Quotidian Sous Vide

[slkinsey]

Now that we have a number of home cooks who have invested in various levels of sous vide technology, I'm wondering how often we use our machines and for what purpose. Sure, it's great that we can make those 48 hour short ribs and salmon mi cuit and all that, but these aren't the kinds of projects one is likely to do on a weekly basis.

Lately, I've been using my rig (Lauda digital recirculating water bath heater, 5 gallon stock pot, FoodSaver Professional III) to make lunchmeat for the week. I'll pick up a turkey or chicken breast, a pork loin, a brisket, beef roast, or whatever looks good and is on sale, vacuum bag it with salt and whatever other flavorings suit my fancy, cook it in the water bath as appropriate, toss the bag into an ice bath to cool down and then into the fridge. I usually do this on Sunday evenings, and on Monday morning I pull the bag out of the fridge, slice up the meat, and I have incredible sandwich meat for the rest of the week. This is not only a huge savings over buying sandwich meat at the deli counter, but there's just no way Boar's Head can ever compete with what I can make at home. What's nice also is that it's a complete snap to do sous vide -- easier than any other method, really.

Anyone else use their sous vide setup for mundane everyday stuff like that?

[rhrad]

Anyone else use their sous vide setup for mundane everyday stuff like that?

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I don't, but your lunchmeat description made my mouth water & the gears start turning in my head...I wonder how much the Foodsaver goes for on Amazon.com....

[BRM]

The immersion circulator is one of the best defrosters of frozen foods that I have ever seen. I use it for this a lot. Its fast and has no hot spots.

I also cook steaks and chops this way about half the time. Put the circulator on the finished internal temp you want, go run errands and come home and your meat is perfectly cooked and you didn't have to stand there. I blast it in a hot pan for looks. I like this method so much that I have started seasoning meat and putting in aromatics when i vacuum seal for the freezer so that I don't have to reseal when I decide to cook this way.

I am also using my vacuum sealer for way more than I thought.

[godito]

How much is one of them digital recirculating water bath heaters?

I love that set-up. Me wants it!!!

[slkinsey]

Prices vary widely depending on condition and technology. I got mine fully cleaned and reconditioned for around $500. But they can be had uncleaned and un-reconditioned for less, and in anolog for a lot less.

[godito]

Prices vary widely depending on condition and technology.  I got mine fully cleaned and reconditioned for around $500.  But they can be had uncleaned and un-reconditioned for less, and in anolog for a lot less.

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Thanks, I will start shopping for mine!

[alwang]

Slow-cooked eggs are a mainstay for me. Sure, they take long, but you don't have to do anything but plop them in, and they taste great. I'll eat them straight, or I'll put them on asian noodle soups.

Sous vide is also the easiest and most consistent way to deal with boneless chicken breast. I'll buy a family pack, portion out the breasts into individual vacpacs along with some olive oil, seasoning, and herbs, and then freeze. I'll thaw one out the night before, and then when I come home the next day, I drop it in the water bath for an hour. The result is not revelatory, but it's remarkably consistent: perfectly cooked white meat, evenly through every time. Before SV, I had compeltely stopped buying boneless chicken breast: the meat has so little flavor that if you don't get the texture right, it's completely worthless.

My main complaints right now with everyday sous vide are that my circulator is really noisy, and that the hardness of my water means preventing limescale buildup is a pain. I'm curious: how often do people change their water bath liquid?

-a

[BryanZ]

Definitely the eggs, the steak, the chicken breast. All so easy when cooking for one or a group.

I also LOVE my bath for holding purees, sauces, foams in an iSi, and all that. I use it for any plated meal I cook even if I'm not actually cooking sous vide.

[GordonCooks]

I do turkey meat loaf, oxtails and rice cakes, and chicken breast roulades with regularity.

[slkinsey]

Could you describe your turkey meatloaf procedure? I assume the point of doing it with turkey and sous vide is to make it lower in fat? Ground turkey always ends up so dry, and I've been trying to figure out a way to make turkey meatloaf that doesn't turn out like a pencil eraser.

[coastie]

its such a great technique to apply to camping. We eat the best and carry the least. Clean up is minimal- no more egg pan etc. Sometimes I'm cooking - sometimes just reheating.

