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Cooking without fire...Sous-Vide
Topic Started: Dec 21 2011, 07:35 PM (397 Views)
George K
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Finally
http://lifehacker.com/5868685/sous+vide-101-how-to-cook-the-most-tender-and-flavorful-meat-youve-ever-tasted

Long article, but worth a look. Anyone ever tried this?

Quote:
 
Sous-vide cooking involves cooking food in sealed plastic bags immersed in hot water for long periods of time. Depending on the cut, type, and thickness of the meat or the type of food in question, cooking sous-vide for several hours is not out of the ordinary. The key is managing the temperature of the water so it stays hot enough to cook the food thoroughly and evenly, and long enough to kill any food-borne pathogens that may be in the bag along with the food. Cooking in sealed bags (usually vacuum sealed) at lower temperatures also results in juicier food, since there's no substantive transfer of moisture from the food in the way there is with a more moist cooking method like poaching or broiling, and the cooking temperatures don't get so high that the food starts to dry out.

Meat and fish are best suited to sous-vide cooking. You can cook vegetables, but because they usually require higher temperatures than cooking meat does, they can be a bit more difficult (although not impossible—more on this later.) Almost any type of meat takes well to to process, and since sous-vide doesn't significantly alter the texture, you can cook delicate fish that's sensitive to high temperatures or usually dry and difficult meats like turkey breasts and flank steak and end up with a flavorful, moist dinner.
...
Pros:

Cooking sous-vide results in evenly-cooked meat and fish.

Cooking sous-vide gives you specific control over the final temperature of the meat, avoiding overdone, dried-out food.

You can hold foods cooked sous-vide at their specified temperature for long periods of time without damaging the texture or quality of the dish, making it an ideal cooking method for holiday dinners or meals with multiple components and side-dishes.

Bacterial or other contamination is largely not an issue with sous-vide cooking. While you may be cooking up to minimum safe temperatures, the length of time you're holding the food at its safe temperature will pasteurize your meat and ensure the safety of your food, meaning "safe" meat doesn't have to equal "dry" or "not pink" meat any longer. Still, keep your meat thermometer handy, and test before serving. Remember, sous-vide lets you hold food at temp for long periods without diminishing the quality of the food, so if it's undercooked, you can seal the bag and put it back in.

Sous-vide cooking is by nature a repeatable process. Set the temperature, set the timer, and walk away. You will wind up with perfectly cooked food every time you do it.

Cons:

Cooking sous-vide usually requires some equipment you may not already have.

Sous-vide takes a long time—sometimes an hour or so for thin cuts of meat, and sometimes several hours—even most of a day—for thicker cuts and large portions. Planning ahead is key—sous-vide is definitely not a 30-minute-meal approach to cooking.

When cooking meat sous-vide, you're cooking at low temperatures, which means the Maillard Reaction, characterized by the delicious browning of the outside of the meat, does not occur. You can get around this by applying a finishing sear to the meat after cooking, or by pre-searing at very high temperatures to get the reaction without cooking the interior.

While sous-vide cooking is largely considered safe, care must be taken to ensure that food cooked sous-vide reaches the appropriate safe internal temperature before serving, more-so than higher-temperature cooking methods, because of the risk of botulism contamination. Even though sous-vide cooking times are long and hot enough to pasteurize meat, extra care must be taken, especially when handling leftovers, and people with immune disorders and pregnant women have been warned to eat sous-vide cooked meats with caution, if at all.


How to do it on the cheap: http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/04/cook-your-meat-in-a-beer-cooler-the-worlds-best-sous-vide-hack.html

(think beer cooler...)
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"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
It gets great reviews and I have been thinking about it, but since I am the master of fast cooking, I question whether I would have the patience to actually use it enough to make it worthwhile.

I'd love to rent one for a culinary weekend to see if I like it.
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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George K
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Finally
My recipe for chicken with leeks and cream calls for putting chicken pieces into a kettle of hot water and letting it sit for hours. The chicken is wonderful.
A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
Leeks and cream? Yum.
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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George K
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Finally
Mikhailoh
Dec 21 2011, 08:28 PM
Leeks and cream? Yum.
You have that recipe, don't you?
A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
Yeah, haven't used it yet though.
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
Darn you, George, you got me interested in this sous vide stuff again. Now I have to try it. Ziploc sells a pretty good cheap vacuum sealing system with bags and a pump that I use for freezing food. It is intended for sous vide. I think I will see what my crock pot does in terms of temperature. If that doesn't work I'll try a pot and a meat thermometer. May even try it tonight.
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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George K
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Finally
Mikhailoh
Dec 22 2011, 06:14 AM
Ziploc sells a pretty good cheap vacuum sealing system with bags and a pump that I use for freezing food.
The hell you say. That system is really cheap. What, $4 for the pump?

Does it work as advertised?

I had a vacuum sealer decades years ago, and it was a PITA - getting it so seal across the bag never worked, it was noisy, slow and expensive.
A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
Yeah, it does. Really well. (Of course I would say that - my beloved sells them..)
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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Luke's Dad
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Emperor Pengin
What are the details of the sytem? M&M's and I were researching a couple of the vacuum sealing systems. We were considering this, but the reviews weren't great: http://reviews.costco.com/2070/11300615/foodsaver-foodsaver-vacuum-sealing-system-w-smartseal-technology-reviews/reviews.htm
The problem with having an open mind is that people keep trying to put things in it.
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George K
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Finally
I don't want another big gadget taking up space on my counter, and we don't buy in bulk, so a device I can throw in a drawer with bags I can put up in a cabinet seems like a good solution. I ordered one today (it was only about $5 at Amazon, plus another $10 or so for bags).

Once it arrives, I'll report.
A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
sue
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HOLY CARP!!!
Does nothing for me. Don't like the idea of cooking meat in plastic bags. Silly fussy nonsense, imo.
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
I'm going to try it, but it seems fussy to me too. We'll see.
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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George K
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sue
Dec 22 2011, 05:17 PM
Does nothing for me. Don't like the idea of cooking meat in plastic bags. Silly fussy nonsense, imo.
All cooking is fussy, isn't it?
A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
sue
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HOLY CARP!!!
George K
Dec 22 2011, 05:24 PM
sue
Dec 22 2011, 05:17 PM
Does nothing for me. Don't like the idea of cooking meat in plastic bags. Silly fussy nonsense, imo.
All cooking is fussy, isn't it?
^_^ yeah, ok. Guess i just don't like the idea of pale sickly meat simmered in a bath, wrapped in plastic. Gimme fire.
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
Paleo-Sue.
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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sue
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HOLY CARP!!!
Mikhailoh
Dec 22 2011, 06:10 PM
Paleo-Sue.

What we're gonna do right here is go back, way back, back into time.
When the only people that existed were troglodytes...cave men...
cave women...Neanderthal...troglodytes.
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Aqua Letifer
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ZOOOOOM!
sue
Dec 22 2011, 08:56 PM
Mikhailoh
Dec 22 2011, 06:10 PM
Paleo-Sue.

What we're gonna do right here is go back, way back, back into time.
When the only people that existed were troglodytes...cave men...
cave women...Neanderthal...troglodytes.
:lol: :lol:

Let's take the average caveman at home, listenin' to his... stireo!
I cite irreconcilable differences.
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
Watching Cavble TV. I think the Flintstones are on. Or maybe 30 BC Rock.
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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