Why sous vide?

[K_F_o_l_e_y]

Sous vide cheesecake jars were a hit at christmas dinner. Prebake graham cracker crusts at 350 in the oven for 10 min then fill with the filling. Made 8 4 oz jars. 1.5 hr at 176 deg and 4 hours in the fridge. Good stuff!

I made them too (8 oz), with sous vide strawberry jam (no crust)!

[Barry L i p t o n]

Sous vide is over-rated. I have the big Anova. Carrots, yes, much better that way.

Better than roasted? Hard to believe as they can get so creamy on the inside with a contrasting texture on the outside, and sweet. Harissa carrots, those come out well sous vide?

[K_F_o_l_e_y]

THE PERFECT: 75-degree sous vide egg

Video:

Start with a cold, fresh, 62g Extra Large Grade AA egg from Eggland's Best, and sous vide at 167°F x 13 min, followed by 30 seconds in cold water so easy to handle, then crack over a slotted spoon to drain loose whites, plate, season and enjoy! If your egg is larger, say 69g, give it an extra 30 seconds at 167°F

[Tom G l a s g o w]

THE PERFECT: 75-degree sous vide egg

Video:

Start with a cold, fresh, 62g Extra Large Grade AA egg from Eggland's Best, and sous vide at 167°F x 13 min, followed by 30 seconds in cold water so easy to handle, then crack over a slotted spoon to drain loose whites, plate, season and enjoy! If your egg is larger, say 69g, give it an extra 30 seconds at 167°F

No toast?

[Anton D]

For toast, use slices of your preferred bread at 130 degrees for one hour, then finish with a sear in the toaster for 40 seconds on medium setting.

[K_F_o_l_e_y]

For toast, uses slice le of your preferred bread at 130 degrees for one hour, then finish with a sear in the toaster for 40 seconds on medium setting.

[K_F_o_l_e_y]

No toast?

Is that good?

[CJ Beazley]

Rookie question; is it easier/acceptable to just start with pre-heated water as opposed to waiting an hour for the device to bring it up to proper temp?
*assuming being careful not to go over desired temp

[K_F_o_l_e_y]

Rookie question; is it easier/acceptable to just start with pre-heated water as opposed to waiting an hour for the device to bring it up to proper temp?
*assuming being careful not to go over desired temp

Yes, hot tap water is preferred to reduce time to reach temp. Some people’s even put the pot on the stove and run the immersion circulator at the same time.

I’ve been known to use two joules simultaneously to speed up getting to 194F or 203F. Joules are twice as fast fast as Anovas.

[Anton D]

Our hot water is 120 degrees, so we fill with that. For “flesh,” we usually cook at 128 degree, so very little work for the Anova to get up to speed.

[Steve Manzi]

Our hot water is 120 degrees, so we fill with that. For “flesh,” we usually cook at 128 degree, so very little work for the Anova to get up to speed.

Ours is about 125 degrees out of the faucet. I do the same thing.

[Steve Manzi]

For toast, uses slices of your preferred bread at 130 degrees for one hour, then finish with a sear in the toaster for 40 seconds on medium setting.

I gotta try that toast thing. Never even thought of that. Is the toast tenderer this way?

[Mary Deem]

Welcome to the world of sous vide.

I love rare meat but have metbolic issues resulting slow incomplete digestion. Cooking meat sous vide allows the meat to be tender and easy to digest - while leaving it nice and rare. Even if I did not have health issues, I would still love what sous vide dose to meat....a lovely soft texture without turning the meat into an overdone mess.

Sous vide is a great way to make a torchon of duck foie gras. I find it easier than the traditional method.

Douglsa Baldwin has a great page with temperature/time guidelines for meat and seafood. I remember 'bak in the day' when he was one of the few people who had those handy-dandy guidelines..nice to have especialy if you are concerned about food safety.

