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

[gfweb]

184 is low for veg.

 

A few degrees higher is a big difference.  I'd do 190F for carrots.

 

Seasoning is often a lack of salt,esp with SV.  I'd SV it, then salt the surface and maybe some sugar and then sear it.

 

[lemniscate]

12 hours ago, YvetteMT said:

 

The carrots however-184 for an hour- nearly the worst carrots I've ever made.  They were still crunchy with the exception of 2 measly carrots.  I dunno what the malfunction was but they were horrible. 

 

Yeah, I've had that happen.  190F SV for about 2 hours is my default now for carrots and potatoes.   I rarely do root veg in sous vide unless I already have the water in use for protein.  I do the protein first and then boost the temp and cook the root veg.  I also always add a lot of  butter to the pouch so the seasonings float around the veg.  More butter is more better.

 

Otherwise, I just steam the carrots.  Either way is fine for me.

[gfweb]

26 minutes ago, lemniscate said:

 

Yeah, I've had that happen.  190F SV for about 2 hours is my default now for carrots and potatoes.   I rarely do root veg in sous vide unless I already have the water in use for protein.  I do the protein first and then boost the temp and cook the root veg.  I also always add a lot of  butter to the pouch so the seasonings float around the veg.  More butter is more better.

 

Otherwise, I just steam the carrots.  Either way is fine for me.

 

Pectin softens at around 185F.  When I'm testing a potato for doneness I look for 190F.

[YvetteMT]

@gfweb and @lemniscate I appreciate the veg tips!  I followed a Serious Eats recipe and it was 184F for an hour. I'll give 190 a shot.

[YvetteMT]

Halibut(was 100lbs easy when it came out of the water), 135F, 90 minutes. 

Just started- butter and lemon pepper in the bag too

[YvetteMT]

Next time I'll try 130F on the fish.  Turned out fine, not as moist as I prefer.  Partner was skeptical ("I like the usual way") but really liked it. Fwiw,2inch thick pieces of fillets.

Inside-

[gfweb]

Fish temps vary so widely.

What's good for halibut is too high for salmon.

[YvetteMT]

There was a chart on SE for halibut-

120 = just starting to flake, tender, near - raw layers

130= very moist, tender and flaky

140= moist, flaky and firm, just at the cusp of tough.

 

I split the difference on the last 2 temps. Partner doesnt want to question if the fish is cooked (and I dont want to HEAR the question!), and for him its textural. He was quite happy (after being quite skeptical) and it wasnt off-putting to me, I do prefer a more tender flake tho. The connective tissue/muscle fibers can be tougher on the bigger halibut and may need a higher temp to get them softer. (I'll deep fry the rest tonight. Halibut isnt my favorite but Im a big fan of it fried)

[rotuts]

@YvetteMT

 

I have not SV'd fish.  and there ism a spectrum of tender/tough for fish

 

Salmon in tender raw , swordfish is not.

 

Im wondering w a bigger fish , at your chosen temp ( on the lower side of an average )

 

would a bit more time help ?   Im talking 125 ish possibly 130 , probably not higher.

[YvetteMT]

3 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@YvetteMT

 

I have not SV'd fish.  and there ism a spectrum of tender/tough for fish

 

Salmon in tender raw , swordfish is not.

 

Im wondering w a bigger fish , at your chosen temp ( on the lower side of an average )

 

would a bit more time help ?   Im talking 125 ish possibly 130 , probably not higher.

This was my first shot at fish (spurred by the Arguments Against SV thread).  I have no idea if increased time would help with a lower temp, hopefully I remember to try when I get the next package (of bigger fish) out to thaw.

[TdeV]

My favourite fish is cod, which I generally cook 30 minutes at 115ºF.

 

From my notebook on sous vide salmon:

 

The video below shows salmon cooked sous vide for 30 minutes at 5 different temperatures. "Notice the dramatic difference in texture between 40°C / 104°F and 60°C / 140°F. What’s the best temperature for sous vide salmon? Well, that’s a matter of personal taste. We prefer our salmon between 45-50°C, but some folks may prefer a higher degree of doneness."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pzcWShb1Uw 

 

Modernist Cuisine prefers 45 °C / 113 °F, which is rare. But (they say) you can go up as high as 52 °C / 126 °F for a firm texture.

http://modernistcuisine.com/recipes/sous-vide-salmon-in-the-kitchen-sink/

 

The salmon video came from a discussion from Sansaire about How to Cook Fish Sous Vide

https://sansaire.com/2014/04/cook-fish-sous-vide/

Because the salmon is barely lukewarm, make sure you heat the plate!

 

 

[gfweb]

I tend to cook salmon in the steam oven and pull it out at ~113F.   But it is fairly thin and cooks fast.

 

A fat chunk of halibut or cod takes longer in the steam oven and the outside is overcooked by the time the center is done. These, I've SVd to 130ish and was happy with the result.

