New cooking methods ... sous vide

[Fire Me Boy!]

So I took the plunge (pun not intended) and purchased a personal sous vide machine.

I've made a wonderful roasted garlic and herb compound butter and I'm about to put a couple of thick cut KC strips in the bath, set it for 134 degrees and in a couple hours I should have perfectly medium rare steak to throw in a screaming hot skillet to sear. Then it's eatin' time.

Will post pics.

Anyone worked with sous vide before? Any tips, tasty things to try?

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by Great Expectations

Have you ever put eggs in a water bath?

Well, with the scouts, we've been putting eggs, cheese, ham, bacon bits, and more cheese in a Ziploc bad and boiling it for a LONG time.

Yummy, Yummy, YUMMY!!!!

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by Baby Lee

I actually switched to my rice cooker. The 'high' heating element is much stronger and gets hotter, but the 'warm' setting is below the end level. So I didn't have to plug and unplug it, just toggle the switch. And even the warming setting would slow the cooling of the water, particularly with the lid on.

I checked it every 15 min or so, and had to toggle about half of the time, probably 5 toggles between cook and warm. Might have gotten away with less.

Also, the cooking element is strong enough that you didn't need to use it for long. Say you want your meat at 135, and the water drops to 129. It would take like 3 min of the cook setting to be at 135 and rising, so set it back to warm.

A tight lid makes all the difference. Warmed it up to 130 at 8am, and it's sitting at 129 at the moment on the warm setting.

Previous time, I had to leave the lid loose, as I needed a jar of water to hold the package down as it was sealed with a bit of air in it. This time is fully vacuum-sealed.

[Sorce]

Well I learned my lesson trusting my wife to do anything right. Seasoned and used the submersion method to ziplock two strip steaks last night. Set the temp controller for 130 and told he wife if she made it home first to throw the steaks in the crock pot. Came home to find she had removed the steaks from the bags and tossed them in. They had been in about 20 mins. I pulled them out, put salt and pepper on them again and rebagged them. I'm hoping they turn out alright at this point...

I'm not a happy man, probably good she went to walk the dog before I saw it.

[Great Expectations]

I've made around 10 main courses in my machine over the past month or so that I've owned it. I finally found/made something phenomenal with it. I bought a couple of prime top sirloin steaks and they were perfect. I've made chicken breast several times and it was good, pork was very good along with flank and strip steaks, but this was awesome.

I bought better than normal salt and put twice as much on along with setting my pepper mill to the coarsest possible setting. I think over seasoning helped more than anything, but I also put it at 134 instead of 132 and cooked it for 2 1/2 hours. I've noticed that some of the dry rub comes off in the liquid/fat that materializes during the cook. Putting a lot more on was a good move. I'd also been trying to finish with butter in a cast iron skillet at the smoke point, tonight i used olive oil and a higher temp to finish.

Anyway it all came together and $20 worth of meat tasted like $150.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by Great Expectations

I've made around 10 main courses in my machine over the past month or so that I've owned it. I finally found/made something phenomenal with it. I bought a couple of prime top sirloin steaks and they were perfect. I've made chicken breast several times and it was good, pork was very good along with flank and strip steaks, but this was awesome.

I bought better than normal salt and put twice as much on along with setting my pepper mill to the coarsest possible setting. I think over seasoning helped more than anything, but I also put it at 134 instead of 132 and cooked it for 2 1/2 hours. I've noticed that some of the dry rub comes off in the liquid/fat that materializes during the cook. Putting a lot more on was a good move. I'd also been trying to finish with butter in a cast iron skillet at the smoke point, tonight i used olive oil and a higher temp to finish.

Anyway it all came together and $20 worth of meat tasted like $150.

To sear, use canola for higher heat or ghee for even more heat + flavor.

Do you like fish? Fish is perfect in sous vide.

[Great Expectations]

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!

To sear, use canola for higher heat or ghee for even more heat + flavor.

Do you like fish? Fish is perfect in sous vide.

I love fish, I'll try that soon. i also love salt. I usually intentionally under salt food to my taste for the enjoyment of my eating companions. I think you have to over salt with this method to get the right flavor. And when it's right it's the best. Sirloin is usually my 5th or 6th choice and tonight it was one of the best steaks I've eaten. My boys at 2 and 4 usually don't eat beef finished off over 8 oz.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by Great Expectations

I love fish, I'll try that soon. i also love salt. I usually intentionally under salt food to my taste for the enjoyment of my eating companions. I think you have to over salt with this method to get the right flavor. And when it's right it's the best. Sirloin is usually my 5th or 6th choice and tonight it was one of the best steaks I've eaten. My boys at 2 and 4 usually don't eat beef finished off over 8 oz.

Have you been reseasoning when you sear? That's what I do. Season when it goes in the bag, then salt/pepper again when it goes in the pan or to finish right after I sear.

[Great Expectations]

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!

Have you been reseasoning when you sear? That's what I do. Season when it goes in the bag, then salt/pepper again when it goes in the pan or to finish right after I sear.

Nope, but I've been re seasoning after my first taste.

That makes sense.


I had a boss years ago that raved about how the sirloin was the best cut when done right. I thought he was full of it until tonight. Ive purchased higher quality cuts from more premium areas, but I've never produced a better piece of meat than I did tonight.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by Great Expectations

Nope, but I've been re seasoning after my first taste.

That makes sense.


