I don't know if anyone else does it, so I thought I'd throw it out there.

 

From an initial read of Hestons' "In Search of Perfection", where he cooks a piece of meat for 24 hours at 50C -  to further reading in Part 3 of the Big Fat Duck Cookbook - I found that a long, very low cook of red meat results in a spectacular mouthfeel of the finished product. The specifics in Pt3 of TBFDC explain that the denaturing of the myosin and actin molecules start at 38C, but that there is very little water loss below 55C (which is where the contractile proteins start to denature, coagulate and begin squeezing the water out of the meat).

 

I've done this quite a few times and it works really well, giving the meat a sort of pate-like consistency along with a perfectly even colour throughout and a really juicy mouthful every time. But, of course, you actually have to cook it at a high temperature afterwards if you want those yummy burnt bits on the outside.

 

But I haven't yet tried it in a sous vide (or in my case, in a vaccum bag in a pot of water in the oven). Has anyone tried doing it way?

I have been cooking steaks this way for years! You can have different aims when you are cooking sous-vide though, and it depends on what cut of meat I am using. For example, steaks get 1 hour at 55C to bring it to medium rare. If you cook any longer, it weeps too much juice. Then I let it sit in the bag to cool down slowly (there is evidence that "tempering" your SV steak this way helps moisture reabsorption). Then I take it out of the bag and thoroughly pat it dry before browning it - either on a charcoal grille or on a pan. For thinner steaks, I don't bother with SV. 

 

SV is also great for ready to eat meals. Here are some examples: 

 

- SV braised lamb shanks. Fry your lamb shanks to get some browning. Finely dice some onions, celery, and onion and fry until onions are translucent. Bag it up with 2-3 cubes of frozen beef stock with some thyme. Immerse the whole bag into boiling water to quickly pasteurize it, then SV at 55C for 60 minutes. It can then be cooled slowly and frozen in the bag and kept for a few months. To reheat, SV directly from frozen for another 60 minutes at 55C. In fact, you can use this method to braise anything, you have to adjust the cooking time depending on the amount of collagen in the meat. 

 

- SV Hainanese Chicken Rice. I use chicken marylands only because these are the best part for this dish. Make a paste with 1:1 ginger and spring onion. Add some salt. Cut up some pandan leaves. Immerse your chicken into boiling water to tighten the skin and sterilize the surface. Rub the paste all over the chicken, then bag it up and SV for 90 minutes at 67C. Shock the bag in ice water to create the jelly between skin and meat. After this it can be kept in the freezer for a few months. The chicken can be served cold (if you want the jelly) or reheated in an SV bath for 60 min at 67C. 

- SV duck confit. Cure your duck marylands with 1:1 sugar and salt, lemon zest, orange zest, cloves, juniper berries, and star anise for an hour. Thoroughly wash off everything. Bag it up with the same spices crushed in a spice grinder and thyme (leave the spices out if you don't want too much aroma, or use less). SV at 67C for 24 hours and allow to rest. It can then be frozen for a few months. To reheat, pop it back in the SV machine until defrosted, then fry the duck to crisp it up. Deglaze with the remaining liquid from the SV bag (removing the solids) with some cognac and wine, it will create a delicious sauce. 

 

Do not leave the bags in the SV machine for too long, or it will "overcook" the meats and develop a liver-like texture. 

Nah I still have most of my teeth 😉😜

Without the effort I was at ikea yesterday and the boss wanted to have lunch.    We got a plate of there typical meatballs and something We haven’t encountered b4; a plate of pork spare ribs with fries.    I’d kid you not that spare rip is cooked this way as the meat just fell of the bone!   Best $17 dish for value and taste.   If you’re going to IKEA, definitely try this.

 

https://www.ikea.com/au/en/stores/restaurant/ikea-mains-wraps-and-salads-menu-pube04d41d0

 

 

 

 

18 hours ago, Keith_W said:

I have been cooking steaks this way for years! You can have different aims when you are cooking sous-vide though, and it depends on what cut of meat I am using. For example, steaks get 1 hour at 55C to bring it to medium rare. If you cook any longer, it weeps too much juice. Then I let it sit in the bag to cool down slowly (there is evidence that "tempering" your SV steak this way helps moisture reabsorption). Then I take it out of the bag and thoroughly pat it dry before browning it - either on a charcoal grille or on a pan. For thinner steaks, I don't bother with SV. 

 

SV is also great for ready to eat meals. Here are some examples: 

 

- SV braised lamb shanks. Fry your lamb shanks to get some browning. Finely dice some onions, celery, and onion and fry until onions are translucent. Bag it up with 2-3 cubes of frozen beef stock with some thyme. Immerse the whole bag into boiling water to quickly pasteurize it, then SV at 55C for 60 minutes. It can then be cooled slowly and frozen in the bag and kept for a few months. To reheat, SV directly from frozen for another 60 minutes at 55C. In fact, you can use this method to braise anything, you have to adjust the cooking time depending on the amount of collagen in the meat. 

