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Work-friendly sous vide dishes (8, 16 or 24 hour-long preps)


Marius

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Recently I've come to a point where I'm having trouble coming up with good ideas for SV-cooking that aligns with my work schedule, resulting in very late dinners*.

Of course there is the cook-chill route, but I find that quite a hassle, and adding unecessary steps to my cooking. Although, I absolutely enjoy cooking, and I'm not looking for simple recipes to speed up my days. I'm simply searching for some new, schedule friendly recipes to refresh my dinner game.

So - to the point at hand - has anybody got any recipes they would like to recommend that fits in with 8-hour cooking times (in the water while I'm at work), 16-hour (before i go to bed) or maybe 24-hour ones (just swap the bag for todays dinner with one for tomorrow).

Any input is greatly appreciated!

Marius

* Here in Norway, it's customary to eat dinner straigth after work

(If my English should be sub-par, corrections are welcome as I will be taking a class later this year and want to brush up before that)

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the cook-chill route has the advantage of perfect rewarming. You use that time for making the rest of your meal 'Fresh'

I do SV in quantity for these reasons. i like to thinks its the above, but it might be more of the below :huh:

excellent opportunity to "pull a cork" while you are at it.

:wink:

Edited by rotuts (log)
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I am in the exact same situation as you - I love cooking nice food but have to plan it around my work schedule. I know you say you don't want to, but the cook-chill method is amazing for this purpose.

Example: I will seal a large batch of pork belly in multiple bags (one bag for each night), cook for 72 hours @ 140 F, chill, and store in the fridge. Instead of using an proper ice bath, I've started using my ice cream maker's freezer bowl, it's much less hassle than using an ice bath. If I leave my water bath on during the day, I get home and all I have to do is place a single bag in the water bath to reheat, and then sear on the stove top. This approach is not only extremely convenient, but every night's leftovers are of very high quality.

If you still don't want to use the cook-chill method, one recipe (brine based off the momofuku cookbook) I've always come back to that has convenient timing is:

Sous vide confit chicken thigh (skin on):

-Trim chicken and debone

-Brine the chicken 1-5 hours in 4 cups water, .5 cup salt, .5 cup sugar, and any other seasonings you want (scale the brine if you have more chicken, I've always tried for a 1:1 ratio of brine to meat by weight)

-Rinse off, seal in bag with fat/oil of your choice (rendered bacon fat or duck fat is great) and let it sit in the fridge overnight (only for convenience). Its also good to throw in fresh herbs, spices, or bacon.

-Before you go to work in the morning, drop the bags in the water bath for 8 hours @ 140-150 F.

-When you get home, simply sear the chicken thighs, skin side down until crispy (3 minutes or so)

-This also is a good temperature range for soft-boiled eggs, alot of the time I'll drop an egg in the bath with the chicken for 45 minutes to have chicken and eggs, with rice or some veggies.

-Cold smoking the chicken prior to bagging (ala Momofuku cookbook) makes it even more delicious, although definitely more labor intensive

Edited by Baselerd (log)
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I do blade steaks (chuck in the US) for 18 hours at 54.5º C.

Pork ribs 8 hours at 80º C would work.

Corned beef - 80º C for 16 to 18 hours.

Boneless lamb shoulder 65º C for 24 hours.

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Marius, don't be concerned about your English. It's beautiful, with a nice grasp of idiom ('route', 'hassle', 'refresh my ... game').

Don't rule out 36 hour times - put it in at breakfast time on Day 1, eat it for dinner on Day 2. My favourite in that sort of time range is beef cheeks; 70°C for (theoretically) 30 hours, but I'm sure they wouldn't mind 36. There are some good discussions of cheeks on eG.

Leslie Craven, aka "lesliec"
Host, eG Forumslcraven@egstaff.org

After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one's own relatives ~ Oscar Wilde

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I do flank steak for 16hrs at 131 and it's perfect. Tender but not mushy.

Thanks, that cut is still untested by me, so I'll put it on my list!

the cook-chill route has the advantage of perfect rewarming. You use that time for making the rest of your meal 'Fresh'

I do SV in quantity for these reasons. i like to thinks its the above, but it might be more of the below :huh:

excellent opportunity to "pull a cork" while you are at it.

