Sous vide (vacuum cooking)
Discussion
Anyone tried this?
I picked up a cheap vacuum packer from Makro the other day with the idea of giving this a go.
Early results have been quite encouraging, having done some salmon and some beef.
The key challenge was always going to be keeping the water bath temperature constant, which was why I went for the Salmon first - 20 mins at 47 degrees (i.e. short enough that I could be bothered to stand there with a kettle and a jug of cold water fine tuning the temp).
The fish was gorgeous - with a texture approaching that of mousse. Seasoning seems pretty critical, as the little sprig of dill I put in with each steak had quite a pronounced effect.
Key lesson though is that you really need warm plates and everything else ready to go, because the lower temp means that your food'll be cold in no time.
The beef was more of a challenge. I had an odd 1/2lb piece of rump left over from a 7lb cut that I'd already taken a dozen steaks off. Having had two 'normally' cooked steaks personally, I can report that the meat was quite good for a rump, but nothing to write home about.
Anyway - I did a few experiments with heat settings (ceramic electric hob), lids and 2p pieces as spacers (I also tried using a vacuum packed Rf greenhouse thermometer, but it didn't update frequently enough).
With a little practice, I can now get the water bath to hold steady (i.e. within 1 degree) temps between about 45 and 55 deg for around an hour.
The beef required 3 hours at 55 degrees, which meant quite a few visits to keep an eye on things.
The outcome was a little overcooked, I think, as it was a light pink colour that would normally be called med-rare, but the texture was amazing - not dissimilar to well cooked liver. Next time I think I'll do a lower temp and quickly finish for 10 secs each side in a regular pan.
I'd like to try some stuffed chicken or pork, but holding the higher required temperatures steady without permanent supervision is proving tricky. I'm also a bit nervous about the food safety aspects of having such a narrow window between killing bacteria and toughening the meat.
Any hints tips or advice from anyone who's tried this before?
I picked up a cheap vacuum packer from Makro the other day with the idea of giving this a go.
Early results have been quite encouraging, having done some salmon and some beef.
The key challenge was always going to be keeping the water bath temperature constant, which was why I went for the Salmon first - 20 mins at 47 degrees (i.e. short enough that I could be bothered to stand there with a kettle and a jug of cold water fine tuning the temp).
The fish was gorgeous - with a texture approaching that of mousse. Seasoning seems pretty critical, as the little sprig of dill I put in with each steak had quite a pronounced effect.
Key lesson though is that you really need warm plates and everything else ready to go, because the lower temp means that your food'll be cold in no time.
The beef was more of a challenge. I had an odd 1/2lb piece of rump left over from a 7lb cut that I'd already taken a dozen steaks off. Having had two 'normally' cooked steaks personally, I can report that the meat was quite good for a rump, but nothing to write home about.
Anyway - I did a few experiments with heat settings (ceramic electric hob), lids and 2p pieces as spacers (I also tried using a vacuum packed Rf greenhouse thermometer, but it didn't update frequently enough).
With a little practice, I can now get the water bath to hold steady (i.e. within 1 degree) temps between about 45 and 55 deg for around an hour.
The beef required 3 hours at 55 degrees, which meant quite a few visits to keep an eye on things.
The outcome was a little overcooked, I think, as it was a light pink colour that would normally be called med-rare, but the texture was amazing - not dissimilar to well cooked liver. Next time I think I'll do a lower temp and quickly finish for 10 secs each side in a regular pan.
I'd like to try some stuffed chicken or pork, but holding the higher required temperatures steady without permanent supervision is proving tricky. I'm also a bit nervous about the food safety aspects of having such a narrow window between killing bacteria and toughening the meat.
Any hints tips or advice from anyone who's tried this before?
Edited by Nefarious on Sunday 3rd January 18:47
Hi,
I found it amazing to find a sous vide question on a petrol head site - but given I'm a keen cook and a petrol head, there must be others on the planet.
I've been cooking SV for a little over a year and am having great success using a rice cooker with a PID controller (called Sous Vide Magic) from Fresh Meals Solutions in Canada.
When I was researching SV for my own use I contacted a friend who is a chef about non-commercial uses of SV and he said there wasn't much he'd heard so once I'd learnt about it I should write an article for his web site about it. The link to that article is:
http://www.australiangourmetpages.com/SousVide.htm
Apart from my words I thoroughly recommend that you read the article by Douglas Baldwin who goes into much more detail about food safety and temperatures. His article is here:
http://amath.colorado.edu/~baldwind/sous-vide.html
Good luck with it - once bitten by the bug you'll never go back...
Cheers,
Peter.
BTW my car is a 2009 M3 Coupe - just to prove I qualify as a petrol head ;-)
I found it amazing to find a sous vide question on a petrol head site - but given I'm a keen cook and a petrol head, there must be others on the planet.