When you open the link, you will see linked buttons marked 'food safety', 'basic technique', 'meat', and so forth. Just click on whatever interests you. I find that it might take a few times to get the exact rareness/doneness...but just treat it like any other type of cooking.

http://www.douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html

The downside, the cooked steak sometimes looks like a grey mess from the outside...hence the reason most people give it a quick sear in a pan after it is done 'sous-viding'...yes I know that is not a verb but it is kinda fun to use anyway.

Time is another downside...but on the otherhand, you don't really have to babysit it much save for adding water if needed and ensuring the vacuum bag has not popped open.

Space and set up can be an issue, though probably not for your set up. I have a 'ghetto rig'..rice cooker with an Auber PID controller. Sometimes schlepping that huge rice cooker down can be a pain..and it takes up a lot of counter space. Once it is set up, I find myself thinking that I should do this more often.

Hope you have fun with your new gift.

[K_F_o_l_e_y]

Douglsa Baldwin has a great page with temperature/time guidelines for meat and seafood. I remember 'bak in the day' when he was one of the few people who had those handy-dandy guidelines..nice to have especialy if you are concerned about food safety.

When you open the link, you will see linked buttons marked 'food safety', 'basic technique', 'meat', and so forth. Just click on whatever interests you. I find that it might take a few times to get the exact rareness/doneness...but just treat it like any other type of cooking.

http://www.douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html

I can't recommend Doug Baldwin's website enough too!

[Mary Deem]

Kevin - I completely agree. Doug's site was my guide post when I started doing sou vide. It remains so, even to this day.

[Jay Miller]

For toast, uses slices of your preferred bread at 130 degrees for one hour, then finish with a sear in the toaster for 40 seconds on medium setting.

[Jay Miller]

Some people even put the pot on the stove and run the immersion circulator at the same time.

I used to do this but overheated the water one too many times...

[Jason T]

Did sous vide shrimp for NYE, for shrimp cocktail. Way easier than poaching in court bouillon.

Peeled 2lbs of 16-20ct, tosses them in a teaspoon or sonof baking soda and some thyme (if they weren’t destined for cocktail I would have played with other flavors or considered leaving the shell on).

30 minutes at 132 degrees. Texture was a bit funky - next time I’d do 140, which is the more traditional temp. Flavor was outstanding - very clean, simple, but intense shrimp flavor.

Sous vide is great for shrimp since it allows you to keep from overcooking them. Also helps with prep, as I was headed to a party 20 minutes away. Removed bag from sous vide to ice bath for 5 minutes to stop the cooking and chill for transport. Got to destination and just needed to take them straight out of the bag onto the serving platter.

[K_F_o_l_e_y]

Oh man, was this a tender and juicy chop! Pre-seared briefly, then sous vide 137°F x 60 min in teriyaki sauce. Slightly blushed inside.

[Nola Palomar]

Oh man, was this a tender and juicy chop! Pre-seared briefly, then sous vide 137°F x 60 min in teriyaki sauce. Slightly blushed inside.

If you pan sear it briefly before hand and the Sous Vide it it looks like that??

[K_F_o_l_e_y]

Oh man, was this a tender and juicy chop! Pre-seared briefly, then sous vide 137°F x 60 min in teriyaki sauce. Slightly blushed inside.

If you pan sear it briefly before hand and the Sous Vide it it looks like that??

It's covered in sauce! These ChefStep sauces are designed to be sous vide with your protein in the bag, so it's not really feasible to sear after the sous vide. It's possible the pre-sear adds a bit of flavor, but that is probably minor compared to the sauce's contribution. And you can't really see the sear when it is covered in sauce, so the sear is probably optional.

If I was doing a pork chop without the sauce in the bag, I'd put the chops in the freezer for 15 min or so, then pre-sear it cold (minimizing the chance of cooking the interior), then after sous vide do a very quick post-sear of maybe 30 seconds/side to refresh the crust. It's so easy to over-cook a pork chop, which obviates the point of doing sous vide in the first place.

[K_F_o_l_e_y]

18-HOUR: Sous vide beef short ribs, with carnaroli risotto & asparagus

https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/bo ... short-ribs

[Phil J.]