 

- SV Hainanese Chicken Rice. I use chicken marylands only because these are the best part for this dish. Make a paste with 1:1 ginger and spring onion. Add some salt. Cut up some pandan leaves. Immerse your chicken into boiling water to tighten the skin and sterilize the surface. Rub the paste all over the chicken, then bag it up and SV for 90 minutes at 67C. Shock the bag in ice water to create the jelly between skin and meat. After this it can be kept in the freezer for a few months. The chicken can be served cold (if you want the jelly) or reheated in an SV bath for 60 min at 67C. 

- SV duck confit. Cure your duck marylands with 1:1 sugar and salt, lemon zest, orange zest, cloves, juniper berries, and star anise for an hour. Thoroughly wash off everything. Bag it up with the same spices crushed in a spice grinder and thyme (leave the spices out if you don't want too much aroma, or use less). SV at 67C for 24 hours and allow to rest. It can then be frozen for a few months. To reheat, pop it back in the SV machine until defrosted, then fry the duck to crisp it up. Deglaze with the remaining liquid from the SV bag (removing the solids) with some cognac and wine, it will create a delicious sauce. 

 

Do not leave the bags in the SV machine for too long, or it will "overcook" the meats and develop a liver-like texture. 

I found that the 55C also squeezes too much juice out when you're cooking it just in the oven, but if you drop it to 50C, then very little comes out of the meat. OK - I'll have a go with this lamb shoulder that is accidentally surplus to our needs this week (and I reckon it's cruel to freeze it). We'll see how that tastes later this week!

If you get into it, I strongly suggest getting a SV setup at home. Here is a quick shopping list for you: 

 

- Anova SV immersion circulator + water bath - $455

- Foodsaver Vacuum Sealer - $160

- Vacuum bags - $40

 

Total investment, about $655. I get a lot of use out of mine, and the vac sealer does double duty with my Foodsaver tupperwares as well. Foodsaver tupperwares can be used for its intended purpose (storage) or for quick infusions. I have even used it to suck air bubbles out of liquids, like beaten eggs for chawanmushi or creme caramel where bubbles ruin the texture. 

Edited July 4, 20232 yr by Keith_W

17 hours ago, Keith_W said:

If you get into it, I strongly suggest getting a SV setup at home. Here is a quick shopping list for you: 

 

- Anova SV immersion circulator + water bath - $455

- Foodsaver Vacuum Sealer - $160

- Vacuum bags - $40

 

Total investment, about $655. I get a lot of use out of mine, and the vac sealer does double duty with my Foodsaver tupperwares as well. Foodsaver tupperwares can be used for its intended purpose (storage) or for quick infusions. I have even used it to suck air bubbles out of liquids, like beaten eggs for chawanmushi or creme caramel where bubbles ruin the texture. 

I've got the last two - although I'd really like one of these, so it would be much easier to seal wet stuff (the current one tends to try to suck out all the fluids along with the air). I'll have a look at the Foodsaver, as that might be a cheaper alternative! Thanks, is yours a 240v machine from Amazon?

And I'm quite happy using the oven, as it's really accurate, temperature-wise.

Mine is a 240V version that I bought from JB Hifi  You can seal liquids by using a few tricks: 

 

- Use a bag with a zip-lock seal. Something like this (with a manual pump) or this (attaches to your Foodsaver). I find that the integrity of the seal is compromised if liquids are sucked into the area of the bag that needs to be sealed, the zip-lock function gets around that, and you can keep applying suction after the bag is sealed. 

- Use gravity. Hang the bag over a ledge so that all the liquid is at the bottom. Start your vacuum cycle as normal and quickly hit the "seal" button when you see liquid being sucked up the little capillaries. 

- Freeze the liquid before bagging. It's an extra step so it's not so convenient. 

- Use immersion and a zip-lock bag. Seal 90% of the bag then immerse it in water. All the air will escape. Just as your bag is about to submerge, seal the rest of it. 

1 hour ago, Keith_W said:

Mine is a 240V version that I bought from JB Hifi  You can seal liquids by using a few tricks: 

 

- Use a bag with a zip-lock seal. Something like this (with a manual pump) or this (attaches to your Foodsaver). I find that the integrity of the seal is compromised if liquids are sucked into the area of the bag that needs to be sealed, the zip-lock function gets around that, and you can keep applying suction after the bag is sealed. 

- Use gravity. Hang the bag over a ledge so that all the liquid is at the bottom. Start your vacuum cycle as normal and quickly hit the "seal" button when you see liquid being sucked up the little capillaries. 

- Freeze the liquid before bagging. It's an extra step so it's not so convenient. 

- Use immersion and a zip-lock bag. Seal 90% of the bag then immerse it in water. All the air will escape. Just as your bag is about to submerge, seal the rest of it. 

Thanks. All tricks I've been using. I've seen the big ones in use and they make it so easy...but they're quite expensive. But the one you pointed to from Amazon has a wet or dry switch, so it might be worth grabbing that (it might save the mess when you don't catch the vacuum deciding to take a drink).