Sous vide

Dizzyblonde · 24-04-2015 6:26pm

Dubl07 I've merged your thread with the main Sous Vide thread because the posters in here more than likely follow the thread and so will be more likely to see your question.

Dubl07 · 24-04-2015 6:54pm

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

Dubl07 I've merged your thread with the main Sous Vide thread because the posters in here more than likely follow the thread and so will be more likely to see your question.

Thanks! Never sure how old a thread is too old. I've been told off before for zombie threads on boards.

Minder · 24-04-2015 8:11pm

Dubl07 wrote: »

Have you cooked many steaks (fillet or otherwise) sous vide? Most of your posts seem to be on the Poker and Soccer forums so I didn't waste time trawling through them. Appreciate any advice because I won't have adequate facilities to scratch cook 16 steaks, hence the enquiry.

There are certain hygiene risks to sous vide cooking that you need to be careful of. Either cook your food sous vide to the desired temperature and finish it or chill it immediately to 4c or below and store it in the fridge.

If you want the steaks at 130f why would you set the water to 145f? Or are you dumping the steaks in and resetting to 130f?

Rew · 24-04-2015 10:39pm

What Minder said. Heat and maintain the water at the target temperature for the food. Try it before you do it for that many people. Id cook them in the sous vide for a couple of hours and stick em on the bbq when your ready to roll.

moc moc a moc · 24-04-2015 11:00pm

Minder wrote: »

If you want the steaks at 130f why would you set the water to 145f? Or are you dumping the steaks in and resetting to 130f?

He's talking about a McGyver sous-vide (beer cooler filled with hot water), not a proper one with a thermostat.

Dubl07 · 24-04-2015 11:09pm

Minder wrote: »

There are certain hygiene risks to sous vide cooking that you need to be careful of. Either cook your food sous vide to the desired temperature and finish it or chill it immediately to 4c or below and store it in the fridge.

If you want the steaks at 130f why would you set the water to 145f? Or are you dumping the steaks in and resetting to 130f?

Thank you. One pretty logical US guide recommended 15°F above desired cooked temp as the room temp meat entering the water bath will bring down the water temperature. Would you just advise having the water at desired temp to start and adding hot water after the meat to maintain target temp?

Rew wrote: »

What Minder said. Heat and maintain the water at the target temperature for the food. Try it before you do it for that many people. Id cook them in the sous vide for a couple of hours and stick em on the bbq when your ready to roll.

Thanks. I'm going to give it a try a few times over the next couple of weeks, well in advance of the holidays. At home here I prefer a pan-seared cowboy steak (single rib/cote de boeuf) finished in the oven but that won't be feasible time-wise for the numbers involved.

RasTa · 24-04-2015 11:48pm

Dubl07 wrote: »

Have you cooked many steaks (fillet or otherwise) sous vide? Most of your posts seem to be on the Poker and Soccer forums so I didn't waste time trawling through them. Appreciate any advice because I won't have adequate facilities to scratch cook 16 steaks, hence the enquiry.

No none, I've eaten a good few though. I've bbq plenty of steaks and I prefer the charcoal flavour over sous vide. 16 would be tough so maybe not feasible since you won't have heat control using different bbq's

Rew · 25-04-2015 12:29am

RasTa wrote: »

No none, I've eaten a good few though. I've bbq plenty of steaks and I prefer the charcoal flavour over sous vide. 16 would be tough so maybe not feasible since you won't have heat control using different bbq's

Any sous vide steak needs to be finished off/seared on a pan, bbq or by blow torch are you eating them straight out of the bag?

Minder · 25-04-2015 8:57am

Dubl07 wrote: »

Thank you. One pretty logical US guide recommended 15°F above desired cooked temp as the room temp meat entering the water bath will bring down the water temperature. Would you just advise having the water at desired temp to start and adding hot water after the meat to maintain target temp?

