Sous vide for a newbie?

[rotuts]

I found this :

 

http://www.sousvidetools.com/toolshed/recipes/cured-and-roasted-goose-breast-with-macerated-blackberries-and-sloe-gin/

 

as CG's breast muscles had done a lot of work, I do 140 for 6 H

 

Ive never had 'wild' goose, and as you have, would you say the breast meat is on the tougher side?

 

remember, toughness in SV is time in the bag, not temp of the water.

 

I bet its even more important to remove those two tendons / breast side.

 

save the fat and the skin    you could do a ' skin toasty '  :  between parchment paper lay out the skin then between two jelly roll pans, bake

 

skin and Sv do not get a long well.

[Shelby]

Thank you!   Yes, I would say that the meat is on the tough side.  There really isn't much fat at all and the skin....well, it's just not my favorite (being polite here lol).

[rotuts]

for Duck, but not Shot-up-Duck  I like the breast rare.

 

but the ducks I eat haven't done much compared to wild

 

you could make the GB's more on the rare side, if you like it that way.

 

135 for 6 ?

 

 

[Shelby]

We definitely prefer them rare.  I think 135 for 6 hrs is what I'll try.  

 

Should I season and let it marinate overnight or do you think it would be best to just season right before SV?

[rotuts]

are you thinking a 'brine' to retain moisture ?

 

or non- salt seasoning ?

 

this raises an interesting point :  how much 'time-in-the-bag' via SV at various temps do you get that 'corned' taste ?

 

I do not have the answer to that and it would be interesting to know.

 

how big are the breasts ?  the DG's that used to invade the lawn on L.I. and etc etc looked pretty hefty to me.

 

why not do each breast differently ?  one over night, and one 'just before'

 

you would have plenty of meat for sandwiches etc and learn a thing of two.

[Shelby]

By the way, I also have the whole rest of the goose.....I'm sitting here looking at the legs....back meat....heart.... liver......

 

I bet I'd need to do the legs for hours and hours....like 16?  18?  20?  2 days?  

[rotuts]

do the legs for a confit w some of the fat.   Baldwin  ( for ducks )  suggests  ( slow ) 1 day at 160.

 

there are a lot of experts here on confit, some will chime in I think.

 

here is something on Beef Heart :

 

http://www.dangourmet.com/2011/01/venison-heart-sous-vide.html

 

there are some SV hearts from here :

 

 

 

 

 

[Shelby]

10 minutes ago, rotuts said:

are you thinking a 'brine' to retain moisture ?

 

or non- salt seasoning ?

 

this raises an interesting point :  how much 'time-in-the-bag' via SV at various temps do you get that 'corned' taste ?

 

I do not have the answer to that and it would be interesting to know.

 

how big are the breasts ?  the DG's that used to invade the lawn on L.I. and etc etc looked pretty hefty to me.

 

why not do each breast differently ?  one over night, and one 'just before'

 

you would have plenty of meat for sandwiches etc and learn a thing of two.

I was thinking more of a flavoring brine, but it would contain salt too so, yeah, you've articulated the question I was trying to get out perfectly.   I don't necessarily want that corned taste...but then again, it would probably be pretty good.  I guess this will be a big 'ole experiment   I will take your advice and season each breast at the different times.

[kayb]

i'd absolutely use the legs for confit. If the goose doesn't have enough fat for confit, get you some duck fat.

 

The rest, except for the organ meats, I'd made some goose gumbo. If one can make duck gumbo, one ought to be able to make goose gumbo.

 

 

[Anna N]

2 minutes ago, kayb said:

i'd absolutely use the legs for confit. If the goose doesn't have enough fat for confit, get you some duck fat.

 

The rest, except for the organ meats, I'd made some goose gumbo. If one can make duck gumbo, one ought to be able to make goose gumbo.

 

 

 

3 minutes ago, kayb said:

i'd absolutely use the legs for confit. If the goose doesn't have enough fat for confit, get you some duck fat.

 

The rest, except for the organ meats, I'd made some goose gumbo. If one can make duck gumbo, one ought to be able to make goose gumbo.

