Sous Vide

That sounds great RayClem   We also upped our game with a sous vide cooker, pellet smoker, sear station Napoleon grill and an assortment of cast iron and carbon steel pans we already had. Oh, almost forgot the Gozney Rocbox outdoor pizza oven. We don’t dine out anymore. Not only way too expensive but as you pointed out, not as good as what I make at home and usually way way too much fat added. 

Our kids have been out on their own for a while now and are generally pretty good at feeding themselves but the transition when they first went out was a surprise for them. they learned that the food quality they got at home which they’d grown up with and taken for granted was not the norm. The good news is that it’s not hard. A little bit of effort, attention to detail and high standards. It also helps to be open to new ideas and to read lots of cookbooks.

Ray, just be aware that there are minimum times for food safety with SV. And those times are not merely for doneness but for killing off the bad stuff. Don't kill yourself or others for the sake of saving a little time or electricity. Those time charts are online or in books that teach the SV process.

Re: paper towels... I worked in the paper industry and the additives that all companies must use to make paper is nothing that should be anywhere near food. For instance, the repulpers found under the tail end of each part of the paper dryer is loaded with slime, literally living slime. The chemicals used to keep it at bay has huge warnings for genetic defects and cancer plastered on it. From its fumes and the workers being 20' above the repulper (a huge "blender") it would cause our eyes and skin to burn. I wasn't alone in complaining about it. But my point is that what you think is safe I find highly suspect since paper can't be made without those chemicals. Paper can't be made with slime as an ingredient so slimicide must be an additive. It's really nasty stuff and no human should be anywhere near it and it should never be near food (IMO). Periodically I see people I worked with on the street and we discuss the past. Many we worked with, far more than the general population have died of cancer and have huge medical issues. Yeah, all part of paper making. But my point is to warn about what you're putting in with your food. If you do what follows far below (last paragraph) it will help to mitigate the effects, or it should.

Formaldehyde? Maybe years ago or maybe really old mills. But maybe today as well? I just doubt it. I also only worked in one mill and knew their process and made it my business to find out what I was being subjected to.

If your food saver has a sealing "intensity" control turn it up it to maximum. That's what I do and it works fine. If sealing a few hundred pounds of beef critter you'll need to back it down after a time. You'll know that time has arrived when the food saver closes and you can't draw a vacuum due to the seal being formed before the sealer actually comes on. I also have been known to move the bag just a smidgeon and seal it a 2nd time to make sure.

Some bags give up the vacuum after a few months and the food begins to freezer burn. I wrap what I'm sealing in either a poly bag, plastic wrap, or an unsealed freezer bag. Then I draw the vacuum and seal it. Once frozen the plastic clings to the food and it can't freezer burn even if the vacuum is lost. It also will help to keep the paper towel away from the food.

Yeah, once I upped our cooking we only went out to eat to socialize with friends, and then I only ordered items I didn't cook. I never ordered a steak "out" afterwards.

ShadowsDad Can I put cooked bacon on paper towel to drain without risk my life?

I have no idea. I drained mine briefly for many years but no longer* and not because of Slimicide. But I suspect all paper making now uses Slimicide. Paper machines are nasty. The slime grows in stalagmites and hangs wherever the organic fiber (aka pulp) and water gets deposited. The slimicide is water soluble and maybe OK in the presence of fat, but IDK and I won't tell you that it's OK to do.

* Marko, I have heart disease and I did research into it. I research everything and especially things that can kill me now. I wish I had researched this sooner. Did you know that there was only one "study" that showed that fats caused heart disease? It was a fraudulent study that was out to prove fats were the culprit. Heck, it makes sense, right? Except no one has ever been able to duplicate the results when the study is done fairly. Why the fraud? The person was in a competition to publish first against another person studying carbs. So corners were cut and the fix was in since fats made sense. Except they aren't a factor. Studies have shown just the opposite. Eat fats and lower the LDL and raise the HDL The hardest thing I ever did was to reject the commonly held fat theory and go into ketosis where we actually eat fats. I felt that I was eating poison since I was propagandized with the same misinformation (based on my research). My PCP recently told me that he agrees with what I'm doing. But he kept his voice down and we were in a private room. I regularly check my LDL/HDL and he has told me that people would kill for my numbers. They regularly both run in the low 70s. No Dr has told me to stop what I'm doing 'cause I'll kill myself and they all know what I'm doing and my history. I do take a statin to help control my livers production of LDL, but that too is questionable. But it doesn't hurt me so I take them. I no longer drain my bacon on anything. I just render it out and crisp it up on lowish heat. As I take it out of the pan I allow it a bit of time in the tongs to drip off. But if I want to eat chewy bacon that's OK too. I just prefer it crisp. I eat fat and oil but not huge amounts of it because it's so high in calories (it's a much better fuel) and I just don't need all that much. I wish I had the info I found 50 years ago before major damage had been done to my blood vessels. But what's done is done.

