Sous Vide

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BobH
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Sous Vide

Post by BobH »

DD and SIL gifted me with a sous vide device for Christmas. If any of you have experience with this type of cooking and have tips to share, I'd be much obliged. Any websites or forums you've found helpful on the subject would likewise be much appreciated.
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ChrisGreaves
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Re: Sous Vide

Post by ChrisGreaves »

BobH wrote:
01 Jan 2021, 21:43
DD and SIL gifted me with a sous vide device for Christmas. If any of you have experience with this type of cooking and have tips to share, I'd be much obliged. Any websites or forums you've found helpful on the subject would likewise be much appreciated.
I'll bite! :grin:

Wikipedia makes it sound like the opposite of the steel pressure cooker my mother's mother used to use to render any form of meat into a gray sludge.
I have recently be reading about cooking meat at a lower temperature (for a different period) to cook more evenly, and to keep the meat moist.

To me the careful preparation of meat is somewhat academic. Tonight I will be able to cook myself the expensive steak I purchased last December 23rd for my Christmas Dinner, unless yet-another-wonderful-person drops off more turkey dinner, platters of deep-fried cod fillets, etc etc.

Bon, as they say in the UK, appétit.

But see also "Brussel Sprouts"

Cheers and :munch:
Chris
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Re: Sous Vide

Post by Rebel »

I think you'll have great fun experimenting with this method Bob. I've had one of these machines for a few years now, and I've had great success. The biggest benefit that I've found (apart from food being cooked at EXACTLY the correct temperature) is that you don\t have to have every part of your meal finished at the same time. For example, if one part of the meal (perhaps something else cooking in the oven or on the stovetop) is taking a bit longer to cook than whatever is in the sous vide machine, leaving it to remain in the bath while other parts of your meal finish cooking is absolutely NOT going to overcook it. Most ingredients (meats, vegetables, etc.) can be left in the bath for up to a few hours past their "done" time - without any adverse effects.

As for the actual cooking, just make sure that you have as near to a vacuum as possible in container before you immerse it in the preheated water. I use Ziploc freezer bags for most of my cooking, and the preferred method to obtain the best vacuum is the "immersion" method. In other words, place your meat, vegs. etc. in the bag, close the zipper seal to almost full closed, then immerse the package in water until you've almost reached the level of the open corner of the bag, and then quickly finish sealing the bag. Submersing in water expels almost all of the air in the bag and you have the perfect vehicle to use in the sous vide cooker. In fact, I use this immersion method to prepare everything that I put in the freezer. I find that it gets rid of more air than trying to suck the air out using a straw. You can also use an electric vacuum sealing machine, but the cost of the consumables is quite a bit more expensive that the throw away Ziploc bags.

One of the best sites for recipes is the Serious Eats site. Another is the Anova site.

There are lots of other sites with good information and recipes, but these are the two that I rely on the most. Enjoy this Bob. :clapping: :thumbup: I'm sure you'll have great fun.
John :canada:
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BobH
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Re: Sous Vide

Post by BobH »

Thanks for the tips and links, John! :cheers: :chocciebar: :thankyou:
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Cellmate
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Re: Sous Vide

Post by Cellmate »

Sous vide is, basically, poaching, isn't it?
A controlled, timed poach?

What's the big whoop?

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Re: Sous Vide

Post by Rebel »

Poaching: cooking by submerging and simmering the food in a small amount of liquid.

Sous Vide: preparing food by sealing (usually in a vacuum sealed bag) the food and then cooking the food in a water bath where the temperature of the water is controlled very precisely. The food never comes in contact with the water, and the cooking temperature is very accurately controlled and maintained throughout the process. Once the food has been cooked to the desired level, a quick sear (eg. for a steak) is applied prior to serving.

So NO - sous vide is not basically poaching. This method has been used in commercial kitchens for many years, but the cost of these machines was prohibitive for most home chefs. In the past few years, relatively inexpensive portable sous vide cookers have been introduced by several manufacturers for use in the home kitchen.
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Re: Sous Vide

Post by BobH »

After struggling for most of a week to get pics from iPhone to PC, I can now share the results of my first sous vide cook. It was a pork tenderloin weighing about 3 pounds (MOL), rolled in EVOO, bacon bits, and onions and seared in an iron skillet heated to 400°F (204°C) after cooking to temp (135°F/57°C).
SV Expo_cr.jpg
In keeping with my Southern (American) Heritage, pork, black-eyed peas, collard greens (with turnip greens mixed in), and sweet potato are de rigueur for a New Year's Day repast.
SV Plate_cr.jpg
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Re: Sous Vide

Post by ChrisGreaves »

BobH wrote:
07 Jan 2021, 19:27
After struggling for most of a week to get pics from iPhone to PC,
This is sous video, isn't it?
I can now share the results of my first sous vide cook. It was a pork tenderloin weighing about 3 pounds (MOL), rolled in EVOO, bacon bits, and onions and seared in an iron skillet heated to 400°F (204°C) after cooking to temp (135°F/57°C).
SV Expo_cr.jpg
If I didn't know that this was a sous-vide, I would expect this in a regular restaurant if I ordered my meat "medium-rare". It is pink, but not bloody.
Assuming that at least once in your life you have ordered medium-rare, how did the sous-vide compare?
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Re: Sous Vide

Post by Rebel »

The pork tenderloin looks wonderful Bob. As you have now discovered with the sous vide method, the meat is cooked to the same level of "doneness" (in this case it appears to be medium rare) throughout the complete piece of meat. If this same piece of meat had been roasted in an oven, the outside portion would have probably been well done, gradually changing to medium rare towards the centre.

Steaks are particularly well suited to Sous Vide. A fine steak can be cooked to medium rare or rare much more accurately than is possible using a skillet or a grill.

As for Chris' comment, it is quite likely that a medium rare cut of meat that he has ordered in a "regular restaurant" has indeed been prepared using the Sous Vide method.
John :canada:
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BobH
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Re: Sous Vide

Post by BobH »

OMG - The meat was a perfect medium rare. It was cooked in a 135°F bath but I don't remember how long it cooked.

John - Thank you. My next attempt will be a 3# sirloin tip. I think Ruth's Chris uses sous vide. I don't know how else they get the steaks cooked so perfectly.
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