Sous Vide Cooking, Baby!

[SRW1000]

Saw the smoking thread, and searched for a thread on sous vide, but figured it could use it's own thread, since there are some obvious food-lovers here.

For the uninitiated, sous vide is the process of cooking foods in vacuum-sealed bags (or freezer bags with the air removed) at a very precise temperature. The cook times can be relatively short, say 20-30 minutes for seafood up to two or three days, for something like a beef roast or pulled pork.

The method started in fancy French restaurants, migrated here, but finally became affordable for home chefs in the past five or six years. The most popular style kind of resembles an immersion blender, but the unit clamps to a container (most stock pots will work), and then gets plugged in, with the user selecting a precise temp. A small propeller keeps the water circulating around the food so that the temp doesn't vary during the cook. Many of the cookers have wi-fi or bluetooth, but only a few models require you to use that option.

How is this different than a slow cooker? There are a few major differences: Temperature is much more precise and completely controllable, the food doesn't swim in water or other liquid, so the flavors aren't diluted, since it's sealed, there's no evaporation, the temps used to cook the food have a huge effect on the outcome, so longer cooks at lower temps are possible.

The types of food that can be cooked in it vary, from meat to vegetables to desserts. Websites abound with examples, but I'll list a few of our favorite things to cook:

• Steaks: This may be the most common application, and what drew me in. Gone is the gray band you typically get on the outside edge of the steak, the whole thing looks pink (or your chosen doneness) from top to bottom and side to side. You want medium-rare? 130 132 degrees for a couple of hours. The steak is perfectly done, tender and flavorful. Tougher cuts may have to cook a bit longer, but 131 for a NY strip is a slice of heaven for us
• Chicken breast: Gone are the days of dry, stringy chicken. 140 degrees for 2-4 hours and you'll be rewarded with the most moist tender chicken breast you've ever had. No need for a knife, you'll be able to easily slice it with a fork
• Salmon: Cook to your preferred doneness, while retaining all the moisture
• Scallops: Rubbery? Never, soft and juicy every time
• Asparagus: Game changer for this vegetable. Poach it in butter for the best-tasting dish next to grilling or roasting

OK, so that sounds great, what are the drawbacks? Well, one is the amount of time needed for some cuts. Cheap beef roasts turn out great, but may take a day or two to get the full benefits. This isn't that big of a deal, since you're not really doing anything other than waiting during that time.

The other problem is that the food looks kind of gross when you pull it out of the bag. Take steaks, for example. When you pull them out, they're kind of a grayish color. To solve this, you need to pat them dry with paper towels and then sear them. There are a number of optionhttps://anovaculinary.com/anova-precision-cooker/s for finishing. You can pan fry them, throw them on the grill, or even use a torch. Any of those methods only takes about a minute or two, you just want to get a brown crust.

My favorite method is the Su-V Gun:

Yeah, this thing is for real, and it's spectacular. But the wife won't let me use it indoors anymore.

Here are a couple of good resources if you'd like to learn more:

Anova Precision Cooker

(This is the brand I use, but they have a lot of great recipes that can be used with any cooker)

And for fun, this guy created his own YouTube channel devoted to sous vide, where he cooks a new item every week. He's not a pro, but just someone who has a genuinely good time playing with his cookers and cooking for friends and relatives. (I think he's a also a good example of the kind of mini-celebrity that YouTube can create, but that's a different topic.). This video is a good intro to what you could use to get started:

Anyway, I just wanted to throw this out there for the adventurous or curious. If you have any experiences please post them here.

Scott

 

[SRW1000]

Here's a NY Strip from a few years ago:

 

[SRW1000]

And here's a good example of the sequence:

Meat out o the bag, patted dry (yuck):

Torching commences with high drama!

Mouth-watering result:

 

[Sonnie]

I've got the setup... torch and all. I did ribeye steaks twice. They were okay... I liked them, but the wife prefers the charcoal grilled version better. I never tried anything else. All in all... I'd say they are up there with the best for sure.

