Anova Father's Day Sale

[tony b]

That's the thing about SV cooking - the temperature is essentially the same throughout the meat. There is no gradient between the outside and inside, once you reach thermal equilibrium. There are charts for time versus temperature to make sure that the meat is safe to eat. So, yes, it is cooked at 124F, provided you do it long enough. One picture is worth a thousand words, as they say.

Here's the time/temp chart.

 

ChefSteps-SousVideReference - Time & Temp.pdf

[Mtroo]

2 minutes ago, tony b said:

That's the thing about SV cooking - the temperature is essentially the same throughout the meat. There is no gradient between the outside and inside, once you reach thermal equilibrium. There are charts for time versus temperature to make sure that the meat is safe to eat. So, yes, it is cooked at 124F, provided you do it long enough. One picture is worth a thousand words, as they say.

Here's the time/temp chart.

 

ChefSteps-SousVideReference - Time & Temp.pdf

Oh, sure I get the concept of a consistent temperature and I understand the relationship of time and temp as it pertains to pastuerization.  I've been cooking with sv for about eight years.  

At 124f the inside would appear uncooked, I'd think. Admittedly I've never cooked at this low a temperature.   Maybe I'm stuck in a rut?  Also, if the meat has been refrigerated then presumably the internal temp will approach 45f, or whatever the refrigerator is set at.  So if you pull it out in the 40s, and sear the outside, how warm/cold is the inside?   If you're trying to warm the inside of the meat then wouldn't a temperature gradient across the meat become unavoidable?  

This site has been great for new ideas.  Thanks to all. 

[tony b]

This might not be the best example, but I did a SV steak where I seared it on the KK first, then finished it in the SV bath (probably in the 125F - 130F bath temp).

[CeramicChef]

51 minutes ago, Mtroo said:

So steak at 130ish and scallops at 122ish?   You have 2 sv?   What I did this past weekend was tri tip at 131 then dump water and meat in small yeti cooler.   Then potatoes in at 194f to cook for potato purée. Having two would be way easier.  Hmmmm....

 

Metro - I'm planning on doing the steaks earlier in the day and holding them in the pot while I do the scallops at 122.  Then I reverse sear the steaks and the scallops.  Seems like a basic reverse sear to me.  

[dstr8]

2 hours ago, Mtroo said:

Is it cooked at 124?   How hot is the interior when you do it this way?  Why not leave it in the sv until grilling time, then ice bath to cool the exterior then sear on grill.  Interesting.

I get the steak to rare to medium-rare.   Although I have no direct experience from what I read, leaving meat in the SV longer than recommended can result in diminished texture quality of the meat.   Additionally I do like the ability to leave the steak uncovered in the refrigerator after the SV bath so the surface dries (at least 1/2 day).   The caramelization of the meat surface is better if there is little to no surface moisture.   I suppose you could, to get to the same goal, dry the steak after the SV, use corn starch coating (ref.:  America's Test Kitchen) then into the freezer for 1/2 hour to completely dry the steak's surface.   Again, different paths to the same end-game.

Edited June 16, 2016 by dstr8

[MacKenzie]

Mtroo, I don't have a thermometer in the bag and I think I just pinched the fish thru the bag to see how it was. I'm not a big fish lover so I don't do it very often;)

[tony b]

dstr8 is correct, extended time in the SV bath can lead to mushy texture as the meat fibers will eventually start to break down. If you look at the time/temp chart above, you'll see that there is a recommended max time in the bath. The best part is that the min/max window is usually hours, so you have a lot of flexibility in timing your cooks. 

[CeramicChef]

@dstr8 - On many SV cooks where I am going to sear, I'll do a preliminary sear of the protein as Step 1, SV as Step 2, and then finish off with another sear.  This seems to infuse the entire cut with that seared taste and then at the end I get that nice seared crust.  Again, many paths, same end-game.

[Syzygies]

5 hours ago, Mtroo said:

What I did this past weekend was tri tip at 131 then dump water and meat in small yeti cooler.   Then potatoes in at 194f to cook for potato purée. Having two would be way easier.

Yes, two is easier.

A sous vide precook for pan-fried potatoes is perhaps our overall favorite application. Tonight we're making hash with leftover steak.

For one meal involving a very particular foodie, I sous vide precooked potatoes 75 minutes (60-90 ok) at 85 C. I then dried them several hours on a rack using a fan. I then pan fried them with attitude in ghee. This was over the top; one could skip the drying phase. My friend was dumbfounded; he kept staring at pieces of potato in disbelief.

[dstr8]

^ On my list of to tries (the potatoes)!

[CeramicChef]

@Syzygies - potatoes are a really fine idea.  I've gotta try that one out!

[MacKenzie]

2 hours ago, Syzygies said:

Yes, two is easier.

