If its a nice thick piece with lots of fat on the side (e.g. sirloin) then I use a carbon steel pan (like cast iron but smooth) bringing it up till smoking point, searing the fatty side to rend and crispen it then just a minute or so on each side cooking in its own fat.
Otherwise with a thin and lean piece of meat like a flatiron or hanger steak then it gets browned with a blow torch to avoid any overcooking, I might brown some butter to give it that nice nutty taste and some added fat.
Had a sublime rose veal steak the other night, plenty of marbling throughout and very tender, definitely glad I got a sous vide machine as it was cooked to perfection.
Kicked off "Sous Vide Barbecue Pulled Pork Shoulder" a couple of hours ago, plan for ~30 hours in the sous vide @ 73.6c and then a hour and a half or so in the oven at 150c to get the "Bark".
Made my own rub, the same as when I smoke on the BBQ.
The plan is to follow this: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2...er-recipe.html
My wife makes the BBQ sauce but not until tomorrow, with some slow roasted veg.
Heres my rub:
- 2 Tbsp Paprika
- 1 Tbsp Smoked Paprika
- 1 Tbsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 2 Tbsp Salt
- 1/2 Tsp Celery Seeds, Crushed
- 1 Tbsp Dried Oregano, Ground
- 1 Tbsp Dried Thyme, Ground
- 1 Tbsp Sumac
- 2 Tbsp Garlic Powder
- 1 Tbsp Mustard Powder
- 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
- 1 Tbsp Cumin Seeds, Toasted & Ground
- 1 Tbsp Fennel Seeds, Toasted & Ground
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Chilli Powder
- 1 Tsp Cayenne Pepper
- couple of cloves
- few allspice berries
- 1 Tbsp of onion powder
- 1 Tbsp Ground Ginger
- 1 Tbsp Sichuan pepper
1.8Kg of Pork shoulder tied rubbed and ready for the sous vide:
And in the sous vide for the next 30 hours:
More tomorrow.....
Nice. I did a smoked brisket last weekend and it came out fantastic (well, a bit salty I have to admit).
Good luck and enjoy!
Food saver:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/FoodSaver-V...d+saver+vacuum
I'm not convinced that there is a need for connected sous vide units, I went for one of these in the end and it seems to have a more powerful heating, circulation and genrally a more industrial / professional feel than the other options, plus it has more granularity in the heating control .1 F rather than the .5 I saw on other devices.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B017RK2N...ords=sous+vide
On a side note....
I managed a 8hour sous vide steak in my oven. Used a standard electric fan oven with the sealed steak in a pot of water in it.
Could have improved with a thicker browned crust but Not bad without proper equipment?
My Codlo was out of action as I stupidly gave away my rice cooker that I used for sous vide.
Cheers
Harry
Sent from my iPhone
Good call. This definitely looks professional. Not to mention the 0.1c accuracy is far better than my Codlo.
I guess wifi can be used to control the cooking when you're not around at home? Say, I can sous vide some chicken or fish at about lunch time whilst I'm at work and get home and sear them off for an instant meal.
H
If you give people nothingness, they can ponder what can be achieved from that nothingness.
Sent from my iPhone
My sous vide fillet steak effort with brandy pepper corn sauce on a sweet potato fritter.
Came out just right
Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk
Agree about the lack of need for connected cooking.
I am getting a bit tired with my waterbath, it's simply too heavy and not flexible enough (only 6 litres of water). Tested an Anova, but don't like the hot plastic smell which it constantly emits and it is also off by 2 degrees and the offset adjustment doesn't work (admitted by Anova support). So looking at the Vactec for now, but it says the timer only goes to 99 minutes? Can you cook longer by not using the timer at all? I need to be able to do 36hour cooks, so 99 minutes is a show-stopper.
By the way, found it here for 120 quid including free shopping in UK (price is net of VAT): http://www.ecateringonline.co.uk/vac...-uk-2208-p.asp Nice offer for somebody in the UK, but they want 30 pounds for shipping it to Luxembourg, so not for me.
Sounds wrong to me, I set mine to cook for 30 hrs yesterday on timer, no smell of burning / plastic, 1500w element and it / my thermo pen are within .5 c of each other. Obviously I haven't tried the opposition but I'm happy with it, I think you'd be too.
I'm less happy with the cheaper sous vide roll I brought from Amazon, the seal went on my pork yesterday so I had 30 hour poached pork!
Food saver roll from now on I think.
There's a Vac-Tec bath that can be had for similar price - SV200 - 12.5l and has a lid, which might give better thermal stability than the plastic tub approach. Might be a decent package?
I have had a bath for the past five years and I see moving to an immersion cooker as a major step forward. First, because of flexibilty regarding the size - anything from a regular cooking pot to a large plastic container will work, but also as the circulation is providing superior temperature stability.
If you think the plastic containers are unstable, just stack two of them into each other. It also adds insulation, and considering the price of IKEA containers the cost is minimal.
The Vac-Tec SV200 lists "Circulating pump helps eliminate cold spots" as one of its features: link. It also has a lower power rating (650 W) than their stand alone circulator, perhaps that's down to the insulation provided by a made for purpose bath?
However, I have to agree that the SV100 at 1500 W may well give quicker warm up times and greater flexibiltiy as to the container used, as well as taking up less storage space
If anyone is in the market for an Anova: they have a Black Friday rebate. Not sure how it's going to be in the UK, but in Euroland the rebate is €60 from their 179€ retail price.
