Some More Sous Vide Questions

[DDave]

So I've been reading through the threads and looking at the Anova Sous Vide Immersion Circulator on Amazon and I have some more questions for sous vide folks.

So I know (or I think I know) that it is a time PLUS temperature thing but what is the average bath time for say steaks versus pork chops versus chicken versus fish? Do some meats benefit from more time at the set temp than others? Are some meats more prone to get mushy if left in too long? How long is too long? I imagine that depends on the meat.

I'm thinking this would be awesome for our household as I am usually home several hours before Mrs. DDave. I could put something going at lunch and it would be ready in the evening. Depending on what it is, a quick trip into the hot cast iron skillet would be a nice finishing touch or a quick trip over the Vortex.

I've got a birthday coming up but just spent a chunk on a refurbished HP Proliant DL380 G5 server. I'm working on a Vmware Certification and that will enable me to build a home virtual lab in order to prepare for the exam.

But Mrs. DDave likes it when I cook so maybe I'll be able to go to the well twice in a short amount of time.

Dave

[SmokinOutBack]

I bought a Sansaire and it comes with a reference table for all meats. The good thing is they can stay in longer and won't overcook.

[mross61]

Proteins won't overcook but will have different textures the longer they are in.

[Mark R]

Dave here is a chart
http://www.sousvidesupreme.com/en-us...mperatures.htm

Not the end all answer, but a starting guide. It has a guide for most foods.
It's time at temp, the finished desired temp. So you can never overcook....within reason. If you let it run for 4 days the result might not be, umm as desirable.
It's best to use a vac bag, but not absolutely necessary. A vacuum is not necessary, you just need to remove all the air so the water is in contact with all of the product (through the plastic). But a vac sealer makes it much easier.

It also allows you to "cook" some things you cannot cook any other way. Such as;
Pasteurized eggs
Pasteurized chicken

In my case it allows me to make things like "Pâté de Campagne". Because of the poultry content it needs to reach 150.1° for a certain period of time. BUTT not reach 154°, as that would render the fat and ruin it.

Yes you can do some of this with an induction top.....that's a different subject and thread.

[Mark R]

The other real cool thing is that you can bag, cook in advance and freeze.
When you are ready to use it, pop it back in the circulator, still frozen, for a bit and eat!

[frog1369]

Good info here and you can find all kinds of cooking tables on the web. Anova, Sous Vide Supreme, Sansaire and PolyScience all have a lot of info. I'm a beginner myself and have an Anova Precision. It's great for reheating things, we've done pulled pork, Prime Rib and a few others frozen vac bags of food. Cooking, so far great for steaks and amazing for fish. Steaks were thick, gave them about two-three hours, fish was about an hour and comes out, oh so good. This weekend I'm experimenting with rump roasts, I have two about two pounds each and put them in yesterday around 4:00. I'm going to pull one at 24 hours and sear the outside on the Weber and sample it. If it's awesome I'll pull the other, if not tender enough I'm going to let the second one go another 24 hours and see how it turns out ...... great, mushy, dry, etc. If you like to try new things I highly recommend it, the steaks were great and the fish, well, not sure but so far, for Halibut and Rough we're sold. I need to try salmon soon and I believe I will still just sear tuna, don't see a bath advantage for tuna yet.

[curious aardvark]

Proteins won't overcook but will have different textures the longer they are in.

yeah you CAN overcook meat i a water bath. It turns out soft and mushy. I don't like it.

If you like ribs with fall-off-the-bone meat, you'd prtobably like over cooked sous vide more than I do.

I like meat that you can actually bite, rather than suck :-)

[gracoman]

A Practical Guide To Sous Vide Cooking will help you get started and answer many of your questions.

[DDave]

Thanks for the replies and the link.

Lots of good info there.

Dave

[scubadoo97]

Tough cuts require long cooking times at lower temps and are less prone to drying out or becoming mushy. Tender cuts are the ones to pay closer attention to. Don't over cook in time or temp