Sous Vide ?

[batten_down]

Didnt want to hijack the other thread with a bunch of questions. But I want to try this method. I know zero about it. I'm gonna start down the rabbit hole, but figured I'd ask here and see if anyone is willing to share their techniques or best practices.

Mouthwatering pics of your finished product are welcomed.

 

[bigtex]

Not much to it. For venison steaks, chops etc I just salt and pepper well, put inside a vacuum sealed bag with a couple of pats of butter, set at 130 degrees and cook for 3-4 hours. When done take out of bag, pat dry and throw on a HOT grill or iron skillet. Pretty much the same for roasts, backstrap etc but for roasts I might leave in the cooker longer.
You can use any seasoning, herbs or whatever you choose. For venison I just keep it simple most of the time but I sometimes brine with 1/4 cup salt 1/4 cup brown sugar and a splash of Worcestershire sauce overnight.

 

[Bucket]

Agree with BigTex. I also use mine for ribs & fried chicken. For ribs, put your favorite rub on them, vac seal and sous vide at 150° for anywhere from 12-24 hours. Finish for a couple hours in the smoker for smoke/color. For the chicken, I like thighs seasoned, vac sealed and sous vide at 167° for 2-4 hours. Then you can flash fry, or finish in hot cast iron or hot coals.

I have a couple of different containers (old cooler and plastic tote) dedicated to sous vide depending on what I'm cooking. I like to seal mine up so you don't lose too much water to evaporation.

 

[TAFKAP]

I don't use mine as frequently as when I first got it, but it's well worth it, especially considering how affordable they've become. I've done it to control the doneness of delicate cuts (flaky fish & backstraps mostly), as well as a long duration soak for a larger beef roast. I think the big sirloin beef roast I did was the best because I ran that thing at 128° for dang near 24 hours, and it turned out spectacular. I've also used it for easy food prep to travel. I've rolled smoke on some ribs before for a couple hours, then pulled them off to sous vide cook them. Freeze for a trip, stuff into a cooler, and end up where we're going. Pulled them out of the bag, heated on the grill, and they were a quick meal after a long day of driving.

If I had it to do all over again, I would buy one that was much shorter. The one I have has a fairly long probe, and it was difficult getting a vessel that would accommodate it. Ended up buying a cheap aluminum stock pot that's pretty well dedicated to sous vide. There are sets out there now that are a combo unit of the immersion circulator + a tub.

Another consideration is your plastic bag option. Ziploc works in a pinch, especially for some short duration stuff. But you really need to use a vacuum sealer for a long soak. If you go the Ziploc route, definitely use the freezer bags. They're much more durable and you don't risk a leak. That being said, the couple times I used a Ziploc, the water bath did end up smelling like the food I was cooking. I couldn't tell that there was a leak of any type, and my food wasn't soggy and waterlogged, but there was some sort of breach. I've never had a breach with anything I've vacuum sealed. The water is always clean when it's done.

 

[TAFKAP]

I didn't answer your technique question much either. But it's not hard to figure out. The best part of sous vide is being able to season/marinate your food and cook it in the seasoning. The purpose of the immersion circulator (the actual device that controls the cooking) is to precisely control the temperature of the water bath and circulate the water around for an even and controlled cook. Most devices can get down as low as 110° and as high as 200°. There's a timer setting so you can control how long it runs.

Cooking via sous vide (French for "under vacuum") lets you get around food safety concerns because of the duration of your cook. For example, pork is considered safe above 165°. But since most pork is a dry mess even at 150°, it's hard to get edible pork that's not cooked to oblivion....even more so with chicken. So with sous vide, you cook at a lower temperature for a longer length of time.....sort of like a pasteurization process. So cooking chicken to 145° for 4 hours will get you a moist and flavorful piece of meat, but also food safe below typical USDA recommended temperatures.

But, there is give and take. If you cook chicken for 24 hours, it's going to be a mushy mess. Most sous vide devices will have instructions and guidelines for you to use. A backstrap at 4 hours is plenty, but a medium rare chuck roast will need 12+ hours. For me, I set a backstrap at 122° and run it about 2-4 hours, depending on my timeframe. When it's done, I don't want it going higher than 130°, otherwise it'll be too overdone for me.


