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January 17th - 18th 2015
Chicken Thighs and Chicken Breasts Sous Vide
Friday I was off to the store to pick up some Sick supplies, I had to call out of work, my oldest daughter, Son and Wife have the Flu, Sam and Myself are still OK so far.
I figured that we would all be shut in this weekend so to avoid going stir crazy I decided to pick up some meat for some serious weekend cooking, after looking at the price of a pork loin @ $3.98 a pound I said No way and hit the chicken section. I had two chickens in the refrigerator already to spatchcock and grill.
After "oogling" at the Thighs and Breasts lol. I figured I would do some Sous Vide cooking. After making the decision that I would Sous Vide all weekend, I also picked up a few chuck Roasts to make some Beef Stroganoff.
I set up my Sous Vide station then hit a snag, apparently the Immersion Circulator had ceased up so out come the tools, problem fixed but its a bit noisier than before, I'm going to have to look into replacing the motor bearings.
I got the bath up to about 140° or so then fired up the immersion circulator, it will take a couple hours sometimes to settle down and will hold 2/10 of a degree, but adding hot water or ice just takes longer, it works much better to give it a two hour prime, especially if holding a degree is important. By adding Ice and hot water the PID controller gets confused.
First up I prepped the boneless thighs, no trimming or rinsing.
Sage, Basil, Parsley and Sundried tomatoes
Plain
Philly Style Rub
Franks Red hot and Blue Cheese Dressing
Chubb
Next up Bone in thighs with skin, I was trying a recipe Laura's Mom used to make, After I made it I found out she wasn't too big on this recipe, I always thought it was one of her favorites oh well. Thighs were not rinsed or trimmed, If I do these thighs again I would trim the excess fat along the sides to allow for complete browning of the skin.
I took three and spiced with some Basil, Parsley and a pinch of sage.
Everything is Vac Sealed and ready for the bath, the bath is set to 147°F and the boneless thighs will cook three hours, the bone in thighs will cook 4 hours.
The two spatchcocked birds on the right are for the grill.
The necks and trimmings from the spatchcocked birds are browned for a gravy that will be used on the bone in thighs recipe.
The pan is deglazed with a bit of sweet vermouth then tossed in a pot with a few cups of water then placed on the back burner on low covered.
After three hours at 148°F the boneless thighs are removed from the hot bath and placed in an ice bath for thirty minutes.
All but one of the boneless thigh pouches are placed in the freezer to be used at a later date. The sundried Tomato thighs are up for sampling.
A little air drying then the Thighs are browned in Garlic Olive oil.
I was hoping to keep all three thighs intact for presentation but they were sticking to the pan a bit. I 'll have to pick up some transglutaminase!
How was it? The flavor was good but the texture was tooooo ...dare I say it?... yes I will!! it was too gummy, OMG I HATE THAT WORD! There was definitely too much moisture in the meat for my liking, the mouthfeel was a bit of a turnoff.
I think the thighs will be better done at 155°F - 160°F next time.
I did end up making a dish that was excellent with these thighs, I cut the thigh meat into medallions, pan fried and served... much, much better.
The rest of the Sundried Tomato chicken thighs were cut into medallions, browned then vacuum sealed with some Pineapple Habanero sauce and tossed into the freezer for a single meal when I'm eating solo.
The bone in thighs are removed after 4 hours, I decided to keep these in the bath an hour longer than the boneless but should have bumped the temp up to at least 155°F.
Rendered liquid from vac bags are poured into the gravy pot, necks are removed and the gravy is strained with a fine mesh strainer and placed back on the burner.
Thighs are browned on both sides with a Mushroom Olive oil and placed in a pan.
A blonde rue is made from the drippings in the pan and poured into the gravy pot, the gravy is tweaked then added to the thighs.
This was pretty good but was actually better the next day reheated in a pan. The texture was much better the next day, the only benefit, for our family, from doing these at 148° is that when they are reheated you don't over cook them too much. Half of the batch was used for dinner and the other half into the freezer in two batches for another day. This should be served on a bed of rice but I didn't feel like making any!
