Time and temp, along with thickness, all work together to let you know both when your food is 'safe' to eat and at what texture or level of doneness you desire. All three are important.
For the guys doing the serious eats carnitas. Which of their temps/times are you using? Did you cut the pork into 2 inch slabs like they say? I posted the one from Anova a few pages back. It is 176 for 8 hours then broiling to crisp. http://recipes.anovaculinary.com/recipe/sous-vide-carnitas-tacos I can't imagine why you would want 2 inch slabs over 1 inch cubes especially if destined for tacos? Besides a little easier prep I guess. Each cubes is like a crispy piece of pork heaven.
I was planning on making the SE pork carnitas recipe Monday/Tuesday, but other stuff got in the way and I didn't get the pork prepped and in the bath. So, yesterday I used my pressure cooker instead. I used 2" chunks, put 'em under pressure for a little over an hour, pulled 'em out and let 'em dry...shredded, then broiled the shredded meat, turning it as the top browned deeply. Turned out really well. Still want to do the sous vide version sometime, but very happy with what the pressure cooker did in a pinch. Anyways, I think 2" cubes work well.
Beyond a certain time, you won't get anymore "done" as long as it crossed a minimal time threshold for the thickness. You'll just further break down collagen and other connective tissue. As far as "safety", anything over 129F for at least 45 minutes and you're fine. We may be saying the same thing.
I ended up going 165 degrees and started at 8pm the night before. I believe the 165 degree temp said 12-24 hours would be good for that temp. I knew I was going to be gone until at least 5 or 6pm the next day so I went with the temp that fit my time frame. I had a bone in pork shoulder so I took it off the bone and just did a combination of slabs and chunks that were roughly the same thickness. Coming out of the bag all the pieces were very easy to shred. I layered the shredded pieces on a baking sheet and let it hit the broiler for at least 10 minutes.
Regardless, you don't want to ignore any of the variables. A large benefit of using sous vide is that you have complete control over the end product.
So with my uncertainty of what to do with these ribs I did 150 for 19 hours and 165 for the final 5. I am not TRYING to pull them out of the bags. I emphasize trying because they are falling apart they are so tender. Apparently, I did something right.
Did my first ribeye. Delicious and tender as fuck. Only regret was not using a slightly thicker steak. Gonna try some filets next time.
What do ya'll use to vacuum seal your bags? Can you get away with one of the hand pump things or is it worth it to get the vacuum sealer machines?
No need to change temp once you are cooking for that long. Just decide on how "done" you want them and stick it at that temperature. 145-165 for ribs, just play around with the temp each time until you like them. Low temp for ribs = extra meaty and higher is more traditional texture.
Little bit of olive oil, then lightly seasoned with chili powder, cumin, Cayanne pepper, paprika, and garlic. Cooked it at 130 for 30 min then seared it on a hot skillet for about 1 min a side. Had it with salsa and brown rice/quinoa and it was delicious
Hand pump sucks. Water displacement method works fine, but the vacuum sealer has other uses. Buying things in bulk, on sale, and/or cutting a loin into steaks, and freezing. I have a friend who drives a truck for a meat distributor. I buy fresh sausage from him a good bit, and he brings me all kinds of whole beef and pork loins and other stuff that can't be sold to restaurants anymore but are still perfectly fine. I portion them and then freeze them. I can come home from work and decide that we want steaks with no forethought, then start with hot water from the sink, turn on the anova, put the steaks in the bath straight from the freezer, and be ready to sear in less than 2 hours. Just pat dry, salt and pepper, and sear. It's worth if for freezing stuff alone.
Made the chefsteps pork chop with apple puree last night. The pork chop was probably the best I've ever had.
Baby backs. And they weren't really falling apart, that was a bit of an exaggeration. A couple bones fell out. I prefer they have a little more bite to them but they were still really good.
