Sous Vide

lporter229
lporter229 Posts: 4,907 Member
I just got a sous vide for my birthday and am looking for good recipes. Last night I made this chicken piccata with artichokes and sun dried tomatoes and it was absolutely delicious.

http://unorthodoxepicure.com/the-unorthodox-epicure-sous-vide-chicken-piccata/

Tonight I am cooking pork chops which i will pan sear after the sous vide. What are your favorite things to make sous vide? Recipes welcomed!
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Replies

  • swirlybee
    swirlybee Posts: 497 Member
    I did lobster tails last night. 134F for 1 hour with just butter and salt. Served with linguine in a simple butter sauce and spinach. Delicious. Might try it 130F next time.

    I usually do ribeye at 129F for 1 hour. Pan seared and served with a red wine reduction (red wine, garlic, shallots, rosemary, thyme and butter).

    Pork chops, I season with garlic powder and salt, then sous vide at 145F for 1 hour.

    I also do onsen tamago (Japanese soft-cooked egg) for use in ramen and other stuff. 145F for 1 hour.

    Vegetables, I generally do them with butter, salt and garlic powder at 190F for half an hour.
  • DX2JX2
    DX2JX2 Posts: 1,921 Member
    Skinless chicken breasts are generally the revelation to sous vide cooking for most. Cook to 140F or 141F for the juiciest and most tender meat ever. Super lean and low calorie, too.

    140F will give you super soft and tender meat. This is my favorite though some don't like it because it lacks the grain normally found in chicken breast.

    141F-142F will give you a more traditional meaty texture but the meat will still be super juicy, soft, and flavorful. This is how I cook it for guests.

    The other 'standard' for most sous vide newbies tends to be beef short ribs. Cook to medium rare/medium over a 48 to 72 hour period. The results are awesome and cannot be replicated by any other cooking method.

    I've had a sous vide rig for going on 10 years now and I've stopped using except for those cases where it produces results that I can't get via any other means (a la chicken breast and beef short ribs). Nothing against sous vide; I just refound my love for the process of traditional cookery.

    That said, I find the water bath a lifesaver when cooking individual serving pieces in bulk, for holding things at serving temperature before service, or for reheating leftover proteins to good as freshly cooked quality.
  • lporter229
    lporter229 Posts: 4,907 Member
    We made these spice rubbed pork chops last night. Put the rub on prior to sous vide, then seared in the pan. I have read conflicting opinions on whether or not it is preferable to put a rub on prior to the sous vide cooking or afterwards. i thought they turned out good this way, but wondered if anyone else had opinions.

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  • lporter229
    lporter229 Posts: 4,907 Member
    I sous vide salmon last night then gave it a quick pan sear. I cooked it at 122 F and it was amazing. The texture was perfect. I don't think I will ever make it any other way again. Wish i had taken photos. Next time.
  • emmies_123
    emmies_123 Posts: 513 Member
    My husband loves his sous vide (he is the cook in our house). We go to Costco and buy meat in bulk, he will spend a few hours on the weekend trimming and sealing serving sizes with whatever rub seasoning he wants on it. Then later on he can take the serving out of the freezer, stick it in sous vide, and boom dinner with no effort.

    Also makes the best pulled pork and burgers we have had.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,553 Member
    Now I want one too. I never did before because I assumed a sous vide would use up a lot of counter space. But now I see there are models that fit in a drawer and turn an ordinary pot into a sous vide.

    Are people happy with the performance of this type of sous vide stick? Can you use it in liquids other than water? Is it possible to do a stew or yoghurt?
  • swirlybee
    swirlybee Posts: 497 Member
    I have an anova sous vide stick and it works perfectly. They're technically called immersion circulators in that you immerse part of the machine in water. Then it suck up water, passes it through a heating element, then spits out the hot water. You can probably use it to heat up and keep a huge vat of tea or coffee but it wouldn't work for stew or yogurt. In other words, you should only use it for water.
  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    I would not use one for anything other than water for a few reasons. 1. it just isn't going to work for stew or yogurt, though I'm sure you could make yogurt via putting it in canning jars and then putting those in the pot (a quick google shows that to be correct). I wouldn't use it to keep tea or coffee warm because cleaning it would be a pain. That's especially true if there's sugar in any of those liquids, though even if there isn't, there will potentially be small amounts of sediment.

    Ok, after more googling, you can make stew sous vide, but all of the ingredients have to be sealed in the bag you're cooking in. Here's an example https://recipes.anovaculinary.com/recipe/sous-vide-beef-burgundy
  • lporter229
    lporter229 Posts: 4,907 Member
    Mine is the Joule, stick style sous vide. It is controlled exclusively through an app on my phone, so it is very easy to use.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,553 Member
    Will I need to buy a cast iron frying pan too to sear meat afterwards? My frying/sautee pans are either stainless steel or stone coated. I do have a couple of cast iron iron griddle pans with ridges. What type of pan do sear with afterwards?

    Can I use any kind of container, such as a plastic bucket if I wanted to sous vide, say, a Thanksgiving turkey?
  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    You should buy a cast iron pan regardless ;) They are great. But no, you don't need to buy one if you don't want to and yes any type of container will work.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,553 Member
    So if I want a sear sous vide meat, is cast iron the best choice on a gas cooker?

    For my normal needs (stir frying and sauteeing) I am quite happy with my non stick stone coated pans but I might need to go above temperature recommendations to sear sous vide meat.
  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    You can use stainless steel as well.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,553 Member
    Thanks. Sorry for temporarily hijacking the thread. Please continue to post sous vide recipes.
  • garystrickland357
    garystrickland357 Posts: 598 Member
    I copied this cooler hack for my sous vide. It works very well. Try carrots with some brown sugar and butter - they are magical sous vide. Cook them and then toss in a hot pan to reduce the liquid into a glaze - yum...
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  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,553 Member
    I asked for a sous vide stick for my birthday next week. Are skin on boneless chicken breasts the first thing to try?
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,553 Member
    Tried a roast topside of beef (American round, I believe). Was a little confused by online recipes with temperatures ranging from 52C to 59C and times for 2.5h to 24h. Tried 6 hours at 52C. The meat looked great but the texture was a bit stringy and sandy (like liver or chemically tenderized meat). I suspect temperature was too low to break down collagen. Will try higher temperature and shorter cooking time, I guess.

    If you use time/temperature tables you trust please let me know.
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  • John772016
    John772016 Posts: 111 Member
    Read this thread on Sunday, went for a long walk, ended up in store & bought an immersion sous vide.......you guys are a bad (good) influence. 👍
  • Soon2BSuper
    Soon2BSuper Posts: 1,767 Member
    Combine the Sous Vide with your BBQ and you'll have THE BEST steak you've ever made in your life!
    https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/beef-and-bison-recipes/sous-vide-que-ribeye-steak-recipe

  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,553 Member
    just_Tomek wrote: »
    Combine the Sous Vide with your BBQ and you'll have THE BEST steak you've ever made in your life!
    https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/beef-and-bison-recipes/sous-vide-que-ribeye-steak-recipe

    Nope not BBQ. A very very hot skillet. Either cast iron or carbon. Something that will allow you to do a VERY hot quick sear.

    What temperature do you like to take the pan to on a infrared laser thermometer to get a good sear? I get my non stick stone lined pans to 205C regularly, though the manufacturer says you can take them to 260C. Might need to get a cast iron one if I want to go higher. My carbon steel wok is too big and cumbersome for searing sous vide meats.