Sous Vide

I agree with you Marko and immediately took umbrage at what I saw in the still pic with the temps. It struck me that they had 140° as rare. Mine aren't that rare (as pictured) and I SV them at 128.8-129°F (despite what I wrote earlier when I misremembered). That doesn't mean that I don't like a black and blue steak once in awhile though.

I never saw the point of SVed chicken. I like the crispy skin* and I don't see that coming out of the SV bag. To make it crispy by some other means after SV seems to me that it would be cooked through by another method ( a 2nd cooking) since it takes time to drive out the water and crisp it up.

*Despite commonly held (false) beliefs put out by the merchants of lies, they would be the media and advertising, the fat in chicken skin is chemically similar to EVOO and isn't bad for us, just the opposite is true.

Edit: Freddy, the containers pictured earlier in the thread are valuable when SVing smaller quantities. When I SV larger quantities that won't fit in something like that, and I've cooked over 20 steaks at one time, I bought a cooler specifically for that purpose. I had to cut a corner out of the lid for my circulator, but the container works fine and it's insulated to help with efficiency. When I SV the Canadian bacon I mentioned earlier I'll have 3 largish pieces of pork loin, I'll use the cooler, as I did when SVing the most recent Roast Beef for cold cuts and the 36 hour cook.

I agree with you Marko and immediately took umbrage at what I saw in the still pic with the temps. It struck me that they had 140° as rare. Mine aren't that rare (as pictured) and I SV them at 128.8-129°F (despite what I wrote earlier when I misremembered). That doesn't mean that I don't like a black and blue steak once in awhile though.

I never saw the point of SVed chicken. I like the crispy skin* and I don't see that coming out of the SV bag. To make it crispy by some other means after SV seems to me that it would be cooked through by another method ( a 2nd cooking)  since it takes time to drive out the water and crisp it up.

*Despite commonly held (false) beliefs put out by the merchants of lies, they would be the media and advertising, the fat in chicken skin is chemically similar to EVOO and isn't bad for us, just the opposite is true.

Edit: Freddy, the containers pictured earlier in the thread are valuable when SVing smaller quantities. When I SV larger quantities that won't fit in something like that, and I've cooked over 20 steaks at one time, I bought a cooler specifically for that purpose. I had to cut a corner out of the lid for my circulator, but the container works fine and it's insulated to help with efficiency. When I SV the Canadian bacon I mentioned earlier I'll have 3 largish pieces of pork loin, I'll use the cooler, as I did when SVing the most recent Roast Beef for cold cuts and the 36 hour cook.

Brian, remember that I cook just for me and even if I was to SV four pork chops at once, for example, the tub I got can easily accommodate them.  I am working with limited counter space, too.  I'm going to try a piece of tilapia tonight to see how it goes.  I'm definitely nervous about the outcome, though everything seems to be working as it should.  If all goes well then I may try a pork chop in a couple of days.

Freddy, I only cook for 2. But that doesn't mean that I only cook enough for immediate needs. Steaks for instance get vac' sealed in and SV, then when done chilled and frozen rapidly. They can wait in the freezer, vacuum sealed for a very long time. Then when we want steak I thaw it in the SB bath at the temp they cooked at for an hour or 2. Then they get the torch treatment and we eat. No long SV times required.

The roast beef for cold cuts that I just did? That was big enough to require the cooler as the bath vessel. All of it will go into the freezer. When we want it I'll thaw it in the refrigerator, torch it, slice and make sandwiches. If what's in a package is too much I'd cut the pieces up before sealing and freezing and take out what I need as I need it.

Good luck with the tilapia.

Freddy, I only cook for 2. But that doesn't mean that I only cook enough for immediate needs. Steaks for instance get vac' sealed in and SV, then when done chilled and frozen rapidly. They can wait in the freezer, vacuum sealed for a very long time. Then when we want steak I thaw it in the SB bath at the temp they cooked at for an hour or 2. Then they get the torch treatment and we eat. No long SV times required.

The roast beef for cold cuts that I just did? That was big enough to require the cooler as the bath vessel. All of it will go into the freezer. When we want it I'll thaw it in the refrigerator, torch it, slice and make sandwiches. If what's in a package is too much I'd cut the pieces up before sealing and freezing and take out what I need as I need it.

Good luck with the tilapia.

Hey, Brian, what you do with the extra steaks was definitely in the back of my mind for steaks, pork chops, etc. once I get comfortable with times, temperatures, and such.

I was wondering if I could season and SV chicken tenders, freeze them for later use, and then defrost them, cut into bite size pieces, and toss with pasta and sauce.  Without setting up the SV, I was hoping to toss the sealed package into hot/boiling water just long enough to defrost and warm up.  Is that doable or would that not be food safe?  It seems to me that it would be okay as the chicken has already been cooked once.  In this case, I'm not concerned about searing beforehand so the tenders could just remain in their heat sealed bags once they've been SV'd.