I’ve never “Sous Vided” but grill steaks all the time by searing both sides and then bringing it to temperature off heat. By doing this, I can place rosemary/garlic/pepper/wine containers in the grill so the flavor is immersed in the steaks. Not sure how you really add flavor in sous vide. Do you place it in the bag?

[Steven Miller]

I’ve never “Sous Vided” but grill steaks all the time by searing both sides and then bringing it to temperature off heat. By doing this, I can place rosemary/garlic/pepper/wine containers in the grill so the flavor is immersed in the steaks. Not sure how you really add flavor in sous vide. Do you place it in the bag?

Yes.

[Phil J.]

I’ve never “Sous Vided” but grill steaks all the time by searing both sides and then bringing it to temperature off heat. By doing this, I can place rosemary/garlic/pepper/wine containers in the grill so the flavor is immersed in the steaks. Not sure how you really add flavor in sous vide. Do you place it in the bag?

Yes.

Doesn’t putting wine or liquids in the bag make it soggy?

[c fu]

I’ve never “Sous Vided” but grill steaks all the time by searing both sides and then bringing it to temperature off heat. By doing this, I can place rosemary/garlic/pepper/wine containers in the grill so the flavor is immersed in the steaks. Not sure how you really add flavor in sous vide. Do you place it in the bag?

Yes.

Doesn’t putting wine or liquids in the bag make it soggy?

Yes. But it’s soggy regardless what you do since the meat releases liquid.

[Steven Miller]

You will waste a few paper towels taking as much of the soggy out as you can before the sear.

[Phil J.]

Sorry for all the questions but I’m looking for info.

Part of a good dry aged steak is that it’s dry so you get a good crust. Is it a good idea not sous vide dry aged steaks?

[Scott G r u n e r]

Dry aging is about concentrating and tranforming flavor, and achieving more tenderness as the muscle breaks down. Not about drying out for a better sear. You can get a fine sear from dry or wet aged, from not aged at all, and from sous vide just by drying it off before searing.

[Phil J.]

Dry aging is about concentrating and tranforming flavor, and achieving more tenderness as the muscle breaks down. Not about drying out for a better sear. You can get a fine sear from dry or wet aged, from not aged at all, and from sous vide just by drying it off before searing.

Everything I’ve read about steaks is the dryer the steak when searing the better.

[Scott G r u n e r]

Yes the surface should be dry.

[K_F_o_l_e_y]

Part of a good dry aged steak is that it’s dry so you get a good crust. Is it a good idea not sous vide dry aged steaks?

Every cooking technique has its advantages and disadvantages. Yes, the dryer the surface of the steak is, the easier it is to get a good crust on it when searing. But most people get a perfectly good crust after drying the sous vide steak surface off with some paper towels, so I don't think it makes enough difference to say you shouldn't sous vide a dry-aged steak.

Personally, all this worry about crusts is just so much testosterone-fueled Internet BS. At lot of people (guys mostly) are over-searing their steaks with their flame throwers and incandescently glowing cast iron skillets anyway. Carbon is like brett or volatile acidity, more than a little is a fault.

[Phil J.]

I agree, I’ve seen too much crust where the crust is too dry and takes away from the steak flavor. I’ve also eaten out too many times where the crust was not sufficient enough or really not even there. Also, charring the pepper on a steak is also important.

Here is a 45 day dry aged ribeye with what I think is the right amount of crust and cooked evenly in the middle. Melts in your mouth:

[Scott G r u n e r]

Looks lovely but you can get the same crust with sous vide or non aged. The dry aging is not the primary factor in what enabled that crust.

[Steven Miller]

We've been requesting chuck eye from our butcher. cut roughly 1.75-2" thick and well marbled. The Sous Vide process results in an amazing steak at a fraction of the price of other cuts.

[Anton D]

I agree, I’ve seen too much crust where the crust is too dry and takes away from the steak flavor. I’ve also eaten out too many times where the crust was not sufficient enough or really not even there. Also, charring the pepper on a steak is also important.

Here is a 45 day dry aged ribeye with what I think is the right amount of crust and cooked evenly in the middle. Melts in your mouth:

73742D61-5232-4F77-B983-641B437D873A.jpeg

Dude, you made my mouth water. That's a great pic.

