Sous Vide

Keith_W

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Mar 31, 2012
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OK this is how I do it. Remove the husk from your corn. Get rid of all the silk under running water. Put your corn on a plate with a sprinkle of water (this will help steam up the microwave). Microwave for 45 seconds, then turn your corn over and blast for another 45 seconds. (You probably won't need to do this if your microwave is well designed). Smear on some butter and salt. Eat! I sometimes just eat two ears of corn for lunch at work.
 

treitz3

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Dec 25, 2011
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Hi Steve, thanks for the question. This is really a pretty involved subject. There are already very good resources out there on the net for sous-vide. For a good introduction I would recommend these pages from the International Culinary Center:

- Sous-Vide Primer, Part I

- Sous-Vide Primer, Part II

For those who are too lazy to click on the links - sous-vide is a method of cooking that involves sealing food in a vacuum bag and then cooking it in a temperature controlled water bath. There are numerous advantages to this cooking method:

- Precision. Food can be brought precisely to the correct cooked temperature. Traditional cooking is done with a high delta-T (i.e. the temperature gradient between the cooking surface / ambient cooking temperature and the food). This means there is a short window of opportunity to remove the food before it is overcooked. Sous-vide slowly brings the temperature up to the desired cooking temperature. The temperature of the food can never exceed the water bath. I have posted a recipe for sous-vide confit ocean trout on this site. There is really no other way to cook trout precisely to 46C without sous-vide.

- Flavour. Any food which is cooked in a solvent (e.g. water in poached, braised, or stewed cooking; or oil in confits) will lose flavour to the cooking medium. For example, carrots cooked sous-vide have an incomparable flavour of fresh carrots when compared to boiled carrots.

- Convenience. Food cooked sous-vide, provided it meets pasteurization criteria, can be considered sterile. It will keep in the fridge longer than uncooked food and can be reheated by simply dropping the bag back into the sous-vide bath prior to service.

- Tenderizing tough cuts. For any food, cooking is a function of (temperature x time). For example, the breakdown of collagen into gelatin is both temperature and time dependent. The rate of breakdown rises with temperature (to an extent) and continues the longer it is exposed to the temperature. This is the principle between "low and slow" barbecues, where tough cuts like short rib are tenderized by cooking at 107C for several hours. With sous-vide, it is possible to cook a short rib such that it is both medium rare and tender - you just set the temperature at 58C for 72 hours. This gives a very different result to barbecued short rib - it is more moist but equally tender.

There are a number of downsides to sous-vide, however. Read the articles for more information, or feel free to ask me.

EQUIPMENT
In general, you need two pieces of equipment:

1. A method of sealing food in a plastic bag;

2. A temperature controlled water bath.

Sealing food - In order of expense: chamber vacuum sealer, foodsaver vacuum sealer, reusable vacuum port bag, zip-lock bag. The difference between all these methods is expense, the amount of vacuum applied, versatility, and ability to seal liquids. The least a sous-vide beginner needs to be able to do is expel all air from the sous-vide bag before sealing it. The reason: air causes the bag to float and acts as an insulator, preventing even heating.

Temperature controlled water bath - here is a breakdown of methods, from ideal to cheapest.

- Immersion circulator, e.g. Polyscience. This consists of a heating element, a PID controller, and a pump. The downside is that it is expensive - however these are the most versatile units around.

- Sous-vide oven e.g Sous-Vide Supreme. This provides most of the benefits of the immersion circulator - however this is a very bulky unit.

- Sous-vide controller e.g. Sous-vide Magic. This is a PID controller that controls another heat source (e.g a rice cooker or slow cooker), and cuts power when the immersed thermometer detects a certain threshold. The heat source can be anything - my heat source is a hot plate with a stock pot placed on it. The main benefit is that it is inexpensive.

Then there are a few non-automated options, which relies on YOU to control the temperature instead of a computer. Needless to say, the great advantage of the computer is the "set and forget" aspect.

- Pot in a pot. Place a pot in a large stockpot over a trivet. Fill both pots with water, and put your food in the inner pot. Heat the outer pot over a hob. The thermal mass of the outer pot will prevent the inner pot from overheating.

- Pot in an oven. Fill a Dutch oven with hot water. Heat the dutch oven until it reaches the desired temperature, then put your sealed food bag in it. Put the whole pot in the oven, and set your oven to the desired temperature.

I think that just about covers it. Any questions - feel free to ask.

Hello, Keith. Although it has been a while, I finally broke down and got me the Sous Vide Supreme this past weekend. I would like to take the time to thank you for your time and generosity for sharing your knowledge on the subject and I look forward to start cooking using this method. Plating like you do will come in time but in the meantime, I look forward to tasting things like I have in high end steak restaurants......like a perfectly cooked medium rare prime rib that's about 3" thick. Yeah baby!

