Do you Sous-Vide?

[MYTraveler]

Wifey B: Ok, lists requested of things you cook with sous vide. I went to Chefsteps and I made faces and said yuk a couple of times looking at the pictures and recipes there. On down the page is better but carrot puree doesn't do anything for me.

The further you stray from steak and chicken breasts, the greater the difficulty and risk that you won't like it. Some uncooked ingredients, like garlic, need higher temperatures to cook, and release aromas when cooking that may easily overpower the food. The consistency of some food can be off putting. Chicken is that way if you don't cook it to 165 for at least 90 minutes (even though it may be thoroughly cooked before that). And delicate foods, like fish, can easily become mushy. Lobster has a much firmer consistency when cooked sous vide, unless left to cook for a longer time. Personally, I prefer the firmer consistency, but others will not like it (that's ok, more for me). As for cornish game hens, if you intend to cook whole, it will be hard to get all the air out of the sous vide bag, with the result that it will float and not cook evenly. Lastly, most any meat will need to be finished in some way, or it will look like a poached whatever. The finish step is critically important, and is often the best time to add some seasonings.

Steak is the easiest, and eggs will amaze you (once you find the perfect temperature), but if you are set on chicken, I would cut them in half before sous viding, then grill.

 

[BandB]

No screaming from me; didn't know it could be done in a microwave. How do you do it? Appropriately-shaped cup of some sort, nuke away?

-Chris

Wifey B: Omg. I'm teaching cooking. They make things to put the eggs in, both for two eggs and four.

Just google Microwave Egg Poacher.

https://www.amazon.com/Nordic-Ware-...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=X1K82CH4G2V3XYWRHCMY

We have a four egg one.

 

[Northern Spy]

Wifey B: Omg. I'm teaching cooking. They make things to put the eggs in, both for two eggs and four.

Just google Microwave Egg Poacher.

https://www.amazon.com/Nordic-Ware-Microwave-Cavity-Poacher/dp/B00004W4UR/ref=pd_lpo_79_bs_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=X1K82CH4G2V3XYWRHCMY

We have a four egg one.

Use one of these all of the time.

 

[BandB]

Use one of these all of the time.

Wifey B: I figured all you fancy cookers would make fun of it.

When we use to have normal jobs the choices for breakfast were all microwave or toaster things or fast food. Just didn't make time for more. In 3 minutes we could cook a meal and easy dishes to wash. I think one of the big reasons people skip breakfast is time.

I'd say good for a boat too so no frying pan to deal with just two microwavable dishes. Well, except one person on this thread who has no microwave on his new boat.

 

[AusCan]

I don't see the attraction for sos vide cooked steaks. I like a very rare steak steak that is charred quickly on the outside. A steak doesn't need to be overly mushy tender, just flavourful.
Maybe I'll try it when my teeth have all fallen out.


The best steak I've ever had, was beef from Innaminca station cooked on a campfire. The wood in the campfire was old ironwood fenceposts that had weathered in the desert for over 100 years. When the fire was just right (extremely hot but no flames) the steaks were placed directly onto the coals and cooked very quickly.

It was perfection that you will never find cooking in plastic.

 

[Bruce B]

Wifey B:... Well, except one person on this thread who has no microwave on his new boat.

Are you referring to "the caveman"?
My wife's label for me should be enlightening...Microwave...Ha!
Bruce

 

[Art]

Take nearly any meat:


- Place china plate in microwave
- Place 4 layers of water soaked paper towel on plate (almost leave a puddle]
- Place meat on top of towel
- Place 4 more layers water soaked paper towel over meat
- Place microwave on high power Micro for several minutes - This is the slightly tricky part, you need to know how powerful the microwave is and how much time needed to make that piece [weight] of meat cooked to an inner-most-center barely raw condition. After doing it a few times you'll get the knack. OK to take the meat out on the plate and cut center view slice to see how well done meat is becoming and return it to microwave for further heating if needed.
- Place the microwaved meet on BBQ and with fairly high flame cook till both sides are texture you desire. While cooking flip quite often to make sure interior reaches germ killing temperature and that one side of meat does not get burnt.


That's one of our cooking methods we've been doing for years. Especially for chicken breast we often do this same method of loosely called "par boiling" at home before going for weekend aboard boat. Then I just need to do a limited time BBQ while slathering good sauces on the breast and getting the sauce BBQ'd into the meat.


Makes boat BBQing simple, fast, less messy!

 

[BandB]

Are you referring to "the caveman"?
My wife's label for me should be enlightening...Microwave...Ha!
Bruce

Wifey B: Yep, you. And, I'm not even going to address your label.

