What Are You Cooking Sous Vide Today? (Part 1)

[KennethT]

chicken thighs at 160F for 20 hours? What type of texture is this to achieve? I usually do thighs at 150 for 4-5 hours at the most for a tender juicy thigh. Are you looking for more of a confit texture?

[Okanagancook]

Two circulators, ok, now I'm totally jealous

Oh, sweetie........."I know what I want for Christmas this year!"

Hope you like the oxtail.

[scubadoo97]

chicken thighs at 160F for 20 hours? What type of texture is this to achieve? I usually do thighs at 150 for 4-5 hours at the most for a tender juicy thigh. Are you looking for more of a confit texture?

Yes. I expect to finish these in a confit fashion. I recently did leg quarters like this and they came out really well. The 20 hrs is somewhat arbitrary. Has more to do with my time frame of when I can get home from work to chill them down. I was thinking I most likely will pull them before going to work which puts them close to 15 hrs or at lunch time.

[weedy]

when you say 'confit fashion' though, you're not cooking them in fat of some sort in the bag, or are you?

[scubadoo97]

They were cooked with a fair amount of chicken fat and butter in the bag and I expect to crisp them up in a good dose of oil in the oven

[JoNorvelleWalker]

This is more "What are you reheating sous vide today".  Last night I had a delightful Greek restaurant meal.  My main dish was braised lamb shank with orzo.  Unfortunately, as my mother used to say, my eyes were bigger than my tummy.  By the time the lamb came I was full.

 

I'm thinking the best way to reheat the lamb is sous vide, but I don't want to turn the orzo to mush.  What would be a good temperature setting for getting the lamb to serving temperature while maintaining the texture of the orzo?

[gfweb]

I think the orzo could take the 135F or so it would take to reheat the lamb. Starch gelatinizes at >60C, so you have plenty of room before degrading the orzo...assuming that nothing more is involved in mush-ifying the pasta than temp.

[rotuts]

sprinkle or spray a little water on the pasta re bag.

 

its lost some cooling down as has the meat.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Thanks.  I threw a few small cubes of ice in the bag before sealing.  I'm currently anoving the leftover braise at 59 deg C.  I was looking forward to my meal until I consulted Baldwin.  The lamb shank will require at least four hours to heat up.  Yes, I measured.  (OK, maybe it's a sheep shank? -- anyhow, it's a lot of meat.)

 

Good thing I don't mind a fashionably late dinner.

[gfweb]

 

Good thing I don't mind a fashionably late dinner.

 

I've noticed that you are a night-poster. The Dr John of eG.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I often eat around midnight, however tonight will be late even for me.  Assuming I'm still standing.  If I'd realized ahead of time how long the lamb/sheep would take to reheat sous vide I could have put it on earlier.  At least I have plenty of Laird's...even though my restock of orgeat won't arrive until tomorrow.

 

My granddaughter agrees, this is our favorite Greek dish.  According to the menu the lamb is braised in a clay pot.  The reason I couldn't finish it at the restaurant was a plate of mussels and a few other things.  Half the portions would have been more than enough for me.

[ChrisTaylor]

Sous vide root vegetables. If I bag and cook them without fat or salt (or any other additive, for that matter), would they be fine if served one day after being cooked? They'll be served cold. Probably. Can I also do this with asparagus? 

[nickrey]

Sous vide root vegetables. If I bag and cook them without fat or salt (or any other additive, for that matter), would they be fine if served one day after being cooked? They'll be served cold. Probably. Can I also do this with asparagus? 

Yes on both counts, as long as they are cooked to your satisfaction prior to chilling.

[scubadoo97]

I picked a shoulder roast at the store the other day. Spent a little time cleaning it up and removing thick tendons and odd small muscle groups

Cooked it at 135 for 24 hrs. Chilled it off and rubbed a slurry of Better Than Bouillon on the surface and hit it with the Searzal then sliced it. Will make nice roast beef sandwiches

[rotuts]

Delicious It Looks !

