Sous vide

[pnoon]

Originally Posted by pnoon

Trying my first long sous vide cook.

London Broil w/s&p and Kona Coffee BBQ rub. Just spent 60 minutes on the smoker. About to be bagged for sous vide - 133 for 7-8 hours.



Plan to finish with butter in a cast iron skillet.

I’ll try and remember to take pics when served.

OMG. Beef was outstanding.

[BigAsh]

Originally Posted by pnoon

OMG. Beef was outstanding.

Yep...preceded by a "few olives" I bet that didn't suck!...Nicely done!! Was the timing of 7.5 spot on, or more/less time, next "time"?

[pnoon]

Originally Posted by BigAsh

Yep...preceded by a "few olives" I bet that didn't suck!...Nicely done!! Was the timing of 7.5 spot on, or more/less time, next "time"?

No olives. A couple of Manhattans, though.

7.5 hours at 133 was perfect, IMO.

[T.G]

Originally Posted by pnoon

Trying my first long sous vide cook.

London Broil w/s&p and Kona Coffee BBQ rub. Just spent 60 minutes on the smoker. About to be bagged for sous vide - 133 for 7-8 hours.


Plan to finish with butter in a cast iron skillet.

I’ll try and remember to take pics when served.

Borrowed this idea for a lamb sirloin roast over the weekend (the thing being that they are both very lean cuts with little intramuscular fat). Small cut, like 2/3 lb, about 1 hour or so hot smoked at 170F on the pellet grill, then bagged and SV at 134 for 4-5 hours. Same butter/cast iron finish. Came out quite good.

Just now noticing that you also used a coffee rub, FROM HAWAII. Too funny. I used Pele's Smokey Coffee rub from Aloha Seasonings.

[stearns]

That looks great, love a coffee rubbed steak but never actually done it myself, do you just do a fine grind and mix with s&p? I wish I had a smoker for things like this, I have a smoking gun that maybe I can play around with, but that will take a little experimentation

[pnoon]

It was a premix my son brought back from Hawaii

[stearns]

Nice

[Tristan]

Hey fellas. Things are looking mighty tasty in this thread. It's real early, but I sent a link to my wife for the Annova wifi as an idea for birthday or Christmas. I'm particularly interested in how smoking a brisket for a few hours and then throwing it in the Annova would turn out.

[pnoon]

Originally Posted by Tristan

Hey fellas. Things are looking mighty tasty in this thread. It's real early, but I sent a link to my wife for the Annova wifi as an idea for birthday or Christmas. I'm particularly interested in how smoking a brisket for a few hours and then throwing it in the Annova would turn out.

Tristan - I don't think the WiFi is worth the extra dough. YMMV.

While not a brisket, I did a London Broil on the smoker this morning for 1 hour. It is in the sous vide now and will be pulled at around the 7.5 hour mark. Finishing in cast iron with butter. Hopefully more pics to follow.

[Chainsaw13]

[stearns]

Damn, that looks delicious. How well did the smoke taste come through?

[pnoon]

Originally Posted by stearns

Damn, that looks delicious. How well did the smoke taste come through?

Extremely well. Even with just an hour on the smoke.


A repeat of this effort is definitely in the cards.

[CigarNut]

That looks awesome, Peter!

[T.G]

If it's cooked and in the still sealed vacuum bag, I would guess that it's probably good for at least 3-6 months.

[pnoon]

So I have a couple of unrelated questions for the vets/experts here.

I always preheat the water to the desired temp. And then add my food.
I saw this pic from a website and wondered if it is advisable to put food in room temp water and bring food and water up to temp.





The other question I had was about multiple packages contacting one another. I know a rack is preferable. But could I place another package directly on top of the one shown here? Or would it be better to rotate them 90 degrees with some space in between?

[jonumberone]

Originally Posted by pnoon

So I have a couple of unrelated questions for the vets/experts here.

I always preheat the water to the desired temp. And then add my food.
I saw this pic from a website and wondered if it is advisable to put food in room temp water and bring food and water up to temp.

Peter, I always bring the water up to temp. I don't see any reason to put the food in before. I'm going with the if it isn't broke theory.
I know Adam has done some stepped temperature cooks. He might have more insight into why or why not.

One reason could be that the size of the roast coupled with the size of the container wouldn't allow for heating the water first.
If you fill up to the min line on the Anova, bring the water up to temp, then add the roast it may bring your water level above the max line, or overflow the pot.
If you fill the pot to the max line, with the roast in the pot, then take it out you might fall below the min line.
The only solution in that case would be to add the roast, fill up the pot, and press start.

Also, the photo may look as though the meat was placed in the water and then the water is being brought up to temp.
It's just as likely that the water was at temp, the meat was added, and the temperature dropped.
I know my water temp drops 4-6° when I place a decent sized steak in it. I'm cooking in a Cambro with close to 5 gallons of water in it.
In fact, my water drops a degree just from opening the lid.
That looks like a pretty big roast in a 10-12 quart stockpot.
That could've easily dropped the temp.

Originally Posted by pnoon

The other question I had was about multiple packages contacting one another. I know a rack is preferable. But could I place another package directly on top of the one shown here? Or would it be better to rotate them 90 degrees with some space in between?

Space in between is better.
I did 2 porchettas for the 4th of July holiday. They pushed the capacity limits of the Cambro.
I had them on a rack in the water, next to each other, but they were pressed up against the sides and were touching.
When I woke up in the morning the sides that were touching the walls were clearly a different color then the tops.
When I opened the lid the sides that were touching each other had the same color variation.
I rotated the roasts, and checked again later. The sides that were now touching had the same different color.
Rotated again, and then the next time I checked the roasts had shrunk enough that I was able to get some wire racks between them.
The water is what cooks the food. You want as much water as possible circulating around the food.
The whole reason for vacuum sealing is to get the water as close to the meat as possible.

I hope this helps.

[CigarNut]

I don't know about starting with room temp water -- i always wait until the water is at temperature before putting in my food.

However, I read somewhere when I first got my Anova, that it's good to have a little room between the bags; even circulation around the bags promotes more even cooking. Having said that, I am not able to find the source of this info, so take it for what it's worth. .

[pnoon]

Originally Posted by CigarNut

I don't know about starting with room temp water -- i always wait until the water is at temperature before putting in my food.

Neither do I. That's why I'm asking.

Originally Posted by CigarNut

However, I read somewhere when I first got my Anova, that it's good to have a little room between the bags; even circulation around the bags promotes more even cooking. Having said that, I am not able to find the source of this info, so take it for what it's worth. .

Certainly that is ideal. I was wondering if there was a significant negative impact with the bags in contact with one another.

[pnoon]

That helps a lot, Dom.
Thanks.

[T.G]

For step cooking meats to tenderize them I've always used 103F, then increase to 120F, then finally increase to the desired "Done" temp. I don't know offhand about any particular enzymes at 116F. Based on the set temp, I think the bath was increasing in temp, but from what initial point, I don't know.

You can start from room temp water, but if it doesn't climb at a decent rate, you are risking bacterial contamination / spoilage of the food.