 

[MYTraveler]

I don't see the attraction for sos vide cooked steaks. I like a very rare steak steak that is charred quickly on the outside.

If you want it charred on the outside but uniformly rare on the inside, sous vide is a necessity. Otherwise, the best you can do is have charred on the outside and a continuum from well done, medium well, medium, etc., until you get to the very center, and only there can you find rare perfection. That's probably why they call it rare -- the best part is rare. The thicker the steak, the more important sous vide becomes. Here is a pic of a steak that I cooked -- notice that it is uniformly rare right up to the outside crust:

 

[AusCan]

Not rare enough or charred enough for my liking.
- but I'm sure many people like it that way.

 

[MYTraveler]

Someone asked about how much food can be sous vided at once. The answer is depends on the equipment. Even though I have three machines (in order to do rare steaks, medium and well, so everyone gets what they want), sometimes size does become an issue:

 

[MYTraveler]

Not rare enough or charred enough for my liking.
- but I'm sure many people like it that way.

If you like it cold/raw/uncooked in the center, then you would not benefit from sous vide. But if you do want it cooked but rare, and well charred, then you are an ideal candidate for sous vide.

 

[ranger58sb]

Wifey B: Omg. I'm teaching cooking. They make things to put the eggs in, both for two eggs and four.

Just google Microwave Egg Poacher.

Use one of these all of the time.

Got it, thanks, I'm all over that!

Now back the regularly-scheduled sous-vide discussion...

-Chris

 

[HeadMistress]

Sous Vide certainly sounds interesting, but somehow I don't think it'll ever become as popular as Sau Te or Briquette Flambe.

 

[Ka_sea_ta]

When we are on the boat, we have a freezer full of vacuum packed meal size portions of meats from beef, pork and chicken.... they go from freezer to the anova heated water bath then on to the grill once we have settled in for the night....it'a easy and the meats are done perfect every time... If you have a vacuum chamber type packer then soups and heavily marinated food can also be done using the sous vide method...

 

[BandB]

Back from my training session, two questions.

Do any of you use sous vide just to thaw foods to grill them or cook them other ways?

Do any of you use sous vide to heat previously cooked and refrigerated foods?

 

[gaston]

Back from my training session, two questions.

Do any of you use sous vide just to thaw foods to grill them or cook them other ways?

Do any of you use sous vide to heat previously cooked and refrigerated foods?

No


No


That's what microwave ovens are best at

 

[BandB]

No


No


That's what microwave ovens are best at

I don't like thawing in the microwave. I will never thaw beef in one to cook them. I thaw in bags in water, much like sous vide but without a source of heat.

As to warming food that has previously been cooked and then refrigerated, I do that in a microwave, but it's a challenge to get it warm and not go too far. There are those elsewhere promoting sous vide for this purpose too. It would certainly delay the process just in heating the water.

 

[Bruce B]

If you want it charred on the outside but uniformly rare on the inside, sous vide is a necessity. Otherwise, the best you can do is have charred on the outside and a continuum from well done, medium well, medium, etc., until you get to the very center, and only there can you find rare perfection. That's probably why they call it rare -- the best part is rare. The thicker the steak, the more important sous vide becomes. Here is a pic of a steak that I cooked -- notice that it is uniformly rare right up to the outside crust:

Actually...
When we are without 120 volt power and want a steak cooked this way we use our Big Green Egg and perform what is called a "reverse sear".
The result is very similar in that the steak is brought to temperature slowly over indirect heat very slowly and then seared.
The biggest difference is the time at temperature before sear. Using the Sous-vide method, you have a longer time to break down the meat.
A reverse sear is faster although it is also trickier and requires more attention.
This photo is a big old ribeye cooked on the BGE in reverse sear method!
I'm getting hungry!!!
Bruce

 

[MYTraveler]

Actually...
When we are without 120 volt power and want a steak cooked this way we use our Big Green Egg and perform what is called a "reverse sear".
The result is very similar in that the steak is brought to temperature slowly over indirect heat very slowly and then seared.
The biggest difference is the time at temperature before sear. Using the Sous-vide method, you have a longer time to break down the meat.
A reverse sear is faster although it is also trickier and requires more attention.
This photo is a big old ribeye cooked on the BGE in reverse sear method!
I'm getting hungry!!!
Bruce

I am impressed, as I have never achieved that result on my BGE, even when attempting reverse sear.

 

[cardude01]

So how many of you cookers out there brine before you BBQ or sous vide? I have found that a good brine can make all the difference with poultry and pork. Just did a big pork butt on the BGE that was brined for 24 hours (salt, brown sugar, peppercorns) then slow cooked at 250F for 10 hours. The brine adds soooo much flavor.

