Sous Vide Turkey

[weedy]

So I’ve done turkey breast SV before but that was served with a molé and I wasn’t fussed with the skin. 

 

This time im planning on doing the whole bird (in pieces) but i’d like to try to crisp the skin at the finish. 

 

Recommendations seem to be way all over the shop as to times and temps. 

I’ve seen everything from a few hours at 135 to 24 hrs at 150. 

One recipe i saw suggested doing the legs at 2 degrees higher than the breasts which seems totally wanky to me. 

 

My plan is to do the legs for longer than the breasts, and probably to remove the breasts from the bone before bagging (although I’m not committed to that yet). 

But I’m currently thinking to do all the pieces (for different times) at 150F and then bung it under the broiler, with a little bitter and spice rub,  to try to crisp and brown the skin 

 

Anyone have thoughts experiences warnings exhortations threats etc.?

 

Should I worry about the broiler overcooking it and thereby undoing my good SV work?

should I therefore perhaps drop the Sv cooking temp ?

i suspect a torch would just burn off the skin. 

 

how long would you do?

i was thinking 24 hr legs and 3-4 hour breasts but I wonder if it’s overkill. 

 

Thanks for any advice

 

 

Edited November 4, 2018 by weedy (log)

[gfweb]

I have SVd breasts with the skin on, chilled them (to lower meat temp and protect it from being overdone) and then crisped up the skin in a hot pan.

 

I think the SV temp was something like 140 for 2 to 3 hrs.

 

It worked, but was a PITA. 

Edited November 4, 2018 by gfweb (log)

[curls]

I'd use this recipe from ChefSteps as a starting point https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/epic-grilled-turkey-with-amazing-ribs-meathead-goldwyn

[btbyrd]

+1 for the ChefSteps time/temps. Do the legs for 12 hours at 150, then drop the bath to 131, add your white meat, and go another 12 hours. 131 sounds insanely low for poultry white meat, but the results speak for themselves. The breasts can just be seared in a pan to crisp up the skin. I usually smoke the legs and shred them, though I did do the CS SV dark meat turkey tube one year and deep fried it for the final sear. If deep frying is an option, it's worth doing. Sears all sides evenly at once, and much faster than using an oven or broiler. If that's not an option, I'd chill the legs down a bit after unbagging them and use a very hot oven with convection. 

 

I have no idea why gfweb reports it being a PITA. I've never had an easier cooking experience than SV turkey breasts, and they always _always_ get rave reviews.

[btbyrd]

This is the slightly more detailed ChefSteps guide to SV turkey. No grilling, no Meathead.

[gfweb]

6 hours ago, btbyrd said:

 

 

I have no idea why gfweb reports it being a PITA. I've never had an easier cooking experience than SV turkey breasts, and they always _always_ get rave reviews.

 

The PITA was the chilling and searing and then reheating. Not huge as PITAs go but a PITA nonetheless.

 

And the results are good

[haresfur]

Wouldn't you want to do the dark meat at a higher temperature than the white?

[weedy]

Maybe. I’m not so sure for turkey. 

Especially if they are very long cook times. 

I suspect 150 will work for both, if it is in long enough

Edited November 5, 2018 by weedy (log)

[&roid]

We did SV legs last Christmas. 70C (158F) for 24 hours worked really well. This is a lot more than I’d like breast cooked to but gives a nice texture on the dark meat. If you have a reasonable amount of time to prepare it’s no harder to do the different cuts at different temps. 

 

FWIW we aren’t bothering with SV for the crowns this year, simply roasting these as I’ve found little benefit from the water bath and it’s pretty easy to cook them evenly when detached from the legs. 

 

Edited to add: the reason we went for 70C on the legs was that previous tries with a lower temp had all turned out quite rubbery, not a nice texture at all. 70C seemed to give a result like a super juicy version of roast meat. 

Edited November 5, 2018 by &roid (log)

[rotuts]

Ive done turkey SV for some time now.