We also tried the Otto 1500 degree grill, and it did okay, but was aggravating to clean up... and still not as good as charcoal. I was able to send it back for a full refund after trying it 4-5 times.

We have come to love the charcoal cook... super hot, 8-10 minutes, charred on both sides... super juicy, fast, easy and eat. Hard to beat that charcoal flavor we've grown to love.

 

[Sonnie]

You should be good to go on those links now. I think you have to have 10 posts, but I think I fixed it for you.

 

[SRW1000]

I've got the setup... torch and all. I did ribeye steaks twice. They were okay... I liked them, but the wife prefers the charcoal grilled version better. I never tried anything else. All in all... I'd say they are up there with the best for sure.

We also tried the Otto 1500 degree grill, and it did okay, but was aggravating to clean up... and still not as good as charcoal. I was able to send it back for a full refund after trying it 4-5 times.

We have come to love the charcoal cook... super hot, 8-10 minutes, charred on both sides... super juicy, fast, easy and eat. Hard to beat that charcoal flavor we've grown to love.

That Otto looks cool, but I can only imagine what a pain it is to clean. The wife would never go for that.

]Have you tried sous vide on the steaks and then finishing them over charcoal? That should give you the same crust and taste, but less time on the grill so a smaller gray band. It's one of the method Guga uses on Sous Vide Everything, although he's migrated to using the Su-V Gun more and more. I think it's because it's such a blast to use (lots of power) and gets the job done in about a minute or two.

As a bonus, you can reserve the juice from the bag and then add them to the finished steak. If you reheat them, though, you will get some coagulation, so that's something to keep in mind.

If you haven't tried a chicken breast yet, do it. It will be unlike any chicken breast you've had before. 140 degrees for two to three hours = perfection.

Picked up some large scallops tonight (6-10 per pound),and looking forward to making them this weekend.

Other things to try:

Pineapple: Sliced and bagged with a little brown sugar, rum, and butter. One hour at 167 degrees. Can be finished on the grill if desired

Fresh sweet corn: Bagged with salt, pepper, and a little thyme (optional). 45 minutes at 183 degrees. The bag will float, so it needs to be weighed down. Can be finished on the grill or eaten right out of the bag

Beef rump roast: Rubbed with your choice of spices, or just plain old salt and pepper. 33 hours at 140 degrees

Boneless chicken thighs (from Costco): Season as desired, just salt and pepper are fine. Five hours at 165 = perfect for shredding

I've used ours over 100 times, and keep finding more things to try.

As long as you've got the equipment, try giving it another shot with something else.

Scott

 

[SRW1000]

You should be good to go on those links now. I think you have to have 10 posts, but I think I fixed it for you.

Links updated.

Thank you!

 

[Sonnie]

I need to try the chicken, although competing with this ne Pit Barrel smoker is going to be a challenge for sure... it's maddog gooooood. But I can see how the sous vide could be juicier.

It would worth it to try the charcoal with the steaks. I think I'd probably have to cook the steak rare before placing them on the grill, as it takes about 2 minutes on each side to get them charred good, and that's going to cook them more, but certainly not too done I wouldn't think.

I love grilled pineapple. When we go to various Brazilian steak restaurants, they usually have grilled pineapple at the end of serving and it is fabulous.

Haven't thought about corn... good idea.

You are right... I should try some other stuff, especially since I like to try stuff like this.

 

[SRW1000]

Yeah, the Brazilian steakhouse is where we got the pineapple idea from, and it turned out great. Cooking it sous vide first intensifies the flavor, even more so than just marinating it.

For the steaks, if you like medium-rare, you shouldn't have to cook it at a lower temp. After cooking sous vide, I let the meat sit on some paper towels for 15-20 minutes to absorb the surface moisture, and that allows the meat to come down in temp, which should prevent over cooking. Of course, part of that depends on how think you like your steaks. We prefer a 1.5 - 2" thick cut, which is one of the other advantages of sous vide, since you can cook to any thickness buy just adding some additional time.