I've been cooking SV for a little over a year and am having great success using a rice cooker with a PID controller (called Sous Vide Magic) from Fresh Meals Solutions in Canada.
When I was researching SV for my own use I contacted a friend who is a chef about non-commercial uses of SV and he said there wasn't much he'd heard so once I'd learnt about it I should write an article for his web site about it. The link to that article is:
http://www.australiangourmetpages.com/SousVide.htm
Apart from my words I thoroughly recommend that you read the article by Douglas Baldwin who goes into much more detail about food safety and temperatures. His article is here:
http://amath.colorado.edu/~baldwind/sous-vide.html
Good luck with it - once bitten by the bug you'll never go back...
Cheers,
Peter.
BTW my car is a 2009 M3 Coupe - just to prove I qualify as a petrol head ;-)
Great to find some foodies here...I'm in the catering trade, and have sites which operate SV cookery. I'd not be confident about using any pan on top of a stove to regulate the cooking temps - the commercial waterbaths are specifically designed to hold a constant temperature - rice cookers are better than a pan, but I'd be wary of those too.
The company's done extensive testing on fish and meat cooked via SV, and pathalogically any fish is not safe. The meat's are fine, although we don't do pork so I'm not able to comment. The core cooking temps very important and we measure via hi tech and expensive mirco needled themometers and a specialist 'foam' guard to protect the vacuum - which must be perfect before attempting to 'cook'.
It's a tough area to perfect - so happy cooking, and please be careful too.
PS - also a total petrolhead - TVR, MX5, Range Rover and Jeep on the drive/in the garage...as well as additional horsepower in the field!
The company's done extensive testing on fish and meat cooked via SV, and pathalogically any fish is not safe. The meat's are fine, although we don't do pork so I'm not able to comment. The core cooking temps very important and we measure via hi tech and expensive mirco needled themometers and a specialist 'foam' guard to protect the vacuum - which must be perfect before attempting to 'cook'.
It's a tough area to perfect - so happy cooking, and please be careful too.
PS - also a total petrolhead - TVR, MX5, Range Rover and Jeep on the drive/in the garage...as well as additional horsepower in the field!
Thanks for the links Peter - lots of good info in there.
I'll look into getting a PID controller (perhaps something like this: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PROFESSIONAL-INTELLIGENT-PID... ),
and coupling it with a simple stand-alone induction ring (like this: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Caravan-Camping-Induction-Co... )
I'll look into getting a PID controller (perhaps something like this: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/PROFESSIONAL-INTELLIGENT-PID... ),
and coupling it with a simple stand-alone induction ring (like this: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Caravan-Camping-Induction-Co... )
Edited by Nefarious on Tuesday 5th January 16:52
tango2 said:
The company's done extensive testing on fish and meat cooked via SV, and pathalogically any fish is not safe.
Just on this. I presume if you simply take fresh fish out of the fridge, warm up then serve, then it cannot be any more harmful than eating it raw in the first place? All the readin I've done suggests the harmful bacteria are just as happy to multiply in the fridge as over the space of 30 minutes in warm water?Or am I missing the point here?
FWIW, I've been trying to make a nice braised beef, but every time I try, the meat turns out ultra dry, and I think cooking SV might be the answer to my problem. Or it might kill me and my guests...
Cactussed said:
tango2 said:
The company's done extensive testing on fish and meat cooked via SV, and pathalogically any fish is not safe.
Just on this. I presume if you simply take fresh fish out of the fridge, warm up then serve, then it cannot be any more harmful than eating it raw in the first place? All the readin I've done suggests the harmful bacteria are just as happy to multiply in the fridge as over the space of 30 minutes in warm water?Or am I missing the point here?
FWIW, I've been trying to make a nice braised beef, but every time I try, the meat turns out ultra dry, and I think cooking SV might be the answer to my problem. Or it might kill me and my guests...
As it's a commercial company as opposed to cooking for friends, they have to be more careful due to litigation, and the EHO's being more assertive on having all the 'correct' procedures in place.
I posted on this a few weeks ago. The answers are very different from this thread but it looks like the advice on this one is more accurate.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Cactussed said:
Well, I'm still tempted to give this a shot, however I am worried about spending even more cash on even more kit that hardly gest used and which ~I have no space to store...
The vacuum sealer looks like this: http://www.householdinnovations.co.uk/shop/packmat...It was only £15, takes up no space, and I can do fish and beef just using a large pan on the hob.
Well worth it, even if you're just taking things that far, IMO.
Pferdestarke said:
How do you get a Makro card these days?
You need to be a company or a representative of a company. I operate as a Ltd company, so just took my most recent set of accounts and some ID showing me as the director.This place seems to be doing the vacuum kits for the same price though: http://www.sourcingmap.com/vacuumseal-food-vacuum-...
If you can get a Makro card, though, it's well worth it for their meat and fish.
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