Tom
 

GaryProtein

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Jul 25, 2012
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My Mellow sous vide is on pre-order.

I can't wait to try it.
 

treitz3

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Dec 25, 2011
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Wow, it's been a month and I finally have the time to use the Sous Vide. Got a couple of bone-in ribeyes in there right now. Time to see how this baby works! I hope it works well, we just bought two more boxes of vacuum sealing bags and will be preparing many a main dish as well as vegetables today. Both stock and with different types of seasonings, each labeled so that when we hit a winner we will know how to duplicate it.

It wasn't hard at all. It's a very simple process and after doing a bit of research, I started right from frozen. No, I actually didn't want to do it that way but I purchased the ribeyes two weeks ago fresh from the deli and the "plan" was to cook them that night. Then life happened, so into the freezer they went. I know, waste of a good steak but if these can turn chuck into what tastes like a more expensive cut of meat then I should be okay (in theory). At least it will me medium rare throughout, even near the bone.

Nice looking unit, Gary. I like that they incorporate current technology into the sous vide. That's pretty cool.

Tom
 

garylkoh

WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
Sep 6, 2010
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Seattle, WA
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OK this is how I do it. Remove the husk from your corn. Get rid of all the silk under running water. Put your corn on a plate with a sprinkle of water (this will help steam up the microwave). Microwave for 45 seconds, then turn your corn over and blast for another 45 seconds. (You probably won't need to do this if your microwave is well designed). Smear on some butter and salt. Eat! I sometimes just eat two ears of corn for lunch at work.

Can't believe that it's corn season yet again. I had totally forgotten about this. I'm going to treat myself to a couple of ears of corn for Father's Day - I'm the only corn-y guy in the family.
 

garylkoh

WBF Technical Expert (Speakers & Audio Equipment)
Sep 6, 2010
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Seattle, WA
www.genesisloudspeakers.com

treitz3

Super Moderator
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Dec 25, 2011
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The tube lair in beautiful Rock Hill, SC
Alright, some feedback for those who are interested. First off, don't freeze your steak. I could actually taste it using the Sous vide** (see below). Secondly, the entire meal was a success and a failure. We enjoyed my famous (amongst my family) corn, some white cheddar garlic mashed potatoes and the ribeyes. While I wouldn't change anything on the staples I have had many years to perfect, the steaks were the part that was a success and at the same time a failure.

Let me preface that the ribeyes were clearly off the hook fantastic when it came to the texture. Words just can not describe...."heavenly" would be a good adjective to use. Melt in your mouth type texture that was simply perfect with not one complaint at all. This was the successful part......and wow, what a success it was! (Even frozen prior to cooking). The criticism I have with the first recipe I cooked in the Sous-vide was that I wasn't confident in myself. I wanted to try this unit out just as I do with other cooking techniques, being basic to see what the cooking technique could do and learn/grow/adjust from there. Bad mistake. Well, not really that bad but this meal could have had "glowing" reviews by my family and I.

I sealed the bags with nothing but the ribeyes and butter and cooked them with just that. Nothing else. The end result was rather bland. The meat was perfect but the taste palette was thoroughly disappointed. After the first bite, I added popcorn salt and some white pepper. It was better....but not quite there. So I scoured the plethora of spices and spice blends in the cabinets and ran across something that I knew didn't necessarily have to be "cooked" onto/into the steak. It was Chef Paul Prudhomme's Blackened steak magic. Sprinkled that on before the meal got cold and all of a sudden, I saw the light. I knew at that point that this Sous-vide has potential beyond the cooking techniques I have grown accustomed too. My mouth was simply exploding with great taste and texture, all the while knowing full well that the steaks were not at all what they could be.

Next time, I will add all of the normal ingredients I use for a particular recipe into the sealed bag. I was so impressed not by the taste (my fault) but by the texture of the steaks that the wife and I will be keeping this as a counter top appliance. I have many tools at my disposal in my kitchen that extends out into the garage and currently I have only two appliances out of all of them on the counter top. One is the stand mixer and the other is the coffee maker. The Sous-vide will be the third. We WILL learn to cook with this, even if we don't use the stove (on purpose) for a month. Yes, there really was that much potential out of this unit.....even with a bland tasting steak.

Gotta run. Just thought I would post my first observations with the new toy.

Tom

**[EDIT:] Here's why. I found this post on another thread - http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showt...t-ribeye-steak&p=100362&viewfull=1#post100362

There is no problem putting food from the fridge or freezer directly into the SV machine. As long as it is bagged up and watertight it should be OK.

And another thing ... uncooked meat should NEVER be frozen. The exception is when there is no choice to freeze meat - e.g. tuna or prawns - and even then the meat should be frozen in a commercial freezer. Home freezers damage meat during the freezing process.
 
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