I had a boss years ago that raved about how the sirloin was the best cut when done right. I thought he was full of it until tonight. Ive purchased higher quality cuts from more premium areas, but I've never produced a better piece of meat than I did tonight.

Best thing I've ever done was the sirloin I did a long time ago. I don't typically like sirloin. It's got great flavor and the texture of filet mignon.

[Great Expectations]

The steak was the best and when paired with a Howell Mountain Cabernet heavy blend from Paraduxx I had a Mother's Day winner.

[Great Expectations]

Wrong thread

[DJ's left nut]

Got my Sous Vide rig built and running - worked like a champ:

Built two of them - here they are mounted to an acrylic cook tub:

Spoiler!

They're wholly self-contained and controlled by a PID temp controller, solid state relay and immersion heater. The plans aren't hard to find but you'll want at least a little electrical know-how as there are some things you'll see done that I modified a little bit.

Running at a steady 130 - probably about 2-4 degrees lower than I'd have liked for Carne Asada in hindsight.

Spoiler!

Finished product:

Spoiler!

Sliced:

Spoiler!

I used my thermopen to test the corners of the tub every hour or so and it was perfectly uniform and matched the PID unit. I even managed to injure myself in a completely unrelated event, go to urgent care, get 12 stitches in my head and return to find the unit still humming right along. After bleeding profusely for 30 minutes and spending 2 hours getting stitched up, we still had perfect carne asada for dinner at 8:00.

Definitely a worthwhile investment and/or project. The best advice I could come up with from this is that you really want to be careful about undercooking steak. You put a lot of effort into slow-cooking this to make it tender but then if you serve it on the rare side of medium rare, you still end up with that fibrous texture that you end up tearing more than slicing. I think 132-134 is almost certainly the sweet spot but I'll keep trying.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Got my Sous Vide rig built and running - worked like a champ:

Built two of them - here they are mounted to an acrylic cook tub:

Spoiler!

They're wholly self-contained and controlled by a PID temp controller, solid state relay and immersion heater. The plans aren't hard to find but you'll want at least a little electrical know-how as there are some things you'll see done that I modified a little bit.

Running at a steady 130 - probably about 2-4 degrees lower than I'd have liked for Carne Asada in hindsight.

Spoiler!

Finished product:

Spoiler!

Sliced:

Spoiler!

I used my thermopen to test the corners of the tub every hour or so and it was perfectly uniform and matched the PID unit. I even managed to injure myself in a completely unrelated event, go to urgent care, get 12 stitches in my head and return to find the unit still humming right along. After bleeding profusely for 30 minutes and spending 2 hours getting stitched up, we still had perfect carne asada for dinner at 8:00.

Definitely a worthwhile investment and/or project. The best advice I could come up with from this is that you really want to be careful about undercooking steak. You put a lot of effort into slow-cooking this to make it tender but then if you serve it on the rare side of medium rare, you still end up with that fibrous texture that you end up tearing more than slicing. I think 132-134 is almost certainly the sweet spot but I'll keep trying.

Nice job!! How much cash did you put down for the equipment to build your own, out of curiosity?

Regarding the bolded, that's your cut of meat. Slow cooking skirt steak isn't going to make it tender. Skirt is all in how you slice it with those long fibers. Nothing you do besides slicing will change that. Try a sirloin. Great Expectations said his best experience has been with sirloin, as was mine. I've also had great luck with strips and ribeyes. If you want a slow cooked medium rare something, try short ribs or roast.

[Great Expectations]

I've now done sirloin, strips, tenderloin, and flank. The sirloin was the best, the tenderloin came in second. They were all good. I finished the tenderloin better than the others. I like a medium rare steak and find that 134 is my go to temp. I then finish it very fast in my cast iron with a bunch of butter. I was using olive oil and the finish was taking a little longer and a lower temp would probably work better. The butter burns better which creates a better crust. It takes a little less than a minute. I've used by induction cooktop set at 180.

I'd like to use a torch for my next go at a strip to finish off the fat cap w/out cooking the rest of it.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!

Nice job!! How much cash did you put down for the equipment to build your own, out of curiosity?

Regarding the bolded, that's your cut of meat. Slow cooking skirt steak isn't going to make it tender. Skirt is all in how you slice it with those long fibers. Nothing you do besides slicing will change that. Try a sirloin. Great Expectations said his best experience has been with sirloin, as was mine. I've also had great luck with strips and ribeyes. If you want a slow cooked medium rare something, try short ribs or roast.

About $90. The solid state relay made it a little more expensive. I also had some of the stuff we needed sitting round (spare acrylic for the bracket, for instance).

Really, the reason I made this is that my buddy and I are tinkerers so we wanted to try to make them and I have a shitload of cuts of meat from that cow that I just don't like. Just buying the new wand style one is probably the way to go, but building this was just a fun project for a Saturday. I have some massive sirloins in my freezer from my annual cow purchase. Sirloin blows. Badly. But I have 10 lbs of it so I need a method to make it well. I fully expect your experience to be proven correct - everyone raves about sous vide sirloin. I was bummed to see your experience with roast was a poor one. I am hoping to find a way to make one of these round/chuck roasts into something vaguely resembling a poor man's standing rib roast. They take up a ton of freezer space and frankly I just don't like pot roast.

I also learned that minimalist is likely the way to go. I made a very complicated Carne Asada marinade that was way WAY too strong but also another packet in a simple lime/soy/garlic mix that was damn near perfect. I've always fought marinades anyway so that will be my biggest hurdle to clear.