Sous vide

[stearns]

It was a little on the dry side, but I really wanted it to be as steak-like as possible for consistency as it was going to be a standalone on the plate. If it were being cooked to then go in something (like ramen which I've done in the past, or chopped up in something) I'd definitely do the higher temp cook, but I wanted to make sure that even the fattiest bites weren't chewy. Maybe I need to do more experimenting though

[Chainsaw13]

Got some bottom round trimmings/chunks in the sous vide cooking away for a taco dinner. Added some chipotle purée, garlic powder, chili powder, Mexican oregano and cumin. 180° for 8 hours. Will chop it up, season with salt, then pan sear with some of the juices from the bag.

[stearns]

Originally Posted by stearns

Had a few friends over last night for the GoT finale, tried to think of something fitting to make for dinner so I ended on a leg of lamb. Went to the butcher and got a beautiful ~6lb leg, bigger than my stock pot so it gave me a legitimate excuse to break out the big tub. I made a spice rub similar to this, although I toasted all of them on a pan before using. I took out the leg, cut around the tip of the bone to make frenching it easier, scored the fat (although not as deep as it should have been) then rubbed it down with half the spice blend. I put a few dashes of liquid smoke in a big vac bag, put the leg in then sealed.

Cooked this for 25 hours at 131* then took it out, patted it down and loaded it up with the rest of the spice blend (althought I added black sesames and a little coffee for the last application, didn't want those flavors permeating but thought they would help make a good crust). I propped it up on a ball of foil and finished in the oven at 450* for 30 minutes.

This thing turned out stunning, better than I could have hoped for. I let it rest about 10 minutes then carved the leg, everything was cooked perfectly. Naturally once I was done I picked up the leg and gnawed at the meat left on the bone. I made a little sauce with the bag juice and some balsamic vinegar, but honestly it didn't need it. My friend's mother came over for dinner as well, she said she hadn't had lamb since she was 10 because she thought she hated it, but after trying this she said she must never had it cooked correctly, because she loved it and would have it again. Even my friend's 5yo daughter was eating it up. Definitely a success I hope to do again sometime soon

Lamb leg ordered for pickup on Saturday, needed to repeat for the last finale on Sunday. Haven't cooked a full leg of lamb since the first time I made it a couple years ago and don't intend to change it in any way, hoping for an equally delicious and visually appealing outcome. I'll post up the results. I'm very excited

[CigarNut]

No pics, but I sous vide a 3lb tri tip yesterday (from Whole Foods) — I used a ginger, garlic lime marinade, followed by a 60 second-per-side sear in hot cast iron. I think this was my best tri tip yet.

[BigAsh]

Originally Posted by stearns

Lamb leg ordered for pickup on Saturday, needed to repeat for the last finale on Sunday. Haven't cooked a full leg of lamb since the first time I made it a couple years ago and don't intend to change it in any way, hoping for an equally delicious and visually appealing outcome. I'll post up the results. I'm very excited

That lamb from youe original post sounds great Ben....hope you can replicate it...looking forward to results

Originally Posted by CigarNut

No pics, but I sous vide a 3lb tri tip yesterday (from Whole Foods) — I used a ginger, garlic lime marinade, followed by a 60 second-per-side sear in hot cast iron. I think this was my best tri tip yet.

Michael, curious as to marinade process...did you marinate in vac seal bag for a time first, then sous vide?....or pour into bag right before sous vide?

[T.G]

Made hummus the other day and substituted sous vide garlic confeit for the fresh garlic. Used about 30% more garlic and some smoked olive oil. Game changer.

[CigarNut]

Originally Posted by BigAsh

That lamb from youe original post sounds great Ben....hope you can replicate it...looking forward to results




Michael, curious as to marinade process...did you marinate in vac seal bag for a time first, then sous vide?....or pour into bag right before sous vide?

Marinaded about 20 hours in the vacuum sealed bag — I poke lots of holes in the meat with a small knife to help the marinade soak in. Then I sous vide for 9 hours.

[Porch Dweller]

Originally Posted by T.G

Made hummus the other day and substituted sous vide garlic confeit for the fresh garlic. Used about 30% more garlic and some smoked olive oil. Game changer.

My stomach growled when I read that.

[BigAsh]

Originally Posted by T.G

Made hummus the other day and substituted sous vide garlic confeit for the fresh garlic. Used about 30% more garlic and some smoked olive oil. Game changer.

Shelf stable for shipping?...asking for a friend...