:wink:

I'm not completely clears as to what you mean by perfect rewarming (whats imperfect rewarming?). For me, I just find the whole process of chilling in iced baths and then maybe freezing the bags afterwards a bit time consuming for everyday dinners. Although I tend to make chicken breasts in batches like this, since I eat a lot of them.

I try to keep my cork-pulling limited during the week, but I see your point ;-)

Added!

I am in the exact same situation as you - I love cooking nice food but have to plan it around my work schedule. I know you say you don't want to, but the cook-chill method is amazing for this purpose.

Example: I will seal a large batch of pork belly in multiple bags (one bag for each night), cook for 72 hours @ 140 F, chill, and store in the fridge. Instead of using an proper ice bath, I've started using my ice cream maker's freezer bowl, it's much less hassle than using an ice bath. If I leave my water bath on during the day, I get home and all I have to do is place a single bag in the water bath to reheat, and then sear on the stove top. This approach is not only extremely convenient, but every night's leftovers are of very high quality.

If you still don't want to use the cook-chill method, one recipe (brine based off the momofuku cookbook) I've always come back to that has convenient timing is:

Sous vide confit chicken thigh (skin on):

-Trim chicken and debone

-Brine the chicken 1-5 hours in 4 cups water, .5 cup salt, .5 cup sugar, and any other seasonings you want (scale the brine if you have more chicken, I've always tried for a 1:1 ratio of brine to meat by weight)

-Rinse off, seal in bag with fat/oil of your choice (rendered bacon fat or duck fat is great) and let it sit in the fridge overnight (only for convenience). Its also good to throw in fresh herbs, spices, or bacon.

-Before you go to work in the morning, drop the bags in the water bath for 8 hours @ 140-150 F.

-When you get home, simply sear the chicken thighs, skin side down until crispy (3 minutes or so)

-This also is a good temperature range for soft-boiled eggs, alot of the time I'll drop an egg in the bath with the chicken for 45 minutes to have chicken and eggs, with rice or some veggies.

-Cold smoking the chicken prior to bagging (ala Momofuku cookbook) makes it even more delicious, although definitely more labor intensive

Thanks, I can see that you understand my beef (pun intended) with cook-chilling. Ill definetly try this recipe soon.

It's funny that several of you mention pork belly, as I have one swimming around in a baggie right now. It's been in for 35h@63,5C and will be consumed within the hour. This one is marinated in ginger and soy, and will be glazed in a similar style glaze before consumption.

Change jobs. Outrageous that work interferes with cooking.

I'm a student during the rest of the year, so I'm sort of doing just that. ;-)

I do blade steaks (chuck in the US) for 18 hours at 54.5º C.

Pork ribs 8 hours at 80º C would work.

Corned beef - 80º C for 16 to 18 hours.

Boneless lamb shoulder 65º C for 24 hours.

Thanks alot!

Marius, don't be concerned about your English. It's beautiful, with a nice grasp of idiom ('route', 'hassle', 'refresh my ... game').

Don't rule out 36 hour times - put it in at breakfast time on Day 1, eat it for dinner on Day 2. My favourite in that sort of time range is beef cheeks; 70°C for (theoretically) 30 hours, but I'm sure they wouldn't mind 36. There are some good discussions of cheeks on eG.

Thank you for the kind words, and input!

Someone in here said something about Octopus being sublime.. with a 5-6 hr SV. I think you can do a search for a recipe.

Paul

I suspect that's gonna be hard to come by around here, but I had some in Croatia last summer and it was sublime.

BTW there are a lot of 6 hr Rx that work well: chicken breast, turkey breast tender beef ...

Chicken breast for that long? I usually give them around 2 hours. If I put them in the water straight from the freezer, at a temp like 62C do you suppose they will keep from turning into complete mush?

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Duck confit. Cure overnight in salt, with added garlic, bay leaf, thyme, and peppercorns. Rinse off, bag with a bit of duck fat. Cook for 8 hours at 80C.

This.

Hugely versatile, too. Of course, so are short ribs. I tend not to marinate my short ribs, despite starting (like most people, I guess) with David Chang's recipe in the Momofuku cookbook. But short ribs cooked nude can be worked into numerous applications. I've become fond of cranking the heat on my smoker and parking them in there for 20 minutes (starting with a chilled piece of meat, of course).