What your planning makes sense. Make sure the target temperature doesn't get back to 145f or you'll have 16 medium steaks. I've only ever used a digital waterbath - set and forget it - so I can't advise on the addition of hot water to get to your desired temperature. I found 50.5c to be ideal for rare steaks. Add a little dripping to each pouch to boost the beef flavour and only season with salt when they are ready to go on the bbq. The dripping will also help on the bbq. For 16 steaks, you will want to be turning the first one just after the last one is placed on the grill. Unless the steaks are really thick, the bbq is all about a scorching hot grill to get a quick crust but avoid cooking the meat any further. Remember the steaks are already at 50+c when the go on the grill - they will get to 70+c very quickly if you're not careful.

Dubl07 · 25-04-2015 10:21am

Minder wrote: »

What your planning makes sense. Make sure the target temperature doesn't get back to 145f or you'll have 16 medium steaks. I've only ever used a digital waterbath - set and forget it - so I can't advise on the addition of hot water to get to your desired temperature. I found 50.5c to be ideal for rare steaks. Add a little dripping to each pouch to boost the beef flavour and only season with salt when they are ready to go on the bbq. The dripping will also help on the bbq. For 16 steaks, you will want to be turning the first one just after the last one is placed on the grill. Unless the steaks are really thick, the bbq is all about a scorching hot grill to get a quick crust but avoid cooking the meat any further. Remember the steaks are already at 50+c when the go on the grill - they will get to 70+c very quickly if you're not careful.

Brilliant. Thanks!

Photo-Sniper · 25-04-2015 11:09am

Nobody needs a sous vide at home and thats a fact.

RasTa · 25-04-2015 11:55am

Rew wrote: »

Any sous vide steak needs to be finished off/seared on a pan, bbq or by blow torch are you eating them straight out of the bag?

What? No....

duploelabs · 25-04-2015 1:16pm

Photo-Sniper wrote: »

Nobody needs a sous vide at home and thats a fact.

Right....... Ever tried it yourself?

Photo-Sniper · 25-04-2015 1:28pm

duploelabs wrote: »

Right....... Ever tried it yourself?

We have 10 of them in my kitchen. They are great for speed and consistency of the cook.

A completely unnecessary device to have at home though. If your confident at cooking, the only and best way to cook a steak should be to sear it on a viciously hot pan.

duploelabs · 25-04-2015 1:39pm

Photo-Sniper wrote: »

We have 10 of them in my kitchen. They are great for speed and consistency of the cook.

A completely unnecessary device to have at home though. If your confident at cooking, the only and best way to cook a steak should be to sear it on a viciously hot pan.

Except with a sous vide technique you don't get a bullseye effect on your steak

Rew · 26-04-2015 4:48pm

Photo-Sniper wrote: »

We have 10 of them in my kitchen. They are great for speed and consistency of the cook.

A completely unnecessary device to have at home though. If your confident at cooking, the only and best way to cook a steak should be to sear it on a viciously hot pan.

Thats like saying you don't need an oven in your kitchen which you don't unless you want to cook something that needs it

The average home cook wont have much interest in sous videing a steak or anything else which is fine but some will.

Searing it on a viciously hot cast iron pan is exactly how I cook my steaks after they come out of the sous vide. Sous vide provides a more tender juicy steak then other methods especially with cheaper cuts. I use it for a variety of other things duck breast is particularly good, the first step of triple cooked chips, 63 degree eggs. Im surprised you put speed as an advantage given is a painfully slow way to cook.

Thud · 27-04-2015 10:53am

Photo-Sniper wrote: »

Nobody needs a sous vide at home and thats a fact.

my medium rare 48hour brisket disagrees with you

RasTa · 27-04-2015 12:24pm

What? Guessing you're joking...

Big Green Egg v Sous Vide brisket and steak challenge coming up....

Minder · 27-04-2015 5:36pm

Sous vide and then BGE.

Rew · 27-04-2015 5:37pm

^^^^ What he said!

Though Sous Vide brisket and slow cooked BBQ brisket are not the same thing both should be beautiful.