[wabi]

Aloha. I fish here in Hawaii, and fish in Alaska every summer. We bring home a lot of fish. My personal preference for halibut and black cod is 130. My wife likes her fish well done, 130 is done but still succulent, and not dry at all for those who like their fish on the rare side. One of our weeknight meals is (Hawaii style) Chinese steamed fish. Cooked sous vide to 130, it's then draped with almost  a salad of thinly sliced green onions, cilantro, then drizzled with shoyu and searing hot oil with a bit of sesame oil in it. Served with rice, it's a wonderful dish. Done sous vide is an adaptation of using a small whole fish, sous vide gives exact control over the doneness of the fish. It's one of our favorite meals.

[TdeV]

I have some not very meaty beef short ribs.

Time and temp?

 

[KennethT]

I haven't done it in a long time, but I used to cook salmon SV with a bath temp of 113 to an internal temp of 102 - I used the Sous Vide Dash app to calculate the timing and it had never failed me.  Then I'd torch the top - consistently good.  I like a bit of gradient with the salmon - I like the dead center to be really rare, just barely flaking and the outside appears cooked and has a bit more tooth.

[KennethT]

As it's a long weekend for me, I'm hoping I can do an at home "traditional" Balinese bebek betutu.  Traditionally, a whole small duck of a breed I can't get is stuffed with fresh cassava leaves, slathered in a melange of chopped stuff - lemongrass, galangal, shallots, etc - wrapped in a specific palm leaf that I also can't get (but is typically substituted with banana leaves, even in Bali) and then put under a terracotta dome in a pit in the ground, covered with rice husks which are then set ablaze, and then let sit for about 10 hours.  I have duck legs in the freezer.  I can get frozen cassava leaves - no idea if they will weep liquid once they thaw. Chopped stuff is no problem.  Banana leaves also in the freezer.  No terracotta dome or pit in the ground (I live in an apartment in NYC) but I do have a stovetop smoker and a bag of organic rice husks typically used in pet bedding or as a soil amendment.  So I figure I can slather, wrap, smoke, then SV for maybe 8 or 10 hours and that can kinda recreate what I'm looking for. Maybe.  Then again, 99% of the places in Bali that make it use a regular oven nowadays.... but where's the fun in that?

[haresfur]

3 hours ago, KennethT said:

No terracotta dome or pit in the ground (I live in an apartment in NYC)

 

No empty lots nearby?

[TdeV]

For those who sous vide beef short ribs low and slow ( @btbyrd does 130ºF for 72 hours), how do you deal with all the fat? Does it melt?

[rotuts]

@KennethT

 

''   I like the dead center to be really rare ''

 

Im with you on that.

 

I like the center to be barely dead .

 

I frequently just slice the raw salmon , and have sashimi ' on the spot .'

 

Im going to try Tj's wild salmon.  its been previously frozen , and is dated

 

' previously frozen '  is a statement fraught w danger .

 

and most of the packs of fish are moistly tail , not nice tranches close to the head

 

but I might try it as sashimi .

[rotuts]

@TdeV 

 

some of the fat will melt at 130 F , but if you ask , probably not enough to suit you.

 

stay w 130 f until tender , then just eat the right portion of  fat that suits you.

 

you find the meat moist and tender l not ' dry ' like the meat in a braise .

[Slim W]

23 hours ago, TdeV said:

For those who sous vide beef short ribs low and slow ( @btbyrd does 130ºF for 72 hours), how do you deal with all the fat? Does it melt?

I have enjoyed 142F for 72hrs. It is still pink and the fat is nice. 

[Steve Irby]

BJ's had a really nice package of thick cut pork chops so I stuffed four of the six and cooked them sous vide.   I used some homemade longaniza for the stuffing and  made a quick sauce of heavy cream, pork gelee, tomatoes and green onions.

  

 

 

 

 

 I used a boneguard from JVR to prevent the dreaded puncture in the hot water bath.

 

Edited October 21 by Steve Irby (log)

[Alex]

1 hour ago, Steve Irby said:

boneguard from JVR

 

I didn't know about this at all, so I checked out JVR's website and located the roll designed for sous vide cooking. How does this work? Do you just wrap the square around the protruding bone before sealing?

[Steve Irby]

18 hours ago, Alex said:

 

I didn't know about this at all, so I checked out JVR's website and located the roll designed for sous vide cooking. How does this work? Do you just wrap the square around the protruding bone before sealing?

I've  had better luck using two squares and sandwiching the bone or carapace.  I've tried to wrap bones with one sheet but the boneguard shifts making it a little fiddly to adjust.    

[TdeV]

I have an 18 Quart Rubbermaid Food Storage Container. It fits 5 approximately 2 - 2.5 lb lamb shanks. The device is a Joule sous vide.

 

Can I sous vide all 5 lamb shanks together?

 

Edited to add:

Sorry to have been so unclear. Another post below.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 8 by TdeV
Clarity (log)