Sous Vide Octopus

[ChrisTaylor]

What will truly sell you on the sous vide game is octopus. Once cooked and seared it can be eaten as is or mixed with a simple tomato sauce and pasta.

[chefmd]

ChrisTaylor, what is your usual cooking temp/time for sous vide octopus?

[ChrisTaylor]

I ask the fishmonger to clean the tentacles. These are bagged with some olive oil and spices and cooked at 77C for 5 hours. The outer layer of the tentacles then pretty much falls away and you're left with a 'core' of meat which can be seared, etc.

[Bojana]

Hi, I have few questions regarding cooking octopus!

 

As we speak, I have some octopus tentacles in the marinade (soy, mirin, red wine, rice vinegar, ginger and garlic). Never cooked with it before so few questions:

• sous vide time and temp: what do you recommend? I saw 85C for 4 hrs. Do you think there is a difference with Keller's suggested 77C for 5 hrs?
  
• Do you need to clean it? Before or after SV? And is it just the skin on the smooth end of tentacle that needs cleaning?
  
• I plan to cool it, and then finish it on the grill for service. Any better ideas here?
  

Thank you so much

Bojana

[ChrisTaylor]

You do need to clean it, yes. I get the fishmonger to clean it beforehand. After the cook the outer layer of the tentacles just fall off. And the way you plan to finish it is the way I finish it. Just ensure you don't overcook it during the searing process.

[Franci]

Went to check on my SV notes:

cooked 1,8 kg octopus divided in 4 pouches with a pinch of salt and a drop of oil. Cooked for 5 hours at 77 C. It was almost salty, no salt next time. I liked it better dressed with oil and lemon then charred under the broiler. I'd have preferred a little more firm.

Also need to say that the octopus quality was so so (unfortunately I know how very good fresh octopus tastes) and these frozen cephalopods are not always great. I had better luck with 1 kg frozen octopuses (always two line of suckers).

I clean the head, remove the beak  and the eyes prior to cooking but clean the skin after. I like to cut off the skin in the back of the leg but absolutely leave the suckers on.

 

That said I prefer to cook in the PC, for 1 kg octopus no more than 20 minutes cooking with a splash of wine vinegar.  

[FeChef]

What does good Octopus taste like. I love all seafood. Squid, scallops, everything. That said, and Franci made a good point, I have never tasted good Octopus. It was always bland with the texture and taste of sucking on rubber. Ive had it in a cold seafood salad, in a sauce with mushrooms, and deep fried. None where worth eating. Also in my neck of the woods its expensive and always frozen, never fresh.

[ChrisTaylor]

Frozen occy isn't a bad thing. The process of freezing/thawing helps tenderise the meat. I've seen multiple recipes--heck, I think Keller's mentions this too--that advocate freezing/thawing before cooking if you purchased fresh occy.