There are guys that are combining smoking with sous vide to get the benefits of both. I've tried it, but I've got a pellet grill that doesn't add as much smoke flavor as a normal smoker, even if supplementing it with something like the A-MAZE-N smoker. I haven't tried a pre-smoke though, just post cooking.

Please post if you give it a shot.

Scott

 

[Sonnie]

That's one thing I keep forgetting... posting pics of my cooked goodies.

 

[SRW1000]

Tonight's scallops turned out perfect. I did them at 128 degrees for 30 minutes, which is a little higher than recommended, and then seared some of them in butter.

So tender that you could literally cut them with a spoon, but still firm.

 

[Sonnie]

My wife likes fried scallops. I got sick off of them from eating too many one time and can't eat them anymore.

 

[SRW1000]

While digging through the freezer this week I came across a beef sirloin tip roast from 2017. I had vacuum-sealed it when I bought it, and completely forgot about it. While I'd never serve it to guests, I decided to make it for the wife and I, figuring that if it didn't taste good we would just toss it.

It was about four pounds, so I did a 24 hour cook at 132 degrees, and it turned out great. Vacuum sealing makes a huge difference; there wasn't even a hint of freezer burn or any other off taste. The roast itself was literally tender enough to cut with a spoon. And not stringy, like a pot roast that shreds apart when you pull it out of a slow cooker. This was still medium rare, and sliced much like a steak.

It produced about a cup and a half of juice in the bag, which I turned into a delicious sauce/gravy for it.

All in all, it turned out to be a great meal. Sorry, no pictures this time.

 

[Sonnie]

We want pics... we want pics!!! lol

I bet that was some kind of good.

Fully believe in vacuum sealing here.

 

[SRW1000]

Yeah, I didn't get a vacuum sealer until I started doing sous vide, but it's become essential since then.

So many uses, from meats like this, to popcorn, seaside seeds, nuts, and all kinds of other stuff. Just an invaluable appliance, and quickly makes up it's cost in non-spoiled food in a short time. This roast wouldn't have lasted more than three or four months if it was just kept in a regular old freezer bag.

I'm drooling over this chamber sealing model: https://avidarmor.com/avid-armor-ultra-series-usv32-chamber-vacuum-sealer-system/

With a chamber-sealer, you can do liquids and juicy-type products without having to worry about liquid getting into the machine or wrecking the seal.

It's very light weight for this type of machine, and has great reviews on Amazon. And the chamber-type bags are a lot cheaper, since they don't have channels for the air to get sucked out.

 

[Sonnie]

That's a nice sealer there... very nice.

 

[mechman]

This is always something that I've wanted to try but never have.

 

[SRW1000]

There were lots of sales around Christmas, but it seems like there's always one on sale from somebody.

Jump on it, the water's fine!

I'm not an expert, but can help you out with most of your questions.

 

[SRW1000]

Happy New Year everyone!

And with the new year, I decided to try something different: Bacon and eggs.

I've made sous vide bacon before, but while shopping last night found some on clearance I hadn't seen before. A pound of cowboy cut bacon, that was sliced about 3/8" thick, double smoked Applewood. There were only four slices to the bacon to the pack, and that's not something we're accustomed to seeing around here. It was half-price, but still $5 a pound, so I grabbed a pack.

I cut the slices in half, bagged them, and threw them in the sous vide last night, and let it cook for 15 hours at 147. The thing with sous vide bacon is that the fat doesn't render, but some of the liquid comes out, which is what will often cause splattering when you cook it in a pan. It also reduces the stove-top frying to about two to four minutes total, which also helps with smoke and flying grease issues.

Here's a picture of what they looked like out of the bag, letting them dry out a little before frying:

I know, looks kind of anemic and gross. We don't have a way of posting smells yet, so you'll just have to trust me that the aroma was intense. (Sad note here, I was sloppy when draining the liquid and half of the slices fell out of the bag and into the garbage, so there's only two slices shown instead of the four I had planned. )

This is what they looked like after just a couple of minutes in the frying pan:

Ah, that's much better.

