Sous vide

[T.G]

Originally Posted by Black Coral

Watch the video when you get the searzall for first use or you will destroy the grates

What grates?

[jonumberone]

Received an email from Anova that the wifi version of the app is now available for Android.

[T.G]

Since everyone else is doing it, I decided to try some SV roast beef too. My experience in the past with 30-ish hour cooks on other meats seems to show the same issues as what Keith and Dom described, and that is the meat takes on a mushy texture, so this time I went for 18 hours at 130F on another one of the tougher cuts of meat, this one being a small (~2 lb) sirloin tip roast. Seared on cast iron and with a searzall. Still want to tweak things a bit, but came out pretty good overall. The cut meat in the 3rd photo is the larger muscle of the group, the one on the left in the top photo and the upper chunk in the middle photo, I thought I was cutting against the grain, but for some reason it came out odd looking, like it was either twisted up or somehow I got it slightly off when loading it on the slicer.

[jonumberone]

How was the texture after 18 hrs, Adam?
Was 18 hrs enough to make the roast tender?

[T.G]

Originally Posted by jonumberone

How was the texture after 18 hrs, Adam?
Was 18 hrs enough to make the roast tender?

It depended on the muscle, there are a couple muscles that all come together in the tip and, the larger one in the roast I had, the one I might have cut wrong, came out more tender than the smaller one in the photos. The larger one was soft with just enough firmness to still let you know it was there (unlike the mushy 32-hour pork that I did previously), but some of the edges got really tough and chewy, not sure if that was because of the sear or something else.

The smaller of the two muscles (the lower one), which I chilled before slicing, came out texture wise more like deli roast beef, but lacked flavor.

There was also a tiny third muscle cut there, you can kind of see it poking out at the bottom of the searing photo, about the size of a carrot. That one came out more like a grilled steak. I think it would have sucked cold.

I think I need to do better job trimming next time, I thought it looked ok going in, but after it came out of the bath, wasn't really happy with how much I left.

I'm going to try this again, but use a specific single muscle and see what I get. While the sirloin tip roast wasn't bad, I think it would have been better suited to being tossed in the pellet grill and treated like pork butt and given an overnight cook and then some at 200 +/- or into either a dutch oven or pressure cooker and turned into ropa vieja.

[Black Coral]

Did chicken last night and was very impressive meal. Tonight trying. 2inch thick New York with coffee rub will be interesting

[massphatness]

Tenderloin Fillets tonite ...



Was gifted an assortment of Wagyu steaks from Snake River Farms in Idaho. Set the water bath for 137.5*, let them do their thing for about an hour, and finished them off with a little salt & pepper rub and a butter-sear on the skillet.

Tremendous flavor, incredibly tender. Sooooooooo good!

[jonumberone]

Thanks, Adam.

Thoughts on the Snake river steaks, Vin?

[massphatness]

Originally Posted by jonumberone

Thoughts on the Snake river steaks, Vin?

These were gifted so difficult to assess actual value, but I eat at nicer steak houses in Boston often enough to say these compare favorably with the quality of steaks at places like Capitol Grille, Morton's, Abe & Louie's etc. However, the portion size was small - very much a petite fillet.

On the plus side, the steaks come already vacuum sealed - perfect for the Anova.

The Wagyu beef is different from "normal" beef, and I had not experienced it before. The Wagyu is extremely tender -- literally cut it with a fork tender. Lots of fat in the Wagyu steak but in a good way -- not huge chunks of fat, but more distributed throughout the beef. Super flavorful.

I did the sear with just a touch of salt & pepper because I wanted the full on flavor of the beef, and it didn't disappoint.

This rocked as a gift (and there are more in my freezer ) but I'd need to research price to know if I'd buy directly. My sense is it is likely to be cost prohibitive for the size steaks I'd like, particularly since you have to factor in shipping.

Glad to have had the opportunity to try these and look forward to cooking up the other cuts in my freezer.

