[OmegaSupreme]

since there aren't enough threads about food (/sarcasm) i thought it would be fitting to start a fresh one

well the real reason is because i know many of you regs here are great cooks and some are current/former pro cooks

sous vide, in it's simplest terms, is vacuum-sealing. this food is then cooked in a hot water bath where a certain temp is maintained and the water is gently circulated

i'm not going to go into the pros and cons of cooking with sv, i'm just looking for success stories or otherwise since it hasn't lived up to the hype in my experience

i've cooked chicken breast, pork chops (probably too thin) and hamburgers so far and the end result hasn't been great or worth the effort.

today i'm cooking a rack of frenched lamb, seasoned with salt (40mins before cooking) and two sprigs of rosemary before sealing... i forgot to add garlic .... 133F for 2hrs, then pan seared on a very hot (around 500F) cast iron skillet with avo oil... sauce will be some kind of wine reduction

so.... does anyone have any tips on how to get the most out of this method of cooking? detailed recipes are welcomed!

[Kitchen Witch]

I have a SousVide Supreme. I don't use it too much anymore, it was a novelty when I first heard of this method of cooking and I tried different items. Pork tenderloin, spareribs, a skirt steak, a tri-tip.

You can buy Sous Vide cooking ovens on Amazon and Ebay, Williams Sonoma, etc.

I've only done meats, they ALWAYS turned out juicy, soft, and very delicious. This style of cooking is foods placed in seal tight bags (or jars) and cooked, gently boiled, until done.

I made a pork tenderloin last time I used it. Pork tenderloin, rubbed with butter,rosemary and garlic powder. Vacuum seal the tenderloin after you've rubbed the spices and butter.

Cook at 135 degrees for about 3-3/12 hours.

You have to sear the meat in a very hot frying pan after it's been cooked, just to get that carmelized crustiness.

Make sure you don't use vacuum seal bags that contain PVC, to seal and cook your items. Cancer risk. I used a Ziploc bag once because I had run out of vacuum bags, {no PVC that I could tell from the Ziploc box} and it worked fine, just ensure you really zipped the bag closed all the way & got all the air out.

Your recipe sounds about right and it should turn out well. Enjoy it. Recipes for sous vide cooking are all over the internet, food.com, allrecipes, justapinch, etc.

[logline]

I just got one of these... I've only tried it a few times, but I already love it:

Anova Culinary | Anova Precision Cooker

I don't have the experience yet to share a recipe, but steaks are as good as anything I've eaten in a restaurant. I picked up some USDA Prime tenderloin at Costco and had them tonight (never realized that tenderloins included the filet mignon until yesterday... I'm a novice)

Looking forward to making some more gourmet meals on the cheap.

[logline]

Originally Posted by Kitchen Witch

Make sure you don't use vacuum seal bags that contain PVC, to seal and cook your items. Cancer risk. I used a Ziploc bag once because I had run out of vacuum bags, {no PVC that I could tell from the Ziploc box} and it worked fine,

I've read that ziplocs are perfectly safe/BPA-free. Can't remember where I read it though. If you're using them, get the freezer bags as they are thicker and less prone to leaks and tearing. They rated the highest for strength from Consumer Reports too.

[ScoopLV]

I know quite a bit about sous vide.

However, despite what everyone must assume, I do not own an immersion circulator. Astounding, I know. I'll pick one up someday, when I find a screaming deal on some used circulator at the used restaurant supply store or online. The kind of circulator I want is quite spendy. And entry-level circulators are invariably crap. (Haven't found a good budget circulator yet. Nothing that will hold meat perfectly rare and has the firepower to sous vide a whole chicken (or turkey). That kind of precision costs.)

Sous vide is fun. Sure. But the main thing is having the vacuum sealer for all the interesting tricks that can be done with one of those. Super quick marinades and such. Those can be relatively inexpensive. The consumer models work nearly as well as what we have available in the restaurant world.

Personally, I think this is the wrong forum. Even the Food and Drink section of C-D isn't going to help much. The people there are mostly interested in who makes the best microwavable breakfast burrito. Read Modernist Cuisine (which at $500 is still much cheaper than the equipment needed to do this stuff), or find a foodie forum populated by hard-core food geeks.

Much of sous vide in the restaurant world is the ability to hold food at the perfect temperature all night so that serving it means literally cutting open a bag, giving the contents a quick sear, and selling it. The reason people adore it so much is that it puts temperature control on autopilot without sacrificing quality.

[yellowsnow]

I use the vacuum thing more than the actual gizmo. Just like Scoop. I had to learn how to use it for work and it's cool but it takes up space in the kitchen!

[ToeJam]

I have never used one, but I read a blog of a woman that does. If you search her page for "sous" you will see a lot of her recipes. Nom Nom Paleo®

[Kitchen Witch]

Originally Posted by logline

I've read that ziplocs are perfectly safe/BPA-free. Can't remember where I read it though. If you're using them, get the freezer bags as they are thicker and less prone to leaks and tearing. They rated the highest for strength from Consumer Reports too.

[OmegaSupreme]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

The kind of circulator I want is quite spendy. And entry-level circulators are invariably crap. (Haven't found a good budget circulator yet. Nothing that will hold meat perfectly rare and has the firepower to sous vide a whole chicken (or turkey). That kind of precision costs.)

Not claiming to know much about SV and immersion circulators, but there are people doing whole packer briskets for 72hrs so I don't understand why you couldn't do a whole turkey or chicken.... the machine i have attaches to anything (a large plastic tub, a cooler, a pot, etc) and keeps temps very stable while circulating the water so i don't see how a billion dollar machine could do it better

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

Sous vide is fun. Sure. But the main thing is having the vacuum sealer for all the interesting tricks that can be done with one of those. Super quick marinades and such. Those can be relatively inexpensive. The consumer models work nearly as well as what we have available in the restaurant world.

i bought an open box vacuum sealer for $13 with a bunch of storage bags and a roll... has worked very well so far

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

Read Modernist Cuisine (which at $500 is still much cheaper than the equipment needed to do this stuff), or find a foodie forum populated by hard-core food geeks.

i have that collection borrowed, and haven't really found it useful tbh. there's a lot of theory that i'm just not interested in. there are plenty of recipes online and lots of explanation too (eg kenji lopez's stuff) and it's all free.

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

Much of sous vide in the restaurant world is the ability to hold food at the perfect temperature all night so that serving it means literally cutting open a bag, giving the contents a quick sear, and selling it. The reason people adore it so much is that it puts temperature control on autopilot without sacrificing quality.

I'm new to it, and am probably doing it wrong because i really hate it so far. I'm starting to think it's more for people that aren't experienced at cooking because everything i make with it, i can make much better using more conventional or other methods

I've had steak cooked this way (but have yet to make it myself) and my bbq steaks come out tasting a whole lot better as do reverse seared steaks and especially starting it off in the smoker

every pic i see of lamb done sv/waterbath is a nice pink color, but very little of the fat is rendered save for a thin crust... lamb and many other meats don't fare well imo and taste a whole lot better when there is significant charring

[winter-rabbit]

I'm not going to wait 10 hours to coook chicken at a perfect 160 degrees. (: LOL