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

[scubadoo97]

I have to say a SV steak doesn't bleed as much.  I don't think it looses its juices but they are distributed more evenly throughout the meat and aren't being forced out when it cut

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Only leftover sous vide chicken for me tonight -- but I got a copy Lisa Fetterman's Sous Vide at Home from work.

 

[weedy]

Tonight I tried to cook tuna at 110f for 45 mins before searing- as was recommended on serious eats. 

 

I have to to say it came out way too grey and 'done' for me. I won't be doing that again. 

 

Anyone else give give that a go?

i'm a little surprised, as Kenji is usually pretty on these things. 

[scubadoo97]

I used Kenji's suggestions with tuna for a NYE app and later on for dinner.  The app was excellent and my dinner wasn't bad but maybe a little over done but not gray.   It's was a thinner portion I used for dinner.  Here is the dinner photo.  Very pink but no red.  I think I only went about 30+ min but maybe close to 45 min 

 

[blue_dolphin]

20 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Only leftover sous vide chicken for me tonight -- but I got a copy Lisa Fetterman's Sous Vide at Home from work.

 

 

Please do share your thoughts on the book when you've had time to give it a good once over.  I think there are several of us interested.

[Anna N]

49 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

Please do share your thoughts on the book when you've had time to give it a good once over.  I think there are several of us interested.

 I have that book in Kindle format but find I am much more engaged with The Complete Sous Vide Cookbook by Chris McDonald that I mentioned earlier. It includes Recipes for black garlic and 50 hour preserved lemons. Here's  a link to some interesting tidbits about Chef McDonald. Still have not tested recipes from either book so I'm not prepared to give either a thumbs up yet. 

Edited February 11, 2017 by Anna N (log)

[Dave the Cook]

On 2/10/2017 at 1:55 PM, weedy said:

I not only noticed that, I tweeted to a few modernist chef's about it for comment. 

Will be interesting to see if anyone responds. 

I personally think that both Collichio and Sean Brock are just traditionalist and predisposed to dislike the IDEA of SV. 

 

There's no reason why, if done CORRECTLY, pork loin is going to be "drier" cooked SV 

 

it sounds a bit like buying the long disproved 'searing locks in juices' meme. 

 

 

Ps I love Husk.  It's just not the ONLY way to cook. 

I like Ink just as much. 

 

 

 

 

You can call Husk traditionalist, but that doesn't necessarily mean Brock is. His recipes show up throughout Modernist Cuisine, and before many of us had even heard of sous vide, he was known among the vanguard of modernist chefs (Dufresne, Blais, et al) as "the methocel guy."

[scubadoo97]

This is true.  He was posting on eG about these new techniques several years ago

[MelissaH]

I need to go back to the SV bacon idea. We had problems with it because after cooking it in the package, we couldn't get the slices to separate. Last time I shopped, I got another package of the same kind of bacon (Wegmans brand center-cut thick sliced), to cook by more traditional methods. And my husband asked if this was the same kind I'd done SV.

 

I replied, "Yes, why?"

 

He said that he was having problems separating the slices uncooked, just like he'd had problems separating the slices cooked.

 

So I might need to redo that experiment, either using a different kind of bacon that WILL separate easily, or by separating the slices ahead of time and then resealing them before SV.

 

Thoughts?

[Anna N]

 I am attempting @shains  technique for sweet potatoes.   I realize now that I did not ask enough questions. Does he cook them whole and unpeeled initially? Or does he cut them up after peeling them and cook them that way. Will it work if I  put them into a zip lock bag with a little butter and Sous Vide them at 69°C for an hour before roasting them. I guess I'm going to answer my own questions.   Keeping them submerged is the biggest challenge.

[Anna N]

 

 I think there is no doubt that the technique discussed above does something to the sugars in the sweet potatoes. The edges are much more caramelized than the rest of the potato and subjectively I do think they are sweeter. I also felt the texture was somewhat changed.  Hard to describe but they seem to hold together better while still being very tender. I admit that could be something I imagined.  @shain  strongly recommending serving the sweet potatoes with some unadulterated tahini  but darned if I could find mine.