 

I agree with you : the more concentrated Prep you do

 

the better the outcome.

[scubadoo97]

The surgical site

[rotuts]

Id like to see what your stared off with

 

and then what you removed.

 

just to put  what you did in the Delicious Group !

 

Next Time  Perhaps ?

 

Kudos your way.

[scubadoo97]

Mostly there was one thick tendon separating those two muscles and some tendon and small odd pieces of meat near the side of the roast. With my knife and a pair of forceps I was able to remove that big tendon with little loss of meat. Leaving a crevice but clean roast as a result

[scubadoo97]

I cooked black eyed peas via sous vide last night.

These were frozen peas not dried. I usually cook them in water on the stove. This time I put them in a large zip bag, added a couple cups of water to 2 lbs of peas, a little olive oil, salt and dried oregano and cooked them @ 190 for about 2 1/2 hrs until just soft

The beauty of SV. My wife called while I was cooking them and needed assistance as her car battery had died. Instead of having to turn off the stove I just let them go and walked out. A jump and a new battery latter we arrived home to find the peas were just about done.

I was hoping for some intense increase in flavor but the difference was slight. The big benefit was I wasn't dealing with a big pot of simmering peas on the stove which afforded me a lot more freedom to do other things

Edited December 31, 2014 by scubadoo97 (log)

[ahpadt]

I cured some deboned, halved turkey thighs and drumsticks in salt, whole pepper, coriander seeds and star anise for 8 hours. Then cooked with duck fat at 70c for ~12-13h.

 

Don't know how it'll turn out yet, but the idea is for it to have a kinda braised texture. This is my first time cooking something sous-vide for this long.

[rotuts]

Im keenly interested in how this turns out

 

pics always helpful

 

most Efficionarros ( a new SV word, right there ! ) here suggest not adding salt

 

it then gets a Corned Tasted  ie Corned Beef

 

maybe that's your idea ?

 

thanks for this and please report back.

[Shalmanese]

I cooked black eyed peas via sous vide last night.

These were frozen peas not dried. I usually cook them in water on the stove. This time I put them in a large zip bag, added a couple cups of water to 2 lbs of peas, a little olive oil, salt and dried oregano and cooked them @ 190 for about 2 1/2 hrs until just soft

The beauty of SV. My wife called while I was cooking them and needed assistance as her car battery had died. Instead of having to turn off the stove I just let them go and walked out. A jump and a new battery latter we arrived home to find the peas were just about done.

I was hoping for some intense increase in flavor but the difference was slight. The big benefit was I wasn't dealing with a big pot of simmering peas on the stove which afforded me a lot more freedom to do other things

 

Beans are potentially unsafe cooked sous vide!

Some beans contain a lectin Phytohaemagglutinin which is toxic to humans. PHA is denatured by at least half an hour at boiling but not at sub-boiling temperatures. If you're preparing beans sous vide, make sure to boil them on the stovetop for at least half an hour before cooking sous vide or in the slow cooker. (don't ask me how I know all this).

[tug]

My darling husband surprised me with a Sansaire for Christmas!

 

The inaugural dish will be pork belly, which is happily bathing in hour 10 of 36 at 70°C.  We're having some evaporation issues at the moment.  I'm concerned about the water level dipping too low over night.  I covered the pot with a layer of Saran Wrap as a test.

 

Anyone have any other suggestions or tips?  Thanks!

[nickrey]

Saran wrap or foil should work well. Some people recommend ping pong balls.

[gfweb]

I cured some deboned, halved turkey thighs and drumsticks in salt, whole pepper, coriander seeds and star anise for 8 hours. Then cooked with duck fat at 70c for ~12-13h.

 

Don't know how it'll turn out yet, but the idea is for it to have a kinda braised texture. This is my first time cooking something sous-vide for this long.

 

Sound like duck leg confit, but with turkey. 

 

With duck the texture is firm but not rubbery or corned-tasting.  If I salt beef or pork pre SV I do get a sense of cured meat, but not as blatant as a nitrate cure.