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Sous vide questions.

incorporating Recipes and Cooking
Leothebear
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Sous vide questions.

#107636

Postby Leothebear » January 3rd, 2018, 11:51 am

I've been give a precision cooker. Never used one before.

I'm rather unsure about the bags. Do I need equipment to vacuum seal them? Can they be reusable?

The highest temperature has to be 100C yes? Is that OK for all meats?

Any advice would be most welcome.

redsturgeon
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Re: Sous vide questions.

#107643

Postby redsturgeon » January 3rd, 2018, 12:16 pm

Leothebear wrote:I've been give a precision cooker. Never used one before.

I'm rather unsure about the bags. Do I need equipment to vacuum seal them? Can they be reusable?

The highest temperature has to be 100C yes? Is that OK for all meats?

Any advice would be most welcome.


I believe there are some fools who use sous vide here. I don't since a prefer more traditional methods but I've read a bit, there's plenty of resources on the net out there. In answer to your direct questions:

Yes 100c would be the max as it is a water bath but you would never need more that 75c for any meat and less than 60c for a rare steak.

I believe there are some reusable systems but usually it is a single use bag that the machine pumps the air out of and heat seals.

John

peterh
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Re: Sous vide questions.

#107670

Postby peterh » January 3rd, 2018, 2:24 pm

I think that the main benefit of vacuum sealing is to improve the thermal contact between the food and the warm water. A good seal also stops the water getting into the bag.

It can be fiddly, but ziploc food storage bags can be reused. Put the food in the bag and close the seal almost completely. Then lower the bag slowly into water (keeping the open corner uppermost), forcing the air out. When the bag bag is almost completely submerged, close the final bit of the seal. An alternative method, without the water, is to part seal the bag as above and then use a drinking straw to suck the air out. I'd have to be sure that the bags were food safe at the temps being used though...

I used this method a few times (with reasonable success) for shorter cooks before getting a vacuum/sealing machine when I started doing longer cooks. I also use the vacuum bags for the freezer.

TonyB
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Re: Sous vide questions.

#107683

Postby TonyB » January 3rd, 2018, 3:15 pm

Hi, I've been using sous vide at home for several years now and think the method is easy and reliable and improves the quality of most cooked food but particularly applicable to protein.

As mentioned above you do not need to vacuum seal them and with delicate protein such as fish is best not to, or use only a little vacuum.

I've never seen any recipe with temps over 90C. Vegetables need to be SV'd at low 80's, most meat proteins at 55C-75C (to achieve different textures), and fish 45C-55C although you can go a little lower.

Although SV is often characterised as low temp cooking, its better to view it as a function of time/temp. For lean meats (chicken breast, steak, pork fillet) the aim is to raise to core temperature to the temperature of the texture you like to eat. For fatty meats (belly pork, lamb shoulder, beef shin) its about choosing a temp and time that enables the collagen to be converted to gelatine and a texture that you want.

Again as mentioned above the web is awash with SV recipes but it can be a little confusing with all the time/temp combinations but 2 sites I would recommend are:

http://douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html - probably the first guide for domestic cooks and has lots of information on food safety.

https://www.chefsteps.com/ a good site if you are interested in modern cooking. Has a really good section on SV and easy visual for SV cooking temps/time.

Enjoy!

slartybartfast
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Re: Sous vide questions.

#107715

Postby slartybartfast » January 3rd, 2018, 5:31 pm

Great reply there from TonyB

I've also been using sous vide for a long time, originally starting with a set up which linked to a slow cooker!

There is a very useful temp/time guide from Douglas Baldwin here http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_id=18672

One of my wifes favourite recipes is lamb shank done at 70c for 24-36 hours.

Leothebear
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Re: Sous vide questions.

#107772

Postby Leothebear » January 3rd, 2018, 9:22 pm

Many thanks guys - appreciated.


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