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

[rotuts]

re: Muscle Names

 

there still are a few good butchers out there, even at the chain supermarkets

 

ask.  you might be surprised.

 

grey hair is a good indicator.

 

tats, Ink, etc   not so good.  but maybe, Your Area.

 

remember  : they all have very sharp knives.

 

just saying....

Edited February 8, 2015 by rotuts (log)

[rotuts]

"" Put a carrot in the freezer. Let it freeze. Thaw it. It will be flaccid. This is because the cell walls are literally punctured by the ice crystals that form within the cell and apoplastic space.""

 

I honestly did not detect any difference in tenderness on the Blade after FZ and just out of the SV bath and eaten right then

 

Veg.  has a lot of cellulose which degrades as you mention above

 

beef Im guessing not so much

[Anna N]

re: Muscle Names

 

there still are a few good butchers out there, even at the chain supermarkets

 

ask.  you might be surprised.

 

grey hair is a good indicator.

 

tats, Ink, etc   not so good.  but maybe, Your Area.

 

remember  : they all have very sharp knives.

 

just saying....

It would be a complete waste of real talent for a butcher to work in most of our supermarkets. I know this because when I ask for a thicker pork chop or steak or for a roast that hasn't been trimmed to within an ounce of any flavor, I am told they all arrive already cut and trimmed. There are indeed real butchers here and there but they are not behind the counter in the supermarket.

[rotuts]

I guess this will creep down S. of the border soon enough

 

two places I go had fairly knowledgable butchers.

 

you just have to know which ones they are.

 

a lot of meat does indeed come packaged 'else-where'

 

skinless-boneless CkBr   > 3lbs, seem to come from CentralProcessing

[scubadoo97]

Agreed Anna. A rare bread in my area. Even our new "butcher shop" is at most doing a little cutting of sub primals but mostly putting out a lot of pre packaged meats and lots of tumbled marinated meats which I interpret as lesser quality meat, deeply marinated so lesser quality is covered up while giving the customer an easy meal item that's pre seasoned. A time saver.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Tonight I was faced with the problem of an utterly ungiving lime for my mai tai.  Bouncing it off the counter didn't seem to do much.  What to do?  I've always been afraid to try this sober, but I ran the lime through several maximum vacuum cycles of the Polyscience.

 

On the positive side I didn't sputter the insides of the Polyscience with lime oil.  On the other hand I still couldn't get more than 15 ml juice out of the wretched lime.

 

Thus I conclude sous vide is not a useful technique for juicing limes.  A negative result is still a result.  And the mai tai is not bad.

[rotuts]

15 cc >> 0 cc 

 

as far as I can tell

 

Ive heard people microwave them

 

but I have no Personal Data on this

Edited February 10, 2015 by rotuts (log)

[FauxPas]

I bought the Anova around Christmas when they had the holiday special of $149 or so. It was a while before I got around to trying it out, but I am now doing some cooking with it. Have done a couple of steaks, pork chops and pork tenderloins. I'm still learning but really enjoying the results so far.

 

I did a pork tenderloin a few nights ago. Marinated it with a mix of grapefruit juice/purée, brown sugar, smoked paprika, cumin, cayenne, garlic, S&P and then cooked in the water bath at 141F and then seared it quickly on all sides. Very tasty! We had leftovers for lunch the next day, pictured here.  

 

 

I also used a (vaguely) Chef Steps' method for making Pomme Purée, but I used far less butter and less milk and didn't bother with the sieve. I just mixed the potatoes with an immersion blender quickly, just enough to make them smooth. Makes a lovely mashed potato by cooking the potatoes just below boiling and cooking them directly in the butter and milk. Seems to make for a richer final product.

 

http://www.chefsteps.com/activities/pomme-puree

 

I really need to follow rotuts' suggestion and start keeping a notebook, though. I need to keep researching and experimenting!  

 

 

 

[rotuts]

Ive been very happy with this one, from Staples ( ? )

 

Red is best, of course   3 bucks ?

 

 

several of the Cognoscenti have this very one !

[FauxPas]

Any special organizational methods for the contents, rotuts? 

[rotuts]

Well what I do, as I did in the past, as my plan was always  'bulk, on sale, SV '

 

which is of course  Optimal

 

I save the receipt, and tuck it in the page, so that I know where I bought the Zillion lbs Im dealing with

 

the I note that on the R page, mention the trim  and the time and temp and however Ive dealt with

 

seasonings or not.

 

then I make a few comments on what it tastes like 'hot' including 'consistency'

 

then rapid chill and freeze

 

mark the top of the bag w a Sharpie with cut, seasonings, temp time and date.

 

I try to then add to that same page after a FZ time, but generally forget

 

I working now on some SV that's at least a year old and it is fabulous

 

the real deal is just keep track of what you do, Time Temp Seasoning is most important

 

but dont forget to at at least remember where you got it.

 

Best of Tasty Luck !

Edited February 10, 2015 by rotuts (log)

[Anna N]

Probably the best result from a duck breast yet. This was a very large Moulard duck breast weighing just over a pound.

