) in weight.

i thought i would make it like heston bluenthal did: 24 - 36 hours at 61 degrees celsius.

my question is: he is roasting the pig afterwards to five it a nice crust. how long should it be roasted and would it be ok to put the sous video pig direcly on a rotissery without the process of cooling it down if it is eaten direclty after the rotissery process?

thanks in advance!

anyone a suggestion about a product this big?

thanks!

[Baselerd]

hey,

i once again have a small question.

i want to sou vide a whole suckling pig, 18kg ( 36 pounds) in weight.

i thought i would make it like heston bluenthal did: 24 - 36 hours at 61 degrees celsius.

my question is: he is roasting the pig afterwards to five it a nice crust. how long should it be roasted and would it be ok to put the sous video pig direcly on a rotissery without the process of cooling it down if it is eaten direclty after the rotissery process?

thanks in advance!

anyone a suggestion about a product this big?

thanks!

Both Keller's Under Pressure and Humm's Eleven Madison Park Cookbook have sections on suckling pig sous vide. They both recommend breaking it down a bit and individually cooking the various sections at different temperature/time combinations, which makes sense because each type of tissue has different characteristics which lends itself to different cooking conditions. Obviously a lot more work though...

[philie]

hey,

actually i own the under pressure book.

problem is: this is a meal for an event so it is crucial that the piggy is in one piece.

i have seen the rather catchy video of heston blumenthal sous viding a whole pig in a hot tub but would be very interested if someone has done something similar or could post sone infos, especially concerning food safety.

thanks a lot!

[paulpegg]

Why bother with sous vide on such a tender piece of meat. Especially since you want to keep it whole. Vacuum bagging an entire carcass is probably impossible since so much air will remain in the cavity. you will need a cement block to keep it submerged and the heat transfer will not be uniform. Look up Emeril's Roast Suckling Pig. This is a great recipe and you can either roast it in the oven or put it on the rotisserie. This is not the place to fool around with sous vide IMHO.

[TdeV]

I've just purchased a 6.6 lb pork picnic roast which has been brining in salt+liquid-smoke (derivation of Douglas Baldwin's recipe) for a few days.

I see no mention in eGullet forums of sous vide with bone-in meat and in his book Douglas Baldwin said many things about the maximum thickness of meat.

Can I safely sous vide this cut?

TIA.

Edited November 22, 2012 by heidih (log)

[paulpegg]

I've just purchased a 6.6 lb pork picnic roast which has been brining in salt+liquid-smoke (derivation of Douglas Baldwin's recipe) for a few days.

I see no mention in eGullet forums of sous vide with bone-in meat and in his book Douglas Baldwin said many things about the maximum thickness of meat.

Can I safely sous vide this cut?

TIA.

P.S. Aside: I do not seem to be able to use the Advanced Search on these forums—where can I find out more about how it works?

You can safely cook this piece of meat. I usually do it with boneless picnic pork but the bone should not be a problem. Cover the exposed end(s) with some folded paper towels to avoid puncturing the bag. . Recommended times are up to 3 days at 55C. At that point the meat is throughly cooked. Read this thread for more info.

PS: I found that link in the Advanced search page. You have to be signed in for it to work. I don't know if there are any other constraints.

Paul

[mmartine]

hey,

i once again have a small question.

i want to sou vide a whole suckling pig, 18kg ( 36 pounds) in weight.

i thought i would make it like heston bluenthal did: 24 - 36 hours at 61 degrees celsius.

my question is: he is roasting the pig afterwards to five it a nice crust. how long should it be roasted and would it be ok to put the sous video pig direcly on a rotissery without the process of cooling it down if it is eaten direclty after the rotissery process?

thanks in advance!

Hi! I posted a while ago on the SV suckling pig - you can see it here:

I made it again just last week and I made a few changes:

After the SV and drying it with a paper towel, I put it in the oven on about 200 degrees C, with the fan running. I found that it dried the skin faster without cooking the meat any further. I took it out and crisped the skin some more with a blowtorch. It was in the oven for 5 minutes or so. It was extremely moist and tender, even more than the last time. Also, I split the whole pig into 8 parts of 2-2.5 kg and brined them in a 5% salt water for about 12-14 hrs before vacuum packing.

