Sous vide

[T.G]

Have you thought about trying the stuffed burgers with high temperature cheese, like what is used for some sausages, or using cheeses that don't melt as readily?

[stearns]

I had made my own cheese slices, following a recipe similar to this one but with a few different types of cheese as ingredients, I made it about 2-3x the thickness of normal cheese slices and I think the consistency was good. I wouldn't want it too hard so that it isn't oozy, but I haven't looked further into what types. I think the cheese was good, I just didnt seal all the seams perfectly. I made them using 2x 4oz patties each, I think if I just added an ounce to each there would be enough surface area on the edges to seal better. If I get around to trying again soon I'll post back with any changes in the outcome

[T.G]

Originally Posted by stearns

I had made my own cheese slices, following a recipe similar to this one but with a few different types of cheese as ingredients, I made it about 2-3x the thickness of normal cheese slices and I think the consistency was good. I wouldn't want it too hard so that it isn't oozy, but I haven't looked further into what types. I think the cheese was good, I just didnt seal all the seams perfectly. I made them using 2x 4oz patties each, I think if I just added an ounce to each there would be enough surface area on the edges to seal better. If I get around to trying again soon I'll post back with any changes in the outcome

That makes sense.

Tell me about the cheese slices. What's the consistency? Guessing kind of like an american cheese or even velveeta slice, just minus the chemicals?

[stearns]

Originally Posted by T.G

Tell me about the cheese slices. What's the consistency? Guessing kind of like an american cheese or even velveeta slice, just minus the chemicals?

Consistency and look of one of the pre-sliced individual packaged yellow americans although I made mine 2-3x thicker because I think one normal slice is not enough cheese (same approx. LxW of pre-sliced, I believe about 50 grams each instead of the ~20 grams a normal american slice is). Consistency reminds me of velveeta, although I haven't bought that stuff in at least 5 years. Definitely no chemical taste.

I love sodium citrate, it's the key to making "velveeta-like cheese dip" but using cheese that, ya know, needs to be refrigerated. I use it for mac and cheese, making cheese slices like this and big time secret ingredient for queso dip. I made some queso to bring to a bbq a few weeks back and somebody tried it and said "this is smooth, but doesn't taste like crap, it's not velveeta is it?" so I gave a little lesson to the table. For the cheese slices, I made the recipe similar to the linked one then poured it all in a 9x13 pyrex and let it cool, then just sliced to size and peeled out, put between parchment pieces and put some in the fridge and some freezer. I originally made it specifically for the burgers, but have used the slices in anything a normal american slice would have worked, great for omelettes and grilled cheeses too

[Black Coral]

Well today decided to try doing a pork belly in the sousvide. Will see how it turns out.

Cross cut both sides of the belly and seasoned it well, put it in for 7 hrs at 160. Once complete it says reseason and cut into strips and crisp up the edges. Will know how it turns out later today.

Look froward to it.

Anyone else done pork belly in the sous vide yet

[pnoon]

Originally Posted by Black Coral

Well today decided to try doing a pork belly in the sousvide. Will see how it turns out.

Cross cut both sides of the belly and seasoned it well, put it in for 7 hrs at 160. Once complete it says reseason and cut into strips and crisp up the edges. Will know how it turns out later today.

Look froward to it.

Anyone else done pork belly in the sous vide yet

You have my attention.

[Black Coral]

160 for 10 hours is done. I cut a slice off and quick sear after reseason and wow! I added a little BBQ sauce to the next slice and even better. Now i reseason the pork belly and letting it rest in the fridge till Sunday (if I don't keep cutting pieces). Then will seat the whole piece.

If I keep cutting I have another piece just started and will be going thru till Sunday morning on it at 135.00 till Saturday night then bring it to 145 till Sunday and then finish it in oven for crunch following the other recipe I found!

[Buckeye Jack]

So I did my first one last night, I call it Kitty Litter Chicken

Didn't turn out quite as I had hoped. The boneless chicken breasts were great for me, but I know I like my chicken a little drier than most, which tells me others probably thought it was dry......even though they were kind and told me it wasn't.

I will say it had great flavor! Just not as juicy as the instructions made it out to seem.

I did it at 160 for 2.5 hours. I was only going to do it for 90-120 minutes but the guests arrived late.