Photo-Sniper · 27-04-2015 6:13pm

LOL some funny stuff in here. I'd rather my brisket done in our smoker to be honest but each to their own. If its your hobby to sous vide then all well and good, but the average cook doesnt need one no.

RasTa · 27-04-2015 6:47pm

How could a sous vide brisket be good, no smoke. Does the 48 hours break through the meat plateau?

duploelabs · 27-04-2015 6:49pm

Photo-Sniper wrote: »

LOL some funny stuff in here. I'd rather my brisket done in our smoker to be honest but each to their own. If its your hobby to sous vide then all well and good, but the average cook doesnt need one no.

Perhaps you're under the assumption that posters here are average cooks

The Hill Billy · 27-04-2015 6:57pm

@photo-sniper - You seem to be suggesting that us non-professional (& some pros here too) cooks should know our place & stick to our hobs & grills, & stay away from sous vide cooking & the like, which should remain the privilege of 'the pros'.

That's the way it comes across anyway. And as a home cook who likes to chance his arm at different cooking methods from time to time, I find that a bit disrespectful tbh.

We use this forum because we love our grub. We welcome people of all talents & tastes. And I certainly love reading about other members trying new things. That's the ethos of the forum. I hope you get the picture.

Happy cooking,

tHB

moc moc a moc · 27-04-2015 7:14pm

Photo-Sniper wrote: »

If your confident at cooking, the only and best way to cook a steak should be to sear it on a viciously hot pan.

No thanks, I like my steak medium-rare from edge to edge, not just in the middle.

catho_monster · 27-04-2015 7:47pm

Dubl07 wrote: »

They'll mostly want a steak so I'm thinking of sealing each steak/pair of steaks in a ziploc, firing all the bags in a cooler full of water at 145°F and bringing the meat up to 130°F over two or three hours. That should equate to med-rare. Does that sound right?

Thanks for the reminder. I've a sous vide machine (Sous Vide Magic, one of those rice-cooker hack jobbies) that I really don't use enough. And I've never gotten around to doing steak with. Moves to the top of the to-do list to buy steak now! Will follow the advice on the thread here and report back

Oh, doh. My vacuum packer packed in, that's why I've not been using it. Are Ziplocs really a runner?

duploelabs · 27-04-2015 8:01pm

catho_monster wrote: »

Thanks for the reminder. I've a sous vide machine (Sous Vide Magic, one of those rice-cooker hack jobbies) that I really don't use enough. And I've never gotten around to doing steak with. Moves to the top of the to-do list to buy steak now! Will follow the advice on the thread here and report back

Oh, doh. My vacuum packer packed in, that's why I've not been using it. Are Ziplocs really a runner?

Ziploc bags are fine, as long as you squeeze all the air out and keep the seam above the water line, clothes pegs work grand

Dizzyblonde · 27-04-2015 8:11pm

catho_monster wrote: »

Thanks for the reminder. I've a sous vide machine (Sous Vide Magic, one of those rice-cooker hack jobbies) that I really don't use enough. And I've never gotten around to doing steak with. Moves to the top of the to-do list to buy steak now! Will follow the advice on the thread here and report back

Oh, doh. My vacuum packer packed in, that's why I've not been using it. Are Ziplocs really a runner?

I saw a tip lately that involved almost closing the ziploc bag fully, and using a straw to suck the last of the air out. It seemed to work in the video

catho_monster · 27-04-2015 8:15pm

duploelabs wrote: »

Ziploc bags are fine, as long as you squeeze all the air out and keep the seam above the water line, clothes pegs work grand

Do you mean clothes peg the bags to the side of the machine so they don't fall in?

On the squeezing the air out: I bookmarked this video on using water pressure to help get the air out
http://youtu.be/RxVPcAMh28g
I'm super clumsy though so not convinced I'll be able to successfully do this!

duploelabs · 27-04-2015 8:19pm

just put your meat (I presume) at the bottom of the bag, and tightly roll it up towards the seal, that will push out all the air and then when you get the the loc seal then zip it closed. Yes, use the clothes peg to clip the top of the bag to the container holding your water bath

Sous vide

Comments