P.S. Don't throw away the juices from the bag, it's perfect for potatoes in the oven, or you can vacuum pack them with potatoes and cook sous vide.

[mmartine]

hey,

actually i own the under pressure book.

problem is: this is a meal for an event so it is crucial that the piggy is in one piece.

i have seen the rather catchy video of heston blumenthal sous viding a whole pig in a hot tub but would be very interested if someone has done something similar or could post sone infos, especially concerning food safety.

thanks a lot!

I have an out of the box idea on how you could make the whole pig (using a bathtub or a very large container):

The way I see it, the biggest problem it the pigs cavity which would contain air and would cause the bag to float and cook unevenly. You could you put water in a large SV bag or a few bags, seal them and put inside the pig's cavity. Then put the whole pig into the largest SV bag (you can buy a roll and make it yourself) and vacuum pack it. That way, there would be no air inside the pig and the water in the bag would transfer heat to the meat evenly.

I think that would work and the only problem I can see is a potential rupture of the bag(bones etc.) but you could always go double on all the vacuum bags.

That's all considering that you have the equipment capable of heating and circulating that much water.

Hope it helps, I might even try it myself

P.S. Instead of vacuum packing water, you could just vacuum pack ice or even a large ice block)

[PedroG]

Instead of filling the pig's cavity with water, why not fill it with sausages like Heston Blumenthal's Trojan hog?

BTW there are large plastic bags for storing and compressing e.g. textiles, which have a valve and can be evacuated with a vacuum-cleaner.

[mmartine]

Instead of filling the pig's cavity with water, why not fill it with sausages like Heston Blumenthal's Trojan hog?

BTW there are large plastic bags for storing and compressing e.g. textiles, which have a valve and can be evacuated with a vacuum-cleaner.

That's actualy an excellent idea though the cooking time should adjusted

[PedroG]

Instead of filling the pig's cavity with water, why not fill it with sausages like Heston Blumenthal's Trojan hog?

BTW there are large plastic bags for storing and compressing e.g. textiles, which have a valve and can be evacuated with a vacuum-cleaner.

That's actualy an excellent idea though the cooking time should adjusted

Heat the sausages to 75°C before filling into the cavity!

[Merkinz]

Well the butcher didn't use very good vac bags and more than half of them failed in the freezer! so I kinda went into panic mode and bought a foodsaver ... thanks to a short term loan from a friend

Anyway this is whats going on here right now. 1 Test rib, 62°C ( MCAH's Temp) for 48 hours. It just went in. I padded the sharp end of the bone with some plastic wrap and double bagged it (with a butterknife as a weight (no idea if it'll float or sink)...

Also I'm using a beer cooler that is quite tall so the SV sits very high. I didn't think this would be too much of an issue since it is circulated and insulated (and only 20 - 25L). Just to be sure I put a cake rack in there to prop it up from the bottom a little.

Now we play the waiting game ...

[nickrey]

You will get some evaporation, I'd keep an eye on your water levels with the unit sitting that high to make sure the unit doesn't cut out.

[Ranz]

How long cooking at 62C does it take for the knife to get tender?

[rotuts]

eventually you will get a collection of these beer coolers. Different sizes for different projects. at some point fill the non-insulated tops with NON-expandable canned foam. just drill a few small holes around the top at its side that fit the filling (small) tube, from the can. and fill and cure. make sure there is no spill-over on the edges and you can put the lids back on the coolers so they will fit perfectly after the cure. the spill-over will stick to the bottom! wait until you get your collection as these cans are one use only!

after they cure, cut out a form on each top that closely fits the SV heating element. place that on top for longer SV's Use plastic packing tape to seal completely. this is easier than described!

on shorter SV's, if you dont want to use a top, use cling-wrap. if you plan to keep the SV frozen for any length of time, find bags at least 3.5 mm thick, and you wont get freezer burn

you are on your way!

I very much look forward to your future projects!

Edited November 22, 2012 by rotuts (log)