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Old 01-26-2020, 02:53 PM   #41
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I love my Sous Vide, it is a great tool in the kitchen. I don't see it as the end-all-be-all, but it is a tool. I enjoy doing chicken breasts, fish, burgers, and pork chops with it. One thing to remember, is if you aren't using the juices that come off it during the cooking process, you will be losing a lot of flavoring and you may need to re-season the dish before finishing it in the pan. One of the things I like most about it is the long cook "window". I can start the protein part of dinner before heading off to meet the wife at our pilates class, and when we get home, we can have nice dinner on the table in 15 min or less. It is never over cooked or undercooked.

A great page for learning the ins and outs of Sous Vide cooking is https://www.seriouseats.com (the page for chicken is extremely enlightening: https://www.seriouseats.com/2015/07/...en-breast.html )
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Old 01-26-2020, 06:21 PM   #42
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Thanks- and thanks also to those who suggested alternatives to plastic. I'm not a big meat eater (although I'm sure there are good vegetable recipes) and not into having a lot of specialized kitchen appliances but at least I'll feel better about trying sous vide foods away from home!

There appears to be some questioning of even non-BPA plastics, based of search results, as with most things internet. N=1, my only adventure in sous vide was a medium rare steak, at about 130F, no hotter than your car out in the Texas sun. [emoji12]

I’ve microwaved leftovers in plastic so many times during my w*rking years that the occasional sous vide is likely just noise. And, frankly, I like grilling just fine.
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Old 01-26-2020, 06:24 PM   #43
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You can take cheap cuts and make them taste amazing!
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Old 01-26-2020, 07:31 PM   #44
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You can take cheap cuts and make them taste amazing!
This might be what I like most about the Sous Vide. I don't need to buy the most expensive cuts in order to have a tremendous steak with a Sous vide. So much of the success with the Sous Vide is the art of the seasoning, whereas so much of the success with a grilled steak is the art of grilling.
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Old 01-26-2020, 08:10 PM   #45
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Made perfect scallops tonight, 123°F for 30 minutes. All were identically done and ready to finish in the pan. They're sometimes difficult for me to gauge doneness and this is repeatable.
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Old 01-26-2020, 08:52 PM   #46
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You can take cheap cuts and make them taste amazing!
I tried a pot roast. 136 for 28 hrs. It wasn't "fall apart" like when braised in the electric frying pan. Rather more like the consistency of a good steak that has been thrown on the grill. I has a rub on it, and the flavor really permeated. Not great, though.
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Old 01-27-2020, 05:24 AM   #47
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Flavor/taste come from your sense of smell. When you cook sous vide, all of the cooking aromas are confined in your cooking bag. When you make your sear, that's when those aromas are unlocked, and while searing with a propane torch will complete "the look", searing on a cast iron skillet or griddle, gets those aromas out in the open for yor nose. Why do you think those Ruth Chris' steaks come to your table sizzling on a super heated plate?
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Old 01-27-2020, 05:28 AM   #48
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I do post-sear on a skillet, which allows me to make a sauce with the fond. I have never used a torch.
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Old 01-27-2020, 10:32 AM   #49
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I bought a Joule sous vide about a month ago. I found a Facebook group, Exploring Sous Vide, where I can get some tips and tricks.
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Old 01-27-2020, 10:44 AM   #50
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I built my own sous vide with a regular crockpot and a $10 digital temperature controller with a probe.

Recently, my wife wanted to join the bandwagon of the Instant Pot, and she got the new 6-quart model with the sous vide mode. It's smaller than my DIY crockpot, but still enough for most usage.
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Old 01-27-2020, 11:32 AM   #51
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When you make your sear, that's when those aromas are unlocked, and while searing with a propane torch will complete "the look", searing on a cast iron skillet or griddle, gets those aromas out in the open for yor nose. Why do you think those Ruth Chris' steaks come to your table sizzling on a super heated plate?
I went to a Ruth's Chris once. Had an expensive prime NY steak that had no flavor. It tasted just like my sous vide steak. Ah ha, now I know how they cooked it!