I vacuum sealed it with nothing more than a spoonful of duck fat and SV'd it 58°C for a little over two hours.

(I really should follow rotuts' advice and keep notes!)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

(I really should follow rotuts' advice and keep notes!)

 

I keep a (seldom used) notebook for bread, but for sous vide eGullet seems to be my notebook.

 

Last night organic boneless/skinless chicken breasts were on sale so I bagged them up and pasteurized 65 deg C for an hour and three quarters, chilled and refrigerated.  Then I lowered the bath temperature to 61 deg C (yes, I know, I have only one anova, sad) and reheated a previously pasteurized pork chop which I seared and had for dinner.

 

Tonight's dinner is planned to be a previously pasteurized chicken breast (from the prior batch, last time they were on sale) prepared as chicken tetrazzini.

 

Having lots of little bags ready to eat is much more fun than the former method of storing leaking, dripping packages of raw and rotting meat.

[Anna N]

I did try to source a notebook just like rotuts' but alas they seem to be an American product. Then it occurred to me that I ought to be able to record the recipe in the app that has just been released for the Anova. Alas that also proved impossible as one cannot seem to add recipes to the app. Now I ask you what sort of app is that? And so, like you, I will be relying on eG to be my recording device.

I have not yet got into the habit of cooking in advance. Partly I suspect because my freezer is where I bury my mistakes.

[rotuts]

"""   app that has just been released for the Anova  ""

 

Apps Crash

 

I know that N. of the Border  things are a Bit Different

 

they seem to have more Calamari in Rest. than I do

 

how ever 

 

there has to be some sort of """ Office Supply ""

 

place  quite near the Next Lunch Ladies next 

 

Soiree

 

?

[Anna N]

"""   app that has just been released for the Anova  ""

 

Apps Crash

 

I know that N. of the Border  things are a Bit Different

 

they seem to have more Calamari in Rest. than I do

 

how ever 

 

there has to be some sort of """ Office Supply ""

 

place  quite near the Next Lunch Ladies next 

 

Soiree

 

?

Ah. Lots of office supply places even Staples. But I quote "just like rotuts''"!

[Anna N]

Today I am cooking some very small lamb chops. They are going into the bath directly from the freezer. I have chosen 60°C for one and a half hours based on Doug Baldwin's suggestion in his book Sous Vide for the Home Cook. This is a much higher temperature than I would normally choose for lamb chops and may be a big mistake given how small they are. Without a torch they will be miserable to sear without overcooking. Duh! I am dropping the temp 56 Celsius!

[scubadoo97]

I would certainly drop that temp Anna

[Anna N]

I very quickly dropped the temperature to 56C with the help of some ice cubes! I am very pleased with the final result. As I heated the cast iron pan to sear them I recalled something from way, way back. It is really only necessary to sear the presentation side. On a thin piece of meat this will still provide enough caramelization/Maillard reaction and will reduce the chance of overcooking.

[Martin Fisher]

It looks great!

[rotuts]

delicious looking and

 

excellent points.

 

noted.

[FauxPas]

I'm cooking wild Alaska sockeye salmon tonight. Some of the best salmon we have found here in the desert is from an Alaskan fisherman who is legally blind and calls his business White Cane Salmon.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/White-Cane-Sockeye-Salmon/1410114155878301?fref=ts

He's an interesting guy and also does a careful job with his frozen fish. He operates a commercial fishing boat in Alaska during the summer and lives in AZ in the winter. His business operates out of Idaho but we get fabulous flash-frozen fish here in the Tucson area at a few Farmers' Markets. This year, he has cod as well as sockeye.

 

Anyway, my question is: would you ever sous-vide directly in the original packaging? See pics below. I am thawing, rebagging and then doing the water bath, but maybe that is not all necessary. I know I may find some answers somewhere else, but I did some quick searches and found such contradictory info and would appreciate responses. If you would use original packaging, what are the criteria for that decision?  

 

 

[gfweb]

I can't think of a reason not to SV in them

[FauxPas]

I can't think of a reason not to SV in them

 

Yeah, it seems right to me also but not sure if I am missing something. The water bath is only about 122F for about 30 to 40 mins. These salmon pieces are about 200 gms or so. I think the original packaging should be fine for that. It looks like a good quality vacuum pack. I'm following some ChefSteps guidelines for the actual cooking and the temp isn't very hot. But when is it a problem to use original packaging, I wonder? 

 

Also, would you thaw first or just do the water bath to thaw as well as cook - and adjust the time, in some way? 

Edited February 19, 2015 by FauxPas (log)

[btbyrd]

I used to obsess about this kind of thing but I don't anymore. Most commercial cryovac bags are polyethylene, so there's not much of an issue. Even if they were one of the nastier BPA containing plastics, the temperature and time on something like fish (or a medium rare steak) isn't high enough to concern me. I assume that if it looks like a SV safe vacuum bag, it probably is a SV save vacuum bag. YMMV.