Consider also leg of lamb and pork belly. There's also something to be said for fatty fish such as salmon, given the cook time is under the full hour and therefore doable on a weeknight.

Chris Taylor

Host, eG Forums - ctaylor@egstaff.org

 

I've never met an animal I didn't enjoy with salt and pepper.

Melbourne
Harare, Victoria Falls and some places in between

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For salmon or other fish fillets there is a short way: ∆-T cooking, using a table Douglas Baldwin sent me last year:

Cooking times from 5 °C to 45 °C.jpg

Get the bath preheated using a timer, use e.g. 25mm thick fish fillets that are ready in 35 minutes, the time needed to prepare and eat a salad before the fish, or to prepare some side dish(es).

Cooking times from 5 °C to 45 °C in a 49°C water bath.pdf

Peter F. Gruber aka Pedro

eG Ethics Signatory

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Many tough cuts are typically cooked 55°C/48h, e.g. short ribs or brisket. Do the 48h cooking for several bags, one will be prepared subsequently, the others chilled. Reheating may be just sear, cut into cubes or strips and heat in a sauce like my Brisket „Stroganoff“ Sous Vide With Mixed Mushrooms.

Another work-friendly one is duck breast, incise the fat in a cross-hatched way, cook 8h/58°C, dab dry, sear in a dry pan, fat side first until there is enough liquid fat to sear the other side; save the liquid duck fat for later cookings, it gives a great taste.

Peter F. Gruber aka Pedro

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  • 2 weeks later...

Recently I've come to a point where I'm having trouble coming up with good ideas for SV-cooking that aligns with my work schedule, resulting in very late dinners*.

Of course there is the cook-chill route, but I find that quite a hassle, and adding unecessary steps to my cooking. Although, I absolutely enjoy cooking, and I'm not looking for simple recipes to speed up my days. I'm simply searching for some new, schedule friendly recipes to refresh my dinner game.

So - to the point at hand - has anybody got any recipes they would like to recommend that fits in with 8-hour cooking times (in the water while I'm at work), 16-hour (before i go to bed) or maybe 24-hour ones (just swap the bag for todays dinner with one for tomorrow).

Any input is greatly appreciated!

Marius

* Here in Norway, it's customary to eat dinner straigth after work

(If my English should be sub-par, corrections are welcome as I will be taking a class later this year and want to brush up before that)

I'm working from home these days, but I well remember the problem.

I like chuck steak at 55C for 24 hours hours or a little less. Great flavor, and the timing works well. Also brisket or short ribs for 72 hours at 55C, although many people recommend a higher temperature.

Beyond that I would recommend some tests on your sous vide apparatus. Try fillng the bath completely with ice from your freezer, and see how long it takes to thaw to 5C. Assuming it takes three to four hours, and that you are going to cook a steak that will withstand anywhere from 2 to 6 hours, you could plug your circulator into a timer and let it start unattended. This assumes that it will remember your desired temperature, and doesn't require you to push any buttons.

If the ice melts too fast for you, you could try getting the ice even colder than your freezer will permit, by adding some dry ice to the mix.

And that reminds me of my trick for rapid chilling. My freezer gets a lot clolder than my ice maker, so I keep a couple of 1.5 liter bottles of cheap vodka in the freezer, then pour it into the pan. Then I put that on top of my AntiGriddle, which chills down to about -20C, before adding the food to be chilled, still in the sous vide bag. Other than buying dry ice, or dragging out the Dewer of liquid nitrogen, that's the fastest way I know of chilling everything as qickly as possible, assuming you don't have a commercial blast freezer.

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How long are you willing to spend cooking before eating? You can do most lean meat or chicken in about 20 min if you keep it thin enough and are going to eat it right away so you don't need to pasteurize it. So the meat will be ready in the time it takes to make the salad and vegetables if it is pre-bagged. Another way to look at it is that it won't take any longer than reheating chilled bags.

I guess I'm a bit of a rebel because when I'm cooking for myself I don't worry about cooling in an ice bath for relatively small volume bags (all that fits in my current setup). I cool in a pot of cold tap water and then put it in the fridge or freezer. I mean, that's more care than I take with most leftovers.

If something really needs an odd amount of time > 8 hours, you can always cook to pasteurized time one day then finish the day you want to eat. But I expect most long cooks are pretty forgiving of a few hours each way.

It's almost never bad to feed someone.

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