On another note, I made the tilapia but I think I cooked it on a bit higher temperature than I should have as it was a bit firmer than I would have liked.  However, it was not at all dried out and had a nice flavor.  From everything I've read, this seems to be one of the big pluses of SV cooking.  I'm going to make tilapia again, tonight, but lower the temperature by 5⁰ and see what happens.  Some photos from yesterday's attempt:

Freddy, you're on your way. You're doing it correctly. If you don't like the results adjust and try again. Keep notes so that you can duplicate what worked.

I've never done fish but Marko has. I'd ask him, or maybe Baldwin can give temps for it. Heck, just Google it, that's my SV cookbook anymore when I need to check things I don't have in my notes.

As far as thawing, if I understand what you're asking... Once SVed and handled properly at the end of the bath (chilled to bring down the temp, and frozen) it doesn't matter how you thaw the product. I thaw a steak at the cooked SV temp because that's going to be the serving temp'. But thaw and do whatever you want within normal food safety guidelines. The roast beef that I just cooked for "deli" roast beef will get thawed in the refrigerator out in the shop then sliced for sandwiches and never rewarmed. Or just what they get before slicing from the torch. If you've SVed it properly you've greatly reduced the population of bacteria in the product, same as high temp' cooking would have.

Change of subject.

I worked on the pork loin today. I got 3 Canadian bacon pieces from it and 4 loin "chops" 1" thick. The chops are sitting with "Italian seanoning" on them to allow it to enter the meat,, I'll SV it when I get around to it. The bacon got the pink salt (1/4 tsp/lb) in the bag, then I added 1 TBL of liquid smoke, adjusting for the weight in the bag. I never made CB this way before so it's an experiment. The pink salt turned the liquid smoke a beautiful mahogany red color. I hope that permeates the meat. They're in the refrigerator and I'll turn the bags every day until I think the pieces are fully cured, at least 10 days. Then I'll SV them. I'll open the small one to test it first. If it's not smokey enough I'll add more to the other vac' sealed bags and give them time to soak it up as they thaw.

Re: the chops... I was going to just put garlic on them but tried the It' Seasoning instead. It's another experiment but should turn out tasty. After SVing they'll get the torch treatment I'm thinkin', or maybe just a few minutes each side in a smokin' hot pan. I won't know until it happens.

The Italian Seasoning is a blend I got from the 'net. I never buy blends but make my own and adjust the blend to suit myself.

Italian Seasoning recipe

Ingredients

3 tablespoons each dried basil, oregano and parsley flakes
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Directions
Place all ingredients, in batches if necessary, in a spice grinder or small bowl. Grind or crush with the back of a spoon until mixture becomes a coarse powder. Store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Note: I have a small "blender type" of coffee grinder that is used exclusively for spices. I used that to get things fine enough.

Nutrition Facts
1/4 teaspoon: 1 calories, 1g fat (0 saturated fat), 0 cholesterol, 1mg sodium, 1g carbohydrate (0 sugars, 1g fiber), 1g protein.

Thanks for the tips Brian.  I'll look forward to the chicken tender experiment with more confidence now.

As for my second try at tilapia this evening,  success!  It came out just the way I like it.  Keeping the cooking time the same but lowering the temperature 5⁰ worked great for me.  I now have that time/temperature mix set into the SV machine so all I have to do is choose it.  By the way, it was, indeed, from the internet where I got the time and temperature for tilapia specifically.  I have been using a combination of a SV cookbook I got and the internet for help with that.

That Italian seasoning mix looks good!  Like you, I have a grinder for spices and dehydrated vegetables only.  Using my dehydrator and grinder I have made my own tomato powder, onion powder, and celery powder.

It's good to see a new person to SV. I was extremely hesitant at first, but now love it. Just do it right and it's super easy and safe.

And if you miss the time by a little it's no big deal. It's not going to overcook and get more "done". What can happen is that whatever is in the bath can get a strange texture if one wildly misses the time. I think that's the price we can pay for being able to turn lesser cuts into something tender. An example of that is the "deli" roast beef I've been known to make. I've also been known to play with the time to tenderize really tough cuts, like corned beef. I don't remember the time and temp' and I'm not going to go into my notes, but I remember it being more than 2 days in the bath.

Freddy I find SV to be excellent with fish. There is good discussion on Serious Eats and in the cookbook I use on the results of different time and temperature. Apparently with salmon it even makes a difference if it’s wild or farmed. 

I made the Cuban Black Beans yesterday. The beans, water, bay leaves, salt, baking sofa and pork hock were SV for 24 hours at 194F. The beans were perfect and the hock was very tender. The meat fell off the bones. Nice comfort food. 

I did a pork loin roast today. 5 1/2 hours at 135 F then seared. It was moist and tender. That’s not a high enough temperature for conventional cooking but for 5.5 hours in the SV it’s long enough to kill everything and be safe to eat

It can be a little nerve wracking to cook things SV that you’re used to cooking to a much higher temperature for safety reasons like the pork above or these burgers. I tell you it was the juiciest burger I’ve ever eaten (excluding toppings) and very tasty. Homemade brioche buns too. 
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