 

I just got 5 Fz whole TB's  on sale , about 10 lbs each

 

for the TB I do them at 142.5 ,   for 4 hours.

 

only because I thought 140 was too 'rare' for my tastes and 145 left too much jus in the bag

 

ie no longer in the meat.

 

Im very interested in how you do your skin, as I always have removed all the skin

 

then sometimes ' baked' the skin between parchment paper in-between two jelly roll pans

 

the lips on the pans are important to contain the fat that renders

 

then the crisp skin was served on top of the meat

 

Im sorry I don't recall the times for that

 

I sued to do the dark meat at 160 for 24 H

 

but recently keep the bath at 142.5 for 24  as , again , less jus in the bag

 

and more flavor in the meat.

 

I encourage you to remove / tease out the individual tendons in the two breast muscles  ( two on each side )

 

a noticeable chew difference  .  then I tie the meat to keep its original shape

 

and make a Large Note on the bag, to remove the kitchen twine before I serve the TB's

 

the kitchen twine is hard to see after cooking , and still very chewy after a SV

 

I do hope you report back w picks on your cooking results

[Barrytm]

I just made a turkey dinner for some friends on Saturday.  Broke the turkey down, and SV the breasts following Serious Eats recipe and procedure.   https://www.seriouseats.com/2014/11/food-lab-sous-vide-turkey-crisp-skin-sous-vide-101-thanksgiving.html .   I actually smoked the turkey breasts at 145 for about 40 minutes before I started the SV -  then SV at 145 for 2 1/2 hours,  everyone said it was very moist and had a great flavor.  The turkey legs and thighs were separated, and grilled on a lump charcoal grill around 375 for just over an hour to 180 IT -  the thighs came out great, legs were okay.  I had taken the skin off the turkey before cutting out the breasts, and spread that between two pans, with two pieces of parchment paper ,   per Serious Eats, and put in the oven for about 50 minutes  ( I had planned for longer, but apps were done and guests were ready for the main course).  When I took apart the pans, the skin was still not done, so I left off the top pan and parchment paper and put it pack into the oven and turned on the broiler  -  forgot that the bottom piece of parchment would not fair well under the broiler, but the good news is that the smoke detector only went off for a few minutes, and the guests could not have been more polite about it.  A few areas of the skin came out nice and crispy, but the rest was under done.   Could be that the oven had not preheated long enough, or that it just needed another 10 to 15 minutes.   Obviously Rotus has that part down pat.  I intended to add a few slices of breast, few slices of the leg and thigh, to each plate , then top with a piece of crispy skin like a pita wedge, but that didn't quite work out. 

[Anna N]

 Here is Nik Sharma’s take on sous vide turkey using the Joule and the ChefSteps methodology. 

Click.

 

 I don’t “do” nor do I “get” turkey  but I thought it might interest those of a different persuasion.

[btbyrd]

My, that's some uninformative sponsored content. It's supposed to be Sharma's "take" but it's written by someone else, and there are no photographs, only illustrations. Boo! (That's not a Boo at you, Anna... just a Boo at ChefSteps and the value they got for their marketing dollar.)

 

Anyway, here's what you get if you follow the ChefSteps protocol for the dark meat, chill it down, and then retherm on a 225F smoker.

 

 

And this is what it looks like after you remove the skin (cracklins!) and shred the meat. It is extremely close in appearance to good pulled pork barbecue;

 

 

It is delicious. You can just cram it directly in your pie-hole, but it also works as an excellent starting point for more composed dishes. Here are a couple such dishes from Thanksgivings past. Up first is a Thanksgiving taco. Sweet potato hash underneath, with shallots pickled in cranberry jus, a cranberry BBQ sauce, smoked dark meat, and turkey skin cracklins for some crunch. My radish slicing skills have much improved since then. I served them with tempura green beans and some deep fried parsnip chips. It was maybe my favorite Thanksgiving plate ever. Traditional ingredients but unconventional preparations.

