Do you have a Sous Vide?

Do you own a sous vide machine

  • Yes - water bath type.

    Votes: 2 6.7%

  • Yes - immersion wand type.

    Votes: 14 46.7%

  • No - why would I want one?

    Votes: 10 33.3%

  • I'm considering it.

    Votes: 3 10.0%

  • I'm not sure what they do.

    Votes: 2 6.7%
  • Total voters
    30
Mountain Cat said:
So... maybe, looking back on that AND extrapolating, cook at 60 C for 5 hours, and it will depend what you plan to do with the belly once cooked when that's done? It won't be crispy if that's what you are looking for, unless you reverse sear. But all depends on the cuisine you are after.
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Roger Burton said:
Not looking for crispiness MC I'm guessing that I can sort that out in the fry pan after the SV ... your suggestion of 5 hours seems like a good idea thank you...
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I concur with this. I've just cooked pork belly as a slow cook in the oven at 160 C and it took one and a half hours to tenderise. So I think about 5 hours at 60 C would be fine. Having said his - check out this sous vide recipe which features pork belly: Cured Sous Vide Pork Belly Recipe - Great British Chefs
24 hrs at 70 C.
 
Roger Burton said:
Thanks MG, the eggs were 13 mins @ 75c, the chicken 1hr @ 65c and the steaks 1.5 hrs @55c ... early days and I'm going to try some thicker beef. She is impressed that almost everything on Great British Chefs is Sous Vided ....
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65C is a little high for white meat chicken. It's just right for dark meat.

As for steak, you won't get the real advantage of sous vide from a thin steak. Use at least one-inch steaks, and cook to medium rare, and you will be amazed. The steaks will be perfect medium rare from edge to edge. All you need to do is put a hot-and-fast sear on the outside.

Look up ChefSteps Sous Vide Times and Temperatures online. It is a free .pdf file, and lists temps in F and C. It is the best source I have found for proper sous vide cooking times and temps.

Here is a thick cut of Sirloin I cooked sous vide, medium rare, and seared with a Searsall. You could also sear with a very hot cast iron pan.

SousVideSirloin.jpg


CD
 
I've had to change my vote from "I'm considering it" to "Yes - immersion wand type" because I received one for Christmas:woot:
Its not a posh brand one, but it seems to work fine so far. The first thing I tried was chicken ballotines - I usually do these in the oven, but they came out much nicer cooked sous vide (probably because the chicken wasn't over-cooked). Also did carrots in butter and garlic potatoes to go with the chicken - both of those came out really well too. The carrots were perfect.

Today its Sunday roast time, so I'm doing topside of beef, carrots and leeks in the sous vide, along with roast potatoes and yorkshires done the traditional way :D
 
medtran49 said:
Nope, don't like it.
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Mint jelly - I grew up with a lamb-loving mom who hated mint jelly - while I don't mind it, lamb is just wonderfully fine without it. It is something I never think about using at home.

I do season with garlic and rosemary while cooking (often, but not necessarily every time.)
 
I missed this thread.

Baby Brother has a Sous Vide - it clamps to the side of the water bath container that he made from a small ice chest. He cut a slot out of the side to clamp the heating element to.

I don't know how often he uses it. He does rave about it.

G's Christmas gift to himself was a professional grade vacuum sealer. It is so heavy (85 lbs) that he also had to buy a heavy duty wheeled cart. It lives in his shop when we are not using it. The point is that the bags are suitable for Sous Vide.

I am on the fence regarding actually owning a sous vide.

medtran49 - We both love rack of lamb. I am interested in you method. My thought is that rack of lamb is so quick and easy - why spend the extra time slow cooking in a water bath? Like you I do not care for mint. I use an herb or an herb and mustard rub. Usually rosemary and thyme. Sometimes sage and thyme. A red wine reduction sauce.

Thinking about getting a sous vide. Concerned that I will not use it enough. Just another piece of underused equipment.
 
ElizabethB said:
I missed this thread.

Baby Brother has a Sous Vide - it clamps to the side of the water bath container that he made from a small ice chest. He cut a slot out of the side to clamp the heating element to.

I don't know how often he uses it. He does rave about it.

G's Christmas gift to himself was a professional grade vacuum sealer. It is so heavy (85 lbs) that he also had to buy a heavy duty wheeled cart. It lives in his shop when we are not using it. The point is that the bags are suitable for Sous Vide.

I am on the fence regarding actually owning a sous vide.

medtran49 - We both love rack of lamb. I am interested in you method. My thought is that rack of lamb is so quick and easy - why spend the extra time slow cooking in a water bath? Like you I do not care for mint. I use an herb or an herb and mustard rub. Usually rosemary and thyme. Sometimes sage and thyme. A red wine reduction sauce.

Thinking about getting a sous vide. Concerned that I will not use it enough. Just another piece of underused equipment.
Click to expand...


Sous vide is definitely not a time saver. It is all about precision... and timing a cook.

If you want to cook a piece of meat to exactly medium rare, every time. Sous vide does that. But, it will take longer to do it.

If you want a perfectly cooked steak, but you are not exactly sure when you will be serving it, sous vide will do that.

I don't use mine as much as I could. If it is a nice day, and I want to cook over charcoal/wood, then I do that. But, it isn't going to be as precise as cooking sous vide, followed by a scorching hot sear.

If you look at sous vide as one more tool in your toolbox, I think you will be happy with it.

BTW, I'm a "no" vote on mint jelly with lamb, too. My taste buds just never got that memo.

CD
 
I find that it is now the only way to cook chicken breast so that it is tender inside. ("Chicken tenders" are otherwise false advertising...) I recently made bottom round steaks that are tender and medium-rare - a cut that I alas get with my CSA beef share that are marginal when cooked otherwise), although I did make an acceptable one once more conventionally.

I don't use it for every thing, but it is great for thicker steaks, and it is also good when you have company over and the set time you want to serve a main meat / steak gets delayed - you have more timing leeway without turning the dinner into shoe leather. Or something you pull out and have to serve cold. As Caseydog said, it's another tool, and these days they don't cost that much. Don't buy one you can only use from your phone - be flexible. My sous vide pot is my stock pot/lobster pot/water bath canning pot/chicken plucking pot. I did purchase silicon zip lock bags, but they're re-usable and a one time purchase deal.

While they work fine with say, salmon filets, I don't see an advantage using sous vide for the seafood I've tried so far. But I'm finding a lot of things this gadget does work very well with. Down the road I plan to do a pork roast, and/or a lamb roast. Some veggies also do well in sous vide, although since they usually require higher temps, I'd go with those more-inert silicon bags over plastic.
 
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