What Are You Cooking Sous Vide Today? (Part 3)

[Kim Shook]

Back in February @gfweb made a beautiful looking sous vide pork loin and Brussels sprouts meal (only the pork was SV).  A few of us fangirled it for some days and Shelby beat me to making it 😁.  We had company Wednesday and I decided to make the pork.  Thank GOD @gfweb was up on on eG at 11:30 the night before and was kind enough to give me some guidance.  I rubbed the loin with a little salt, pepper, thyme, sugar and garlic powder and sealed it and let sit in the fridge overnight.  I SV'd it at 144F (MIL would not have eaten it with any hint of pink) for about 3 hours.  Then I seared it at high temperature on top of the stove:

 

Sliced and topped with braised apples and onions:

and served with the truly amazing sauce of chicken stock and apple juice, this was incredibly moist and tender and everyone just loved it.  My FIL had three servings.  

 

Thank you so much, @gfweb for the inspiration, the guidance and for staying up late with me!!

[Okanagancook]

I made Italian sausage for 90 min at 160f.

Dry🙁

Next time I will do 140f for 45 min then sear until in food safe territory.‘

[Smithy]

Lamb shoulder steaks were last night's dinner. I wrote back here about the sous vide treatment they originally had: packed with my Greek-style marinade, air expelled; 125F for 1:30.

 

 

Last night I rewarmed them (still in the bag) at 120F for around an hour and a half, then threw them on the hottest grill I could manage to get a bit of sear.

 

 

It was good, but we both thought it needed a bit warmer treatment at first. Some of the meat was perfectly done, but the fat wasn't rendered quite as much as we'd have liked and some connective tissues were still all too connective. My darling flinches at the very thought of lamb, so I don't know whether I'll try this again - but if I do, I'll try 130 or 135F.

 

The bread, incidentally, shows butter here but also went to good use soaking up the juices. I defatted them but didn't take any steps to concentrate them. There is no picture.

[Kim Shook]

I have a couple of questions about cooking steak.  Planning on serving tonight - I should have asked earlier - sorry for last minute!  

 

We have 3 boneless strip steaks.  I'm thinking 2 hours at 125F, then a quick sear.  We like medium-rare.  

 

Should I salt before sealing?  How long before?  I usually cook by the "sear then roast" method and I let the salted meat sit uncovered in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving.

 

Anything else I haven't thought of?

 

Thanks and happy Memorial day!

[rotuts]

do you think your steak is ' tender '  or ' tough '  ?

 

If tender , Id salt and put unsealed on a very clean rack in the refrigerator for an hour or more.

 

then bag .  the steak will dry out a little.  

 

Ive never done 125 F , but if you think the steak is on the tender side already , try it.

 

I assume you then pat dry after the 2 hours and then  sear from 125 F.  

 

Id love to see some pics of the steak before the salting , after out of the refrigerator and after the sear.

 

if you meat is of good quality and tender you will do fine.   a longer time if the steak is a bit tougher.

 

best os luck.

[kayb]

FWIW, I've had good luck SVing a couple of hours at 125, then CHILLING in the bag, then searing on the grill. Seems when I go straight from the bath to the grill, I get my steak too done before I get a good sear. I'm a big fan of chilling first.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

51 minutes ago, kayb said:

FWIW, I've had good luck SVing a couple of hours at 125, then CHILLING in the bag, then searing on the grill. Seems when I go straight from the bath to the grill, I get my steak too done before I get a good sear. I'm a big fan of chilling first.

 

 

Just a thought -- make sure the steak is really dry before putting it on the grill.

 

[rotuts]

Yum Yum

 

hope to see some pics !

[Kim Shook]

I hate the ridiculously short cord on the Anova.  It usually has to go on top of the stove, but we are doing lots of stove top sides tonight.  So, it ended up in the living room on a folding table (one of the big stable ones).  Mr. Kim had to go to the shed and dig out a heavy duty orange extension cord.  😡

[robirdstx]

We are doing hamburgers today. One hour at 129F for medium rare, then will finish on the grill.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, Kim Shook said:

I hate the ridiculously short cord on the Anova.  It usually has to go on top of the stove, but we are doing lots of stove top sides tonight.  So, it ended up in the living room on a folding table (one of the big stable ones).  Mr. Kim had to go to the shed and dig out a heavy duty orange extension cord.  😡

 

I have multiple cords for my anova:  2 foot, 3 foot, and 4 foot.  I usually use the 2 foot one.  I'm pretty sure the cord that came in the box was 3 foot.

 

[Kim Shook]

1 minute ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I have multiple cords for my anova:  2 foot, 3 foot, and 4 foot.  I usually use the 2 foot one.  I'm pretty sure the cord that came in the box was 3 foot.

 

Really?  My cord does not look removable.  It is just over 2 feet long.

[robirdstx]

1 hour ago, robirdstx said:

We are doing hamburgers today. One hour at 129F for medium rare, then will finish on the grill.

 

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

10 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

Really?  My cord does not look removable.  It is just over 2 feet long.