While that was going on, I tried sous vide poached eggs. Well, not exactly poached. I've read how to do this before, but saw a method on America's Test Kitchen that I wanted to try, but after researching it for a bit, I found reports that the eggs ended up uneven, with either hard yolks or runny whites. My standards for eggs are very high, with little tolerance for either. So not wanting to waste the time or eggs on possible problems, I settled on some compromises.

The ATK version calls to cook the eggs at 167 for 12 minutes, stick them in an ice bath for a minute, and then crack them onto your toast, or plate. With the mixed comments I found, I did it a little differently. I cranked up the heat to 168.5, added the eggs, then dropped the temp down to 167. Cooked them for 12 minutes, and then decided to crack them into the frying pan, just in case there was any loose egg-goobers that shouldn't go onto the plate.

Well, that didn't work. The ice-bath is necessary so you can hold onto the eggs without burning your fingers, I put them in cold tap water for about a minute, and then cracked them into the pan.

The first batch I made was for the wife, and the whites were not quite set, so it was a good thing I cracked them in the pan. less than a minute per side, and they were done to the point where they ready to eat, and the whites were solid, but not hard or rubbery.

The second batch turned out much better, but not as consistent as I would like. They took less time in the pan, and two of them retained their shape much better. There was just the tiniest amount of loose whites, which I managed to eat just fine. They may have set better due to sitting in the shells while the first batch was frying.

Here's a picture of the plated results:


RESULTS: Let's start with the eggs - why bother with sous vide? Well, as I said I'm very picky. I can usually do a pretty good job with a pan, but it's hard to nail it, so sometimes I end up with runny whites or hard yolks. So sous vide is a possible solution for repeatable perfection. Here's a link to a handy visual guide on getting the exact combination of whites firmness and yolk runniness that you're looking for: The Egg Calculator

And this is what they look like, plated:

Then there's also what it does to the yolks. The flavor doesn't change, but the texture is so velvety smooth and creamy, its something that only happens in the rarest of fried egg circumstances.

With that said, the this method would work in a pinch, but I think one of the more traditional sous vide methods (lower temp, longer cook time) would produce more consistent results. The drawback is that it takes longer prep time.

And the bacon? Some may not understand the extra time and work in doing this, but the process does change the flavor and texture of the bacon. Unlike traditionally fried or baked bacon, it's not really crispy. At least not for as long as I fried it. Had I left in the pan longer, I'm sure it would have turned out more like traditional bacon, but that's not what I was after.

The result is kind of like a combination of bacon, ham, and what we used to call side pork (sliced pork belly). It has some chew to it, but not tough, still some crispiness around the edges, but not the snap of the bacon. It has a much stronger pork flavor though.

It wouldn't necessarily be my go-to method for bacon, but it was a delightful change of pace. My wife is not a bacon lover, due to the fatty, greasy, texture, feel, and taste of it, but she really like this, and even ate all of the fat, which normally disgusts her.

We both liked it enough that we're going to see if there's any bacon left at the store, and buy and freeze another couple of packages. Another plus, if you sous vide it before freezing, you can just let it thaw out overnight, and just take a minute or two to fry it up the next day - a great time saver.

For the other half of the bacon, I put a think coat of cracked black pepper on before bagging it, and put it in the refrigerator after it cooled down from the sous vide. That will be turned into experiments tomorrow and Sunday. I'd like to try the brown sugar broiled technique on one of them and see how that turns out.

Scott

 

[Sonnie]

I just has side meat (salt pork belly), turnip greens, black-eyed peas, cornbread and potato salad. Now you gonna make me go cook breakfast that looks so good.

Have you ever poached an egg in a coffee cup in the microwave?

 

[SRW1000]

Your meal sounds delicious. I'm way north of you, so the only chance we get for southern-type food is going to Cracker Barrel. I love turnip greens, but I don't think the canned ones quite do them justice. As a kid, I hated cornbread (or Johnny Cake, as my mom called it), but really like it as an adult.

No, I haven't tried that. I did see some posts about it when I was looking at the sous vide eggs, though.

Some reported great results, other said they had terrible explosions, and swore they'd never do it again.

That explody part kinda scared me off.