A sous vide precook for pan-fried potatoes is perhaps our overall favorite application. Tonight we're making hash with leftover steak.

For one meal involving a very particular foodie, I sous vide precooked potatoes 75 minutes (60-90 ok) at 85 C. I then dried them several hours on a rack using a fan. I then pan fried them with attitude in ghee. This was over the top; one could skip the drying phase. My friend was dumbfounded; he kept staring at pieces of potato in disbelief.

I sous vide precooked potatoes 75 minutes (60-90 ok) at 85 C.

I need a little clarification, did you pre cook the potatoes, aka, boiled in water, and then put them in the SV bath for 75 mins.?

[dstr8]

Started out early this morning:   New York Strip, s&p and fresh rosemary sprigs in the Anova at 124º for 90-minutes.   Cooled and air dried in the refrigerator until this evening when I laid it over coffee-char on the sear grate sitting at 650º dome in the KK.   Shiitake mushrooms browned in butter & sherry...with an arugula, avocado, tomato & raw Japanese yam salad.   

It wasn't the best steak I've tasted, nor made.   But it was PDG just the same :).   The dogs are bummed there aren't any leftovers

 

 

Edited June 17, 2016 by dstr8

[Mtroo]

4 hours ago, Syzygies said:

Yes, two is easier.

A sous vide precook for pan-fried potatoes is perhaps our overall favorite application. Tonight we're making hash with leftover steak.

For one meal involving a very particular foodie, I sous vide precooked potatoes 75 minutes (60-90 ok) at 85 C. I then dried them several hours on a rack using a fan. I then pan fried them with attitude in ghee. This was over the top; one could skip the drying phase. My friend was dumbfounded; he kept staring at pieces of potato in disbelief.

Do you use a chamber style vacuum sealer?  Couldn't you simply put the food in there on a plate.  The negative pressure will dry the food out, perhaps.  Might be easier/quicker?   Food for thought.  

[Syzygies]

1 hour ago, MacKenzie said:

I need a little clarification, did you pre cook the potatoes, aka, boiled in water, and then put them in the SV bath for 75 mins.?

 

1 minute ago, Mtroo said:

Do you use a chamber style vacuum sealer?  Couldn't you simply put the food in there on a plate.  The negative pressure will dry the food out, perhaps.  Might be easier/quicker?   Food for thought.  

I have a chamber vacuum machine in New York; we use a good clamp machine in California.

The potatoes are vacuum sealed already cut up, and go cold into a cold bath, then SV 85 C for 75 minutes. 85 C is the threshold for cooking pretty much any vegetable. They don't overcook, and this process neither adds nor removes water. It's pretty much ideal, and I've tried everything over the years. In particular, steaming or boiling potatoes it's pretty easy to overshoot. And it's very easy to cool potatoes back down in an ice bath if they're vacuum sealed. Or one could plan ahead, and just throw the packets in the fridge or freezer.

Twice cooked starch is a thing. It's the secret to french fries, for example.

[dstr8]

Syzygies...thinking your SV potatoes would push potato salad to a new height.   Done it?

[Mtroo]

21 minutes ago, Syzygies said:

 

I have a chamber vacuum machine in New York; we use a good clamp machine in California.

The potatoes are vacuum sealed already cut up, and go cold into a cold bath, then SV 85 C for 75 minutes. 85 C is the threshold for cooking pretty much any vegetable. They don't overcook, and this process neither adds nor removes water. It's pretty much ideal, and I've tried everything over the years. In particular, steaming or boiling potatoes it's pretty easy to overshoot. And it's very easy to cool potatoes back down in an ice bath if they're vacuum sealed. Or one could plan ahead, and just throw the packets in the fridge or freezer.

Twice cooked starch is a thing. It's the secret to french fries, for example.

Instead of putting them on a rack with a fan blowing on them (out of the bag at that point), put them on a plate in your vacuum chamber.  In New York.  Not California.  

[dstr8]

On June 16, 2016 at 5:27 AM, Syzygies said:

<snip>

Or simply defrosting. Set the target temperature to 0 C, and a circulating water bath defrosts rapidly while keeping the food in question as cold as in the fridge.

 

I've tried this a couple times with frozen fish fillets since you @Syzygies posted this up.  Normally I do a fast thaw in 120ºF water but decided to try your much colder thaw using my Anova.   I thawed fish fillets at 35ºF and like the end result much better!   The fish fillets are not water logged compared to the warm water thaw.   And using the circulator, as you already know, speeds up the thaw process even using near freezing water temp.  But the quality difference, based upon trying the cold circulated water thaw several times now, is worth whatever additional time it takes.

So thanks for posting this up!

[MacKenzie]

Thanks, that sounds like a fantastic thawing tip from  Syzygie.