Next up Chicken Breasts for chicken salad and the freezer. Breasts were $1.89 a pound
I did one Breast with Italian Dressing to sample. These were done two hours at 155°. After the thighs, I figured this would be a safe temp for the breast.
This was extraordinary the wife even like it but she said still a wee bit wet for her, it was absolutely perfect for me and the Italian Dressing flavor was slightly noticeable, I was very happy with this.
Two of the breast are placed in an ice bath for thirty minutes and then into the freezer.
Since this was for chicken salad, I did not go crazy on spices, I figured it could be spiced later.
Two breasts are prepped for Chicken Salad, first I smashed them with my hand.
Then the breasts are shredded with a fork and nasty bits are removed. Garlic Powder, Onion Powder and salt is added.
Chicken is then chopped with a knife.
Shredded, Chopped Chicken is transferred to a bowl and Mayo is added, after mixing and sitting a bit in the refrigerator more mayo will be added. If this was just for me, there would be celery, sundried tomatoes, Minced Onions a pinch of mustard powder, black pepper and crushed red pepper, maybe even sweet relish!
I learned a very valuable lesson this weekend or should I say, it finally sunk into my thick skull. The most important thing I learned (accepted) is that my family prefers chicken with a greater loss in moisture during the cook. A higher moisture content is usually followed with a statement like, "it's too gummy" and as much as I hate that word, they were dead on with the thighs.
I really wanted this to have awesome results, it has proven to be fruitless for chicken compared to grilling, pan frying, or pit cooking for basic chicken dinner, with the exception of the breast meat. Sous Vide cooking can push the extremes as far as reducing moisture loss, sadly it's not a benefit for my family. However I was floored by the quality, mouthfeel and flavor of the Breast meat and the bone in thighs were awesome the next day reheated. Also on another positive note, it does work well when cooking, freezing and reheating.
I will be trying this again soon but at higher temps, thighs 160°F-165°F and breasts 155°F-160°F, but there comes a time when I have to ask myself, "is it worth all the prep when I can simply toss on the grill"?
Chicken Thighs and Chicken Breasts Sous Vide
Friday I was off to the store to pick up some Sick supplies, I had to call out of work, my oldest daughter, Son and Wife have the Flu, Sam and Myself are still OK so far.
I figured that we would all be shut in this weekend so to avoid going stir crazy I decided to pick up some meat for some serious weekend cooking, after looking at the price of a pork loin @ $3.98 a pound I said No way and hit the chicken section. I had two chickens in the refrigerator already to spatchcock and grill.
After "oogling" at the Thighs and Breasts lol. I figured I would do some Sous Vide cooking. After making the decision that I would Sous Vide all weekend, I also picked up a few chuck Roasts to make some Beef Stroganoff.
I set up my Sous Vide station then hit a snag, apparently the Immersion Circulator had ceased up so out come the tools, problem fixed but its a bit noisier than before, I'm going to have to look into replacing the motor bearings.
I got the bath up to about 140° or so then fired up the immersion circulator, it will take a couple hours sometimes to settle down and will hold 2/10 of a degree, but adding hot water or ice just takes longer, it works much better to give it a two hour prime, especially if holding a degree is important. By adding Ice and hot water the PID controller gets confused.
First up I prepped the boneless thighs, no trimming or rinsing.
Sage, Basil, Parsley and Sundried tomatoes
Plain
Philly Style Rub
Franks Red hot and Blue Cheese Dressing
Chubb
Next up Bone in thighs with skin, I was trying a recipe Laura's Mom used to make, After I made it I found out she wasn't too big on this recipe, I always thought it was one of her favorites oh well. Thighs were not rinsed or trimmed, If I do these thighs again I would trim the excess fat along the sides to allow for complete browning of the skin.
I took three and spiced with some Basil, Parsley and a pinch of sage.
Everything is Vac Sealed and ready for the bath, the bath is set to 147°F and the boneless thighs will cook three hours, the bone in thighs will cook 4 hours.
The two spatchcocked birds on the right are for the grill.