Holy shit this thing makes a fucking great piece of chicken. Just did a chicken breast at 140 for two hours while I was at the gym. Came home threw some white rice in a pot and some asparagus in a pan. Fucking amazing dinner. Chicken was awesome. I did a chuck roast at 179 over night and shredded it yesterday to make tacos and they turned out fantastic. Going to make chicken tacos tonight for tomorrow. Thanks to everyone who recommended one of these.
Have used my sous vide more in the last two weeks then I have in the last year I've had it, thanks to this thread. Have done pork chops, ribeye, chicken breasts, scrambled eggs and doing a pork loin tomorrow night. Best of each I've ever had. Best $75 I've ever spent.
Brisket going in tomorrow and I'm pretty nervous about it. Been reading about a lot of them drying out. At any rate, here's the plan: Separate the point, cut flat into thirds. Freeze two. Make and apply chefsteps glaze, add a few drops liquid smoke to the bag Cook at 154.5 for 24 hours Drop in an ice bath Reapply glaze after a few minutes Apply rub Roast in convection oven @ 275 for no more than 2 hours
Yea I'm gonna disagree here. I used water displacement method with ziplocs for a year and got a vacuum sealer for my bday. Not saying the meat comes out any better but its 100x easier to just drop it in and not worry that you didn't get the perfect seal. Not to mention a good vacuum sealer is worth the money without even using it for a Sous Vide.
Did bacon for the shit of it the overnight, I'm not sure if it's just me wanting to believe it's better but it was really really good.
gonna do the pork shoulder this weekend with liquid smoke and rub + oven finish. for pulled pork I understand that 165 is the ticket? what's the best temperature on bacon? anyways i could do bacon with the shoulder?
So I feel really dumb, but ive always gotten chicken to like 165. Cooking at like 140 with this is it safe to eat? Or are you all like finishing it in the oven or a pan to take the temperature higher at the end?
I do chicken at 150 every time, and it's perfect. I brown it in a pan after that probably cooks it a smidge more.
Did pork chops with cayenne chipotle brown sugar and OJ to pop my cherry for dinner. Seared them on the grill in a pan. Amazing how great it turned out! Going chuck roast for 24 hours tomorrow. Going to marinate tonight.
Celemo about to drown in some pussy(his wife but still pussy) and maybe some extra stuff with that nice lubrification from the chicken.
Did some chicken breasts at 140, seared, topped with homemade marinara and mozzarella, then broiler to melt the cheese. Turned out better than expected
I was thinking of stuffing the chicken with Parmesan and then topping with marinara and then broiling
Quick question. For those who leave chicken in ice water before heading to work, is there a risk in doing that? Or does the cooking kill any bacteria? Was thinking about doing this with chicken I prepared and have frozen. Was just curious how some of you all managed it when leaving for 8-9 hours.
Did some steaks last night. Couple larger ribeyes and a filet. Cooked at 120° for an hour and 15 min. My brother in law likes his steaks rare and cool inside. I thought this would be a good temp as his steak was the biggest and I still was going to finish them in the skillet. Came out more medium rare. Tasted fine but was a little done for his taste. The other 2 steaks were good.
How long on the skillet and at what temp? A 2" ribeye should have definitely been very rare at that temp.
really good, my sear was weak as fuck tho. made some really great sandwiches the next day for lunch w/ the leftovers
Bought a center cut boneless pork loin roast. Looking forward to that at some point this week. Plan to season it up nicely and sou vide and slice pretty thinly. Any leftovers could potentially be going on sandwiches.
About a minute each side. Skillet was hot as fuck to get a nice crust. It was probably close to 2" thick, maybe a little less.
Anyone else get shitty sears with cast iron and a glass top range? Fuck me. Ordered some stainless steel pans to see if it's more consistent.
I have a glass top range and my cast iron works nicely. Just gotta make sure the heat is really cranked up
No problem with cast iron here. But I use this cast aluminum pan for searing. Incredible pan. Gave one to my parents for Christmas and it's already their favorite pan too.
Not sure why but when my heat is cranked up high and cast iron is on the range, I feel like the damn thing is going to catch on fire. Smokes an amazing amount even with low smoke point oil.