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

[rotuts]

@TdeV

 

for those times , Fz does not matter .

 

the shoulder , was , well , in a bag ?

 

yes , I think you can keep the shoulder in the bath until dinner

 

as that's a longish time to begin with , even from Fz , so the extra I dont think will change much .

 

pls take a pic or two and let us know .

[TdeV]

 

@lindag posted about beets in 2019 in this post saying she'd used a CI recipe.

 

What should the volume of liquids be? 

(I nearly broke my vacuum sealer 🙄)

[lindag]

14 minutes ago, TdeV said:

 

@lindag posted about beets in 2019 in this post saying she'd used a CI recipe.

 

What should the volume of liquids be? 

(I nearly broke my vacuum sealer 🙄)

Close

Time

Sous vide: 4 to 6 hours; active cooking time: 30 minutes

Yield

Serves 4

Sous Vide Temperature

191°F/88°C

Ingredients

2 pounds beets, trimmed

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar

8 sprigs fresh thyme

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons minced fresh chives

[TdeV]

@lindag, I did small yellow beets with sherry vinegar, oo, s+p and fresh thyme

for 5 hours @ 191ºF.

Absolutely outstanding.

Went alongside roasted duck.

Also absolutely outstanding.

 

[TdeV]

I have a 1 lb 12.5 oz bone-in pork chop. It's 2.5 inches thick.

 

Recommended time and temp, please?

 

@rotuts ?

 

 

[rotuts]

@TdeV

 

by ' pork chop '  you mean a cut that's mostly Loin , the ' white meat '  

 

for me that cut is tough , and needs help in the flavor dept.

 

as I like to keep as much jus in the meat , 130.1 F .    8 hrs + to 12 H    

 

pick a time that easy for you , more that 8 H will be fine , esp as the chop is > 2 "

 

130.1 F is not really what I call rare , but it you like the meat a little more done 

 

135 F    picking higher temps will give you jus to make a gravy , but that jus comes from the meat

 

and the meat will feel dry , as there is very little fat through out the loin.

 

do you have some really nice chutney ?  Major Grey style , sweet w a little spice ?

 

something like that ?

 

add a couple of Tbs to the bag.

Edited December 16, 2025 by rotuts (log)

[weinoo]

I bought a half-dozen duck legs from Hudson Valley Duck Farms. So:

 

 

I confited them, sous-vide style.  Using the Chef Steps time/temp method of 70℃ for 16 hours.  Baked my first bread that wasn't flat in quite some time - the Ken Forkish, same-day practically no-knead, but then proofing it in the Dutch oven (a la Cooks Illustrated maybe), before starting it in the same Dutch oven...in a cold oven.  Not bad. Easier.  I like easier now.

Edited December 22, 2025 by weinoo (log)

[Shelby]

Hi --I don't have time to research and I realize that's irritating.  I need best SV time and temp for lobster tails.  And do I thaw first or start from frozen?  Butter?  Seasonings?  I may have done them before but I'm older and...I just am tired lol.

[weinoo]

1 minute ago, Shelby said:

And do I thaw first or start from frozen?  Butter?

 

I think maybe this'll help...https://anovaculinary.com/blogs/blog/sous-vide-lobster-guide?srsltid=AfmBOooQis7Ds2kE2z0LLHOtGfVeW6E1lzeifOzPT5V2UOL1Ldn-SFxC

 

Or this...https://www.seriouseats.com/food-lab-complete-guide-to-sous-vide-lobster

 

[weinoo]

Oh - this is easier...

 

 

Quote

 

At 140°F, your lobster becomes as firm as if it were cooked via traditional methods, though it still has the flavor advantages offered by sous vide. This might be a good temperature if you're serving a dyed-in-the-wool New Englander who insists on lobster the old-fashioned way. It might well convince them that sous vide is something special here.

 

As for timing, it takes about 20 minutes for the tail from a one-and-a-half-pound lobster to cook through, though anything up to an hour, or even a little longer, won't hurt it much. Cook it too long and it'll begin to suffer, turning mushy.

 

 

 

I'd go 135℉, for not much longer than an hour.  A pat of butter inside can't hurt.

[Shelby]

THANK YOU.  Seriously thank you.  I just don't have the bandwidth to figure out the best way and I know my fellow EG'ers will know.

[weinoo]

2 minutes ago, Shelby said:

THANK YOU.  Seriously thank you.  I just don't have the bandwidth to figure out the best way and I know my fellow EG'ers will know.

