Sous Vide

[CT96]

So, Santa brought me an Anova Immersion Circulator this year. I'd been researching them for a bit, and they had come down to a price point that I was willing to start experimenting with them. My visiting family were the beneficiaries of these experiments.

 

I am currently using a 6qt stock pot (aka Spaghetti pot) to hold my water bath. The clamp for the Anova is designed for a thicker wall (like a cooler wall), but it holds well enough.

 

First up: Eggs. Just to play with. I did a perfectly poached egg, in shell, in 45 min. (at 146F). I have never been able to properly poach an egg the traditional way. Harder eggs is, well, harder. Hardboiled eggs are easy enough (16+ min @185F). I'm still finding out how to do a hard white and a soft but not runny yolk.

 

Next: Sausage patties and brats: an hour at 140F pasteurizes, and a finish with a little bit of oil in a HOT pan and they are great. Better finish would be a few minutes on a grill. I think come summer, I'll pre-cook this way, chill, and then do a reheat/browning on the grill for service. The patties are so much juicier and flavorful than a normally fried patty.

 

Bacon: Took a whole pack of thick-cut bacon, ran it overnight at something like 140-145. Then chilled for later use. Very tender, but very messy. It was better than usual bacon, but not enough for me to do it again. Though I expect I'll do some bacon-wrapped stuff this way in the future.

 

Beef Flat Iron Steak: Salt, pepper, a couple sprigs of rosemary, a splash of red-wine vinegar, a splash of balsimic. Marinated for a few hours, then sous vide at 140F for 4-10 hours. It practically fell apart in my hands as I took it out of the bag to brown it. There were no leftovers, and the serving plate was licked clean.

 

Marinated Chicken (grocer prepped): juiciest most flavorful chicken I have ever eaten. Again, no leftovers, and the serving plate was licked clean (I started to think we needed to double up on meat prep because it didn't seem to be going anywhere near far enough).

 

Beef Skirt Steak: this one took 24 hours too cook, again at 140F (for medium). Same prep as the Flat Iron. Again, fall apart tender, and again no leftovers. Only complaint is that it was too thin a cut to take the most advantage.

 

Pork Tenderloin: It was softer than the sweet potatoes we served with it. There was one Medallion of the cut leftover; and while it was still excellent the next day, microwaving to reheat cooked it harder than I would have liked. Re-heating via the sous vide bath (at 130F for about 15 min) is much better at warming to serving temp without re-cooking/overcooking.

 

 

Tonight was my latest: A Ribeye and a Fillet. Both done with salt and pepper. Both Sous Vide'd for 2 hours at 140F. Both browned for not more than 2min total. I had the Ribeye, my wife the Fillet. The end result was both textbook, and AMAZING. This Ribeye was, hands down, the best steak I had ever eaten. The Fillet looked just as amazing. Looking at them both on their plates, I figured this Ribeye was WAY too much for me to eat. Then I started on it and I couldn't stop. Even now, a couple hours later, I am painfully stuffed... and I wanted to have the fillet too. My wife used to get her steaks Well Done. I talked her down to Medium Well. Usually when I have done steaks before, it wasn't done enough for her... even when over done for me. This time......... it was PERFECT. She no only didn't complain about it being only done medium, but loved every bite.

 

 

I'm gonna have to get serious about my workouts now; the meat is WAY too easy to make so fantastic.

[Ivanhoe]

I'm more interested in what it'll do for cheap, tough cuts of dead cow. I have a slow cooker but its an imprecise instrument at best.

[CT96]

Skirt Steak is a tough cut, it was almost like butter.

 

Flat Iron Steak is a toughish cut, and it too was soft and tender.

 

More cheap tough cuts of cow will be processed, and reported

[BP]

My wife bought a pressure cooker recently and she's like the Tsarnaev's sister, although it made a batch of pretty passable chili and some carnitas another time in about 20 minutes flat.

 

Sous vide is good for a lot of things. A lot of the cuts you listed are like CT96 said tough, and benefiting of a long marinade, sous vide, a low/slow BBQ or other method of cooking that breaks down muscle and sinew.

[CT96]

The other fillet that I cooked up for dinner tonight, done to a perfect Medium (140F for 2hrs with 60s a side in a HOT pan to brown)

Edited January 29, 2017 by CT96

[FlyingCanOpener]

I uh... had ramen and a sandwich tonight.

 

*kicks a rock and walks away*

[Murph]

Veges and a protein bar......

[CT96]

I uh... had ramen and a sandwich tonight.

 

*kicks a rock and walks away*

I had ramen for lunch. Oddly, I was craving it.

[FlyingCanOpener]

I've been craving it as well; bought about 10 packs of Yakisoba meals.

 

Now to see how you can sous vide ramen.

[sunday]

I've been craving it as well; bought about 10 packs of Yakisoba meals.

 

Now to see how you can sous vide ramen.

 

Well, you studied Mech Engineering, you have the theoretical tools at your disposal: http://tutorial.math.lamar.edu/Classes/DE/SolvingHeatEquation.aspx

 

You may even use the assumption of a noodle being a cylinder, so no need of spherical coordinates.

