Sous Vide

[BrianK]

We're having a friend over to an early supper tonight so some steaks were put in the 129 degree sous vide bath at 0800. After they come out of the hot tub I finish them off with some dextrose and a torch. That produces the Maillard reaction that gives grilled meat that great flavor. Plus, it's a guy thing. Who doesn't like using fire? 

Our friend will bring homemade yeast rolls (I can eat 1/2 of one, I'm on a very low carb diet) and the veg' will be cauliflower "potato" salad. 

To find out what Sous Vide is it's best to just do a 'net search. It can turn someone who doesn't cook into a gourmet chef. Really. It's super easy. Tonights steaks?  they're probably ready now (1430), but we won't eat until 1700-1800. They won't overcook and they will be a perfect med' rare from edge to edge, no grey meat. 

[Armed Eye Doc]

3 hours ago, BrianK said:

We're having a friend over to an early supper tonight so some steaks were put in the 129 degree sous vide bath at 0800. After they come out of the hot tub I finish them off with some dextrose and a torch. That produces the Maillard reaction that gives grilled meat that great flavor. Plus, it's a guy thing. Who doesn't like using fire? 

Our friend will bring homemade yeast rolls (I can eat 1/2 of one, I'm on a very low carb diet) and the veg' will be cauliflower "potato" salad. 

To find out what Sous Vide is it's best to just do a 'net search. It can turn someone who doesn't cook into a gourmet chef. Really. It's super easy. Tonights steaks?  they're probably ready now (1430), but we won't eat until 1700-1800. They won't overcook and they will be a perfect med' rare from edge to edge, no grey meat. 

[BrianK]

Too late now. It's mostly all gone. Some rolls and c'flower potato salad are leftovers. 

I cooked 6 steaks, 2 NY strips and 4 Filet Mignons. The ladies had filets and loved them. I had a strip and it was also very good. Whoops(!), 2 filets and 1 Strip are still in the bags in the refrigerator. 

Yeah, I'm terrible about taking pix when people are waiting for food and conversation is going on.

[Cunuckgaucho]

My BIL is a big fan of sous-vide cooking. I was over a couple months ago for lamb sous-vide then finished off on the grill

[shepp]

It’s somthing I’ve like to do but I don’t need more contraptions, it is a lot like the reverse seer which I love 

[jim3326]

On 9/6/2024 at 8:38 PM, shepp said:

It’s somthing I’ve like to do but I don’t need more contraptions, it is a lot like the reverse seer which I love 

The "contraption" is about the size of an immersion blender motor. I just use a plastic tub wrapped with a towel and lay saran wrap on the water. 

[BrianK]

42 minutes ago, jim3326 said:

The "contraption" is about the size of an immersion blender motor. I just use a plastic tub wrapped with a towel and lay saran wrap on the water. 

Yes, this ^^^^ . Of course a laboratory type can be purchased, I don't remember the name, but they were among the first SV "machines". But they are quite expensive, large, and just not needed anymore. If I was SVing for a hospital or large facility that's what I'd have, and a dedicated space for it, just like the space for the oven and other cooking appliances. But again, they are pretty much a thing of the past and not needed for home use. We don't have a lot of space and the machine just doesn't take up much of what we do have.

When I SV lots of meat*, I use a small "cooler" as the vessel. One whose top I modified to allow the SV machine to get into the water. Otherwise it's a largish poly food storage container (from a restaurant supply store) or a pot.

*I've been known to buy lots of a cut when it goes on sale and SVing 30+ of them at a time (in the cooler) isn't unusual for me. The first cook takes the most time in the bath since to do SV correctly the items have a warming time where they are warmed through (they soak up the heat), then a cooking time, and a pasteurization time. After that's been done it all gets chilled as rapidly as I can manage, then frozen. To use we take out as many individual portions as we need, warm them at the same temp' they were cooked at, and in an hour or so they're ready to be finished off by whatever method is appropriate. But whichever it is, first cook or warmup, while it's doing it's thing I'm doing my thing. The only time we come together is in putting the items in the bag and then the bath, then finishing them off. And the results are spectacular when done correctly. I've had people who don't eat meat try a piece, finish off the portion, and come back for more. 

The incorrect way is the way my brother did it. He SVed some steaks BEFORE he had a means to finish them off. I guess he didn't know a super hot fry pan could be used.Not to cook them, just to brown them. Anyway, he served the pale steaks with no Maillard reaction flavor and his wife told him never again. Another way is to do as I've read some restaurants do it with a far too short a time for the first cook. For food safety the times really shouldn't be shortened. If adding up the times for the 3 stages comes to 6 hours minimum time at XXX degrees then that's what it takes. For example, the filets and NY strips that I did above figured out to 6 hours at 129 degrees. But we ate them after 8 hours. That was all to the good. But 4 hours would have been flirting with risky food. 

[jim3326]

There's another method I was told was very good, just really hard to go down that road. Cold smoke for a couple hours then immerse. Ready to eat when it comes out. That was on a tri-tip.

Edited Sunday at 06:33 PM by jim3326

[BrianK]

Maybe. Esp' if the meat is cured for the cold smoke. The cure would tend to keep the meat safe. 

That would be one of the very few uses I would have for leftist politicians... Testing experimental cooking methods on them. As long as I don't need to be in the same room with them.

[shepp]

On 9/8/2024 at 10:03 AM, jim3326 said:

The "contraption" is about the size of an immersion blender motor. I just use a plastic tub wrapped with a towel and lay saran wrap on the water. 

I’m  very familiar