Sous Vide

I got the Anova device for Christmas (and a vacuum sealer, handy for freezing) and have had fun, and learned from my errors.
Mostly using Serious Eats recipes
I think so far:
herbed salmon- perfect texture for me, dinner party and we elected to use the peel the skin off option, next time I'll sear.
Miso salmon- great flavor, a little uneven as marinade was pasty (I thought it might break down/liquify but it didn't, next time I'll add oil or mirin or something to thin)
split chicken breast with thyme/tarragon- perfect for me
soft boiled eggs- fun, though whites a little runny (but recipe had optional step of poaching at that point, will do next time)
butter poached lobster- as good as Keller's, lots simpler
glazed carrots- with lobster & chicken the 3 flat out successes

Working my way up to red meat. Anyone who does SV have some good simple recipes for me (Betsy does the more complicated stuff)

[Jenise]

Cool!

Have heard so much about the butter poached lobster. Can't wait to try it.

Btw, not sure what you're using for bags but I just bought some re-usable silicone 'bags' that will be perfect for this purpose. Mine's from Stasher but there are several versions available on line.

I rarely jump in any more on this forum so call me a long time lurker
I've had an Anova sous-vide circulator for about 3 years now and I use it regularly in the cooler winter months. Successes have been in the red-meat category--prime rib at 135 degrees for 18, 24 and 32 hours, with results being successively better with the longer times. The sear afterward has been with commercial blow-torch, which is fun to watch but maybe not the best option. Seasoning has been prior to immersion but I heeded other comments and lightly seasoned the roasts with S&P and a bit of garlic & rosemary. People are always wowed by the perfect dark-pink medium rare color and succulent texture of beef cooked this way.
Also did tri-tip roast 135 deg. for 18 hours, would go longer on the time next time. I cooked a 7 lb. beef New York strip loin roast for 18 hours at 135--next time I'd go 30 hours to get it to the perfect melt-in-your mouth texture to go with a good wine and mushroom sauce or a Bearnaise. I've cooked New York steaks and rib eye steaks for 18 hours at 135--very good results with a hot sear at the end.
I Cooked pork tenderloin 10 hours at 140 degrees--turned out perfectly but why? Cooking pork tenderloin in a more conventional way is invariably good if you pay attention and don't overcook it.
One of the better results was with beef short-ribs, gently seasoned with Bulkogi seasoning and cooked for 30 hours at 165 degrees--very tender and flavorful. A quick sear in a red-hot iron skillet brought a bit of crust to the finished product.
I have not cooked fish, chicken or eggs using sous-vide. I'm usually feeding somewhere between 6 and 12 people at our dinners so I haven't played with smaller applications. Overall I'd say this is a very useful cooking technique but the more esoteric applications have so far escaped my attention.
My cooking vessel is a gigantic All-Clad Stock pot which holds the Anova securely on the rim and a large quantity of vac u-sealed product to be cooked and enough water to cover all. I've also learned that it's wise to put plastic wrap over the top of the cooking vessel to minimize steam-loss during the extended cooking times and so pretty much eliminate the need to add water to the vessel during the cooking times.
Here's a footnote: when I first used my Anova, I kept going back in the kitchen to see what it was doing. Nooooooooo. No need to do that. It takes care of itself. Some people are slow learners. I also spent a couple of hours watching my Roomba vacuum cleaner do it's job. Don't do that either. Go away and let the machine do it's job!

Hi Dale, seomeone was clever to give you the vacuum gadget with the Anova, perfect match.
You are obviously going gangbusters with it, great ideas.
I have posted some of my experiences in a post title Help my iPad is cooking dinner. And there is a bit of discussion there.

As mentioned in another thread, I've done New York steaks, filets, chicken, and carrots in mine. All were successful, although I'm still working on getting the kind of crust I want on the steaks. The chicken was delicious but I like roasting it just as much or more. The carrots were excellent.

Ines - I have been finding that my steaks were done in much shorter times at similar temperatures to yours. Have you found those long immersion times to be beneficial?

[Jenise]

Ines, I'm fascinated by this: "prime rib at 135 degrees for 18, 24 and 32 hours, with results being successively better with the longer times". I did one prime rib for I can't remember how long, maybe 8 or 9 hours, at 135, and wasn't wowed. One thing I love about prime rib is the well done cap with rare eye combination, and the sous vided roast's uniform edge-to-edge rare actually struck me as disappointing. I also used a prime grade roast--it was almost too rich and rare. I might have actually been better off cooking a lesser grade longer.