[Harold Jones]

It's not just for tough steaks http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2016/12/sous-vide-lobster-recipe.html

 

not sure about ramen but you can make mac n cheese http://skillet.lifehacker.com/will-it-sous-vide-creamy-macaroni-and-cheese-1788044857

[CT96]

Tonight's expedition was a marinated Turkey Breast. Unfortunately, I missed an air pocket when I put it in, so I wound up having to use tongs to hold it under the water - and managed to cut a hole in the zip-lock, meaning it wound up closer to boiled than sous vide. When I discovered the leak, I re-bagged and put it back in for the balance of the buffer time - so that it was properly heated at the right temp for the right time. I don't know if the failings of the final product (still very tender and juicy) were from the failed bag, or just the nature of this turkey prep.

[CT96]

First misfire. I was preparing a pork tenderloin, and after it had been in for a while, it developed a bubble and started trying to surface. This was not a zip-lock bag, but rather a vacuum sealed bag. The bag started to swell - I pulled it as too likely to be something nasty (Botulism?). It *might* have been safe, but with two pregnant women attending the dinner it was to be the meat for, I felt it wiser to toss it (unopened) and go with something else.

 

Cest la vie.

[CT96]

Tonight's fare was a chuck roast done for 24 hours. It was like beef candy. I could cut it with a fork. My wife couldn't stop eating it. I made enough to have leftovers for the week ahead. Looks like there's about one good serving left. Only disappointment was that I didn't put a good enough a crust on it - so next time I'll put a good crust on it before I cook. I'm looking forward to seeing was a 36 or 48 hour chuck roast will be like.

[Ivanhoe]

Tonight's fare was a chuck roast done for 24 hours. It was like beef candy. I could cut it with a fork. My wife couldn't stop eating it. I made enough to have leftovers for the week ahead. Looks like there's about one good serving left. Only disappointment was that I didn't put a good enough a crust on it - so next time I'll put a good crust on it before I cook. I'm looking forward to seeing was a 36 or 48 hour chuck roast will be like.

 

How?

 

p.s. does it creep you out that there's like 100 people worldwide living vicariously through your culinary experiments?

[CT96]

well, this one I half-assed. I put on some salt and pepper and called it good. It's been good for ordinary steaks, but this one called for a more aggressive crust. This was so soft it needed something else to give it an extra pop. I'll try something like this next time. http://sousvidely.com/48-hour-chuck-roast/

 

No... I only put on the internet at all what I am comfortable with being discussed and dissected in a live congressional hearing anyway.

[Ivanhoe]

"Sir, are you now or have you ever been a cook who ruins beef by cooking it well done?"

[CT96]

That depends upon your definition of "Well Done" - there are places in this country where having a piece of beef in the same room as a flame would have it considered to be "Well Done" - while there are other places in this country that wouldn't consider a piece of shoe leather to be past "Medium Well". Using the conventional temperature/color profiles, I have never willingly cooked a piece of beef to anything that might be considered "Well Done". Occasionally a burger has fallen into the fire, but I would never serve such a burger - and I certainly didn't willingly cook it in such a manner.

 

In short Senator, No. I have not.

[Harold Jones]

all this talk is making me think it's time to do some short ribs, I sous vide them at 144f for 72 hours then smoke them for an hour or so at 150, gives them a nice smokey flavor and a decent crust.

[CT96]

Moved my setup into a 25qt cooler, and I added a vacu-sealer which I used today to prep a chuck roast. I'm going for at least 48 hours on this one. I put on the dry-rub as in the previous link. I also got a couple of NY Strip steaks on discount, which I seasoned, sealed, and now have in the freezer. We'll see how that experiment turns out later. Meanwhile.... the water churns.

[BP]

I like the spirit of continuous experimentation, documentation and sharing.

 

But boiled steaks. . .you may as well become English or something. I can't be a part of such perversions. Steaks need a char.

 

Heathens.

[Ivanhoe]

Well, in the spirit of the above haditha, I too am a Heathen-American.

 

I have found that chuck eye steaks sauteed in butter* and given a decent amount of caramelization at the end are a very practical and affordable way to enjoy dead cow when one lives in the 2nd floor of a firetrap building.

 

To be clear, real out-of-the cow butter, clarified.

[sunday]

I like the spirit of continuous experimentation, documentation and sharing.

 

But boiled steaks. . .you may as well become English or something. I can't be a part of such perversions. Steaks need a char.

 

Heathens.

 

Nobody expects the Barbecuish Inquisition!

 

However, one could say that sous vide does not boil meat, as temperature does not reach boiling point of water.

[Harold Jones]

I like the spirit of continuous experimentation, documentation and sharing.

 

But boiled steaks. . .you may as well become English or something. I can't be a part of such perversions. Steaks need a char.

 

Heathens.

 

Char is easily applied. Smoking hot cast iron skillet, super hot cast iron grate on my big green egg or by use of a kitchen torch.

[CT96]

I like the spirit of continuous experimentation, documentation and sharing.

 

But boiled steaks. . .you may as well become English or something. I can't be a part of such perversions. Steaks need a char.

 

Heathens.

I would never serve a steak without browning it first. Boiled? Boiled? Shirley you jest. Boiling it would be FAR past "well done". I would never willingly murder such a fine piece of beef.