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  #46   ^
Old Tue, Oct-06-09, 22:17
capmikee's Avatar
capmikee capmikee is offline
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Plan: Weston A. Price, GFCF
Stats: 165/133/132 Male 5' 5"
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nancy LC
Ah neat! Foodsaver makes an attachment to seal them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSKg...feature=related

My wife, watching that over my shoulder, informs me that I need Serious Help.

Nevertheless, I thought that was pretty cool. But would it work for steaks? I've been wondering if a tight wrapping is also necessary to keep the juices in while the steak is under heat.
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  #47   ^
Old Wed, Oct-07-09, 09:41
Jayseem's Avatar
Jayseem Jayseem is offline
Carpe Diem
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Plan: Atkins
Stats: 310/260/185 Male 70
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Sous Vide is a fascinating concept. Here is some information from people who are trying this at home http://www.chow.com/stories/10145

Quote:
PID == proportional, integral, derivative
CamNat is right regarding the acronymn PID. Somewhere in my pile of junk is an industrial pid controller. It might prove to be an interesting winter project to set up a Rube Goldberg sous vide rig using the controller and some kind of electric pot.
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  #48   ^
Old Wed, Oct-07-09, 10:50
Nancy LC's Avatar
Nancy LC Nancy LC is offline
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Plan: DDF
Stats: 202/185.4/179 Female 67
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Quote:
Originally Posted by capmikee
My wife, watching that over my shoulder, informs me that I need Serious Help.

Nevertheless, I thought that was pretty cool. But would it work for steaks? I've been wondering if a tight wrapping is also necessary to keep the juices in while the steak is under heat.

I think that's the idea behind using a sealer. The pressure from the vacuum is important. Plus, you don't want things to float in the pot otherwise the top won't get cooked.

I'm definitely going to try a custard and I think in a jar would be the right way to do it.
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  #49   ^
Old Wed, Oct-07-09, 10:56
Nancy LC's Avatar
Nancy LC Nancy LC is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nancy LC
I'll post pictures of my bagged and ready to go meals. Tomorrow I'll cook some of them up!

LOL! Well, did some more reading this morning and found out cooking veggies, garlic and other stuff sous vide doesn't work out well. The water bath isn't hot enough for the veggies and things like fresh garlic develop off flavors, EVOO too. So I de-bagged my pretty chicken thighs with EVOO, garlic and veggies and washed them. Seasoned with curry, S&P and put them all into one big bag and sucked out the air. Cooked them at 160'. I'm not sure but I think that was an appropriate cooking temperature at least from the standpoint of killing bacteria. I put them into a cold water bath to chill rapidly and into the freezer. I've got a lot of steak to eat before I eat these bad boys.

Steak ready for sous vide.

Last edited by Nancy LC : Wed, Oct-07-09 at 11:02.
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  #50   ^
Old Wed, Oct-07-09, 13:04
bike2work bike2work is offline
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Plan: Fung-inspired fasting
Stats: 336/000/160 Female 5' 9"
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If you're bringing the chicken itself up to 160', that's plenty hot for killing the nasties. And isn't that how it works? That you bring the food up to the same temp as the water and hold it there till you're ready to use it? Are you finishing them in a hot oven or in a pan? I thought that was the key to killing surface bacteria. I think you're okay as long as you stay away from ground meat and do a quick sautee at the end.

I'm salivating at your experiments, Nancy. I want to move in if you're cooking sous vide now.

I've gotten extremely lazy about cooking lately. Good thing the Eadeses came up with this protein shake "cure". Real food sounds more appealing though.
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  #51   ^
Old Wed, Oct-07-09, 13:12
Nancy LC's Avatar
Nancy LC Nancy LC is offline
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Plan: DDF
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Yeah, 160 is pretty good, but even that doesn't kill all the botulism organisms. I've been reading and the food safety thing is very complicated! Apparently to completely kill botulism you have to heat things to above 212'! And of course, no one does that in the normal course of cooking, but in canning. The issue with sous vide *is* botulism because like in canning, the food is in an airless environment that the organism likes very well. However, if you're going to eat your stuff right away, or freeze it, you should be ok. Freezing doesn't kill most organisms, just slows them down a whole, whole bunch. Optionally you can refrigerate stuff but the temperature is pretty low, like 38' and I don't know if you can rely on a home fridge to be that accurate.

I did the chicken at 160. 130 pasteurizes things and kills stuff like e-coli and salmonella and kills the toxins created by botulism (I think).

The botulism concern seems to be storing it. One thing they do with sous vide is store the cooked product a long time. Like that stuff you eat in a top 5 star restaurant might have been cooked weeks ago and stored in the vacuum sealed bags.

I made my first steak! Oh man, it was awesome and I even screwed it up! I wanted to cook my steak to 131 (medium-rare, and pasteurized) then finish it by searing in a cast iron skillet. Instead, I managed to bungle things and forgot to reset the temperature to 131 and ended up cooking it at 160! Oy! Way over done and a lot of juice came out of it.

However, I went ahead and seared it in butter and it was awesome anyway! The juice I poured into the very hot pan and it sizzled down to a nice reduction sauce.

I never knew an overcooked, cheap steak could taste so good!

Tomorrow I'll do it again and hopefully get the cooking temperature right!

