What Are You Cooking Sous Vide Today? (Part 2)

[rotuts]

@blue_dolphin  

 

indeed.  but not so expertly trimmed as mine.  you got all the fat  , etc etc.

 

so if you trimmed yours out , they might have come to 4 .02

 

indeed  the WSJ and NYTimes have mentioned beef prices dropping.

 

Idiot I am for not getting 8 rather than 4  i.e. 16 lbs.

[Anna N]

A pork tenderloin again. I did one a day or two ago at 57°C for two hours.  I am upping this one to 58°C.  I just want to satisfy myself how I prefer it.  

 

Edited to add: damn I wish I could get Tri Tip at those prices!  

Edited November 1, 2016 by Anna N (log)

[Shelby]

I need to get more pork tenderloin.  That's good stuff...and easy.

 

I swear, I've never seen tri-tip sold in stores here unless it's called something different.

[rotuts]

what's called in my area Sirloin Tips  is flap meat
 

 

and when that goes on sale i look for it and in the past its trimmed whole.

 

ST's are now about 8.98 my area   this stuff always goes on sale    

 

about 6.99 or so   as whole flap its very delicious.

 

Ill trey my TT's tomorrow and report.

 

Im looking forward to it.

 

Steak and Eggs in the Am ?

 

[chefmd]

Octopus tentacle cooked 180 degrees for 3 hours per Anova website.  Sliced into coins and seared in duck fat.  

 

 

 

[scubadoo97]

Was your octo frozen or fresh?

[chefmd]

Octopus was fresh.

[scubadoo97]

Looks great!  How was the texture?

[chefmd]

I was a little worried about the texture, 180 degrees for three hours seemed to be a long time.  It was nicely chewy, not mealy at all.  I am a sucker for octopus, ordering it whenever I see it on the menu.  Octopus prepared as above was better than most versions that I tried.  The latest disaster octopus was served to me in Lebanese Taverna (it is a small chain in Northern VA), it was tough and dry as a cardboard and smelled fishy.

[rotuts]

 

Ive finally got around to slice the TT's Ive mentioned above  these ones as a review :

 

 

 

they will go in a sandwich tonight which I might post later.

 

the meat had good beef flavor , but I think the sirloin tips as flap meat might have had more..  this is not an issue for me

 

the Flap meat was now 7.99 and this was 3.99

 

I deeply fortunate that difference is not a concern for me personally.

 

after 1e hours   I think that the flap[ meat is bit more tender.  I sliced by hand  with razor sharp EdgePro'd knives

 

the thinner     to a certain point    for sandwich meat the better    I think this is both a toughness and texture thing but also a

 

surface area thing for Your Starving Tatse Buds,

 

this wants me to review again  the various  

 

BB%B  Chef's Choice  slicers

 

for on sandwich   I won't do the clean up

 

but for many  ( Turkey , Stuffed CkBr's  Meats of All Kinds  )   if I can re freeze the Cuts at no expense to flavor   .....

 

maybe  

 

I am very lucky to have a chamber vacuum sealer where Id them place the freshly cut meats and freeze !

 

and

 

 

[kayb]

I can state with some authority I have learned to cook the best country-fried steak on the planet, thanks to my Anova.

 

My quarter-steer comes with several packages of tenderized round steak, what used to be sold in the grocery as "minute steak," although this is thicker and does not appear to have been run through the jacquardizing machine as many times as the grocery store version. I took two packages, salted and peppered them, and put them in the bath at 145F about 9 p.m. on Saturday. Sunday morning, after about 10 hours in the bath, I took them out and stashed them in the fridge after an ice bath.

 

When time came to cook Sunday dinner, I set up my breading station: a bowl of seasoned flour, one of egg/milk wash, one of breadcrumbs. After a trip through each, the steaks fried in something less than 1/4 inch of oil for about 5-6 minutes on a side, and then drained on paper towels with each layer of them loosely covered by foil and more paper towels to hold in heat. 

 

Pan drippings got an extra dose of flour to make gravy, followed by the jus from the bag, and milk. The kids said I did good. I don't care for CF steak, but tasted to sample; decent flavor, and fork-tender.

 

Thinking of trying a similar technique with pork loin, sliced thin and pounded, SV'd and then breaded to fry up as schnitzel.

 

 

[Smithy]

Tonight we had my attempt at rolled and stuffed chicken breast (think Chicken Kiev, or Chicken Cordon Bleu) as the culmination of a sous vide experiment.  A few weeks ago I pounded the bejeezus out of gargantuan chicken breasts until they were flat and thin; layered basil pesto, chopped parmesan chunks, some pepper relish I'd made and a bit of mozzarella onto those breasts; then rolled and tied them.  (The rolls were huge, thanks to the size of the breasts and the layers I'd put in.) I tied them, vac-bagged them and cooked them sous vide for 60 min at 60C, with thanks to @haresfur for the basic time and temperature starting point.  Then I froze them.  Today they thawed.  Tonight I dredged them in Bisquik, then beaten egg, then a combination of panko and Italian-seasoned bread crumbs.  Pan fried them until they were brown, then set in a low oven to finish rewarming while we watched a movie.