 

 

 

Last year I made potato gnocci with the shredded dark meat, poplar mushrooms, and a turkey demiglace. It's a riff on mashed potatoes and gravy. The salad was made of shaved brussels sprouts, granny smith apple, watermelon radish, and pomegranate with an apple cider honey-mustard vinaigrette.

 

 

You can also throw it on a sandwich and eat it like BBQ. Or just pile it on your plate and eat it straight up alongside your favorite sides.

 

I should try to remember to take some pics of my white meat this year...

Edited November 8, 2018 by btbyrd (log)

[btbyrd]

I've also done the turkey tube using the dark meat, but I don't recommend it. Removing the tendons is a thankless and necessary task, and the end result looks better than it tastes. If you're going to do a roulade, you'd be better off doing it with breasts. The final deep fry was pretty epic though.

 

 

[weedy]

I want to end up with all the bits browned (and then I’m going to sauce it) and served together. 

So i am not looking to smoke the legs or separate the skin etc. 

 

 

[weedy]

so just reporting back, I was pretty happy with the whole thing, and especially with the 'dark' bits

 

I did the legs and thighs for about 11 hours at 150F and the dropped the temp to 140F and added the breasts and wings for another 8-9 hours.

 

then under the broiler for a few mins to brown.

 

the legs were perfect.

 

My feeling is that the breasts were a bit over, and next time I'd drop the temp lower.

but live and learn!

 

on the whole, it worked.

 

thanks for all the advice.

 

 

 

[FeChef]

You should follow the Deep fried turkey thread. Way better results. Flavor is amazing.

[gfweb]

I roasted the dark  meat and SV the breast at 140 for 3 hours. The skin was crisped in a hot pan. Worked very well all around

[kayb]

Dark meat smoked after an 18-hour sous vide at 150 was pretty awesome.

 

 

[rotuts]

White Meat :  SV 142.5 x 4 - 6 H   then cold smoked

 

is outstanding.  tender , moist , smoky 

 

Ive done DM at the same temps , but longer

 

I can't recall the times , but  turkey  , as far as I can tell does not need the long time 

 

say corned beef does to be very tender.   I might have done the DM for 12.

 

also smoked , cold smoked

 

and it's also outstanding

 

Soooo  good , and you can't buy anything like this anywhere .

[btbyrd]

 

On 11/8/2018 at 5:16 PM, btbyrd said:

 

I should try to remember to take some pics of my white meat this year...

 

 

I 'membered.

 

]

 

 

[weedy]

I think 140 is higher than I'd like for breast.

 

Next time 135

 

 

[gfweb]

41 minutes ago, weedy said:

I think 140 is higher than I'd like for breast.

 

Next time 135

 

 

 

140 is ok ...just...until you pan fry the breast to crisp the skin. I need to chill the 140 breast prior to crisping.  A PITA. I think 135 f and then into a hot pan is the trick. 

[rustwood]

19 hours ago, gfweb said:

 

140 is ok ...just...until you pan fry the breast to crisp the skin. I need to chill the 140 breast prior to crisping.  A PITA. I think 135 f and then into a hot pan is the trick. 

 

FWIW, I did mine at 134, out of the bag, dried/cooled a bit, then seared on a hot grill just before serving (flat side of grillgrates).  It came out great.   Not that I am saying 1 degree matters, just that 135-ish worked well for me.

 

[rustwood]

On 11/28/2018 at 1:22 AM, weedy said:

I did the legs and thighs for about 11 hours at 150F and the dropped the temp to 140F and added the breasts and wings for another 8-9 hours.

 

I had 2 whole turkeys and ended up with an extra set of legs of thighs after breaking out a whole breast for the smoker.  I also started the legs and thighs at 150 for 12 hours, but then dropped it to 134 before adding the boned out breasts.  I was cooking them a couple days in advance, so I decided to pull one bag of legs out when I put the breasts in.    Everything went back in the bath @ 134 for 2-3 hours on the day of.  The legs with the extra 12 hours at 134 had a noticeably different texture.  They were  much easier to pull than the ones without that extra time.  Live and learn.