 

No problem - and I think thawed is the way to go. Overnight in fridge.

[Shelby]

20 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

No problem - and I think thawed is the way to go. Overnight in fridge.

Thank you again.  SO much.

[gfweb]

1 hour ago, weinoo said:

 

No problem - and I think thawed is the way to go. Overnight in fridge.

Agreed. 

For a long cooked meat you can throw it in frozen...what's a half hour either way?

 

But lobster isn't at all a long cook...easy to overcook it. So I'd thaw first for sure

[Shelby]

15 hours ago, gfweb said:

Agreed. 

For a long cooked meat you can throw it in frozen...what's a half hour either way?

 

But lobster isn't at all a long cook...easy to overcook it. So I'd thaw first for sure

Ok got it.  Thank you!

[rotuts]

This is an interesting discussion , and it bings up a few ' SV ' points :

 

w SV , generally , time => tenderness and temp => doneness , i.e. rare // medium // well done.

 

And you can get a uniform final temp w SV ,  where as w gradient cooking ( conventional )  you get something different

 

w seafood   ( fish and shell fish )   the protein structure is quite different .

 

I have not done SV for F & SF , as its difficult to get quality F & SF where I live.

 

I have had perfectly cook lobster , several times visiting friends on CapeCod

 

and they got the live lobster cooked in advance @ the seafood vendor , where they used an autoclave.

 

indeed.  go figure.  and seasoned Lobster-holics  always got the lobster cooked that way, a that place.

 

so , what would be an ideal final temp , SV for lobster  ( let make it easy , just the tail ) ?

 

its very easy to get that tail in too hot a water , and then you get a tough chewy tail .

 

and for sure , fish such a salmon cook quite differently than tougher fish , like swordfish and  sea  bass.

 

for me Salmon has a gradient in doneness  ( sashimi =>  fully opaque , yet quite tender )

 

not so much a gradient for swordfish // sea bass.

 

what are your favorite temp ranges for these examples ?

[gfweb]

All off the top of my head..

 

Salmon is "done" to me at 120F.  I'll usually do that in the steam oven ~8 min at 300F

 

Halibut and cod take more heat....135 F x 20 min or so in the SV (I need to check the temp)

[rotuts]

@gfweb

 

thanks for those ideas

 

Im sure there is a spectrum of tissue ' toughness ' amoung fish

 

I love salmon raw .  period . and cooked in different ways , w the center at or just past ' lucent-ish '

 

Ive never had swordfish sliced thin , raw .  but when i cook its , grill or broiled

 

the center needed to be cooked , not incinerated mind you and dry , but the chew let you know when the center was undercooked.

[KennethT]

@Shelby In general, I agree with everyone but I don't know if the others have considered one thing - I had always thought that lobster becomes mushy due to enzymatic action when not frozen.  That's why you're always supposed to either buy it live and kill it just prior to cooking or buy it frozen.  I worry that defrosting overnight in the refrigerator will leave it for a few hours unfrozen and allowing the enzymes to do their thing.  I don't know how long it takes for the enzymes to work to mushify the lobster meat.

 

So, I'd probably cook from frozen and add say an extra 15 min. or so to account for defrosting at temp.

 

I'd be curious as to what everyone else thinks about this... @weinoo @gfweb @rotuts

[Shelby]

2 hours ago, KennethT said:

@Shelby In general, I agree with everyone but I don't know if the others have considered one thing - I had always thought that lobster becomes mushy due to enzymatic action when not frozen.  That's why you're always supposed to either buy it live and kill it just prior to cooking or buy it frozen.  I worry that defrosting overnight in the refrigerator will leave it for a few hours unfrozen and allowing the enzymes to do their thing.  I don't know how long it takes for the enzymes to work to mushify the lobster meat.

 

So, I'd probably cook from frozen and add say an extra 15 min. or so to account for defrosting at temp.

 

I'd be curious as to what everyone else thinks about this... @weinoo @gfweb @rotuts

It's funny you say that....because, I ordered the tails and they are supposed to be here New Year's Eve.  That can be anywhere between like 11 in the morning until who knows at night lol.  My only other option was to get them delivered on Christmas Eve and I decided that would be a bad idea because of how shipping is this time of year especially here in the sticks.  SO, my point is, depending on what time they get here on NYE, there might not be time to thaw them out ....or there might be a few hours.  Or, I might have to take my life in my hands and eat them for New Year's Day dinner--and horrors not do the usual lucky ham.  