[massphatness]

Originally Posted by massphatness

These were gifted so difficult to assess actual value, but I eat at nicer steak houses in Boston often enough to say these compare favorably with the quality of steaks at places like Capitol Grille, Morton's, Abe & Louie's etc. However, the portion size was small - very much a petite fillet.

On the plus side, the steaks come already vacuum sealed - perfect for the Anova.

The Wagyu beef is different from "normal" beef, and I had not experienced it before. The Wagyu is extremely tender -- literally cut it with a fork tender. Lots of fat in the Wagyu steak but in a good way -- not huge chunks of fat, but more distributed throughout the beef. Super flavorful.

I did the sear with just a touch of salt & pepper because I wanted the full on flavor of the beef, and it didn't disappoint.

This rocked as a gift (and there are more in my freezer ) but I'd need to research price to know if I'd buy directly. My sense is it is likely to be cost prohibitive for the size steaks I'd like, particularly since you have to factor in shipping.

Glad to have had the opportunity to try these and look forward to cooking up the other cuts in my freezer.

EDIT: Curiosity got the better of me, and I looked up pricing. I don't like to do that when I've received something as a gift, but in this case, I'm giving myself a pass for the sake of education. Surprisingly, it looks like these steaks can be had for the price of a typical fillet mignon in a high end restaurant provided you buy them in quantity. Snake Rive Farms sells their 8 oz fillet for $40- if you buy eight or more. Standard shipping is $9.99 bringing the avg cost per steak to a little more than $41. By contrast, a 10 oz a la carte fillet at Capitol Grille in Boston is $47-. So I take back the cost prohibitive statement -- at some point, I'll likely buy some of these, but it's still pretty costly and would be a treat a few times a year.

[BigAsh]

started with 3 ribeyes...applied a commercial rub (Costa Carne, excellent on beef!)...vac sealed and into bath at 130 for an hour...pan seared (not cast iron this time, got lazy and used same pan I sauteed green beans and mushrooms)...decent sear...tasty......

[CigarNut]

Looks great, Keith!

[CigarNut]

Inspired by Adam's results, we picked up a 2.5 lb USDA Prime tri-tip from Costco. I marinaded the tri-tip for two hours before cooking and included the marinade in the vacuum bag.

The marinade is pureed onion, garlic, extra light EVOO, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper.

I cooked it for 8 hours @ 130* and then seared it for 60 seconds on each side in Duck fat.

I think this is the best tri-tip I have ever made (I usually grill them). The meat was tender, had a great texture and mouth-feel and was very juicy.

[Porch Dweller]

That looks

[T.G]

Nice work Michael!

[BigAsh]

you had me at "duck fat"!!...lookin' tasty Michael!

[T.G]

Took the garlic confit and a ran with a variety of spices. Not really a new idea by any stretch, but wanted to see where they went individually as a bread topping before making a blend.

L-R: Sundried tomatoes, rosemary, thai basil, red chili pepper flakes, oregano and plain.

[T.G]

Yesterday's unofficial taste testing focus group (about 10-15 people down at the brewery tap room) crowned the red pepper as the overall winner, even by people who weren't into the heat.

[stearns]

Originally Posted by T.G

Yesterday's unofficial taste testing focus group (about 10-15 people down at the brewery tap room) crowned the red pepper as the overall winner, even by people who weren't into the heat.

Are these mainly olive oil, garlic and whatever ingredient, or is there more involved? They sound awesome

[T.G]

Originally Posted by stearns

Are these mainly olive oil, garlic and whatever ingredient, or is there more involved? They sound awesome

Other than salt, you hit the nail on the head Ben.

1 cup peeled garlic cloves
1/4 cup olive oil
1 scant tablespoon kosher salt (I use diamond krystal, if you use another brand or table salt, use less as they saltier)
anywhere from 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of whatever herbs/spices you are adding

Vacuum seal and SV for 4 hours at 190F.


For sun dried tomatoes, about 1/3 cup of tomates and a few TBS extra oil.