Sous Vide Garlic

[paulraphael]

Does anyone have reliable tricks for getting good flavor out of garlic in a sous-vide bag? I'm talking about using it just as an aromatic, while cooking proteins, or as part of a stock or vegetable puree.

 

The one time I forgot the maxim to leave raw garlic out of the bag, I ended up with celeriac puree that tasted like a tire fire.

 

I see some recommendations to just use less, but in my experience the problem wasn't just too much garlic flavor. It was acrid, inedible flavor. Using less works fine for me with other mirepoix veggies.

 

I also see recipes for s.v. garlic confit (listed by both Anova and Nomiku) and for some reason people say these taste good. How can this be?

 

There was a thread questioning the old saw about blanching garlic multiple times in milk, which didn't come to any hard conclusions.

 

I'm wondering if a quick blanch in water before adding to the s.v. bag, to deactivate the enzymes, would do the trick. But I don't know the actual chemistry behind the garlic tire fire, so am not confident this would work.

 

Some cooks advocate garlic powder; I'm hoping to not resort to that.

 

Thoughts?

[nickrey]

The sulphur compounds in the garlic are the likely cause of this. They are reduced or, more typically, deactivated through cooking, which is not achieved at the low temperatures used for sous vide cooking. 

 

A blanch may work but I'd probably be flash frying it instead before adding it to the bag.

 

Have you tried using black garlic?

 

Look forward to hearing the results of your experiments.

[paulraphael]

I haven't tried anything yet. Hoping for a simple solution.

 

It's definitely sulfur compounds causing the off-flavors. I just don't know if they're being produce enzymatically ( and then what times/temperatures are required to deactivate the enzymes) or if they're already there and need to be broken down directly by heat (and then, again, by how much).

[JoNorvelleWalker]

5 hours ago, paulraphael said:

Some cooks advocate garlic powder; I'm hoping to not resort to that.

 

Thoughts?

 

I would say garlic powder.  I like garlic powder and I go through a good bit of it.  Not the same as fresh garlic, mind you, but good in its own way.  Garlic powder is one of the few spices I would add to an SV bag.

 

Your mileage may vary.

 

[KennethT]

I usually briefky saute aromatics like garlic, ginger and onion before adding to the bag. Their flavor release is better once they've been softened a bit.

[Dave W]

4 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I would say garlic powder.  I like garlic powder and I go through a good bit of it.  Not the same as fresh garlic, mind you, but good in its own way.  Garlic powder is one of the few spices I would add to an SV bag.

 

Your mileage may vary.

 

Yeah this 

[paulraphael]

Interesting, thanks. How do you find the difference between garlic powder and sauteed garlic (I assume you're just talking about sweating the garlic a bit)?

[KennethT]

I don't think I've ever used garlic powder.  But I've always liked using the sauteed garlic - it gives a nice, mild garlic aroma and flavor... and yes, I meant just sweating a bit...  it's an extra step and a bit more work, but I always thought it was worth it.

Edited March 19, 2017 by KennethT (log)

[Soupcon]

I know this topic is about sous vide garlic but have you tried garlic a la modernist cuisine at home. It is nice and mild and caramelised and quite yummy. Give it a whirl.

 

[torolover]

I have sous vide chicken thighs with thinly sliced raw garlic for 6 hours at 150F and haven't noticed an acrid or off taste.  

 

Have other member's noticed bad garlic taste when sous vide with meat?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 22, 2017 by torolover (log)

[paulraphael]

For what it's worth, the time I got the bad flavor was vegetables only (mostly celeriac and fennel), cooked at 85°C for 90 minutes.

[torolover]

Modernist Cuisine and Anova has a recipe for Sous Vide Garlic at 190F for 7 hours.  Just Garlic and Olive oil.

 

Why would MC and Anova give this recipe if garlic would taste off?

 

Have other people used garlic and onions during Sous Vide?  Anyone else notice off taste?

[paulraphael]

16 hours ago, torolover said:

Why would MC and Anova give this recipe if garlic would taste off?

 

I wonder if the noxious compounds are broken down under such prolonged cooking. Why else 7 hours? They'll be soft after 1 or 2.

 

If I knew the science behind this, it would be easier to come up with cooking methods that avoid the problem. 

 

Re: onions ... I haven't gotten bad flavors cooking them sous vide. But I do cut down on all the usual mirepoix veggies in preparations like stocks, by as much as 2/3. I find s.v. cooking amplifies their contribution relative to other ingredients. Carrots especially.

[torolover]

I don't know if the short time is the cause for the off taste.  Maybe you had bad garlic?

 

MC has a recipe for Fish stock which they sous vide with garlic for only 1.25 hours.  They use garlic, onions, fennel, and other veggies at 80C for 1.25 hours.  Why would they put garlic in the recipe if garlic would taste bad?

 

Anyone else experience bad garlic taste during sous vide?

[nickrey]

80C is likely high enough enough to nullify the sulphur compounds. It's the lower temperature cooks where the problem lies.

[paulraphael]

38 minutes ago, nickrey said:

80C is likely high enough enough to nullify the sulphur compounds. It's the lower temperature cooks where the problem lies.

 

Time must be a factor as well, since I got off flavors in 90 minutes at 85C.

 

[Martin Fisher]

FWIW, see Chris Young's comment in this thread:

https://www.chefsteps.com/forum/posts/garlic-confit-8

 

For shorter sous vide cooks at 85°C/185°F it may be a good idea to try removing the germ—which can become bitter as garlic ages.

[weedy]

On 3/22/2017 at 0:42 PM, torolover said:

I have sous vide chicken thighs with thinly sliced raw garlic for 6 hours at 150F and haven't noticed an acrid or off taste.  

 

Have other member's noticed bad garlic taste when sous vide with meat?

 

 

 

 

 

not in a short cooking time, no.

 

but then I'm more typically doing a chicken or duck breast for an hour or two... no longer.