Ruth's Chris, like my sous vider was a once only adventure.
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Old 01-27-2020, 11:56 AM   #52
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If you are going to use cast iron anyway.....

So I like to roast thick tenderloin steaks in cast iron as it’s simple and fast. I season the steaks and let warm to to room temperature for a while. Heat the pan hot stovetop and give the steaks a good sear on each side. Put in a 425 degree oven, and let roast. Usually pull out at 125 degrees usually not quite there at 5 mins which is usually when I check. Guess I’m pretty good at timing because this has been working for me.

Then let rest loosely covered on a plate while I make a cognac pan sauce or sauté mushrooms in the hot cast iron.

Yes, just under the edge of the sear, the meat will be done, but most of the center is lovely and pink/red.

We had tenderloins served to us in cast iron pans at a steakhouse long ago, and it became our go to method.
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Old 01-27-2020, 01:35 PM   #53
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I love mine, have had it for quite a few years (was one of the early kickstarters, so not as early as the home-made DIY crowd). Never got a vacuum sealer though I do keep thinking about it, just use freezer ziplocs water displacement like a bunch of other folks on here.
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Old 01-27-2020, 02:28 PM   #54
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Last summer I vacuum sealed beef ribs with dry rub and sous-vide them for 36 hours. Then I placed the packages in a cooler and went camping in Yosemite. At the campsite, I cut open the package, seared the ribs on a lump charcoal grill for 10 minutes each side, brushed with barbecue sauce until glazed, and served to my guests. The tenderness and flavor was impressive, and my guests thought I was a magician.

I agree with some others here that it's not worth sous-vide-ing steak. It cooks so fast on the grill that it's my preferred method. But for ribs where you don't want to tend a smoker for many hours, sous-vide is very convenient.
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Old 01-27-2020, 02:33 PM   #55
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I can certainly understand why it’s used in restaurants as it can help with the staging/flow when you are cooking for large numbers of people. But that doesn’t really apply to my kitchen.
I thought the same thing. Plus, other posters suggest that beef that might be a bit tough using other methods will come out tender so there may be some restaurant cost savings there for grades of beef. We frequently get Thai noodle salad from a local restaurant that must use sous vide for the filet, it is always exactly the same tenderness.

I don’t have cabinet space for any more small appliances so I’m passing on this one and the air fryer.
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Old 01-27-2020, 02:34 PM   #56
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I went to a Ruth's Chris once. Had an expensive prime NY steak that had no flavor. It tasted just like my sous vide steak. Ah ha, now I know how they cooked it!
I had the same experience at Ruth's Chris. Perfectly cooked steak, but not the flavor we get at home on our outdoor Big Green Egg. I too suspect they sous-vide their very thick steaks, then quickly sear them in their 800 degree ovens. I tell DH that his steaks are better than Ruth Chris', and it brings a tear to his eye!
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Old 01-27-2020, 03:42 PM   #57
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Sous vide is great for tough and cheap cuts of meat like round roasts.
They come out tender and juicy.

Sous vide seals in the flavour of the meat really well, but the flavour of the grass-fed meat I used to cook in it became stronger and a bit gamey.
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Old 01-27-2020, 06:32 PM   #58
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I just used my Sous Vide to make medium rare grass fed rib eye with reverse sear. It was excellent.
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Old 01-27-2020, 06:57 PM   #59
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I just can't get past the idea of cooking food surrounded in plastic. Everything I've read cautions against heating things up in plastic because the chemicals leach into the food. Are there any alternatives to plastic bags/wraps that would work?
The bags are typically polyethylene--basically high molecular weight wax. Don't worry.
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Old 01-27-2020, 06:59 PM   #60
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Right - the water bath is like only 125F for steak. It's not like you are boiling in the plastic, or like in a microwave where the plastic could get higher than boiling (if it is in contact with fat for example). Still might be a cause for concern, but it's not something I'm worried about. But if you still are, then don't.

ETA: But anything waterproof, or say an aluminum foil wrap between the meat and the plastic should help.

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