But the finished product isn't one you pull out of the plastic bag. It's cooked, but usually a pretty pale and pallid consistency. The key to finishing a sous vide piece of meat is the final sear. Doesn't matter how, but a high-heat blast will get the caramelization needed for a nicely cooked meat. Slap on the grill for a couple minutes, sear in a skillet with butter, or as chaneylake does with filets, a butane torch. When you're done, the meat is consistently cooked through, with an outside sear zone. Here's an example of two pieces of meat cooked traditionally vs. sous vide. To get the center of a piece of meat to be the right temperature, you have to cook it for a while on heat, which will transition from over-done down to the right done. Sous vide eliminates that and gives you a finished product that's more uniformly cooked to your desired level

 

[TAFKAP]

Check this out. That C-clamp action on the Weston model would make my life MUCH easier. And at $89, that's about as low as I've seen any quality immersion circulators

Sous Vide Immersion Circulator (36200)

With the Weston® Sous Vide Immersion Circulator, you'll prepare restaurant-quality food at home like a pro.

westonbrands.com

 

[TAFKAP]

Crap, and $89 is list price. Check out with the promo code sousvide40 and knock $36 off. Buy two of these

 

[batten_down]

Crap, and $89 is list price. Check out with the promo code sousvide40 and knock $36 off. Buy two of these

I will. I was looking at them earlier on Amazon. Took a phone call, and got distracted. Worked out good, gonna save me a few bucks, and -best part- cut out amazon. Really appreciate you taking the time to respond here. And the couple other guys too. Thank you.

 

[TAFKAP]

Nice! Glad to help. I think being on this discussion tripped the whole interweb spy network, and it popped up an ad for Weston products on my Facebook.

I have a number of their gadgets, and will say it's been a good brand. It all comes full circle. And I may get one myself. Totally don't need it, but it would come in handy if mine ever craps out.....or I need two of them.

 

[Trapper John]

You're getting good advice. I will reiterate, it's a game changer for chicken and turkey. A chicken thigh cooked at 145 for a few hours then seared...that's a different experience than the old blasted to 165 degrees chicken I grew up with. That alone made the machine worth getting.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Also many of the Insta-Pots have the sous vide feature. That's what we use. So, if you have one, check it out because you may not have to buy anything. If you don't already have one, but would like a multi-feature appliance, these are good ones.

Put vacuum-sealed meat in water for a couple hours. We do steak at 123 degrees, cut open bag, season and throw on a piping hot cast iron for about 30 seconds each side. Just keep checking to get the markings and bronzing you prefer. Best of luck!

 

[TAFKAP]

... We do steak at 123 degrees, cut open bag, season and throw on a piping hot cast iron for about 30 seconds each side.

You cook first, then season? Why not season before?

 

[JCDEERMAN]

You cook first, then season? Why not season before?

I typically buy 1/4 to 1/2 cow at a time and everything is already sealed and frozen from the butcher. My uncle raises them.

The first one I ever did was a store bought filet and I seasoned it and put 2 dabs of butter with it and vacuum sealed and cooked. Came out very well. I did a lot of experimenting at first and it all comes out perfect. Hard to mess it up.

 

[TAFKAP]

Ahhh, well that makes sense.

 

[Boll Weevil]

I'm trying this. Just way too many mouth watering pics recently not to give it a go.

Rookie question: Water boils at 212 deg F...can I just bring a pot of water up to 130 using a thermometer and drop my vacpacked meat in there? No instapot or the other needed?

 

[cbhunter]

I'm trying this. Just way too many mouth watering pics recently not to give it a go.

Rookie question: Water boils at 212 deg F...can I just bring a pot of water up to 130 using a thermometer and drop my vacpacked meat in there? No instapot or the other needed?

Without it being circulated I'd say it's nearly impossible to hold at the exact temp you want.

Can probably do some form of it but not like the real deal. You won't regret the purchase

 

[Spurhunter]

Ordered mine this morning. I tried some deer (I believe backstrap) @cbhunter cooked in his and that was all I needed.

 

[cbhunter]

Ordered mine this morning. I tried some deer (I believe backstrap) @cbhunter cooked in his and that was all I needed.

If it can make a cook out of me, it's worth a million

 

[TAFKAP]

I'm trying this. Just way too many mouth watering pics recently not to give it a go.

Rookie question: Water boils at 212 deg F...can I just bring a pot of water up to 130 using a thermometer and drop my vacpacked meat in there? No instapot or the other needed?

"YES"

I've done that before in a pinch before I had an immersion circulator. But maintaining a constant temperature is something that requires some significant babysitting, and it's near impossible at low temperatures. Then imagine trying to do it for a couple to four hours. Plus, the circulation is key to even cooking. The device has a paddle that stirs the water around, so if you don't have that, you'll have temperature gradients in your pot.

The Weston device I posted up there is a steal at $53. Plus its c-clamp design is the best one I've seen. Order it and be done.

 

[mike243]

https://www.seriouseats.com/food-lab-complete-guide-to-sous-vide-steak , do some reading before you get started on any long soaks, 130 is the lowest recommended temp for a reason