 

They looked pretty.  The flavors were excellent. The breast meat was dry.  Did I cook it too long or too hot at the sous vide stage, or hold it too long in the oven tonight?  I don't know, but I'm inclined toward the former. I have 2 other packages of sous vided chicken rolls with different seasonings but the same time and temperature in the water bath, so I can try different post-sous vide treatments; meanwhile, someone may have advice based on my description.  I know @rotuts has posted about sous viding his chicken roll-ups, carefully labeled.  

 

Incidentally, rotuts' rolled stuffed chicken breasts look tidier than mine.  Advice on rolling the darned things is also welcome.

[btbyrd]

One hour is not a long time at 60C, and I doubt that the core even got to the temp of the bath in that time frame (especially since you say "the rolls were huge"). Whatever the problem was, it wasn't going too long or too hot. 60C isn't too hot and 60 minutes is, if anything, not long enough.

[blue_dolphin]

I also don't think 60C for 60 min was too much.  I've done some stuffed, rolled chicken breasts.  After measuring the diameter of the cylinders at their widest, consulting the pasteurization tables from Baldwin,  and adding a little extra time in case I'd left any air pockets in the rolls that would slow temp transfer, I came up with a cook time of around 3.5 hrs @ 60C.

I just browned the outside in a bit of butter or sliced them to use on sandwiches.  Either way, the chicken wasn't dry.  

Ham & cheese here:

 

Pesto here:

[rotuts]

@Smithy 

 

I do my CkBr  140 for 3 h    mine have not been dry

 

tying is tying    put the kitchen twine under the rolled breasts    I use 3 ties  / br   then tie the center one then the two ends   stuff the Ck into a roll as you tie

 

then bag.

 

try again.   plain  ( for other dishes  ) and stuffed CkBr are fantastic I think.

[Okanagancook]

12 hours ago, Smithy said:

then set in a low oven to finish rewarming while we watched a movie.

That was likely the problem.  Like most others who have posted I do chicken breast at 60C for a minimum of 90 minutes and it is perfect.

[Smithy]

Thanks for the responses, everyone.  In looking back at my sous vide log (not diligently kept up) I see that 140F/60C for 1:30 with a similarly treated chicken breast yielded moist and tender chicken.  According to my notes the chicken was almost too tender; there was little discernible muscle fiber (it seemed more like a packaged 'meat product') and I thought that less time or lower temperature would be good. The browning step was also similar, but I didn't need to hold it in the oven afterward.

 

I have two more sets to try, roughly of the same size but with different seasonings. Next batch I'll try warming - instead of simply thawing - before browning.

[rotuts]

warm them in the water bath at the same temp or just a little lower.

[gfweb]

SV (140F 3 hrs) turkey breast stuffed with sun dried tomatoes, garlic and rosemary.

[gfweb]

On 11/8/2016 at 0:25 PM, rotuts said:

warm them in the water bath at the same temp or just a little lower.

 

Or at say 130 F in a BSO or CSO.

[Smithy]

1 minute ago, gfweb said:

 

Or at say 130 F in a BSO or CSO.

Alas, neither of these is in my kitchen arsenal.

[rotuts]

Im unfamiliar w the BSO.

[Anna N]

I am about to prep some Belgian endive as per @mm84321 in the Dinner topic.

 

Edited November 12, 2016 by Anna N (log)

[gfweb]

1 hour ago, rotuts said:

Im unfamiliar w the BSO.

 

Breville Smart Oven.

[ElsieD]

2 hours ago, Anna N said:

I am about to prep some Belgian endive as per @mm84321 in the Dinner topic.

 

 

 

I did this last night.  I put hot water in my pot and waited for the temperature to go to 95 celcius.  And waited.  And waited some more.  The water was evaporating at a rapid pace while it was heating so I boiled a kettle of water and added that.  Finally it got to 95 degrees and in went the packet.  I had  largish  endives,  vacuumed packed (foodsaver) and the bag had a bit of butter, salt and sugar.   The packet floated.  I repackaged it.  It still floated so I said the h--l with it and left it.   We had dinner and I promptly forgot about it.  By the time I rescued it it had been in the hot water bath for 2 hours, not one as called for.  I chilled it and it is still in the fridge.  I'm not sure when we are actually going to eat it.

 

My suggestion, Anna, for what it's worth, is to pre-heat the pot on the stove.  You will save a lot of time.  However, if your place is suffering from dry air, heating your water using the sous vide equipment may be the way to go, long as you're not in a hurry.