If you want to look into it for yourself I can give you the names of the people involved in those studies to speed up the search for data, but I don't have them on the tip of my tongue.

I worked my entire 41 year career in the paper industry. I was trained as a chemical engineer and worked in research, engineering, and production. I spent the last half of my career in field technical service. I would not want to use unbleached paper towels or napkins for direct food contact, but unprinted, bleached paper towels have been FDA approved for direct food contact. The bleaching process and various biocides and dispersants used in the papermaking process will deter the growth of harmful microbes. Plus, the paper is subjected to high heat during the drying process.

There was a time when the primary chemical used to provide wet strength properties was urea formaldehyde. The bleached mill I worked in used to make peach colored butchers wrap using urea formaldehyde for wet strength and paraffin wax for blood resistance. Any unreacted formaldehyde evaporated during the drying process. I haver been retired for a while so I do not know who makes butcher's paper these days. Most paper is manufactured using alkaline sizing chemicals as opposed to the acid-rosin sizing common in the 20th century. Thus, urea formaldehyde and melamine formaldehyde are unlikely to be used.   

Formaldehyde is a natural component of all wood products and pulp and paper derived from wood. However, through the bleaching and papermaking processes, this formaldehyde gets removed. There is probably more formaldehyde released from the burning of wood pellets in a pellet grill than you will get from contact with a small piece of paper towel. 

As for length of immersion in Sous Vide, I always overdo it. My wife wants her protein cooked well- done, which makes it tough. By cooking for several hours Sous Vide, I can end up with slightly pink beef that she will eat as she knows it is safe.

ShadowsDad  there’s a great episode of Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History podcast called MacDonalds Broke My Heart which deals with the whole anti saturated fat movement and how MacDonalds was pressured into changing out the beef tallow (delicious) they cooked their fries in to a mixture of unsaturated oils (not delicious). Basically a guy with lots of money got heart disease and decided it was because of saturated fat in fast foods and used his personal resources to pressure MacDonalds to change their foods. The heartbreak was that the once delicious fries aren’t anymore. Remember trans fats?

Soooo much bovine excrement is being slung around these days. It's hard to keep track and it can be confusing for the common man. Me? I have time to research things that catch my interest. But who else does?

I remember trans fats well. Now they are definitely no good for us. I also try to stay away from all processed oils due to the high Omega 6 content.

Soooo much bovine excrement is being slung around these days. It's hard to keep track and it can be confusing for the common man. Me? I have time to research things that catch my interest. But who else does?

I remember trans fats well. Now they are definitely no good for us. I also try to stay away from all processed oils due to the high Omega 6 content.

So much of what we think we know isn't based in actual facts.  Food pyramid.  The demonization of animal fats and on and on.  I keep trying to tell my wife that eating supplements or food with collagen in it won't do anything for the collagen in her skin.  It just gets broken down by your digestive system into its component amino acids and used by your body like any other amino acid.  Also rubbing it on your skin won't do anything either.  It's like rubbing steak on your skin and expecting to absorb and metabolize protein.  Dont get me started on vitamins and other supplements.  I recommend this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Killing-Us-Softly...154&sr=8-3

Now as a moderator I feel it is my duty to get this thread back on track!    Back to Sous Vide cooking

Okay, Marko, ShadowsDad, and others who have used the sous vide method of cooking, a little help please.  I ordered my very first sous vide cooker (due tomorrow from Amazon) and I am a complete novice.  I have never seen one in use and, indeed, have never seen an actual one, even in a shop.  It's something I probably won't use too often but certain meats I have little luck in cooking.  (It also doesn't help that I am a lousy cook.)  I rarely get pork chops or even a small pork tenderloin just the way I like them so they are moist and not shoe leather.  I rarely make steak at home for a reason that has nothing to do with cooking but wouldn't mind being able to get a great medium rare one every once in a while.  Boneless chicken breasts and tenders are others that usually elude me and I can end up with something that could be used for sandpaper because it's so dry.

What I'd like to know is what times and temperatures should I consider for these meats?  What about a delicate thin piece of fish like tilapia.  I wonder if a thicker cut of fish like Ahi tuna can be cooked to where it is rare in the middle but safe to eat.    I am not looking to prepare fancy meals with it or something like fresh vegetables which can be done faster than a sous vide would prepare them.  Obviously, when I get to using it, I shall be doing a lot of experimenting but the less failures I have, the better.

This is what I ordered.  It's a Kitchen Boss G320 model.  It's 1100W so I'm hoping it doesn't trip the circuit breaker as I live in an old apartment and the electric wiring isn't the most up to date.  However, I can use my toaster oven or microwave oven even with the refrigerator running so I am hoping it will be the same with this piece of kitchen gear.



Thanks for any advice.