I just received a campaign email, not sure you need that in order to get the rebate. Please PM me if you are interested and cannot find it on the website.
Last edited by Raffe; 21st November 2016 at 18:49. Reason: hfsabuz iuwjdf oi
Extra-ghetto lazy-man version tonight; I'm doing duck right in its retail packaging in a simple pot adjusted for temp every ten minutes:
Should crisp up nicely when I sear it in the carbon steel pan in an hour or so.
But my improvised-equipment days are soon over; the circulator's on its way.
Coincidently, I also did duck breast in the sous vide tonight. Nice thing is that the skin gets really soft in the water bath and then you can crisp it nicely in a pan, it insulates so well that you don't need to be afraid to overcook the duck while you are searing. Mine was fabulous!!
I did cod sous vide yesterday. Lightly salted, with some dill and a bit of butter. No vacuum for fish, just water displacement in a zip-lock bag. 45 minutes at 53 degrees. Obviously no searing - it was perfect!
Indeed, sous-vide duck breast seared on carbon steel is obscenely good.
The circulator arrived over Christmas, and it's definitely proven to be worthwhile over the past six weeks or so. I went for the Anova one, and though the wifi option does seem to have an element of gimmickry, I can also foresee it being useful in some situations so I figured it probably wouldn't hurt to give it a go. The unit seems well-made and well-thought-out; I'm happy with it so far.
A few things to note so far: you can lose a lot of water overnight from evaporation, but it's a non-issue with a fitted lid, plastic wrap, or — better yet — ping pong balls. Combined with an insulated tub (a small beer cooler is perfect), it makes for a very energy-efficient cooking method, and frees up space on the rangetop.
Also, simple and inexpensive Ikea seamless-sided plastic bags double-clipped at the top and bottom work perfectly and keep out water reliably. However, as I found out the hard way, their zip-top-closure ones don't; those ones inevitably fail at the seam. :|
Looks like Vactec have a new model. The VSP018 which looks like an Anova style but only £69 (ex VAT) https://www.ecatering.co.uk/buy/vact...ok-eat_781.htm. There is also a pack with a Vactec sealer for £99 (ex VAT). The previous square style is no longer at Ecatering.
Holy smoke! I'm surprised you lived to tell the tale. I would've thought that the packaging is suited for much colder temperatures that sous vide, e.g. the fridge. I don't have anything to back this assumption up, but I'm really curious as to how you know that would be a safe thing to do? Does it say so on the packaging?
I can image sous vide duck must be tasty :-)
Cheers
Mabuse
There was a question a while back about how long the units take to get to temp, I checked my unit today it's a 1500w vac-tec unit and went from tap water @ 9.8c to 51.4c in 18mins.
Also when searing the steaks today I also used my bacon press to weight the steaks after cooking in the bath, gave a nicer crust.
As a veggie this is all academic to me but are you not concerned about migration in to the food of all the nasties in the plastic?
In a word: No.
Polyethylene is biologically inert, and the relatively low temperatures used in sous-vide aren't enough to affect it in any case.
But it's not only animal proteins that benefit from the technique. Mrs. B is a vegetarian, and it's also been a great addition to the kitchen because of the control over textures and ability to infuse flavours that it provides. For me, the results with carrots done in butter or olive oil are enough alone to justify its presence.
Quick heads up on a vacuum sealer. Latest Costco flyer for 20/02 - 12/03 arrived today. The Foodsaver FSFSSLV3840-060 is on offer for £89.98 inc VAT which looking at current web prices seems a good one.
An interesting thread, for sure.
I might try a "basic" experiment using either my oven, or slow-cooker - but could never justify buying a specialist piece of equipment.
I might be tempted to get a smoker, though
A
Thread revival! One year on, is anyone that bought a sous vide “machine” still using it? I’m getting tempted by one but have a feeling it could end up like a lot of my other kitchen gadgets. Aldi have one on offer this week for £50 but I’m also tempted by the Anova mentioned in this thread.
Yes, I had one for many years and still use it a lot.
Someone who lies about the little things will lie about the big things too.
Same here ^
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Likewise. A good tool to have, and one which has a unique function as well as freeing up space on the range while being almost automated and stress-free since it's so tolerant of extended cooking times.
We still use ours a few time a month, tempted to get a pan based one to give more options and run 2 temperatures at the same time.
Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app
Mine gets used about once a month, for salmon fillets mainly.
I have had mine for a year now. I use it about once a fortnight for consistently great steak.
Still use mine once a fortnight or so, it does seem to get less use in the summer but that’s because outside cooking is easier.
I bought the Anova last year. After the initial enthusiasm wore off I've used it about once a month. I'm happy with the purchase. It's a great tool to have in the kitchen, even if I don't use it really often.
Bought the Sous Vide wand from Aldi, a stock-pot, vac bags and some thermal balls for heat retention.
Tried it on burgers first, done at around 54cdeg for 2-1/2hrs before throwing them on a skillet at 240Cdeg surface temp, for 1m each side.
I'm a convert!
I can see me continuing to use it as although it has to be taken out the cupboard - it is fire and forget, in use.
Steak and a nice half-bottle of claret at the weekend - beckons.
(will now go back and glean more info from this thread)
Al