The necks and trimmings from the spatchcocked birds are browned for a gravy that will be used on the bone in thighs recipe.
The pan is deglazed with a bit of sweet vermouth then tossed in a pot with a few cups of water then placed on the back burner on low covered.
After three hours at 148°F the boneless thighs are removed from the hot bath and placed in an ice bath for thirty minutes.
All but one of the boneless thigh pouches are placed in the freezer to be used at a later date. The sundried Tomato thighs are up for sampling.
A little air drying then the Thighs are browned in Garlic Olive oil.
I was hoping to keep all three thighs intact for presentation but they were sticking to the pan a bit. I 'll have to pick up some transglutaminase!
How was it? The flavor was good but the texture was tooooo ...dare I say it?... yes I will!! it was too gummy, OMG I HATE THAT WORD! There was definitely too much moisture in the meat for my liking, the mouthfeel was a bit of a turnoff.
I think the thighs will be better done at 155°F - 160°F next time.
I did end up making a dish that was excellent with these thighs, I cut the thigh meat into medallions, pan fried and served... much, much better.
The rest of the Sundried Tomato chicken thighs were cut into medallions, browned then vacuum sealed with some Pineapple Habanero sauce and tossed into the freezer for a single meal when I'm eating solo.
The bone in thighs are removed after 4 hours, I decided to keep these in the bath an hour longer than the boneless but should have bumped the temp up to at least 155°F.
Rendered liquid from vac bags are poured into the gravy pot, necks are removed and the gravy is strained with a fine mesh strainer and placed back on the burner.
Thighs are browned on both sides with a Mushroom Olive oil and placed in a pan.
A blonde rue is made from the drippings in the pan and poured into the gravy pot, the gravy is tweaked then added to the thighs.
This was pretty good but was actually better the next day reheated in a pan. The texture was much better the next day, the only benefit, for our family, from doing these at 148° is that when they are reheated you don't over cook them too much. Half of the batch was used for dinner and the other half into the freezer in two batches for another day. This should be served on a bed of rice but I didn't feel like making any!
Next up Chicken Breasts for chicken salad and the freezer. Breasts were $1.89 a pound
I did one Breast with Italian Dressing to sample. These were done two hours at 155°. After the thighs, I figured this would be a safe temp for the breast.
This was extraordinary the wife even like it but she said still a wee bit wet for her, it was absolutely perfect for me and the Italian Dressing flavor was slightly noticeable, I was very happy with this.
Two of the breast are placed in an ice bath for thirty minutes and then into the freezer.
Since this was for chicken salad, I did not go crazy on spices, I figured it could be spiced later.
Two breasts are prepped for Chicken Salad, first I smashed them with my hand.
Then the breasts are shredded with a fork and nasty bits are removed. Garlic Powder, Onion Powder and salt is added.
Chicken is then chopped with a knife.
Shredded, Chopped Chicken is transferred to a bowl and Mayo is added, after mixing and sitting a bit in the refrigerator more mayo will be added. If this was just for me, there would be celery, sundried tomatoes, Minced Onions a pinch of mustard powder, black pepper and crushed red pepper, maybe even sweet relish!
I learned a very valuable lesson this weekend or should I say, it finally sunk into my thick skull. The most important thing I learned (accepted) is that my family prefers chicken with a greater loss in moisture during the cook. A higher moisture content is usually followed with a statement like, "it's too gummy" and as much as I hate that word, they were dead on with the thighs.
I really wanted this to have awesome results, it has proven to be fruitless for chicken compared to grilling, pan frying, or pit cooking for basic chicken dinner, with the exception of the breast meat. Sous Vide cooking can push the extremes as far as reducing moisture loss, sadly it's not a benefit for my family. However I was floored by the quality, mouthfeel and flavor of the Breast meat and the bone in thighs were awesome the next day reheated. Also on another positive note, it does work well when cooking, freezing and reheating.
I will be trying this again soon but at higher temps, thighs 160°F-165°F and breasts 155°F-160°F, but there comes a time when I have to ask myself, "is it worth all the prep when I can simply toss on the grill"?
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