Can't wait to try again.

But pork: pork loin is probably the most amazing thing cooked sous vide of all. At 140, it's velveteen lovely and carnation pink. I can cook a beautiful pink pork loin conventionally, but the texture obtained by the sous vide cook can't be matched. Gorgeous for hot service or cold--I use chilled boneless loin for a veal-alternative take on vitello tonnato. Smashing! Btw, a year ago I tried to talk Annabelle into letting me do it as a course for one of our tasting dinners, but she-who-doesn't-eat-cold-meat turned gray at the thought.

...I also used a prime grade roast--it was almost too rich and rare. I might have actually been better off cooking a lesser grade longer...

I have been successful doing sous vide using my Rival 20-qt electric roasting pan. It has settings from 125 to 350 degF. I monitor the water temperature. I have done chuck roasts, both boneless and bone in, with some red wine, S&P, garlic and onion for 12-14 hours. About an hour and a half before serving, I start roasting potatoes, carrots, celery and onions in a large roasting pan in a 350 deg oven. After 1 hour, I add the sous vide on top of the veggies and roast for the final 30 minutes.

[Jenise]

That's genius, Howie.

How do you all bag your extra large roasts? I'm curious how Ines does those big prime ribs. FWIW, the one prime rib I did? I made a garlic/rosemary/S&P paste at home and had the butcher spread it on the meat for me before he cryovacced it.

...How do you all bag your large roasts? ...

I have a Food Savor that I have used at times, I have also used 1-gallon zip-lock bags. The presence of liquid (wine or broth) makes it easy to squeeze out all the air before sealing the zip-lock. I've also done corned beef in the original shrink-wrap package from the meat store.

I don't have a SV setup and not sure when I will (...there is no room in the kitchen for another thing).

Jenise, does She Who Don't Eat Cold Meat ever eat things like pate or terrine? If so, and if the pork is as tender as you say....

A more general question, though: For steaks, I have always read that you should SV it first, then give it a quick sear for color, aroma, and so the less-chefly types at the table don't look at you funny. Howie's method is a variation on that, too. What would happen if you sear first and then SV ? I assume moisture moves around inside the food and causes the crunch to go mushy. Anything else?

But pork: pork loin is probably the most amazing thing cooked sous vide of all. At 140, it's velveteen lovely and carnation pink. I can cook a beautiful pink pork loin conventionally, but the texture obtained by the sous vide cook can't be matched. Gorgeous for hot service or cold--I use chilled boneless loin for a veal-alternative take on vitello tonnato. Smashing! Btw, a year ago I tried to talk Annabelle into letting me do it as a course for one of our tasting dinners, but she-who-doesn't-eat-cold-meat turned gray at the thought.

Jenise, I've not done pork loin but I can understand this is probably the very best way to cook what is essentially a very low-fat pork roast. I've only done tenderloins of pork, which have a lovely tender texture when cooked conventionally and not overdone.
I'll try a pork loin soon. How many hours at 140?
Re the prime rib roasts--I vacu-sealed the roasts (and they've all been 3 rib size) in extra large bags. I leaned that if you're going to do a long sous-vide like 30 hours, it's best to underseason the meat because the flavors permeate very thoroughly. Too much salt and you end up with something that could double for the salty rare roast beef that you get at a deli counter.

Barb, missed earlier thread, now have read- thanks!
Love the idea of pork tonnato, but the sous vide should work with original too
GREAT results with a double rib pork chop from local butcher last night,with good sear after on all sides (especially deckle)
Tonight is my first really long term- have 8 duck legs (with bay, thyme, orange zest) at 158, for serving in 20 hours
Working my way up to 72 hr short ribs

A more general question, though: For steaks, I have always read that you should SV it first, then give it a quick sear for color, aroma, and so the less-chefly types at the table don't look at you funny. Howie's method is a variation on that, too. What would happen if you sear first and then SV ? I assume moisture moves around inside the food and causes the crunch to go mushy. Anything else?

Jeff, I haven't done steaks yet, but can't imagine that searing first wouldn't lead to soggy crust- everything ends up equally moist (actually you dry outside before searing). Even when not using SV I've switched to reserve sear (oven to near temp, then sear at end) for red meat. Science has shown that the old idea of searing to sear doesnt actually work

Jeff, I haven't done steaks yet, but can't imagine that searing first wouldn't lead to soggy crust- everything ends up equally moist (actually you dry outside before searing). Even when not using SV I've switched to reserve sear (oven to near temp, then sear at end) for red meat. Science has shown that the old idea of searing to sear doesnt actually work

Thanks for the pointer, Dale. I went and looked up reverse sear. Sounds very useful for thick steaks.