Edited February 12, 2017 by Anna N (log)

[MelissaH]

Serious Eats did a post about parcooking sweet potatoes a while ago, and my husband used it as the jumping-off point for some student research. Basically, by preheating the sweet potatoes, you're mashing them like brewers do in the beginning stages of all-grain beer production, and allowing the enzymes in the sweet potatoes to start converting the starches into simpler sugars. The sugars then brown more in the roasting process. My husband's student looked into the temperature and time variables of starch conversion.

[Anna N]

36 minutes ago, MelissaH said:

Serious Eats did a post about parcooking sweet potatoes a while ago, and my husband used it as the jumping-off point for some student research. Basically, by preheating the sweet potatoes, you're mashing them like brewers do in the beginning stages of all-grain beer production, and allowing the enzymes in the sweet potatoes to start converting the starches into simpler sugars. The sugars then brown more in the roasting process. My husband's student looked into the temperature and time variables of starch conversion.

Here's a link to the Serious Eats discussion. 

[shain]

@Anna N I'm very glad that you enjoyed the sweet potatoes. Kenji at Serious Eats does a great work explaining the science behind cooking and I do enjoy his writing a lot. I do however need to credit Harold McGee, it took me a long while, but I'm finally getting close to the end of On Food and Cooking. This book is full of interesting facts that can be utilized when cooking.

 

By the way, I'm obviously late, but I usually don't peel the sweet potatoes. I slice them and then place directly in the  water. They float a little, but stay submerged. The key is the temrature, so it doesn't really matter. I think your description of their texture is spot on - tender and creamy yet intact.

Edited February 12, 2017 by shain (log)

[weedy]

It may be bad tv editIng; but I wouldn't complain if Collichio and Brock had said she didn't SV the pork CORRECTLY. 

(Richard Blais criticised a dish in Top Chef last year by saying 'this is the sort of thing that gives Sous Vide a bad name') but instead they singled out the IDEA that SV would lead to "drier" pork.

That's my beef (pun intended)

 

Larry Hagman started to have a Texas accent in all his post Dallas appearances. 

Sean Brock my be playing the part of the traditionalist preservationist on tv. 

 

Edited February 13, 2017 by weedy (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I've been par-cooking my sweet potatoes quite a while now, around 150 deg F.  Sometimes sous vide, sometimes in the CSO.  Of course if sous vide I use Celsius.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Last night...prime, dry aged strip steak:

 

 

 

...bagged and sealed:

 

 

 

After about two and three quarter hours at 58 deg C, pan seared in Falk, pan temperature checked with surface contact Thermapen:

 

 

 

Note, I needed to sit down with a mai tai at some point and threw the paper towel wiped steak in the CSO 125 deg F. convection bake to dry out a bit before searing.

 

Meanwhile, béarnaise:

 

 

 

I get to talk about that here because the egg was pasteurized sous vide.  Finished sauce:

 

 

Note CSO at 125 deg F is wonderful for holding béarnaise.

 

Plated:

 

 

 

Of course by the time the photoshoot was finished, the plate was stone cold.  Nonetheless the beef was fork tender and possibly the best béarnaise I've made.

 

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

3 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Of course by the time the photoshoot was finished, the plate was stone cold.

 

Beautiful dinner! It's been a long time since I made hollandaise, and the next time I get my hands on some good asparagus, this is happening. Did you use powdered tarragon for your bearnaise? I usually see it with flecks of green.

 

I so appreciate all the beautiful food photos on this site. I don't own a camera or money to buy luxuries like that, but even if I did, letting a beautiful plate of food get cold while futzing with anything but digging in is anathema to me. I suspect that is what makes me prone to even forget garnishes that have been carefully prepared are sitting ready on the counter many times.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

24 minutes ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

 

Beautiful dinner! It's been a long time since I made hollandaise, and the next time I get my hands on some good asparagus, this is happening. Did you use powdered tarragon for your bearnaise? I usually see it with flecks of green.

 

I so appreciate all the beautiful food photos on this site. I don't own a camera or money to buy luxuries like that, but even if I did, letting a beautiful plate of food get cold while futzing with anything but digging in is anathema to me. I suspect that is what makes me prone to even forget garnishes that have been carefully prepared are sitting ready on the counter many times.

 

Thank you for the compliment.  No, this was fresh tarragon.  See photograph above.  Not that I have anything against dried tarragon, mind you.  But I cannot abide flecks of anything in my béarnaise.  The shallot and tarragon reduction was carefully strained.  Actually, reduced to sec, wine added, and then strained.

