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


FrogPrincesse

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Yesterday I had the privilege of judging a steak cookoff at the Sam's Club in Plano, TX.  One of the categories was tomahawks.  Several of the cook teams used sous vide for the tomahawks and I was very impressed at what they were turning in for the judges.  Moist, tender, juicy, and incredible.  The one that was most beautiful to me unfortunately was over salted.  There we over 40 teams cooking and turning in these steaks.  Being a competition food judge is a good thing on some days.  The competition was put on by the Steak Cookoff Association.

Edited by joiei
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It is good to be a BBQ Judge.  And now it is even gooder to be a Steak Cookoff Association Judge.  Life just got even better.  Woo Hoo!!!

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Well, I should have SVed one of the nicest banjo steaks I got from my belted galloway beef dude. My gas barbie just wasn't up to the task. 

 

I need to ask him where it is from. I thought he said it was the opposite side of the bone from the oyster blade/flatiron but this says it is from the inside of the back leg.

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It's almost never bad to feed someone.

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Just announcing since there's hardly anyone in real life I can share with. I have bought three Anovas, one each for my sisters and me because of birthday timings. New Year's sales in the UK if anyone's dithering on the edge -extra 20% off!

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Not in the market to buy another, but I'm about due to cook something with mine. Undetermined as of yet just what that might be. 

 

I don't use it as often as a lot of people, but damn, I do love it.

 

Don't ask. Eat it.

www.kayatthekeyboard.wordpress.com

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On 11/17/2017 at 10:34 PM, boilsover said:

 

... Maybe you should invest in a duck press?  Christofle makes a nice one!

 

I have been on the hunt for one of these.  Thanks for the tip.  Unfortunately when I go to their site I seem unable to find any.  Would you have any other info?

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19 hours ago, Tuber magnatum said:

I have been on the hunt for one of these.  Thanks for the tip.  Unfortunately when I go to their site I seem unable to find any.  Would you have any other info?

Matfer-Bourgeat usually offers them.  About $1500 IIRC.  The Cristofles are 10x that.  I scored a very small used press for $200.  Only used it a few times, more for lobster and crab than duck.  In a pinch, you can also use those old vintage fruit and sausage presses.

 

Dehillerin, MORA and A. Simon would be good sources to find a new one.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Prepare yourself for an epic sous vide failure by me.

 

Life has thrown us a curve ball--we are all ok but it was quite a curve and I seem to have lost my cooking mojo for a bit.  

 

A day or two before the curve Ronnie put a nice venison roast into a salt brine and the plan was to sous vide it and then slice it super thin for sandwiches.   My head wasn't really into cooking, but I knew that roast needed to be used and I thought that it would make a nice, simple meal so I quickly googled and went with the first recipe I found.  I know, stupid move.

 

Anyway, here is the roast before I ruined it:

 

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I sous vide it for 24 hours at 130F.  

 

It was AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL.  Totally mushy, and tasted just like liver.  

 

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Too long?  Too high of a temp?  I don't know.  Someone hopefully will chime in here.  

 

So, Chum has been getting venison snacks........

 

On the upside, I had to go to the grocery store to pick up a prescription and I cruised by the meat section.  Buy one get one free!!!!  I loaded up.

 

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Excellent porterhouse steaks--2 for a total of $14!

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1 )    venison roast into a salt brine

 

why did you choose to brine it ?

 

2)  130 x 24 hrs
 

is the meat tough  , or tender ? (  before you started the project )

 

was it frozen ?     you can get mushy sooner w frozen meat.  @ any temp.

 

however , a Win for Chum Im sure

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Just now, rotuts said:

1 )    venison roast into a salt brine

 

why did you choose to brine it ?

 

2)  130 x 24 hrs
 

is the meat tough  , or tender ? (  before you started the project )

 

was it frozen ?     you can get mushy sooner w frozen meat.  @ any temp.

 

however , a Win for Chum Im sure

We wanted something like an Arby's sandwich, hence the idea to brine.

 

Meat was pretty tender before starting.  No, it was completely thawed out before cooking.

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I think  the brine didn't help the meat

 

Lesson # 1  :  want Arby's ? go to the Professionals : @  Arby's

 

not that it matters , Ive always found Arby's meat , " Odd , very odd "

 

had you cut a ' steak ' from the fresh meat , across the grain , as 1 " or so

 

how long would you have saute'd    for  Rare or how you like your steak ?  would the meat have been tender then ?

 

I think you meat was far tender-er than you though so maybe only 4 hours ( unbrined ) at 130  you would have to add for really really thick

 

or cut the roast in two.

 

ive not had deer , except their ticks so I can't say how tender the different cuts are

 

I have had Elk in CO and I was surprise how tender it was rare .   

 

it had such a nice clean taste to boot.

 

you of course made Notes in your SV Notebook   ( red ? )

 

Edited by rotuts (log)
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3 minutes ago, rotuts said:

P.S.:  how old in general are the deer you ' trim - up " ?

Well this roast came out of a 3 year old doe.  In general, we try to harvest a little older does, but not this time.

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A long time ago, I had read that venison does weird things when cooked SV for long periods of time... that it contains some kind of enzyme that makes it go mushy.  I don't know if this is true or not, the only venison I have done are rib chops which I just cooked to temp and they came out great.

 

But you cook a lot of venison.... is this the first time you have done it SV for a long time?

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2 minutes ago, KennethT said:

A long time ago, I had read that venison does weird things when cooked SV for long periods of time... that it contains some kind of enzyme that makes it go mushy.  I don't know if this is true or not, the only venison I have done are rib chops which I just cooked to temp and they came out great.

 

But you cook a lot of venison.... is this the first time you have done it SV for a long time?

Yeah...and the last lol.

 

I really didn't think it through at all.  Like I said my head wasn't in a cooking place.  I post my successes....and I post my failures lol.

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I'm looking for a suggestion for a cut of beef for Georgian Sakonlis Khorzis Kharcho, spiced beef and walnut stew.  The recipe calls for beef in bite sized pieces brought to the boil and simmered 20 minutes.  Then stir fried (gently, I would hope) for 15 minutes and simmered for another 15 minutes.  I plan to cheat and use sous vide.

 

For my teeth tenderness trumps flavor.  I was thinking of tenderloin.  Thoughts?

 

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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@Shelby

 

image.png.218ae0f3186aa57e90e34a8bcd94b801.png

 

The darker color in the center of the meat is where the brine hadn't penetrated yet. It moves inward about a cm/day, so a big chunk will take days to brine or cure completely.

 

Which meat was bad tasting...the cured or the uncured?

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1 minute ago, gfweb said:

@Shelby

 

image.png.218ae0f3186aa57e90e34a8bcd94b801.png

 

The darker color in the center of the meat is where the brine hadn't penetrated yet. It moves inward about a cm/day, so a big chunk will take days to brine or cure completely.

 

Which meat was bad tasting...the cured or the uncured?

All of it was horrid.  Maybe the cured parts were a bit more salty and horrid.

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I bet the meat was tender and the time was too long.

 

thinking about this

 

tenderness results from the breakdown of connective tissue

 

leaving the ' meaty ' parts tasty, along w the connective tissue breakdown bits.

 

tender cuts to begin with have less tough connective tissue

 

if this were a tough cut , Id suspect that it would then become more tender

 

and not mushy.    many of us have done longer SV'd cooks and not gotten mushy.

 

so why to tender cuts become mushy much earlier than tough cuts ?

 

I have no idea

 

 

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