[BigAsh]

Originally Posted by CigarNut

Marinaded about 20 hours in the vacuum sealed bag — I poke lots of holes in the meat with a small knife to help the marinade soak in. Then I sous vide for 9 hours.

thanks

[T.G]

Originally Posted by BigAsh

Shelf stable for shipping?...asking for a friend...

Maybe. I'll have to test it.

Raw garlic would have been the risk in a traditional recipe, but since this is using confeit garlic (cooked) it's very possible it might be able to be pressure canned.

[stearns]

Went to pick up the lamb on Saturday, the butcher comes out with this huge package and says "I've got an 11 pounder for ya, hope that's ok." I'm thinking this must be one freaky lamb if it's leg weighs that much, get home and open it up only to find that he gave me the whole hind quarter up past the aitch bone... with the shank removed. My plan of making a bone in leg was ruined, so instead I got a crash course in braking down lamb and ended with two beautiful cuts to cook at a later date ("Premium" Steak and thick flank, according to the video I was using as a guide), as well as a pound and a half of "stew meat" (a collection of rough edges I threw in a pile that will also be delicious some day soon), and finally about 3 pounds of the boneless leg roast, which I seasoned heavily with a dry rub and cooked for 6 hours at 131*. After that was done I took it out, dried it off and gave it another thick coating of the dry rub, and baked for about 20 minutes at 450* on a wire rack.

I didn't take any pictures, but it turned out really well. If I had realized what I was going to end up with I probably would have stuffed it with some herbs and other goods, but I was elbow deep in lamb cuts and couldn't take a break to figure out what else to use, so I kept it dry rub only. Looking forward to doing something fun with some of the extra steaks

[Chainsaw13]

Sous vide a picanha today for dinner. 129° for ~90 minutes, then a seat on the grill turned out perfect.

[Hippi3Slay3r]

Used a friends set up a week ago to "stove" some pipe tobacco.
Stokkebye's navy flake 6 hours @ 180°F stuff came out almost black.
I plan on letting it sit in the vacuum bag for a few months to stabilize,
I'll post up some picks with the results when I pop the bag on vacation.

[CigarNut]

Originally Posted by Chainsaw13

Sous vide a picanha today for dinner. 129° for ~90 minutes, then a seat on the grill turned out perfect.

Looks fantastic, Bob! How long did you grill it?

[Chainsaw13]

Originally Posted by CigarNut

Looks fantastic, Bob! How long did you grill it?

Maybe 1-2 minutes per side. I had my grill cranked, all three burners on high. Thermometer in lid was reading 600F.

[stearns]

Originally Posted by jonumberone

Did you find the belly a little on the dry side?
I've done belly twice for 24 or more hours, and both times I was astonished at how dry and firm it was.
If I remember right it was around 154° for 24 hours.
I've settled on 170° for 8 hours as my go to for belly.
I find it to be much more succulent at that time and temp.

Interesting idea with the cheesecloth.

My butcher is retiring next weekend and closing down the shop after 25+ years, I went by today and picked up his last piece of pork belly, 2lb. Gonna cook it up this weekend and go for the 8 hours at 170*, I'll report back

[stearns]

Another successful pork belly in the books, possibly the best yet. Started with a 2lb belly, coated with salt and pepper then gave it a healthy bath of maple syrup, local honey and some espresso balsamic I'v had in the cabinet for years but never opened. Took that, draped one side in cheese cloth and layered on smoked onions. I'm really liking the cheese cloth move, if for no other reason than it looks very aesthetically pleasing when it's done and cheese cloth is very inexpensive.

Sealed that up a couple days ahead of time, then the night before I put it in a 170* bath for what ended up at about 8.5 hours. Took it out the next morning, filtered out that sweet sweet juice and hit the belly under the broiler for about 3 minutes per side. Took the juice, added extra honey syrup and balsamic as well as a little brown sugar, reduced the glaze down and coated the belly when it came out of the oven. After letting it sit another few minutes I sliced it up, this thing came out beautiful.

This is where I stopped taking pictures, but I ended up slicing further to end up with cubes approx. 1/2 inch per side. I cut some some potatoes, cooked in a dutch oven for a while with butter and duck fat, then added in some cut up onions and roasted bell peppers. Once that all melded I dumped in a bunch of the cubed pork belly, let everything cook together then transferred into a buttered dish, cracked a bunch of eggs on top and put in the oven at 450* for about 15 minutes. When it came out all the potatoes and pork and stuff were getting crispy, and the eggs were still runny. It was perfect

Still have about 6 ounces of cubed pork belly that went into the freezer, can't wait to make the same thing again with that in the future

[CigarNut]

Looks great, Ben! I need to try a pork belly!

[Porch Dweller]

Ben, that sounds fantastic!