 

I just use an iPad for my food pictures, nothing fancy.  I used to manufacture digital cameras for a living and I own a battery of film cameras from the last century.  But the iPad is what I pick up.  Usually food temperature is not a problem, though I admit I got carried away with myself last night!

 

 

[Martin Fisher]

4 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

...the plate was stone cold...

 

This is one of the reasons I almost never take a pic (tripod and delay timer are musts for me) or otherwise putz around.

I have nothing to prove — the only thing I'm good at is snarfing down food! 

[rustwood]

On 2/14/2017 at 1:33 AM, Thanks for the Crepes said:

I so appreciate all the beautiful food photos on this site. I don't own a camera or money to buy luxuries like that, but even if I did, letting a beautiful plate of food get cold while futzing with anything but digging in is anathema to me

 

I totally agree - so many of the photos here are great and I sometimes wish I could take better pictures, but then I realize I want/need to get dinner on the table.  I suppose one could hold food in a warmer - either the portion for the photo or the rest of the meal.  I would be interested to know more about the the logistics of the more elaborately staged photos.  Perhaps if you have the right setup in place and are practiced enough you can do a good job as quickly as I can snap a picture of a plate with my phone (usually of the entree only, often because that is the only dish I made!).

Edited February 15, 2017 by rustwood
typo (log)

[kayb]

On 2/12/2017 at 9:28 AM, MelissaH said:

I need to go back to the SV bacon idea. We had problems with it because after cooking it in the package, we couldn't get the slices to separate. Last time I shopped, I got another package of the same kind of bacon (Wegmans brand center-cut thick sliced), to cook by more traditional methods. And my husband asked if this was the same kind I'd done SV.

 

I replied, "Yes, why?"

 

He said that he was having problems separating the slices uncooked, just like he'd had problems separating the slices cooked.

 

So I might need to redo that experiment, either using a different kind of bacon that WILL separate easily, or by separating the slices ahead of time and then resealing them before SV.

 

Thoughts?

The last batch I cooked SV, I let it sit on the counter and cool for about an hour. The bacon "jus" absorbed back into the bacon, leaving just the fat for me to drain off; I opened the packages in the sink, grabbed the bacon out, laid it on a plate en masse, poured the fat up into a container, then put the bacon back in its original bag, which is equipped with its own zipper seal (I use Wright's). I thought the slices separated more easily, and when seared, had a better texture, with the soft, almost creamy inside and the crispy exterior.

 

I bought four more packages of Wright's when I went to the grocery Saturday, as Kroger had them on sale for $4.99 for the 24-oz package. Can't pass that up. I know that cost me points in the FCO challenge.

[lindag]

On ‎11‎/‎30‎/‎2016 at 11:59 AM, MelissaH said:

This brings up a topic I've wondered about for a little while. Many vegetables will float, even if you manage to seal them without adding air. I perpetually have a problem when I do carrots, as their density is apparently not much different from water so if you trap the least bit of air in the bag, up it goes.

 

How do you all deal with things that float? I've contemplated putting my sealed food bags inside another ziplock bag, along with a few good-sized washers from the hardware store. My husband proposed adding some large teflon-coated stir-bars from the chemical supply directly to the food bag. At times I've resorted to just using a rack, a potato masher, or another utensil to wedge the bag down. I'm not happy with any of these solutions. So, vegetable bathers, what do you do?

I suggest using the lid from a small-ish cast iron (Le Creuset) stock pot.  My smallest is the 4-½ qt. and the lid is fairly small in diameter.

[Kerry Beal]

 

Found some beef ribs at the supermarket for a good price. Sadly 4 hours is not enough. The second is bathing for 48 hours.

 

 

 

Trying to decide if I'll roast further in the CSO or IP for stock.

 

[Anna N]

 

1.  Boneless beef short ribs from Costco. You see them here being seared before being bagged. I also double bagged them.  Why so many precautions? These were about 1 1/2 times more expensive than the equivalent weight of prime rib! I don't know what possessed me. Anyway they are being cooked at 60°C  for 48 hours.

 

2.   A small, just over a kilogram, boneless, pork shoulder roast. I am cooking it at 62.8° for 6 1/2 hours. I also seared it on all surfaces. This will be my first time doing a pork shoulder roast Sous Vide.