I put it in before about 30 minutes before the water hit 160 because it was taking so long to get to temp. I was scared I wouldn't have enough time....Not sure if that was the culprit? There was a lot of juice in the bags in the end and they seemed very moist when I took them out. I only had them on the charcoal for about 4-5 minutes to brown up. I hope that wasn't too long.

[St. Lou Stu]

LOVE The cooking vessel Jack!
You guys are too much.... I've been back just short of 24 hours and I'm already teetering on the edge of a new slope!

Originally Posted by Buckeye Jack

So I did my first one last night, I call it Kitty Litter Chicken

Didn't turn out quite as I had hoped. The boneless chicken breasts were great for me, but I know I like my chicken a little drier than most, which tells me others probably thought it was dry......even though they were kind and told me it wasn't.

I will say it had great flavor! Just not as juicy as the instructions made it out to seem.

I did it at 160 for 2.5 hours. I was only going to do it for 90-120 minutes but the guests arrived late.

I put it in before about 30 minutes before the water hit 160 because it was taking so long to get to temp. I was scared I wouldn't have enough time....Not sure if that was the culprit? There was a lot of juice in the bags in the end and they seemed very moist when I took them out. I only had them on the charcoal for about 4-5 minutes to brown up. I hope that wasn't too long.

[CigarNut]

I looks really good!

Did you have any salt on them? Salt can dry meats out on longer ( > 1 hour) cooks.

If you cut back on (not eliminate) the salt during the bath and add it before the sear, they should come out ok.

[Buckeye Jack]

Originally Posted by CigarNut

I looks really good!

Did you have any salt on them? Salt can dry meats out on longer ( > 1 hour) cooks.

If you cut back on (not eliminate) the salt during the bath and add it before the sear, they should come out ok.

I did salt and pepper them though I don't feel like I oversalted. I feel they were seasoned perfect....but maybe thats too much when using the sosu vide technique?

Definitely going to not go as high as 160 next time. I was using Anova's guide and I know that was the highest they suggested.

I did do some sirloins as my 2nd cook. They turned out good, though I don't feel they were seasoned enough. The cook was perfect!

Also, I got the cooler in I will be using from now on. I really think it will do a great job being its as shallow as it is. I know why so many of the comments for it recommend it for sous vide now! I'll post an update once I get it ready.

[T.G]

Here's a well written article on how time and temp relate to texture, juiciness, bag juices, gelling and so forth for chicken.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/07/t...en-breast.html

I ice bath the bags to bring the temp down, then open them and thoroughly dry off the meat before searing. Two things happen here: 1) you bring the temperature of the meat down so that when it heats up due to the sear, you don't go past your original target temp and over cook the meat. 2) if you don't dry them, you aren't searing, you're steaming them (which continues the cooking) until the moisture evaporates, then once that happens you get a sear.

Past that, make sure your grill is blazing hot, sear as quickly as possible as to not heat up the meat too much.

Oh, and save those bag juices, they are great for making sauces once they are strained. It's basically concentrated stock.

[BigAsh]

I usually do chicken breast at 142-145...moist and delicious

[dave]

I managed to avoid opening this thread for a year and a half....but now that I have (due in part to some gimmicky appliance on Shark Tank)...I have a couple questions....and I'm too lazy to do real reading and research....I haven't even read through much of this thread, but I may yet

-Do I need anything other than one of those stick heater/circulator things (~$100), a $35 Sealameal, and some bags?

-Do most things require a pre-sear or post-sear or some other type of before or after cooking?

-I like food....but not enough to work very hard at it...I like grilling and pressure cooking and crock-potting....but if I decide this is like work, I probably won't get near it...is it work?

-I absolutely hate the fn name....prolly why I never opened this thread....Sous Vide????....really....wtf is that?...isn't it about time we say f*** the pretentious froggy gourmet stuff...and call it something American-y...like boilinabag or something? I'd probably have been all over it years ago, if it weren't for the name

[pnoon]

Originally Posted by dave

I managed to avoid opening this thread for a year and a half....but now that I have (due in part to some gimmicky appliance on Shark Tank)...I have a couple questions....and I'm too lazy to do real reading and research....I haven't even read through much of this thread, but I may yet

-Do I need anything other than one of those stick heater/circulator things (~$100), a $35 Sealameal, and some bags? A large stock pot as a cooking vessel.

