Sous vide

[croatan]

I tried burgers for lunch yesterday (45 minutes at 124, then sear). Sear wasn't the best and I thought they were maybe a little overcooked, but not bad overall. I also didn't season them as heavily as I usually do. Will try again and am once again reminded that I should grind my own meat.

Then did NY strips for dinner and artichokes for appetizers. After over an hour at 183 (recommendation I found online), the artichokes weren't even close to being ready, so those were kind of a fail. The strips, though, were delicious. 126.5 for 50 minutes and then got a good cast iron sear on them. Again felt like they could have been cooked to just a slightly lower temperature, though.

I also tried some carrots with butter, garlic, and brown sugar. 184 for an hour and then finished for a couple minutes over high heat in their juices. I didn't think much about them, but my wife really liked them, so that's something.

I'm definitely digging this thing, but there's just so much to experiment with and learn--it's a fun process.

[jonumberone]

I haven't had much luck with veggies either. I can get them cooked well enough, but I don't really see any benefit to doing them sous vide vs other methods. I also find the cook times to be inconsistent. Sometimes they're perfect, sometimes raw, and sometimes overdone using the same time and temp as the last try. So I don't bother anymore. I don't see a reason to crank up the temp to 190 if I'm not satisfied with the results.

The success I've had with vegetables has been doing them in soups.
I've done cream of artichoke, asparagus, broccoli, celery, cauliflower, and mushroom soups with great success. I also did a sweet potato and andouille soup that was terrific.

[pnoon]

Time to re-read this entire thread.

Amazon laid waste to my kitchen yesterday. A generous friend sent me an Anova Precision Cooker yesterday along with an accessory. Time to jump in with both feet.

[stearns]

As soon as I get settled into the new apartment and make sure that I have enough room to have a permanent setup I plan on picking up an Anova, I look forward to re-reading this whole thread as well

[bonjing]

Did a small boneless turkey breast for Thanksgiving. Put some butter, honey and cinnamon in the bag. Set for the recommended 152* for 2 hours, for a traditional roast texture, and seared the outside in a pan. Very juicy, sweet and tender. Only compliant was seeing some light pink in the meat after slicing it up. Kind of freaked me out so I pan fried the pieces. Maybe I'll do a higher temp next time.

Also while eating, the texture made me think something was off. I knew it was cooked, maybe I'm just used to dry, overcooked turkey

[croatan]

Originally Posted by pnoon

Time to re-read this entire thread.

Amazon laid waste to my kitchen yesterday. A generous friend sent me an Anova Precision Cooker yesterday along with an accessory. Time to jump in with both feet.

Very cool, Peter!

I did seven big prime filets with it last night. An hour at 122 with a little garlic and rosemary and then cast iron seared with some oil and butter basting action. They were fantastic (though they should be for what those steaks cost). Raves all around. And I was much happier with the internal done-ness (or lack thereof) than before, so I think I'm finally getting close to finding the cooking temp I want for steaks.

[Chainsaw13]

Originally Posted by bonjing

Did a small boneless turkey breast for Thanksgiving. Put some butter, honey and cinnamon in the bag. Set for the recommended 152* for 2 hours, for a traditional roast texture, and seared the outside in a pan. Very juicy, sweet and tender. Only compliant was seeing some light pink in the meat after slicing it up. Kind of freaked me out so I pan fried the pieces. Maybe I'll do a higher temp next time.

Also while eating, the texture made me think something was off. I knew it was cooked, maybe I'm just used to dry, overcooked turkey

I did turkey breast last year @ 145F for 4 hours. No trace of pink meat. Perfect soft texture for me too.

Made a lamb top round roast last week. 135F for 5 hours (started frozen). Seared the outside on a hot grill. Perfection.

[pnoon]

So I've been doing a crapload of reading about sous vide. So eager to get started but still have some questions based on my research. Hopefully the "vets" here can help me out.

1) The times stated (here and in recipes) are minimums. Correct? So if a steak calls for 45 minutes at 129, an hour or even two won't make a huge difference?

2) Seriouseats.com is associated with Anova. There is a recipe for steak on their site that states the following: "When the cooking time has elapsed, remove the steaks for finishing. (At this point, you may also quick chill the meat submerged in its pouch in an ice water bath for at least 30 minutes and refrigerate for up to 48 hours or freeze for up to a year.)"
What do you all think? And have you done this? If plausible, would it work for pork as well?

3) I bought a bunch of thick boneless pork loin chops. Put them in Foodsaver bags. Half went in plain and half were seasoned with a dry rub. Thoughts about dry rubs prior to cooking?

4) Most of the stuff shown in this thread is for meat. Anyone done fish - specifically salmon?

I'm sure I'll have more questions once I start cooking.
Thanks in advance for your help.

[Chainsaw13]

I'll answer what I can.

1. Yes, minimum times, at least in my times cooking with it. You can always go longer but it can affect texture if you go really long. A steak/chop that usually goes an hour shouldn't change much if you got two.

2. I've not done that, but I've used my sous vide to reheat finished meats. Nice that if you have a med rare steak, you can take it back to the temp you cooked it and it'll be done just as originally cooked.

3. I haven't done much with seasonings. The one long cook I did use some, it got muddled and lost in the overall flavor. Shorter cooks should let the flavor come thru more. I now add my seasonings after the cook, but before the final sear.

[pnoon]

Originally Posted by Chainsaw13

I'll answer what I can.

1. Yes, minimum times, at least in my times cooking with it. You can always go longer but it can affect texture if you go really long. A steak/chop that usually goes an hour shouldn't change much if you got two.

2. I've not done that, but I've used my sous vide to reheat finished meats. Nice that if you have a med rare steak, you can take it back to the temp you cooked it and it'll be done just as originally cooked.

