New content

We've just published some new content for module 3, and we expect to release quite a bit more this week. Check out our explanation of how vacuum packaging many foods preserves their freshness.

http://www.chefsteps.com/courses/accelerated-sous-vide-cooking-course/why-package-food-keeping-ingredients-fresh

As always, feedback and questions are very welcome.

And for those of you who enjoy baking, we've just published a new recipe for our mini brioche loaves. And even if you're not interested in baking per se, you might find the tip (described in the introduction) on how to judge the doneness of your baked goods with a simple instant read thermometer useful:

http://www.chefsteps.com/activities/mini-brioche

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TODD_ANDERSON_36806

@Chris I love coming home after a long day, sit down at my desk and log on to chef steps and see some new content. Much appreciated to all as always. Thanks!

Johan_Edstrom_5586

I have one - right away, Keller touches on it and I think we've discussed it in the forums a bit, but what are the right pull time factors, release, seal for various veg and proteins.

I think many of us that have chambers still have the lower end stuff.

Johan_Edstrom_5586

There is that oven again - GAAAAAA!!!

I watched that bread video twice now, looks just gorgeous.

Chris_Young_80640

@Johan — It's coming soon. I promise. But essentially, I believe way to much attention is paid to this. Once you put the food in your waterbath and it warms up, the vapor pressure of the food will raise the pressure inside the bag to around 60 to 80 mBar (or more if there is alcohol in the bag).

The two big things to pay attention to are:

For delicate ingredients like seafood, avoid letting the pressure in the chamber fall low enough that moisture inside the food begins to boil. It's not the vacuum that does the damage, rather it's the moisture boiling in the food that does the damage. Imagine how you would feel stepping out of a plane without a spacesuit at 80,000 ft or so!

Of course, if you want to achieve vacuum compression or vacuum infusion of plant foods, this can be a good thing since it helps rupture the porous structure of plant tissue.

(2) Realize that once the food comes out of the chamber, it's under normal atmospheric pressure again, since the packaging is flexible. The problem is, the bag is not perfectly flexible, and so atmospheric pressure is applied somewhat unevenly. The seams of the bag tend to pinch the food.

There is very little difference in how uneven it will be whether you pull a vacuum down to 5 mbar or 15 mbar mbar since at these pressures you've removed about 99.5%, 98% of the atmosphere, respectively, within the bag that would otherwise help even out how pressure is applied onto the food.

If you want to avoid pinching, then I wouldn't go below 50 mbar, which leaves about 5% of the atmosphere in the bag to balance things out, but now you loose some of the benefit of removing air to preserve the freshness of the food. So a much better strategy is to wrap a delicate ingredient like meat or seafood in food grade plastic wrap to provide some cushioning that evens out the pressure and avoids the seams of the bag pinching the food.

Johan_Edstrom_5586

Yes, I'm going to #1 push this post as I think many of us asked the same questions, I think I spent close to 2 months trying to comprehend the literature and it didn't make much sense to me. Okay, boiling check, I found that out the other way, I saw proteins moving and I knew I'd get salmon leather.

Tim_Sutherland_52834

Great to see some baking on the site.

I make mini brioche loafs (120g) with a 60% butter recipe. The bread goes so well toasted with charcuterie and I've even made mini versions of Thomas Keller's Tongue Pain Perdu (makes a great hors d'oeuvre).

Brendan_Lee_56950

Any advice on the bake times for a bigger loaf of the bread? I'm a very inexperienced baker but man do I love brioche.

Jack_Mayer_85396

I agree @Brendan. I wanna start making my own hamburger buns; and brioche is at the top of the list!

Chris_Young_80640

@Brendan — Did you read the introduction and the tip about measuring the core temperature of your crumb to know when you're done baking? I think you'll find that a helps you adapt the recipe to your needs.

Brendan_Lee_56950

ok so temps are the same for the baking, just need to monitor the internal temp?

Tim_Sutherland_52834

@Brendan and @Jack, just follow the directions under the video and take temps of the bread for the first few times. Make sure you weigh the dough and use the same molds/pans every time. Brioche needs to be a nice dark brown when you pull it, you may think it is over cooked but it won't be.

Jack_Mayer_85396

Thanks for the tips!

Grace_95227

@Chris, love the brioche video, they look so good miniaturised!

@Brendan, totally agree! Brioche = cake + bread for me

Chris_Refe_33704

I just want to thank you guys chris and grant! For sparking my cooking curiosity once again. I am in such a cooking slump and this site has really helped me a lot in a sense of gaining a realization that there is just so much to learn in this passion. Thank you so much.

Chris_Young_80640

@Chris_Refe — Glad we could spark your curiosity!