[Phil J.]

I agree, I’ve seen too much crust where the crust is too dry and takes away from the steak flavor. I’ve also eaten out too many times where the crust was not sufficient enough or really not even there. Also, charring the pepper on a steak is also important.

Here is a 45 day dry aged ribeye with what I think is the right amount of crust and cooked evenly in the middle. Melts in your mouth:

73742D61-5232-4F77-B983-641B437D873A.jpeg

Dude, you made my mouth water. That's a great pic.

Thanks! That was an amazing steak cooked on the grill. Paired it with a 2012 Delectus Cab that was also amazing (probably was better because of the steak). I keep hearing about Sous Vide, and am interested in new ways to cook things.

[K_F_o_l_e_y]

BONE-IN PORK LOIN CHOP: Seared, sous vide at 135°F x 90 min in @ChefSteps' fig & apricot mostarda sauce, served with creamy polenta, green beans, thyme

[julianseersmartin]

Looks lovely but you can get the same crust with sous vide or non aged. The dry aging is not the primary factor in what enabled that crust.

It is without doubt a contributing factor.

[K_F_o_l_e_y]

CHICKEN THIGHS: Boneless, skinless chicken thighs sous vide 167°F x 45 min in ChefSteps' VADOUVAN CURRY sauce (with flavors of garlic, cumin, mustard seeds, fenugreek, bergamot, yogurt), served with oven-roasted carrots and jasmine rice.

For the carrots, toss pealed carrots with EVOO, salt, pepper and spread in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Roast 400°F x 25-30min until tender and browned. Finish with a squeeze of lemon.

https://shop.chefsteps.com/products/vad ... rry-sauce/

[Anton D]

Kevin, that's beautiful.

I didn't think to take pics, last night was pork chops sous vided at 132 degree for 4 hours (no specific reason, just timed out that way) with a touch of butter and rosemary in the bag and then dried, sprinkled with harissa and salt, and seared.

Easy to do, I got to spent time chatting with our guests before throwing the chops on to sear.

[K_F_o_l_e_y]

TAMAGO KAKE GOHAN: Japanese-style raw egg in rice, with a sous vide confit egg yolk on top

For the TKG, I followed Kenji's recipe on SeriousEats, seasoning with soy sauce, salt, Aji-no-moto and furikake

https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/201 ... kfast.html

For the egg yolk on top, while Kenji went with a raw yolk, for fun I decided to try making a confit one for the first time. Rather than doing an oil bath, I vacuum packed (at full setting on my chamber vacuum) egg yolks in grapeseed oil, and then sous vide at 147°F x 1.5 hours. More details about this technique can be found on ChefSteps:

https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/perfect-yolks

The yolks were the consistency of partially thawed butter, so in the future I might lower the temp/time a bit to get a softer texture. The vacuum packing also flattened them a bit, and they had a tendency to stick together slightly, so perhaps a Mason jar that could be swirled periodically would be preferable (I was trying to avoid floating an open oil bath within a water bath).

[Nate Simon]

TAMAGO KAKE GOHAN: Japanese-style raw egg in rice, with a sous vide confit egg yolk on top

For the TKG, I followed Kenji's recipe on SeriousEats, seasoning with soy sauce, salt, Aji-no-moto and furikake

https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/201 ... kfast.html

For the egg yolk on top, while Kenji went with a raw yolk, for fun I decided to try making a confit one for the first time. Rather than doing an oil bath, I vacuum packed (at full setting on my chamber vacuum) egg yolks in grapeseed oil, and then sous vide at 147°F x 1.5 hours. More details about this technique can be found on ChefSteps:

https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/perfect-yolks

The yolks were the consistency of partially thawed butter, so in the future I might lower the temp/time a bit to get a softer texture. The vacuum packing also flattened them a bit, and they had a tendency to stick together slightly, so perhaps a Mason jar that could be swirled periodically would be preferable (I was trying to avoid floating an open oil bath within a water bath).