[Fat Guy]

I see the posts here are focusing on the recirculating-water-bath aspect of sous vide cookery, but the benchmark for quotidian sous vide is surely the boil-in-bag meal. Or should we say quotidien?

[slkinsey]

Well, I was speaking of the whole sous-vide shebang which, to my mind, has to include the precise temperature control. Simply boiling something in a bag doesn't seem to offer the home cook too many advantages over non-bagged methods.

Puisque nous écrivons en Anglais, nous pouvons dire "quotidian," en Anglais, au lieu de "quotidien," en Français.

Edited February 27, 2007 by slkinsey (log)

[GordonCooks]

Could you describe your turkey meatloaf procedure?  I assume the point of doing it with turkey and sous vide is to make it lower in fat?  Ground turkey always ends up so dry, and I've been trying to figure out a way to make turkey meatloaf that doesn't turn out like a pencil eraser.

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I make a std mix of 99% fat free ground turkey (2-3 lbs) add 1 egg and 1 white, lots of parm reggiano (sometimes cheddar or grated raclette) and about the same amount of bread crumbs I'd use to make meatballs. I form a log with saran wrap then vacuum over the top of that. In about 2-3 hours, the texture may seem slightly rubbery, but it's tasty, low fat, microwaveble, and can be spiced in just about any style you desire. I've done the quick outside sear in evoo for color or even bruleed with my benzomatic torch. Maybe not so far away from eraser as you would like but I try to eat healthy half of the time.

[pounce]

I make yogurt. Perfect control for all your mesophilic and thermophilic needs.

[slkinsey]

I make a std mix of 99% fat free ground turkey (2-3 lbs) add 1 egg and 1 white, lots of parm reggiano (sometimes cheddar or grated raclette) and about the same amount of bread crumbs I'd use to make meatballs. I form a log with saran wrap then vacuum over the top of that. In about 2-3 hours, the texture may seem slightly rubbery, but it's tasty, low fat, microwaveble, and can be spiced in just about any style you desire. I've done the quick outside sear in evoo for color or even bruleed with my benzomatic torch. Maybe not so far away from eraser as you would like but I try to eat healthy half of the time.

Very cool. What temp do you do? 65C or so?

[BRM]

I make yogurt. Perfect control for all your mesophilic and thermophilic needs.

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Yogurt is a very good idea. Precisely the controlled temperature needs that sous vide was made for. Care to describe your method si'l vous plait?

[pounce]

I'm all over the place in preparations. I go from fat free made from powdered milk up to a whole milk fortified with heavy cream. I've used starter in packets, but I find the best results come from finding store bought yogurt that suits your taste and using it for the culture. I like Brown Cow brand for regular yogurt and there are a few brands of labneh and Greek style yogurt that have nice flavors. I'm finding 109F is a good temp and one mostly cited. Depending on the culture going high or low gets a different flavor as some yogurts use combinations of mesophilic and thermophilic strains.

A very basic approach would be to gather up your mason jars and determine how much milk you need to fill them. Bring the milk up to 185F for 30 minutes. You can do this in the bath if you like. Some people think this is just to pasteurize, but it’s also denaturing the whey proteins adding firmness to the yogurt. Get your bath going at 109F and put your starter cup of yogurt in it to warm up and get active. When your milk is down to about 112F mix in your starter, fill your mason jars and pop the jars into the bath. I don’t screw the lids on tight. The longer you leave them the more tart the yogurt. I’ll use 4.5 hours for a mild yogurt and 8-10 for more bite. I’ll generally take the jars out of the bath, unscrew the lids to let out and gas and screw the lids on tight. I then put the jars in the sink and fill with cool water and maybe a couple of ice trays and let jars cool. This step is not really needed, but it will stop the process and put a nice seal on the lids as they will create a vacuum as they cool.

My bath is a full size counter steam table so it’s easy to put the jars in the bath without an issue. If you use a stock pot you may need to put something in the bottom to prop up the jars if you are using smaller mason jars. I keep the lids above the waterline to be safe.

I’ve also made yogurt with specific strains like Lactobacillus bulgaricus LB-51. In this case I used 45c. This is the strain in Bulgarian yogurt that is said to have some unique health benefits. I’ve also tried soy yogurt, but didn’t really enjoy it.