 

I guess I like to live life on the edge lol.

 

Edited to add I appreciate everyone's input so much.  The tails aren't cheap and I don't want to screw them up.  I guess I don't have to SV them but I do remember when I did one time we loved them they were absolutely perfect.

Edited December 22, 2025 by Shelby (log)

[FauxPas]

2 hours ago, Shelby said:

SO, my point is, depending on what time they get here on NYE, there might not be time to thaw them out ....or there might be a few hours.

 

If you do decide to thaw before cooking and don't have much time, you can do a cold water bath. It should only take a couple of hours at most (this link says 30 - 60 mins). Just don't put the lobster directly into the water, keep it inside a sealed plastic bag. 

 

https://getmainelobster.com/blogs/recipes/how-to-defrost-frozen-lobster-tails?srsltid=AfmBOooCFFwg2mzqxHz_TyLKA1J_GOGiVLA6DCJktcIMTwF48m7RO6YI

Edited December 23, 2025 by FauxPas (log)

[blue_dolphin]

3 hours ago, Shelby said:

SO, my point is, depending on what time they get here on NYE, there might not be time to thaw them out ....or there might be a few hours.  Or, I might have to take my life in my hands and eat them for New Year's Day dinner--and horrors not do the usual lucky ham.  

 

1 hour ago, FauxPas said:

If you do decide to thaw before cooking and don't have much time, you can do a cold water bath.

You really can’t beat an immersion circulator for that cold water bath. I routinely use my Anova to thaw all sorts of stuff.  I set it to 40 - 45°F and add ice to the bath if the water is warm.  You can choose a warmer temp to move things along more quickly if you’re planning to cook right away but I like to keep things cool until I’m ready to start cooking. 

[weinoo]

18 hours ago, KennethT said:

I'd be curious as to what everyone else thinks about this... @weinoo @gfweb @rotuts

 

Forget me, let's look at what a  couple of high-end lobster sellers have to say:

 

Browne Trading Company:

 

Quote

Maine lobster tails have succulent, rich meat that offers an extravagant presentation when plated. These are available shell-on, frozen, and uncooked. For best preparation, let the tails completely thaw before cooking. Once defrosted you can boil, grill, or poach in butter.

 

James Hook Lobster:

 

Quote

You can store your lobster tails in the freezer for up to 12 months. When you are ready to cook them, place them in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours to let them thaw. The lobster meat will toughen and stick to the shell if not thawed properly. To test if your lobster tails have thawed, you can curl them up. If they curl easily, then the tails are ready for cooking.

 

Lobster Anywhere:

 

Quote

 

Can You Cook Lobster Tails from Frozen?

Short answer: Yes, but it’s not recommended—the exterior can overcook while the center lags, leading to tough meat. You’ll get the best texture if you thaw first, so tails cook evenly and release cleanly from the shell. If you notice surface ice/frost, that’s a standard protective glaze—thaw and pat dry before cutting or seasoning.

 

 

[KennethT]

1 hour ago, weinoo said:

 

Forget me, let's look at what a  couple of high-end lobster sellers have to say:

 

Browne Trading Company:

 

 

James Hook Lobster:

 

 

Lobster Anywhere:

 

 

Thanks... although I don't think the advice given by any of these takes cooking SV into account, especially since the target temp is the same as the bath temp, so overcooking the exterior is impossible.  Also, when companies give this kind of advice, a lot of it is "cover your ass" as they don't want to be sued if someone defrosts it by leaving it out on the counter, gets a lot of bacterial growth and someone gets sick.  Their advice is the same as the FDA, but none of it takes SV into account.

[weinoo]

19 minutes ago, KennethT said:

Thanks... although I don't think the advice given by any of these takes cooking SV into account, especially since the target temp is the same as the bath temp, so overcooking the exterior is impossible.

 

Try this...

 

https://recipes.anovaculinary.com/recipe/sous-vide-lobster

 

Or this:

 

https://lobsteranywhere.com/seafood-savvy/how-to-sous-vide-lobster/?srsltid=AfmBOoqfb1xDBGppbaoydYOKwInrWL2qFx_INy8FhgZJAar3GhD5VvyN

 

In any event, the meat should be removed from the shell before vacuum sealing, so I can't imagine how that can be done if the lobster tail is still frozen.