3. I haven't done much with seasonings. The one long cook I did use some, it got muddled and lost in the overall flavor. Shorter cooks should let the flavor come thru more. I now add my seasonings after the cook, but before the final sear.

Thanks, Bob.

[T.G]

Originally Posted by pnoon

So I've been doing a crapload of reading about sous vide. So eager to get started but still have some questions based on my research. Hopefully the "vets" here can help me out.

1) The times stated (here and in recipes) are minimums. Correct? So if a steak calls for 45 minutes at 129, an hour or even two won't make a huge difference?

2) Seriouseats.com is associated with Anova. There is a recipe for steak on their site that states the following: "When the cooking time has elapsed, remove the steaks for finishing. (At this point, you may also quick chill the meat submerged in its pouch in an ice water bath for at least 30 minutes and refrigerate for up to 48 hours or freeze for up to a year.)"
What do you all think? And have you done this? If plausible, would it work for pork as well?

3) I bought a bunch of thick boneless pork loin chops. Put them in Foodsaver bags. Half went in plain and half were seasoned with a dry rub. Thoughts about dry rubs prior to cooking?

4) Most of the stuff shown in this thread is for meat. Anyone done fish - specifically salmon?

I'm sure I'll have more questions once I start cooking.
Thanks in advance for your help.

My 2-cents

1) As Bob says, to a point it makes little difference if you exceed the cook time. To elaborate, I've found that it depends on what you are cooking and how long. A 2" ribeye cooked an hour over or even two, probably won't hurt it at all, probably won't notice, might even make it better. A 2" ribeye cooked for 24 hours will be destroyed. Just as shrimp cooked an hour, heck even half an hour, will be wrecked.

2) I've done that with boneless skinless chicken breasts. But I didn't reheat them, I just broke them out of the vacuum bags a few days later and sliced them up cold for sandwiches. Logically, to me, if I were reheating, I would aim for a few degrees lower than my final initial cook temp, so as not to cook them more, and only just reheat them.

3) The amount of flavor that herbs and rubs can impart during the long SV cook times is immense. Do not be afraid of this. Remember, that is your only flavor being imparted, there are no flavors from the cooking process itself. It can be phenomenal. I've found that, for the way I do things, no salt in the rubs or bags is best. For short cooks it sometimes doesn't make a difference, but for long ones, it pulls a lot of moisture out, so for me, it's simpler to avoid altogether and just add at the time of searing. Go overboard on the spices, it doesn't matter - I went overboard on tri-tips one time, now, I'm stuck making them that way for that group forever, they freaking loved it.

On a side note, you mention pork chops... I have long struggled with getting grilled pork chops right, often resulting in a dry chop. No more with this process.

[pnoon]

[bonjing]

I've done salmon, comes out great! Just using the recommended cook times on the anova app. I just usually do S&P some chili flakes, dab of butter and some lemon.

[CigarNut]

Originally Posted by bonjing

I've done salmon, comes out great! Just using the recommended cook times on the anova app. I just usually do S&P some chili flakes, dab of butter and some lemon.

I like to sprinkle some dry mustard on my salmon -- spices it up just a bit.

[pnoon]

Another question about the process.

If I am doing steaks for a party of say 4 and 2 want their steaks medium and 2 want their steaks rare, what is the best approach for doing this?

I came up with an idea of doing the medium steaks at the higher temp first. Then, in cooler water, cook the rare steaks while at the same time keeping the medium steaks warm but not cooking them further. Finishing with a sear all at once.

Thoughts?

[jonumberone]

Originally Posted by pnoon

Another question about the process.

If I am doing steaks for a party of say 4 and 2 want their steaks medium and 2 want their steaks rare, what is the best approach for doing this?

I came up with an idea of doing the medium steaks at the higher temp first. Then, in cooler water, cook the rare steaks while at the same time keeping the medium steaks warm but not cooking them further. Finishing with a sear all at once.

Thoughts?

Peter, I would cook all the steaks rare. Then the two steaks I wanted medium, I would just sear off longer in cast iron or on the grill to bring them up to temp.

[croatan]

Originally Posted by jonumberone

Peter, I would cook all the steaks rare. Then the two steaks I wanted medium, I would just sear off longer in cast iron or on the grill to bring them up to temp.

Yeah, that's what I've done, too. If someone wants it past medium (why, God, why?) and you're tired of searing and/or your smoke alarms are all going off, you can toss it in the oven for a little bit, as well.

[T.G]

Originally Posted by pnoon

Another question about the process.

If I am doing steaks for a party of say 4 and 2 want their steaks medium and 2 want their steaks rare, what is the best approach for doing this?


Thoughts?

Get 2 new friends who like steaks and not leather.


J/k. I think Dom's idea is solid, about using a longer sear on the leather, er, medium ones.

[Porch Dweller]

Originally Posted by T.G

Get 2 new friends who like steaks and not leather.


J/k. I think Dom's idea is solid, about using a longer sear on the leather, er, medium ones.

This! Who needs that kind of negativity in their life?

[pnoon]

Originally Posted by jonumberone

Peter, I would cook all the steaks rare. Then the two steaks I wanted medium, I would just sear off longer in cast iron or on the grill to bring them up to temp.

Originally Posted by croatan

Yeah, that's what I've done, too. If someone wants it past medium (why, God, why?) and you're tired of searing and/or your smoke alarms are all going off, you can toss it in the oven for a little bit, as well.

Originally Posted by T.G

Get 2 new friends who like steaks and not leather.


J/k. I think Dom's idea is solid, about using a longer sear on the leather, er, medium ones.

Thanks, fellas.