At the moment I'm reheat a custard-y egg I made yesterday in the water bath.

Other than the flavors the nice thing about sous vide is that you can basically prep everything ahead of time and cooking is merely dropping a bag in the device and setting a timer. Then just a quick sear (if needed).

If you freeze you can just reheat in 130 water.

I'll have to look into sous vide veggies.

Last edited by Nancy LC : Wed, Oct-07-09 at 13:27.
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  #52   ^
Old Wed, Oct-07-09, 13:30
Nancy LC's Avatar
Nancy LC Nancy LC is offline
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I was thinking my mustard chicken recipe might work out really nicely. The thing is that in baking it makes a crust, but I think maybe I could just sear it afterward.

Oh gosh! It looks like you can do a custard sous vide! Yeah! I love custard but because there's so much stirring and fuss involved I rarely make them.

http://hubpages.com/hub/No-Bake-Key...-Made-Sous-Vide
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  #53   ^
Old Wed, Oct-07-09, 13:49
bike2work bike2work is offline
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Plan: Fung-inspired fasting
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Once I get a new job, sous vide equipment will be my first purchase. I've been fantasizing about those steaks since I read the first review of Keller's book. How have I survived this long with only conventional cooking techniques?! I feel so barbaric!

On another note, I am saddened by this week's announcement of Gourmet's demise. I even read it as a child. The world will not be the same. As much as I love and thrive on the internet, it's replacing a lot of what was good in the world before it came along.
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  #54   ^
Old Wed, Oct-07-09, 14:37
Nancy LC's Avatar
Nancy LC Nancy LC is offline
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Plan: DDF
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I never subscribed to Gourmet but I have a friend that does and she cooks really well. I was always fond of Cook's Illustrated.
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  #55   ^
Old Wed, Oct-07-09, 14:48
capmikee's Avatar
capmikee capmikee is offline
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Posts: 5,160
 
Plan: Weston A. Price, GFCF
Stats: 165/133/132 Male 5' 5"
BF:?/12.7%/?
Progress: 97%
Location: Philadelphia
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nancy LC
Yeah, 160 is pretty good, but even that doesn't kill all the botulism organisms. I've been reading and the food safety thing is very complicated! Apparently to completely kill botulism you have to heat things to above 212'! And of course, no one does that in the normal course of cooking, but in canning. The issue with sous vide *is* botulism because like in canning, the food is in an airless environment that the organism likes very well. However, if you're going to eat your stuff right away, or freeze it, you should be ok.... 130 pasteurizes things and kills stuff like e-coli and salmonella and kills the toxins created by botulism (I think).

Wikipedia says botox is neutralized at 140 degrees. But you're right that the organism can withstand very high temperatures. The reason it's even a concern in canning is that it doesn't do well with competition - only when all the other organisms are killed off does C. Botulinum fluorish. But I think that takes time. A few hours in the cooker is not enough to make any appreciable amount of botox, so as you said, eating or freezing it right away is the way to go.

Salt and acidity also kill it.
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  #56   ^
Old Wed, Oct-07-09, 15:52
cnmLisa's Avatar
cnmLisa cnmLisa is offline
Every day is day one
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Plan: AtkinsMaintenance/IF
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Nancy--Will you post a pic of the steak after you've sliced it. (If you didn't eat it all). Plus, will you describe the texture, quality etc.


It's so funny...when I read PID the first thing that came to MY mind was pelvic inflammatory disease.
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  #57   ^
Old Thu, Oct-08-09, 15:51
Nancy LC's Avatar
Nancy LC Nancy LC is offline
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Plan: DDF
Stats: 202/185.4/179 Female 67
BF:
Progress: 72%
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LOL! Yeah, I thought of that sort of PID too.

I did take pictures.

Today's steak was really nice. Perfectly medium rare all the way through. I put a nice sear on it and it was terrific! I think one difference was that the first steak I had bagged with a little worchestershire sauce and it really soaked in and super enhanced the flavors. I'll have to do that again.

Steak with non-sous vided veggies


And then I remembered to plop the wobbly egg on top.

Last edited by Nancy LC : Thu, Oct-08-09 at 15:57.
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  #58   ^
Old Thu, Oct-08-09, 21:34
cnmLisa's Avatar
cnmLisa cnmLisa is offline
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Plan: AtkinsMaintenance/IF
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Yeah baby!! Food porn! I think I need a smoke now and I don't even smoke.
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  #59   ^
Old Thu, Oct-08-09, 22:59
Nancy LC's Avatar
Nancy LC Nancy LC is offline
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Plan: DDF
Stats: 202/185.4/179 Female 67
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Progress: 72%
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I think next time I need to let it cook longer. This one was about an hour but it was frozen when I put it in. The longer it is in there the more the connective tissue should break down. Probably an hour is appropriate for a more tender cut (frozen) but since this is sirloin I think it needs longer. Of course, it'll never get beyond medium rare at 130'!
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  #60   ^
Old Fri, Oct-09-09, 07:47
Nancy LC's Avatar
Nancy LC Nancy LC is offline
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Plan: DDF
Stats: 202/185.4/179 Female 67
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One of the chef's on Iron Chef last night was doing all kinds of molecular gastronomy stuff, including sous vide! They did sous vide lamb.
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