 

[Bruce B]

I am impressed, as I have never achieved that result on my BGE, even when attempting reverse sear.

Practice!
This was done at a campground in Florida. The trick is low, low temp, the plate setter and lots of monitoring to get it off at the correct temp.
Pull the plate setter and about 2 minutes later you have this...
Bruce

 

[cardude01]

Practice!

This was done at a campground in Florida. The trick is low, low temp, the plate setter and lots of monitoring to get it off at the correct temp.

Pull the plate setter and about 2 minutes later you have this...

Bruce

Nice!

Bruce, do you have the little fan/thermostat gadget that goes in the vent? Buddy of mine has it and swears by it. I'm not quite that geeky yet.

 

[Bruce B]

Nice!

Bruce, do you have the little fan/thermostat gadget that goes in the vent? Buddy of mine has it and swears by it. I'm not quite that geeky yet.

We do have one for our large BGE and we use it for 24 plus hour smokes. It is great for that purpose.
When we are on the road we "rough" it.. no electronics.
Caveman!!!

 

[MYTraveler]

So how many of you cookers out there brine before you BBQ or sous vide? I have found that a good brine can make all the difference with poultry and pork. Just did a big pork butt on the BGE that was brined for 24 hours (salt, brown sugar, peppercorns) then slow cooked at 250F for 10 hours. The brine adds soooo much flavor.

I brine pork butts -- orange juice is my secret ingredient. And I inject it so all the meat gets well exposed. I used to slow cook on my BBQ-Guru equipped BGE, for as long as 24 hours, at just below 200 degrees, with a target temperature of 195 degrees. Recently, I sous vide a pork butt for a long time (maybe 16 hours), then BBQ'd to get the outside right. It was really good, juicier than with BGE but not quite as flavorful.

 

[gaston]

I don't like thawing in the microwave. I will never thaw beef in one to cook them. I thaw in bags in water, much like sous vide but without a source of heat.

As to warming food that has previously been cooked and then refrigerated, I do that in a microwave, but it's a challenge to get it warm and not go too far. There are those elsewhere promoting sous vide for this purpose too. It would certainly delay the process just in heating the water.

The new Inverter microwave ovens in 240v have a lot better control of cooking and defrosting than the old style oven and at 10 time the price one would expect so. A friend has a 120v microwave on his boat and I cant believe how useless it is compared to 240v some one will help with a answer I think 120v are quite low watts compared to 240v ??

 

[cardude01]

I brine pork butts -- orange juice is my secret ingredient. And I inject it so all the meat gets well exposed. I used to slow cook on my BBQ-Guru equipped BGE, for as long as 24 hours, at just below 200 degrees, with a target temperature of 195 degrees. Recently, I sous vide a pork butt for a long time (maybe 16 hours), then BBQ'd to get the outside right. It was really good, juicier than with BGE but not quite as flavorful.

I've heard of OJ as a brine. That's sounds interesting. 24 hour cook! I would have to have the Guru setup for that.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
I couldn't hold out any longer in light of the food pictures. I had to have dinner.

A number is items that are worthy of comment...
Mr. g. A watt is a watt. a 120v/1000w microwave will most probably cook the same as a 240v/1000w microwave for the most part.
As mentioned in another thread, I envy those who can grill. I'm completely useless at it.
I have never tried a brine on anything but I have done marinades and I do appreciate the difference of technique. One of the advantages of SV that has been mentioned is the use of aromatics to infuse the food but I still can't get over the potential (I know big controversy) for contaminants leaching from the plastic particularly if one uses an acidic liquid for flavor enhancement.
SV seems to be comparable to the "low and slow" method that has also been utilized by others for pork.
Mr. BrB. In post #142 you mention the use of a plate setter. What is that please?

 

[BandB]

I've heard of OJ as a brine. That's sounds interesting. 24 hour cook! I would have to have the Guru setup for that.

Of all my allergies, the one that is most extreme and always serious is oranges, so I think I'll pass on that.

 

[Bruce B Wifey D]

Poached egg.

Use farm-fresh local eggs. Simple saucepan. Barely simmering water. NO VINEGAR! Gently tip egg into water. Four minutes. Scoop out with slotted spoon. Drain on paper towel a minute-or-three. Perfect.

I haven't attempted poached sous vide, but it's so easy without SV.

If I were trying to do it for lots of people with an uncertain timeframe, I'd try sous vide. But for one or two, old fashioned is easy. Best-ever breakfast, lunch or dinner.