New Content on Pretreatments

We've just posted a new lecture on combining pretreatments with sous vide cooking. Let us know what you think.

http://www.chefsteps.com/courses/accelerated-sous-vide-cooking-course/pretreatments-prior-to-cooking

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Brendan_Lee_56950

I'm excited to see what comes next! I think once we all get used to SV in day to day life the pre/post SV treatments are going to make the biggest difference in our cooking. I'm especially interested in learning about how the order in which you do some of these pretreatments impacts flavor and texture.

TODD_ANDERSON_36806

Im excited to hear about how smoking and sous vide were meant to be. I've been smoking meat for many years now and have nailed down some good recipes. I have experimented with it a few times. Time to try something new and different!!!

Brendan_Lee_56950

Me too. I want to play around with the smoker this weekend using SV. I just got it for christmas so I haven't had time to play yet.

TODD_ANDERSON_36806

@Brendan, you just got a smoker or a circulator?

Johan_Edstrom_5586

Great stuff, I'd like more on blanching and what happens, how much nutrient is lost vs. benefits of doing so - I blanch all my green, primarily because I like the texture, color and that I can combine it with in bag blanching as well as marinades.

Chris_Young_80640

Smoking is something we'll probably initially get going on with some new recipes. Later in the spring we'll probably post some new content on sous vide barbecue and grilling. I want us to get into module 3 and 4 here pretty quick.

As for blanching, there can be a lot going on. For sake of simplicity, let's consider blanching vegetables for now. Doing this achieves a few things:

(1) Kills bacteria on the surface, which is where bacteria will be found. I don't know of any evidence of bacteria getting inside plant tissue through its vascular system.

(2) Blanching will deactive various enzymes.

This can be good and bad. The flavor of a fresh strawberry, for example, is created when you bite into it and rupture the cells. Enzymes normally carefully contained in the cells now freely mix and begin to break down the tissue into volatile aroma compounds that we recognize as the aroma of strawberry (this is part of the reason why cold strawberries taste awful, the enzymes work slowly or not at all when they are cold). Cook a strawberry and you'll destroy these enzymes (although not entirely before they generate some aroma).

On the other hand, polyphenoloxidase is the enzyme that causes the browning of plant tissue and often we want to destroy it before it does its work. Unfortunately, it's really hard to deactivate. It can take nearly two minutes at the boiling point to entirely deactivate this enzyme.

(3) Green vegetables turn greener.

This transformation is the result of an intricate interplay of chemical changes and physical forces within the vegetable. At the microscopic level, the interior of something like a green bean, there is a labyrinth of air spaces that allows carbon dioxide, oxygen, and other vapors to circulate freely around the plant’s cells. When light hits a raw bean, some of it enters the labyrinth, never to leave. This is why an uncooked bean has its dark shade of green.

Blanching rapidly heats the surface of the bean and bursts the walls of the labyrinth, which then collapses and fill with water. Now more light reflects directly off the color pigments (chlorophyll), so the blanched bean shines with a brighter, more vivid color. Similar, although less pronounced, changes happen to fruits and vegetables of other colors, too.

(4) Vitamins are destroyed. Yes, in particular water-soluble B vitamins getting destroyed quickly at blanching temperatures. But on the other hand, cooking plant foods makes it easier for our body to digest them and allows us to absorb nutrients that would otherwise pass through us. So, net-net, you get more nutrition from cooked plant foods.

Brendan_Lee_56950

@tucker a smoker.

Allen_Johnson_67197

Now when it comes to smoking, I am a Master

I have taken a few classes from well known people on the BBQ Circuit and have wowed friends and family with my cooking skillz

I am really looking forward to encompassing Sous Vide into my BBQng!!

Johan_Edstrom_5586

@Chris the net-net was what I was looking for - Thanks!

Brendan_Lee_56950

The bit about the green beans and light is fascinating. Nature kicks ass.

Johan_Edstrom_5586

And american classics sucks.

prince_of_porcelain

I love it when @chris drops science!

Jack_Mayer_85396

@Chris thanks for the thorough explanation! Once again ChefSteps expands my understanding!