You really can’t miss. Using the water bath ensures that each batch tastes almost exactly like the brand you used for your starter.

[Baggy]

As a home cook with a very smart (digital) water bath from Clifton in Weston-super-Mare (not stirred), which I love dearly, and a so-so FoodSaver vacuum machine, I find I’m using sous vide typically 2-3x per week.

Here’s a list of stuff that I do on a fairly regular basis:

VACUUM PACKED

Steak (52C)

Fish (42C)

Beef rib roast (52C)

DIRECT CONTACT (IN A GASTRONORM PAN)

Fish in olive oil (42C)

Pre-treat broccoli (52C)

Pre-treat Savoy cabbage (52C)

IN A CONTAINER

Tempering chocolate (31C)

Scrambled egg (72C)

Beef stew (filling for steak pie) (72C)

TO KEEP ITEMS WARM

Sauces (60C)

Mashed potato (70C)

Asparagus (60C)

VACUUM PACKING, BUT NO WATER BATH

Marinate chicken

Marinate prawns

Of all these things, the one that makes the biggest difference is pre-treating broccoli spears. I put them in the water bath at 52C for about 10 minutes, then wash them in cold water, before boiling or sautéing. The pre-treatment makes them all crunch and takes away some of the cabbage smell. No soggy broccoli, ever.

[GordonCooks]

I make a std mix of 99% fat free ground turkey (2-3 lbs) add 1 egg and 1 white, lots of parm reggiano (sometimes cheddar or grated raclette) and about the same amount of bread crumbs I'd use to make meatballs. I form a log with saran wrap then vacuum over the top of that. In about 2-3 hours, the texture may seem slightly rubbery, but it's tasty, low fat, microwaveble, and can be spiced in just about any style you desire. I've done the quick outside sear in evoo for color or even bruleed with my benzomatic torch. Maybe not so far away from eraser as you would like but I try to eat healthy half of the time.

Very cool. What temp do you do? 65C or so?

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My simmer burner will hold a pot at a constant 140F so around 60c -70 c would be fine.

[slkinsey]

What's the theory behind the 52C pre-treatments for the broccoli and cabbage? What is is supposed to do? Is this something you read about, or something you came up with on your own?

Also, when you say "direct contact in a gastronorm pan," does this mean you have the vegetables in the same water as the circulator? Or that you have the vegetables in a water-filled gastronorm pan that is sitting in/heated by the water bath?

[BRM]

This step is not really needed, but it will stop the process and put a nice seal on the lids as they will create a vacuum as they cool.

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Thanks for that. I am definitely going to try it. Upthread when I said I was using my sealer for way more that I thought...one reason is that I bought the sealer for mason jars. I store all my dried herbs, specialty flours, etc. that way.

[Baggy]

I wish I found this out myself, but the pre-treatment method is available on the following link (article NFC 70):

http://www.relayresearch.ie/public/p_popul...ts.asp?type=NFC

The authors attribute the effect to activation of pectin methylesterase (page 9).

I tried the method with a whole range of foods, and in my tests most cabbage-family vegetables were noticeably improved. I couldn’t tell the difference with things like carrots or thin leafed veg.

When I mentioned ‘direct contact’ I meant was that the food is in contact with the water or oil and not packed sous vide. I generally put the items with water/oil in a gastronorm pan just so I don’t have to clean out the water bath. It does take a little longer to heat up, but generally that’s not a problem with a bit of planning.

[Digijam]

Holding tempered chocolate is definitely one of the cooler unexpected uses for a water bath. Wonder if anybody has tried using one to keep a new sourdough starter at the ideal temp?

[slkinsey]

When I mentioned ‘direct contact’ I meant was that the food is in contact with the water or oil and not packed sous vide.  I generally put the items with water/oil in a gastronorm pan just so I don’t have to clean out the water bath.

Makes sense with respect to water. For me, however, it doesn't make sense to do it this way when using oil. If I want fish slow poached in extra virgin olive oil it takes (at least) a cup of oil to completely submerge the piece of fish. And then, when you're done cooking the fish, you have a cup of fish-infused oil you have to throw away. On the other hand, I can seal as little as a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil in a bag with a piece of fish, and the fish will be completely surrounded by the oil on every side. The great thing is that the fish doesn't know the difference.

Edited February 28, 2007 by slkinsey (log)