 

 

And if you confit using Sous Vide you don't need much fat at all!  

[lesliec]

34 minutes ago, Anna N said:

 

And if you confit using Sous Vide you don't need much fat at all!  

 

Indeed you don't. And in fact the Modernist Cuisine team found that the fat doesn't penetrate the meat anyway, so it's just as effective to brush a bit on when the confit comes out of the bath!

 

When you're out looking for duck fat, see if there's any goose fat available. It's not easy to find here as duck but it does exist.  I think I've generally seen it in cans from a French producer whose name escapes me. A little stronger in taste than duck fat, but highly appropriate for your bits of goose.  And spuds roasted in either duck or goose fat are marvellous things - boil the potatoes until almost falling apart, drain then tip into your favourite roasting pan that's been heating in the oven with a nice layer of fat.  Add a bit of salt, back into the oven for anywhere between 30 - 60 minutes (I think longer is better) and you'll be in spud heaven.

[FauxPas]

On 1/9/2016 at 8:06 PM, gfweb said:

Pork tenderloin doesn't benefit from sous vide as much as loin or butt since it it tender to start with. I usually cook it the old fashioned way...sear then a 350 F oven till 125 F in the center. Works well with stuffed tenderloin too. 

 

 

I like SV for pork tenderloin, some chops and chicken breasts because it's so easy (for me!) to overcook them using other methods. With SV, the meat gets uniformly cooked to a nice temp and then only a quick sear is needed and they stay moist and yet they are cooked and w/o having to cook them for a really long time. 

 

Edited to add: Maybe you were just trying to say that a tender cut like pork tenderloin doesn't benefit from a long SV cook? 

Edited January 12, 2016 by FauxPas
To clarify (log)

[weedy]

4 hours ago, FauxPas said:

 

I like SV for pork tenderloin, some chops and chicken breasts because it's so easy (for me!) to overcook them using other methods. With SV, the meat gets uniformly cooked to a nice temp and then only a quick sear is needed and they stay moist and yet they are cooked and w/o having to cook them for a really long time. 

 

Edited to add: Maybe you were just trying to say that a tender cut like pork tenderloin doesn't benefit from a long SV cook? 

 

exactly

I don't buy into the whole "it's only for tougher cuts" meme

it's just a better way of cooking MOST proteins with consistency, precision, and in many cases for a result unobtainable any other way

[Shelby]

How do you clean your SV?  I've read to fill a pot up and put a couple TBS. of CLR in.  I've also read just plain ole vinegar.  I have hard water.

[rotuts]

I must warn you now :

 

game is probably why SV was invented.

 

your little note-book , with the red cover, might become quite valuable some time soon !

 

send a Few Hunters over to my place to whack a few of those Tick-Toting Deer.  suggest Antibiotic Prophylaxix.  for the LymieD

 

they could leave a few trimmed racks.  the meat racks.

 

[rotuts]

"""   How do you clean your SV? ""

 

 

are you taking about the pot ?  The Cooler ?

 

same as anything ' pot like '

 

if your are suggesting cleaning zip-locks

 

 

well, I can't say.

 

consider a new topic, if this is your question

 

maybe on the " Dark Internet "

 

[ed.: this appeared two decent and recent well respected books : 'Pot-Boilers' . ]

 

[Smithy]

10 minutes ago, Shelby said:

How do you clean your SV?  I've read to fill a pot up and put a couple TBS. of CLR in.  I've also read just plain ole vinegar.  I have hard water.

 

Are you getting scale on your circulator because of the hard water? Or are you talking about some other cleaning need?

[Shelby]

The circulator.  I don't have scale yet....just being preemptive. 

[gfweb]

For me SV gets you tenderness/doneness at the cost of a long cook time. So for a tender meat that I can cook well using sear-and-roast I tend not to use SV.

 

Because I'm impatient and rarely plan ahead.

 

An exception is if I'm doing a big batch of steaks, esp ones of varying thickness, for a group. The ability to cook all of them to the right temp by SV is a beautiful thing.

[rotuts]

Shelby :  if your water in the bath stays clean, Id not bother.

