[Modernist Cuisine at Home] Sous vide vegetables

[Anonymous Modernist 14583]

Hi All,

I just finished reading MCAH and learned a great deal from it. I am anxious to try the techniques and am looking into the purchase of sous vide gear.

My girlfriend is a vegetarian. As I read MCAH, there does not seem to be the interest in cooking vegetables to the degree there is for meat. Is sous vide cooking less appropriate for vegetarian cooking? My hesitance in the purchase of the gear is that I might be buying a device unsuited for what I need to cook.

Are there better sources for cooking vegetables sous vide or is it just the wrong technique?

Thanks, Steve

[Anonymous Modernist 3840]

I think that it is worth checking out what a sous vide could do with vegetable textures. The textures that sous vide produce are different from what steaming and boiling can produce in my experience. Can vegetables be done rare, medium and well done? Also, it would be worth checking out using vacuum infusions of flavor into vegetables. It works for fruits, would it work for vegetables? Could basil flavor be infused into tomatoes while they are raw? Can tomatoes be carbonated, and would they be worth eating that way? Mushrooms are porous enough to infuse, but would need to be weighted down I would think. I think a vegetarian could have a lot of fun with modernist techniques. -C

[Judy Wilson]

There are a lot of sous vide vegetable recipes in MC. In MCAH, it's true that there aren't quite as many, but there are some.

Some that come to mind:

Vegetable stock

Vichyssoise

Potato Puree (and variations)

Grilled Applesauce

You might be interested in showing off what sous vide can do for eggs, too. Not just in egg dishes, but in pastry creams, etc. Sous vide is also great for infusions and we have several such recipes for those, too.

Hope that helps!

Judy

[Anonymous Modernist 310]

I heard good things about the Modernist Vegetarian ebook that talk exactly about using these techniques for vegetarians.

http://www.veggiechef.co.uk/index.html

Tell us what you think about it!

[torolover]

There's lots of posts about Sous vide meats, but I want to talk about Sous Vide Vegetables!

 

It seems the general rule is to sous vide vegetables at 185F for 30-45 min.

 

I'm thinking of sous vide my broccoli, cauliflower, and asparagus, chill in an ice bath.  Then get a good sear with cast iron pan or maybe use searzall.

 

Anyone have some good experiments, times, temps, with sous vide veggies?!

 

[jayt90]

Do you need sous vide for this? Vegetables cut to uniform size and placed in a Ziploc freezer bag, then simmered for 45 minutes, should be similar.

[EnriqueB]

Many vegetables are excellent when cooked sous-vide. It has proved to be the technique that keeps most of several nutrients (when consumed inmediatelly, not so when cook-chill-reheat). Flavor-wise, it excels with vegetables with natural sugars like carrots, onions, shallots, leeks... as they keep their natural flavor more than with any other technique. The doneness is much better regulated with the lower temperature, as the window of time for aldente, soft, etc is much longer.

 

"Hard vegetables" (i.e. that would normally not be eaten raw) need to be cooked at 80ºC or higher to soften cell walls and, in some cases, gel starches. 85ºC is the most common temperature. Time depends on the vegetable, and at 85ºC is about 2+1/2 times the time of boiling. From your examples, I would cook broccoli and cauliflower in small-medium florets for about 25-30 min, and medium green asparagus for 15-20 min. Others require longer times, such as carrots or leeks for 1 hour.

 

With home vacuum sealers cooking vegetables is a bit annoying as bags tend to float (at 85ºC the remaining air plus internal vegetable water evaporating produce air in the bag), so you have to weight the bag or put some type of ceiling.

[nickrey]

The silence around this topic probably says it all. I'm sure we've all experimented with sous vide vegetables. And yes, the carrots do taste more carroty but if you think about it, 85C is getting up there in terms of temperature so other methods are possibly more preferable.

 

I agree with jayt90. If you want to stop goodness from leaching out, try sealing in ziplock and cooking at a low simmer; or, conversely, try the microwave -- another "modernist" instrument that locks in he goodness. Otherwise, cook them in a way that doesn't leach the goodness; ie. anything else than boiling.

Edited April 28, 2015 by nickrey (log)

[Dave W]

Vegetables are cheap and cook in a flash, I've cooked them SV but it never really produced any results that seemed worth all the extra fuss and time to me.

[rotuts]

I think its more about which veg. to cook SV.

 

some are very finicky      and have a very narrow 'just right done time / temp'

 

Asparagus and broccoli come to mind

 

and if your carrot is very fresh, with tops on them that look healthy, you do indeed get more carroty taste.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Corn on the cob is the only vegetable I cook sous vide.  I've tried others.

[torolover]

I'm curious, if I cook vegetables without a bag in 185F hot water for 30-45 min. would lots of flavors still leek into the water?  

 

Thomas keller in his cookbook said it's important to cook vegetables as fast as possible to keep the color bright and vivid.  He said enzymes that dull the color are only destroyed at boiling point.  Wouldn't Sous Vide or cooking vegetables at 185F dull the color?

 

In Coi's cookbook, Patterson saids to cook vegetables in a light simmer, not boil.

 

Any thoughts?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I'm curious, if I cook vegetables without a bag in 185F hot water for 30-45 min. would lots of flavors still leek into the water?  

 

Thomas keller in his cookbook said it's important to cook vegetables as fast as possible to keep the color bright and vivid.  He said enzymes that dull the color are only destroyed at boiling point.  Wouldn't Sous Vide or cooking vegetables at 185F dull the color?

 

In Coi's cookbook, Patterson saids to cook vegetables in a light simmer, not boil.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Yes, test for yourself!  For me it depends a lot upon the vegetable.  With brassica, indeed with most vegetables I boil in excess (a lot of excess) water, uncovered.  Same for asparagus.  I've taken to pressure steaming potatoes and sweet potatoes.

 

I have one cookbook that says artichokes should never be steamed...but steaming artichokes works for me.  I think it comes down to some authors choose to maximize nutrition and others aim for taste.  I favor those who side with taste.

 

But please try corn on the cob sous vide (Modernist Cuisine 3-289) 60 deg C for 15 minutes.

[paulraphael]

I like it with really good spring asparagus. I haven't tried with onions, shallots, leeks, etc., and would like to hear more about it. I'm also intrigued by corn on the cob. I assume you'd need a pretty heavy weight to keep it from floating.

[pkeibel]

I tried green beans with bacon, cooking sous vide melted the bacon onto the beans - excellent

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I like it with really good spring asparagus. I haven't tried with onions, shallots, leeks, etc., and would like to hear more about it. I'm also intrigued by corn on the cob. I assume you'd need a pretty heavy weight to keep it from floating.

 

It's been a long while since last summer, but I don't remember any trouble with the corn on the cob floating.  From memory I recall MC calls for cutting the corn in three inch lengths before bagging, however I seal one whole ear per bag.  When anything I'm anovaing tends to float I have a small roasting rack I use to hold it down.  In the unusual event the rack is not sufficient I employ a pyrex baking dish.

[scubadoo97]

Carrots puff up like a balloon

[torolover]

I tried green beans with bacon, cooking sous vide melted the bacon onto the beans - excellent

Sounds great!  you have a time and temp?