 

Probably a different model.  I have the original.

 

[ElsieD]

I just measured my Anova cord and it is 2.5 feet and cannot be removed.

[Kerry Beal]

I have Anova's with attached and with removable cords - I prefer the attached. I also have Instant Pots the same.

 

 

[robirdstx]

6 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

I just measured my Anova cord and it is 2.5 feet and cannot be removed.

 

Mine is the same.

[haresfur]

On 5/17/2019 at 10:44 AM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I'm thinking the core won't reach 140F in that time.  Is this intentional?

 

 

I do 60 C one hour, and I refuse to convert to anachronistic units for you. But one hour is fine in my experience.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I was responding to @ElsieD, who lives in a foreign country.  Had she used Kelvins I would have replied in Kelvins.  But my question is whether the core reaches the target temperature, in whatever units, in one hour.  And, if not, is it intentional to have a temperature gradient.

 

[Kim Shook]

Strip steaks for Memorial Day.  Salted for a couple of hours:

Just short of 2-inches thick.

 

Rinsed and dried:

 

Out of the water bath:

I did them for 2 hours at 125F.  I think 120F would have been better.  Seared in a cast iron skillet:

 

 

Slightly overdone:

but exceptionally tender and very tasty.  

[rotuts]

@Kim Shook

 

Yikes !

 

looks good

 

thank you for sharing !

[Bernie]

So I thought I would try an old favourite  but adapt it to SV

The basic Recipe: (for normal oven cooking)
2Tbsp plain flour
1tspn chilli powder
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground ginger
I/2 tsp salt
Pinch Nutmeg
4 lamb shanks
I large onion finely diced
1/2 pint Greek style yogurt
3/4 pint lamb stock (or use beef or chicken if lamb stock not available)
4 cardamon pods crushed
1 pinch saffron
4 small tomatoes each cut int0 6 wedges
Mix the flour and spices coat the lamb shanks and reserve all the leftover flour/spice mix.
Brown the lamb shanks in oil either in a very hot oven or stove top (depends on the cooking vesel) Remove the lamb from the pan and add the onions and cook till colored. Add the leftover flour spice mix & yogurt cook for 1 minute add the stock and bring to boil. Add the lamb shanks, cardamon & saffron cover and cook in the oven for 11/2 hours. Add the tomatoes and cook uncovered for 40 mins or so. Serve hot.

Adapting to SV
I used 2 lamb shanks.
I used 3 tomatoes, each cut into 8 wedges.
I floured the lamb shanks but did not brown them.
In a saucepan on the stove I browned the onions, added the leftover flour/spices, added the yogurt, beef stock crushed cardamon pods, saffron and tomatoe wedges. Brought to the boil and simmered for 15 min. Allowed to cool.

Put the Lamb shanks in a longish plastic bag added the "sauce" and carefully (over the sink) vacuumed sealed the bag with the food saver. I sort of hang the bag, start the vacuum pump but push the seal button when the liquid starts to reach the food saver.

Set the temperature to 64C and the time to 99.59 hours knowing full well that I would cook only for ~72hours. This allows for delays and changes on serving time should unexpected guests call in and delay serving time.

As it was It cooked for ~73hrs before I decanted in casserole dish and put in the oven at 200C for 1/2 hour. This was to reduce the sauce. It didn't reduce much.

Out of the SV, In the Casserole, out of the oven.

Results:
I served it with rice. I was going to serve it standalone with corn bread but I got sidetracked and the corn bread was overcooked (not burnt exactly but the local bricklayer put in a tender to build a wall with them).
 
The meat was super tender falling from the bone but still intact. It was pale pink in color but beautifully cooked. It was tender and very moist. The fat around the joint end of the bone was jelly like. It was exactly what i hoped for.

The tomatoes were the biggest surprise. The wedges were still intact, with a texture I can describe as like warm glaced fruit
They were sweet, and very pleasant. I will be exploring whether just the time or the other ingredients produced this effect because it would be ideal for accompaniment for other dishes.

The cardamon pods did not provide as much flavor as I expected, neither did the chilli. This may well be to do with the low temperature.

The sauce was too thin. It had the flavor I wanted, but because it was thinner it didn't adhere to the meat like I wanted.

I need to reduce the amount of sauce/marinade. Probably need to add more flour or corn starch to thicken the sauce.

 

Sorry about the layout but I am not used to working with images 😀

 

 

 

Edited June 21, 2019 by Bernie
repeat image..not sure why (log)

[ElsieD]

I took pork cheeks out of the freezer today intending to cook them sous vide.  Not having done them before, I did some googling and the instructions are all over the map. Can anyone tell me the time and temperature they have used?  Thank you.

[gfweb]

On 5/27/2019 at 8:04 PM, haresfur said:

 

I do 60 C one hour, and I refuse to convert to anachronistic units for you. But one hour is fine in my experience.

Food tastes better in F.

 

C is for fevers and lab benches

[ElsieD]

Shucks, for a minute there I thought you responded to my post.🙂