I have made them the traditional method, and they turned out fantastic. It's just such a mess, though. You have the floating bits of white that have to be disposed of properly, wife doesn't care for the smell or slight taste of vinegar, etc. That's why I wanted to give sous vide a shot.

Ideally, the plate above would have included some toasted English muffins or toast (Had some leftover rye bread from last night's raw beef sandwiches), but it's still Christmas time. We allocated our carbs to Christmas cookies dunked in coffee for dessert.

Next time I do try making these, I'll be making homemade English muffins, make some Hollandaise sauce, and adding some prosciutto for special treat.

 

[Sonnie]

Hmmm... never known an egg to explode while inside water, but I suppose anything can happen. Exploding in a cup without water... that would probably be common if not careful. Like eggs and cheese in a coffee cup in the micro... lol. Makes for a quick breakfast if you're in a hurry.

Cracker Barrel is pretty good eating, but it is a lot of canned food too. Not crazy about their turnips, but I do like their muffins with butter.

We do the pattied cornmeal in a frying pan type cornbread... then place the turnips on top of the cornbread.

I just about hurt myself today at lunch with that second plate.

 

[SRW1000]

OK, I've never fried the cornbread before.

I usually stick to the buttered cast iron pan in the oven method. The last time I made it I ground up popcorn (yes, popcorn!) in my Vitamix, and it turned out great, with a nice, rich corn flavor.

Of course the butter helps quite a bit, too.

 

[SRW1000]

Just a small update for today. I had put the remaining four pieces in the refrigerator yesterday, still in the bag.

One of the things about the sous vide process is that the liquids in the bag aren't just water, it's a mixture of water, collagen, proteins and other various meat things. The result is something that kind of resembles jelly when chilled, so the two pieces I pulled out were covered in bacon jelly. This will melt when exposed to heat, but just one of the sous vide effects.

So for today, I tossed them into a carbon steel pan to reheat them. This didn't work out that great, as there must have been some sugars in the bacon, which stuck to the pan, and the bacon didn't really fry up the way I wanted it to. That meant it was time to pull out the torch. I used it to put a nice crisp coating on both pieces until they were sizzling, and then transferred them to a plate. A small amount of water took care of the stuck on fond, and I used it to cook my eggs in the juice. They turned out great.

How about the bacon? Well, we need to talk about a controversial subject - fat. If you hate the idea of animal fat, just skip this part. But if you enjoy it (in moderation, of course), this was really interesting. It's kind of hard to describe, but because the sous vide temp wasn't hot enough to render it, the fat was still solid, unlike normal bacon. However the torch crisped the outside of it, giving it that great browned taste, but left the inside semi-solid. When biting into it, it's a combination of juicy, soft, and packed with flavor that just fills your mouth. A little goes a long way, but for anyone that appreciates the magic of fatty goodness, it's a very pleasant experience.

As with yesterday's the meaty part wasn't crisp, but more like the texture of ham or side pork. It was a great contrast to the fatty sections.

I had heavily peppered these before sous vide, but the pepper mellowed over cooking and time. Perfect for me, but my wife would not have liked it (she had to work today, so she didn't get any).

Tomorrow I want to try broiling them with some brown sugar on top, just to see how that will work.

Scott

 

[SRW1000]

OK, last update on the bacon. I wanted to make candied bacon with the last two pieces, but didn't want to use the oven broiler for such a small amount. Instead I turned to our Flavor Wave (countertop induction oven), flipped the rack so it was in the highest position, and then heated one side for three minutes. Once that was up, I flipped them, spread a little less than a teaspoon of brown sugar across their tops, and then heated them for another seven minutes.

Well, the sugar melted and got very sticky, but it never got hot enough to get a candy texture, and the meat got a bit tough. In retrospect, using the Flavor Wave was a mistake. I should have used my torch to candify the brown sugar.

However, the taste was really good. I can see why people like the stuff. It would never be my go-to way of making bacon, but for a special treat or change of pace, it was mighty tasty.

This same process can be done with plain old bacon, too, in case anyone is curious.