It has a particular advantage for me because I like rare while Pumpkin likes well. This is a nuisance when cooking thinner steaks because they flip at different times, etc. But, with a thick steak and reverse sear, just start the slow-cook of the well-done steak 20 minutes ahead of the rare one... they sear off at the same time!

If I HAD room for a sous vide cooker, I'd probably use it mostly for tourchon of foie gras, but that pork tenderloin sounds interesting.

[Jenise]

Jenise, does She Who Don't Eat Cold Meat ever eat things like pate or terrine? If so, and if the pork is as tender as you say....

A more general question, though: For steaks, I have always read that you should SV it first, then give it a quick sear for color, aroma, and so the less-chefly types at the table don't look at you funny. Howie's method is a variation on that, too. What would happen if you sear first and then SV ? I assume moisture moves around inside the food and causes the crunch to go mushy. Anything else?

Yes, she loves pates and cured meats. But she won't eat cold any meat originally served hot--it literally grosses her out. I know she grew up with an immigrant mom who, when the kids begged for bologney sandwiches like the other kids had in their school lunches, made them bologney sandwiches--but she had no cultural understanding of bologney so she fried it first. Somewhere in all that is our friend's objection and it's intractable.

I sear roasts first because it pleases me to look at them, but you're right about what would happen to a steak. No textural advantage, and you would lose the flavor of a fresh sear. For more flavor, consider buying beef tallow to paint the meat with before searing.

[Jenise]

Jenise, I've not done pork loin but I can understand this is probably the very best way to cook what is essentially a very low-fat pork roast. I've only done tenderloins of pork, which have a lovely tender texture when cooked conventionally and not overdone.
I'll try a pork loin soon. How many hours at 140?

Small 2 lb roasts take 3-4 hours. I wing it mostly and have never undercooked or overcooked anything--love that sous vide is so forgiving.

[Jenise]

Dale, would love to do the original that way, but here there's no chance of finding the original. If I could it would cost 6X what pork does. You'd be surprised at how pork can totally pass for veal cooked this way.

[David M. Bueker]

Just starting to experiment with mine. I did chicken, scallops and steak last week.

I get these extra thick pork chops from the local farm that do not grill properly (too tough once done), and was thinking sous vide then a quick sear. Anybody done pork chops?

[Jenise]

Just starting to experiment with mine. I did chicken, scallops and steak last week.

I get these extra thick pork chops from the local farm that do not grill properly (too tough once done), and was thinking sous vide then a quick sear. Anybody done pork chops?

I haven't, but your description of inherent toughness makes those a perfect candidate for this treatment. No reason why about two hours at 130, leaving yourself room for a good sear, wouldn't be a benefit.

I think there are some things that sous vide wouldn't tenderize, though. Like abalone (used to have a sack of them in the freezer in the old days before they became protected). Would think that some cuts of meat would also need a bunch of beating on to tenderize them, regardless of cooking method.

Wonder how sous vide works with octopus - pretty narrow window there between cooked and shoe leather.

I did the Serious Eats recipe with a double rib Berkshire (about 1.3 lbs)- 135 for 1 hour, then sear well on all sides (especially deckle) - Betsy thinks best single thing we've done sous vide.

I've seen several abalone recipes, some call for pounding, others don't
https://www.nowness.com/story/momofuku-at-home
HMart does carry, I should try

Never tried octopus but sounds like a good idea.

Bill, as to having room, the Anova style sous vide device is about the size of a wand blender, it is just attached to side of existing pot or other container

Swordfish is pretty sublime prepared sous vide with clarified butter, though sustainability is unfortunately still a sizable issue. But if there's an ethically-minded provider nearby, give it a try! Bring it just to a nice medium doneness (it does go mushy fast so precise timing is rather critical) and finish the surfaces with a blowtorch and serve with bearnaise, crisp green salad and why not thick cut fries as well, it's pretty much the steak of the sea. Tuna could be a substitute I suppose, but swordfish is just so much tastier.

Also, langoustine poached in butter is at least as decadent as lobster and has the benefit of being much more affordable, and the shells make for the finest soup base in the whole world.

...the shells make for the finest soup base in the whole world.

Yes, indeed!