 

or run it for a few minutes in the water w a drop or two of liquid detergent and then rise

 

make sure your water level won't 'suds up. all over your kitchen

[Shelby]

Ok.  I was just worried about "build up" happening inside the circulator.  

 

So, I've been working with the goose.

 

 

 

 I did two different dry brines.  One used sugar, salt, black pepper, thyme and a bit of nutmeg.  That one made me a bit nervous because of the sugar...not big on "sweet" meats.  The other one I made used salt, garlic, black pepper and thyme.  I did the legs , one breast  and the heart (heart not added in the picture yet) in the "sweet" brine and the rest in the other.  Wouldn't ya know it, we LOVE the "sweet" brine --the other is ok, but the flavor of the sweet is awesome.  It's not really sweet at all.  I'm just calling it that to differentiate.  One breast and the heart rested in the brine for about 6 hours before I put it in the water bath.  The other I didn't brine until right when I put it in.

 

I have a ton of pork fat that I rendered so I used a dollop or two in each bag

 

 

 

 

The two breasts ended up in the water for about 6 1/2 hours at 136 (my temp thingy either does 134 or 136, not 135 lol) .  The doneness of the meat was good (could have been maybe a tad more rare) , but it still was a bit tough.  Edible for sure but we agreed it could have gone for at least 2 more hours....maybe even more.  The taste was delicious and definitely showed us the potential.  Oh and it was SO juicy.  

 

 

 

Now, on to the legs.  And....a possible big screw up.  I must report the good and the bad sigh.

 

I decided to confit them.  I used pork fat again.  Right before I went to bed I started them in the water.

 

 

I set the machine at 180 and figured to let it go for 10 hours.  After the breasts needing more time, I figure the legs are gonna need a LOT of time.  Anyway....so, I also covered the pot with some foil thinking that would help with evaporation some.  

 

My lab Chum ALWAYS gets up at least twice a night to go outside so I didn't worry about setting my alarm to check on the SV.  Wouldn't you know it???  She didn't get up ONCE .  

 

So, I woke up with a start about 5:30 and went to check.  SV was beeping  ....sigh....the water level had dropped and so the machine stopped (which is good to know).  The temp of the water was 90F.  I added water and started it back up, but I know that I shouldn't eat them now.  Right?  I've had to turn them off now and they are resting in the fridge.  I felt them thru the bag and they definitely need more time.  I want to keep going this afternoon to at least see if I can get the texture right.

 

I bummed that I screwed up.

 

PS---the heart--AMAZING.  SO GOOD.

 

Edited January 14, 2016 by Shelby (log)

[rotuts]

did you try both G.B.'s ?

 

did the brining time make any difference to you ?

[KennethT]

Sorry to hear about the failure Shelby, but I'm sure we have all done it at least once, if not a lot more...

 

Personally, I find plastic wrap to be better at reducing evaporation than foil - you can really get the plastic wrap to cling around all the edges and it's more flexible so you can really get in all the tight spaces.

 

Some people have had good success with ping pong balls floating on top of the water to minimize evaporation, but I've never tried it.

 

If you want to go more rare with the breasts, I would try 132F for maybe 24 hours - I have done that with flank steak many times and it comes out great.  That temp and time is also good to tenderize skin without it shrinking.  It is then easy to scrape off the fat, and crisp on a silpat between two sheet pans in a hot oven.

 

I definitely wouldn't eat the thighs - who knows how long it was sitting at 'body temperature' which is a great temperature for bacteria to multiply very quickly.

[Shelby]

48 minutes ago, rotuts said:

did you try both G.B.'s ?

 

did the brining time make any difference to you ?

 

 

 

We did try them both.  I didn't notice a difference in the breasts due to brining time at all.  I need to do all the same brine and test again because we liked the "sweet" brine so well that it might have colored the results.

 

[rotuts]

the very little game Ive had seems to go well w sweet/tart

 

duck w tart cherries  etc.

 

BTW  did you remove those two tendons on the BR's ?

 

if not, did you notice a bit of here and there chewy-ness ?