-Do most things require a pre-sear or post-sear or some other type of before or after cooking? Yes

-I like food....but not enough to work very hard at it...I like grilling and pressure cooking and crock-potting....but if I decide this is like work, I probably won't get near it...is it work? That's a very subjective question. My answer is no. Season your food. Seal it. Drop it in pre-heated water. A real benefit is the consistency of results and the large window of food being ready. Steaks, chops, and chicken generally are 1-4 hours.

-I absolutely hate the fn name....prolly why I never opened this thread....Sous Vide????....really....wtf is that?...isn't it about time we say f*** the pretentious froggy gourmet stuff...and call it something American-y...like boilinabag or something? I'd probably have been all over it years ago, if it weren't for the name. Sous vide is just French for "under vacuum". If you eliminated food, drink, cigars, etc. based on a non-English name, you'd be missing out on an awful lot.

See my responses in red.

I gather from your post you're not a fan of cooking. For me, I get a lot of pleasure from cooking. For some, it is just a chore. If you are happy with grilling and pressure cooking and crock-potting, you may not want another cooking method. Just my

[dave]

Thank you, Peter! You're probably right about me and cooking....I don't mind prep-type work...and I do OK with temperature control and some basic applications of heat...but, when it comes to stuff that needs baby-ing...sauces and multi-phase cooking; even dry/wet rub combo barbecue....I don't generally have the patience. Some sort of mental block...once it hits the oven/stove/grill...my mind calls it done - cooking to me is prep to heat to table.
I'd like to get a little better with herbs, spices, sherrys, etc.... but I may not be ready to drop a couple bills on some gear I may not end up using very much.
BTW, anybody want a cheap fry daddy, or bread machine or electric griddle, or grinder, or Osterizer or waffle maker or....

[T.G]

Originally Posted by dave

BTW, anybody want a cheap fry daddy, or bread machine or electric griddle, or grinder, or Osterizer or waffle maker or....

Pancakes.

[T.G]

Dave,

Peter covered a lot of the bases. Just some things I'd like to add.

SV cooking isn't really any more work than pressure cooking. SV you have an extra step in bagging the food and an extra step in searing it when you are done (some things don't need it), but you don't generally have to worry about things like: getting the heat just right for the pressure widget, or leaving the food in too long - which for a pressure cooker could be 5 minutes, worrying about running out of liquid, then you have the whole cool down period.

I have a Fagor stovetop pressure cooker, which I really like, and I use it about as often as I use my SV cooker (about 1-6 times a month), but, I have to be completely honest, the pressure cooker is more work than the SV. Can't tell you how many times I've dropped stuff in the meat jacuzzi and just left the house. I can't pull that stunt with a pressure cooker.

I'd say SV is about as easy as crock pot cooking plus the extra effort of searing the food. Can't cook a 2" steak in a crock pot though, unless you like shredded beef.

Which brings me to the point that Dom brought up that sold me. Completely even edge to edge doneness. 2-1/2" thick ribeye, medium-rare, hard to do on a grill, you get a bullseye effect: a layer of well done, then med-well, then medium, then medium-rare and maybe even a rare center. With SV, the whole thing is cooked to medium-rare and can't get any more cooked because the water is only 136F. Ice bath the bag, open it, dry it off, season it and sear it. Now you're entering into the realm of what you used to only be able to get done right at a high end steakhouse.

I'm not a SV die-hard. It doesn't do everything, nor would I want to cook everything with it. Quite a few things that you can cook with it that I simply don't care for when cooked that way. For many things I much prefer one of my smokers, or my santa maria grill, deep fryer or some other method, but, for some things, I now found the SV cooker to be absolutely indispensable because it's simply the best tool for that particular job.

[dave]

Great post. Thank you

[stearns]

Thanks for the tips, the meat was well worked since I put a bunch of seasonings and other delicious stuff but maybe I didn't go high enough on the sear. I did cook the burger in the SV to higher than I would prefer, so maybe it was a combo of too high internal, too low sear. I also used a grill pan instead of a cast iron, not sure if that would make a difference since it split on the side but I could try switching that as well. Probably not gonna get a chance to make them again this week, but I will for sure in the next week or two. I'll report back!