Just put the yolks in a Ziploc or other open-top bag with a bit of oil, and clip the bag to the side of the container. Might need to weight the bag a bit due to high fat content (weighing down bags is a whole topic on its own!).

[Anton D]

... (weighing down bags is a whole topic on its own!).

It is!

For veggies, I often have to "top weight" and use a stainless pot that I submerge on top of the veggies. It's a perfect fit for the main container we use and has held down everything we've asked of it.

[RichardFlack]

I have what may be a silly question about SV. How do you handle a steak dinner where various people want rare, medium rare and medium. (We’ll assume we don’t invite people who eat steak well done ). [Multiple baths, and changing the menu are cheating!]

[K_F_o_l_e_y]

I have what may be a silly question about SV. How do you handle a steak dinner where various people want rare, medium rare and medium. (We’ll assume we don’t invite people who eat steak well done ). [Multiple baths, and changing the menu are cheating!]

One of the most common questions about sous vide cooking!

The usual answer is cook the higher temp steak first, leave it in the bath and reduce the temp with some ice or cold water and cook the lower temp steak. The higher temp steak will stay warm, but won't cook any further (unless you are talking about several hours, which might result in increased tenderness, or even mushiness if pushed too far).

Another alternative is to cook everything to the lower temperature, and then when searing leave the steaks you want more well done on to sear for longer.

However, my preferred answer is buy a second immersion circulator! At the very least you can then cook meat and veggies at the same time.

[RichardFlack]

Id wondered about the two (or three?!) temp routine, but if I'm correct that steaks need say 45 - 60 minutes per 'batch' that makes a pretty extended cook time.
So the medium rare steak gets 90 minutes and the rare gets 45, 90 minutes does not affect the texture?
Extra sear - Id also wondered about that but assuming the steaks are a decent thickness wouldn't you get a pretty black coating if you are taking a steak from rare to medium. I guess youd flash sear the rare steak, v high temp v short time; and the medium steak is seared at a lower temp for longer time?

[Elliot Steele]

I have what may be a silly question about SV. How do you handle a steak dinner where various people want rare, medium rare and medium. (We’ll assume we don’t invite people who eat steak well done ). [Multiple baths, and changing the menu are cheating!]

One of the most common questions about sous vide cooking!

The usual answer is cook the higher temp steak first, leave it in the bath and reduce the temp with some ice or cold water and cook the lower temp steak. The higher temp steak will stay warm, but won't cook any further (unless you are talking about several hours, which might result in increased tenderness, or even mushiness if pushed too far).

Another alternative is to cook everything to the lower temperature, and then when searing leave the steaks you want more well done on to sear for longer.

However, my preferred answer is buy a second immersion circulator! At the very least you can then cook meat and veggies at the same time.

This just seems like the Polack method to me. Far more efficient would be the reverse sear method where all the steaks could go in at the same time and you could pull the steaks out as they come to the desired temp. That way you could use your sous vide in the meantime for something its actually good for like the veggies

[K_F_o_l_e_y]

This just seems like the Polack method to me. Far more efficient would be the reverse sear method where all the steaks could go in at the same time and you could pull the steaks out as they come to the desired temp. That way you could use your sous vide in the meantime for something its actually good for like the veggies

This is the sous vide thread. The redneck steak thread is over there --->

[Anton D]

I have what may be a silly question about SV. How do you handle a steak dinner where various people want rare, medium rare and medium. (We’ll assume we don’t invite people who eat steak well done ). [Multiple baths, and changing the menu are cheating!]

One of the most common questions about sous vide cooking!

The usual answer is cook the higher temp steak first, leave it in the bath and reduce the temp with some ice or cold water and cook the lower temp steak. The higher temp steak will stay warm, but won't cook any further (unless you are talking about several hours, which might result in increased tenderness, or even mushiness if pushed too far).

Another alternative is to cook everything to the lower temperature, and then when searing leave the steaks you want more well done on to sear for longer.

However, my preferred answer is buy a second immersion circulator! At the very least you can then cook meat and veggies at the same time.

Great answers!